Category Archives: History

Historical background of a location we visit.

Ensenada, Days 3 and 4 — The New Science Museum and Back to the New Malecon

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Friday, March 3 was a chore day for us. Here was the sunset.

On Saturday, March 4, we went to breakfast at our second favorite restaurant, Los Veleros. It is cheerfully decorated with bright, colorful paintings of sailboats. It was also packed. One of the reasons Los Veleros was so popular for breakfast was because they dropped off a tray of pastries at the table (the pastries weren’t included in the meal price, but you only paid for them if you ate them), and a quesadilla appetizer was included with the meals. We went there specifically to get the flaming fruit desserts, but we had forgotten that they don’t offer them at breakfast time.

After eating, we walked next door to the new science museum. It was a large building, and there was scaffolding up and construction workers outside working on the building, so it clearly was not completely done yet. Admission was about $3.50 USD.

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Second Trip to Marina Costa Baja, Days 15 – 16 — The Archaeology Museum

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On Monday, February 13, the half-full moon rose not long before the sun did, and was shining brightly in the pre-dawn glow.

We tried to catch the 1310 shuttle to town. We left Kosmos at 1302. We got to marina gate at 1305, which requires a card key to get both in and out. There were people walking out ahead of us. They used their card key to open the door. They held the door open for us to exit, but Eric realized that he’d forgotten our card key. He sprinted down the dock while Christi and Keith waited inside the gate for him. He was back at 1307. The card key didn’t work. A marina employee happened to be standing on the other side of the gate. He tried to open the gate for us, but his card didn’t work, either. He proclaimed the door was broken. He walked to a utility box a little ways down the boardwalk, looked at it for maybe a minute, then turned the gate off. He waved to us to indicate that it could be opened without a key card. It now was 1312.

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Second Trip to Marina Costa Baja, Day 14 — Food and Art

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Sunrise on Sunday, February 12

We were craving Italian food. We took the 1310 shuttle into town to get some. The shuttle was about 12 minutes late (relevant for Monday’s story). 

Someone had recommended a place called Locos Por la pasta (Crazy for Pasta), located across the street from the north side of the art museum.

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San Evaristo to Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose

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Sunrise on Friday, January 27

We were pleased to see that the wind had calmed down significantly. However, it still at about 16-knots sustained, so it was still windy. 

The four boats had all agreed to go to Punta Salinas (also called San Ysidro) on the southwest side of Isla San Jose this morning. According to the cruising guide, there were ruins of an old salt mining operation that sounded interesting. We’d wanted to go there before, but we’d heard that bitey bugs were a big problem there. Now that bitey bug season was over, it was the ideal time to go.

Since it was only a 45-minute ride, in the morning, we took our time getting ready to go. We were last ones to leave. The ride over was uneventful. It was 56-degrees Fahrenheit (13-degrees Celsius), the sun was totally blocked by dark clouds, and the wind was bitter cold. Christi was freezing as we anchored, even in a heavy jacket. The first shot is looking northwest, at the tip of the point that protects this anchorage. In the distance is Baja. San Evaristo is just north of what you can see of Baja in the photo.

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The La Paz Museum of Whales and Sciences of the Sea

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Here is the nearly-full moon during the sunrise on Monday, January 9.

We arrived at the Museum of Whales and Sciences of the Sea at 10:15. Our friends on Sirena met us there. The entry fee was $2.00 USD per person, with an extra $1.00 USD per person for the guided tour. We opted for the guided tour. The museum was small, but the tour was detailed and informative, lasting about an hour and a half. In addition to whales, the museum also had displays on dolphins, sea lions, manatees, turtles and more. 

We started in the evolution room, where the guide explained that ocean mammals, such as whales and dolphins, were originally land mammals that went into the sea for food and eventually evolved to live in the sea. He talked about how the different sea animals have evolved. For example, whales nostrils evolved from the front of their face to the top of their heads, and whales have a tiny foot that is currently evolving away. He talked a lot about how similar the bone structures of sea mammals were to various land mammals, especially humans.

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