Issue 70 feb mar 2015 online pdf

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Free / Gratis

Festival de Artes The 22nd Annual

Festi-

val de Artes to be held at the

Issue No. 70

beautiful "Hotel Palmas de Cortez" from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday, March 29, 2015. This popular event sponsored by the Asociación de Artes on the East Cape, is known as the premier showcase for local artists who display and sell their original art.

Feb / Mar 2015

The FOOD COURT will feature the famous Palmas Carne Asada Taco Stand, Baja Biscuits, Seth’s Panaderia, just to name a few. We will have all of your favorite cold beverages and a bar that is second to none.

On the main stage, the great music of Bluz Expolsion from LaPaz. This is a toe tapin‘ dance inspiring group that are always a favorite around here. There will be other great music to entertain you all day long.

Funds from the Festival de Artes go to support the community activities of the Asociación de Artes which include: Arts and education supplies for East Cape schools, Sponsorship and participation in the Los Barriles "Cursos de Verano" summer SEE PAGE 3 FOR MORE FESTIVAL INFORMATION

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Feb/Mar

Feb/Mar

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Advertising in East Capers Advertising in the East Capers gets the word out about your business AND your ad money supports the 3 week 'Cursos de Verano' summer school, for over 120 local children and provides art supplies for 18 East Cape public schools.

In addition to space in the printed version, your color ad appears in the online version at no additional cost. You can download the 2014/15 Advertising Kit by v isiting our website at: www.eastcapearts.com.

Tax-deductable Contributions to the Asociación de Artes The Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C., Los Barriles, B.C. Sur, Mexico is a legal non-profit Mexican corporation not affiliated with any other organization, association, club or business.

The Asociación is in full compliance with the terms of the NAFTA agreement of January 1, 1994. As such, contributions made to the Asociación de Artes are tax-deductable in the United States, Mexico and Canada. For more information visit: www.eastcapearts.com or the NAFTA Website at: http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/freetrade -agreements/north -american-free-tradeagreement-nafta.

Volunteers Needed!

The Asociación de Artes needs volunteers to help support their programs that bring the arts to the local communities and the schools. To learn more about these programs, visit: www.eastcapearts.com.

If you would like to volunteer, send an email to: eastcapearts@gmail.com.

Call for Articles East Capers is looking for fiction and true stories about our region and items that affect our residents.

If you are interested in submitting articles, recipes, stories or your personal experiences in Baja, email your 1,000-words or less article to: eastcapersmagazine@gmail.com

Thank You!

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Publisher Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C., Los Barriles, BCS, Mexico Editor Christine Kenck-Courtright

Copy Editor Pako Ford

Circulation Brian Cummings

By: Connie M. Heinen Permanent makeup dates back at least to the start of the 20th century. The tattooist George Burchett, was a major developer of the technique when it became fashionable in the 1930s, he described in his memoirs how beauty salons tattooed many women without their knowledge, offering it as complexion treatment, injecting dyes underneath the skin.

Permanent Makeup has come a long way since the 1930's. The pigments are safer and more stable, the machines are better and more efficient and the needles safer and less painful, the techniques have improved also.

Advertising Kathy Obenshain Denise Linnet

Contributors

Permanent makeup has found its way to the mainstream market and appeals to women of all nationalities from all walks of life. In our hectic, stress-fill world, permanent makeup provides that ability to wear a fresh, “always ready” look without the effort. It’s perfect for those who find themselves in a hurry every morning and don’t have time for applying makeup on a daily basis. It's waterproof and won't smudge or smear, it won’t come off in the shower or the pool. In fact, it will last for years before you may need a touch-up. Lips can be made to look fuller, eyebrows can be even and symmetrical. Eyes can be lined to add definition and enhancement.

Jerry Justice Pako Ford Connie M. Heinen Russ Hyslop Sefi Held Chris and Heather Hartridge Ann Hazard Renee Lagloire Emma Nicholson Jorge Bergin Larry Epstein Holly Burgin Alexandra Delis-Abrams Chris Courtright Theda Bassett and Rosalyn Ostler Theresa Comber

Lynn Mirasson

Printer Imprenta Ciudad Los Niños, La Paz, BCS, Mexico To learn about Ciudad Los Niños, visit their website at: http://ciudadninoslapaz.org/english/home.htm ———————————

The opinions expressed within the articles in East Capers are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C.

Newsletter Email Address eastcapersmagazine@gmail.com

This publication is possible with the help of the board members of the Asociación de Artes and members of the community.

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WAKE UP with MAKEUP!

East Capers Periódico

Feb/Mar

There are several methods of implanting the pigment into the skin. Some being a rotary, coil, or digital machine or a hand tool soft tap or the newest and latest manual method called Microblading or Microstroking.

The Microstroking technique originated in Asia and is very popular in Europe. This technique is quickly becoming the must have beauty treatment for that glamorous, tidy brow. Microblade uses a hand tool which holds several needles to deposit pigment into the epidermis. Because the color is closer to the surface the strokes appear crisp and very fine, you can hardly distinguish it from a real hair. These 3D or HD eyebrows do not appear as a tattoo. The results are natural looking hair strokes, regardless of the amount of hair present.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to learn the Microblade technique from one of the leading instructors from Russia who teaches this method and be on the Feb/Mar

cutting edge of the latest techniques in permanent makeup. In my 16 years as a permanent makeup artist we have tried to simulate hair strokes with some success but nothing compared to this revolutionary microblading technique. The hair strokes are crisp and fine just like real hair.

I have been performing the art of Permanent Makeup since 1998 and have had training from some of the leading instructors in the industry. I use state of the art digital machine and Organic pigments. I am Master Certified and hold numerous certificates. If you would like more information about Permanent Makeup or other services that I provide please visit my website www.solutionsdebellesa.com. For an appointment please call 141-0422 or email: permsolutions@aol.com

“Seriously, who would want to be energetic for five hours?”

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Los Barriles, How Did it Get its Name?

By: Chris Courtright With excerpts from Research by Theda Bassett and Rosalyn Ostler (Printed in Eastcapers Magazine Dec 2002)

I have wondered from the time I first came to Los Barriles what the origin of the name was. For some reason it is important to me: why ‘Los Barriles’? Los Barriles, meaning ‘the barrels’ has a few stories of the name origin.

One good one I heard was that in the late 1800’s the Ranchers would bring their cattle to the shores of what is now known as Los Barriles, to meet the ships to get their cattle to market. The ships were anchored off shore, and since you could not use your row boat to take cattle out to the ship, they tied barrels to the cows, and they would float out to the ship. Now, I was impressed with this idea, you know when there is the will there is a way. I even like that image of the entire process, but really, it all sounded pretty tough. So, I have asked many history buffs who have been around for years, and they say no, that is not the right story – but they did think it was an ‘imaginative’ story.

Now interesting as the above story may be, it is agreed that

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the name came from the story of the Legend of the Pirate Tree a story which was originally printed in the Eastcapers Magazine, Dec 2002. One of the most significant stories in Los Barriles history is that of visiting pirates and The Pirate Tree. Most of us have heard the story of pirate ships that anchored in the Bahia de Palmas in early 1800’s. Legend has it that one time, during a hurricane, a pirate crew needed to remove excess weight for the safety off their ship and brought barrels of gold treasure ashore. They were buried just off shore, to be retrieved later. This story has special significance since the original name of the village, Las Palmas, was later changed to Los Barriles.

To mark the place of the burial, a carving of the pirate’s ship was made on a sturdy Palo San Juan tree standing on a beach berm near the water. Martin Verdugo, a member of one of the founding families of Los Barriles and owner of Martin Verdugo’s R.V. Park, reports that the Pirate Tree was situated on the Verdugo family property just north of where the R.V. Park stands today. He heard the story of the pirates and the carving on The Pirate Tree from his grandfather when he was a young boy. “It is assumed,” Senor Verdugo recalls, “that the ship was wrecked. Neither the ship nor any of its crew was ever found”. The barrels are still buried, if the story is true.

As part of the research regarding the history of Los Barriles, we inquired about The Pirate Tree. We discovered that it had remained on the lot due north of the R.V. Park until late 1990’s. We were told by the owners that it had become diseased and was removed. The section containing the carving was stored for a while and later discarded.

Kinda makes you want to set up camp at Verdugo’s doesn’t it?! Making sure you bring a shovel or two and maybe a metal detector!

Festival de Artes Continued from pg 1 vacation program, Local Artist Studio tours and our ever popular Saturday Arts and Crafts at the DIF for the local children.

Special discounted room rates are available at Hotel Palmas De Cortez or Hotel Playa Del Sol. Call 624-141-0044 or US 877-777-8862 for reservations.

If you are a vendor please come by 7am, unload and move your car down past the Palmas de Cortez condos as to not interfere with the guest parking.

Booth fees are $400 mxn/$30 usd paid in advance or $500 mxn/$35 usd, the day of event from 9am – 1pm.

Pre Pay locations are as follows: 1. Baja Beach Company in Los Barriles at Plaza del Pueblo. Open Mon -Fri, 9 - 5 and Sat 9 - 3.

2. Baja Books & Maps, San Jose del Cabo, Open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat at Organic Market, 624-142-5596 For complete vendor information and applications, go to www.eastcapearts.com

Any questions email: festivaldeartes22@gmail.com

History of the Festival In February of 1992, a small group of residents in the Est Cape region of BCS, Mexico formed a committee to organize a spring “Festival de Artes.” The purpose of the event was to give local artists an opportunity to show and sell their original work and to raise money to support art programs in the schools.

Twenty four artists attended with their original work.

Then 250 members of the community came to enjoy the event. At the end of the day, $2500 pesos had been raised to purchase art supplies for the Los Barriles Elementary School. It was a modest but encouraging beginning. The spring “Festival de Artes” has grown over the years, attracting artists and visitors from Los Cabos , La Paz and beyond By 1998, the number of artists had tripled and the number of visitors had climbed to over 1500. Funds earned by the event were now able to buy more art supplies for the schools. In 1999 the committee decided to form a private Mexican non-profit organization (an Asociacion Civil) and establish a formal Board of Directors. The Asociacion de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C. Has been developing programs for the benefit of East Cape communities along the Sea of Cortez ever since.

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Feb/Mar

Feb/Mar

Asociacion de Artes Happenings

By: Chris Courtright February has been a busy month for Asociacion de Artes.

We started off on the 13th with the Artist Studio Tour, which showcased 22 local artists at 17 different studios!

Even the date, Friday the 13th or the mean looking clouds and gusts of wind, could not dampen the great time that was had by all – and the wind actually kept us all cool as we walked between studios. The talent displayed that lives right here in our little community is just amazing. I am sure I am not the only one that came home with some really beautiful works of art!

The next day the 14th, Valentines Day, we had our first of the year “Saturday Crafts” at the concha by the DIF. We made Valentines Day cards, explaining to the children the reasoning behind the special day. They had a great time making cards for their Mom’s or Grandmas – not quite the group ready for the girl/boy friend yet! The volunteers also enjoyed themselves working with the kids and seeing their enthusiasm for learning a new project. If you want to get involved, try the Saturday Crafts. It is only a 2 hour commitment, once a month. No ‘crafting’ skill or language needed! Just a desire to make a difference!

March brings the Asociacion head on into the Festival de Artes Show season (see pg 1), and we hope to see all you out to sell and buy – yes, vendors do buy too! We are also working on doing a baseball spring training/ Sawyers Camp for the Los Barriles area kids. We are in the process of firming up our date. It is tentatively set for the March 21st. Volunteers are greatly needed for the 4 hour camp.

We have found a person to house the equipment and that person will also continue working with the kids in the LB area. Watch for details on the LB camp!

Coach Lael, from the fall camp, came back this month and went down to work with the kids in Campamento. Every day at 4:15, the kids go to the field, someone goes and gets the equipment, and they practice. They have even found a local ‘amateur’ player, and these kids work to collect money for his gas so he can come and work with them on their skills. Lael and this young man worked on skills, and then they split into two teams and played. There is some talent in the kids! The only thing that stopped them was it got dark! The way the kids of Campamento have embraced baseball, gives us great ambition for the game of baseball in the Baja Sur. Keep up on the details of the camp on our facebook page – facebook.com/beisbolcampoeneastcape I will also keep everyone informed with BPE also. See, I did say I would shamelessly promote the camp, as only the editor can!!

For more information on either Saturday Crafts or the baseball camps, contact me at jonandchris@juno.com.

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Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com Motorcycle Cont from page 32

We repaired our third flat of the day and continued riding the 25 miles on up the cliff ridden road out of Ague Verde to highway 1 and on to our motel, arriving at 9:30 pm. We had left La Paz at 7:00 am which means we were on the road fourteen and one half hours that day. Thankfully all of the bikes, except mine, had very powerful lighting systems.

The hotel where we stayed (Villa Del Palma) is a new 4 or 5 star hotel about 20 miles south of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez. When we arrived to check in, all the staff and other guests were staring at us like we had the plague or something. I asked the girl at the counter if she had ever had customers who looked as tired and dirty as we looked. She answered “No sir, I haven’t seen anyone like your group before.” Then she quickly added, “But neither have I ever seen any other guests that were obviously having so much fun. Can I go with you?”

“Come here, boy”, “Come here, boy”...and it did! Right up to the boat

A Rare & Awesome Sighting

An ‘Elefante Marino’ or ‘Elephant Seal’ By: Theresa Comber We never want magical days on the sea to end, yet we know when Captain Luis gives the nod of the head to the south and we know that we’d better head back.

And this is when Mother Nature really gave us a rare treat.

It was Sunday on the sea. Dawn had begun with a tequila sunrise morning and clouds coursed the deep, grenadine sky. The water’s surface was glassy calm, in large contrast to the excitement of us on board.

“Awesome” & “Too Awesome” had just floated on Friday after a new motor for “Awesome” and a deep maintenance massage for “Too Awesome”. Our shake down day of fun aboard “Awesome” had whales at the top of the list; any sort of meat fish we might find on a winter day; and a snorkel at Cardonal’s shallow, abundant reef. “Too Awesome” was also cruising, out with guests hailing from Saskatchewan in Canada’s frozen north, clearly folks who were well deserving of a warm, beautiful day on the Sea of Cortez.

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Within ten minutes heading southeast to the area outside La Ribera, we joined a small group of local boats hand lining for bottom fish and others trolling for the coveted yellow tail or a dorado that might be searching for their own morning breakfast. It was not to be for them or us, as the Captain’s had been radioing that little luck was happening.

We pulled up our lines and pulled off with whales on our minds and all eyes shifted to the horizon. Another short ten minutes and shouts greeted Captain Luis - there they are, off to the right! No, there they are, off the left! No, there they are, off our stern! And of course our keen eyed Captain & crew had spotted whales dead ahead. Once again in the Cortez aquarium whales were in sight all around. A Momma and her baby were closest and the baby started showing off its jumping abilities. Again and again the baby flew into the air around its momma, splashing and frolicking and showing off its new found skills. Within five minutes in all directions we were treated to the immense joy and privilege of watching school-bus-sized humpback whales and their soccer-mom -van-sized babies breaking the water’s surface. Lulled from our calm delight, Captain Adan had found an enormous school of bottle nose dolphin to our north. We headed to them and beyond to Cardonal. The dolphins stretched for miles, joining along and cruising our bow wake while dolphins were breaking the surface as far as we could see.

Continued on Page 5

Feb/Mar

On our third day we had another incident that added to the adventure side of our trip. As we departed San Jose Comondu, one rider noticed that his rear wheel bearing had failed rendering his bike un-ride able. We had the necessary tools and parts to make repairs but lost two hours of daylight in the process. We were not prepared for the condition of the 14 mile stretch of road between San Jose Comondu and San Isidro. The road was totally washed out during the last hurricane. Once again we were forced to ride with our headlights and helmet lights on before arriving very late in La Purisima.

or spook the cattle. There is much more riding pressure now than there was 20 years ago. Back then, I often would ride into a ranch and the ranchers had never seen anyone in full riding gear, with heavy boots and full helmet. Those ranchers all know me now, and I enjoy interacting with them. Many have given me keys to their gates.

The back country of Baja is still no place for an inexperienced rider. Never go out riding alone. Always have plenty of water. Know your gas range and don’t take a chance of being stranded someplace in the back country.

Luckily, we now have a local experienced motorcycle tour guide, Kurt Russell. His company, Captain Baja Tours, is located here in Los Barriles. You can contact him at kirk@captainbajaadventures.com. You can check his company out on line as well. This is giving even more new riders a chance to experience this magnificent peninsula from the seat of a motorcycle.

I don’t know how many more years I will get to enjoy being “The Flying Fossil” down here, but I am very grateful for every mile I have ridden, for every rider I have ridden with, and for every day I have been able to ride with my family and friends. Baja has been very good to me and my time down here has been greatly enriched because I ride.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip with no injuries -- that required medical attention. The beauty was breathtaking, the mountains were vast and green, miles of riding through cactus forests or mile after mile of riding along the crashing waves of the blue Pacific, finding gas at ranches along the way, not to mention the adrenalin rush of wicking the throttle and flying down a straight narrow sandy two track road. . In our 900 miles we actually had less than 20 miles of roads that were problematic.

I earned the name of “The Flying Fossil” 15 years or so ago by a riding friend (Jamie Young.) I was 60 years old at the time. I guess I should change my name to “The Petrified Fossil.” A lot of my riding companions have stopped riding, have sold their bikes, or just had to give up the sport for a variety of reasons. But each year, new riders find their way down here to the Baja. I have greatly enjoyed teaching riding skills to younger riders… now all riders are younger than I am. I enjoy helping riders pick the right bike for them and I enjoy solving some of the mechanical issues that we all face. Today, many of the areas that we have ridden in past years have been closed off. Fences have gone up, gates installed, locks put on. Part of that is due to careless riders who haven’t always respected the local ranchers, or who tear up roads Feb/Mar

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Motorcycle continued from page 31

very strong. The boys often make multiple trips down during the winter, to get out of the cold north for a few days and to “turn the throttle” out in the desert sun with me.

Over the years, with GPS and SPOT Satellite Tracker, I have expanded my “scouting” trips and ventured farther north. With a computer, my wife can see where I am and how I am progressing -- in real time. In December 2014, with my son Kellsey and a couple of local riders, we did a 500 mile, 3 day unsupported ride going up to San Everisto, west to Puento Conejo and down the Pacific to Todos Santos, and back to Los Barriles. We had a wonderful time and the trip was so much fun, Ronnie Verduego and I started planning an even bigger adventure.

On February 8th of this year, five of us left Los Barriles to do a 900 mile, 5 day unsupported ride. The group included Ronnie Verdugo, Jason Russ, David Thornton, my son Ken and myself. Our planned route was to use back roads and stay off the pavement as much as possible. We again went north of La Paz, up the Sea of Cortez to the end of the road near San Evaristo, then west through the mountain ranges to Constitution and then east to Agua Verde. From there we headed north to the Mission San Javier, continuing north west to the Comondus and La Purisima before starting south to Todos Santos and then home. The trip was relatively problem free, and it was a true adventure with amazing scenery, great companionship, and the thrill of facing the

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unknown, the unexpected, and sometimes, the impossible. In my 20 years of riding in Baja I don’t remember the mountains ever being so green and beautiful.

On our ride we had three flat tires and one wheel bearing failure, which, for a ride like this and with five bikes, was only a minor inconvenience. We had everything necessary to make repairs and get back on the trail. With the current day GPS systems it is easy to navigate and stay on the route. Without good maps and a GPS route it would be almost impossible to find your way, and the desert can be a very hostile environment to those who enter unprepared.

The biggest adventure part of our trip came about on the 2 nd day. Severe hurricane damage had taken place in a couple of the most critical sections of our route. The first big challenge was the 1000 foot, 2 mile decent into Agua Verde. We had been told by a person we believed to be reliable (who lives at the top of the mountain) that the road was passable by motorcycle. We arrived at the top of the pass, after already riding over 200 miles that day, only to find treacherous vertical drops and huge water erosion with boulders strewn about everywhere. One of our sayings is “How hard can it really be?” After all, it was only a thousand feet downhill. less than 20 miles of roads that were problematic. Since all 5 of us were experienced riders we felt confident that we should be able to get to the bottom, one way or another. We did make it, but that 2 miles took us close to 2 hours. That tells you something!! In some places we were helping each other push our bikes through the rocks. About 1/3 of the way down I had the thought “what if we get almost to the bottom and there is a 100 foot sheer cliff?” I knew we couldn’t ride our bikes back to the top. By now the sun had gone down. I was finally able to find my way through to the bottom. Eventually everyone made it safely down. By then it was getting really dark and one bike had a flat rear tire.

Continued from page 4

Splashing in to snorkel at Cardonal, the water was warming and clear. The fish were plentiful, big, and abundant coral heads appeared to have been power washed clean during Hurricane Odile and their colors clear and striking. As a shallow reef, sadly some of the coral had been completely uprooted and knocked over during the havoc of the storm, with much coral debris now gathering on the sea floor.

Having gotten the nod from Captain Luis and facing the day’s end, we were underway. We were just off Las Tinas north of Punta Pescadero when we spotted something floating on the surface that was…bizarre, other worldly. Sticking about three feet from the water, it looked like the top of a craggy, miniature, vanilla covered iceberg. Captain Luis began shouting ‘Elefante Marino, Elefante Marino’! He was awestruck as he powered down, careful not to disturb the top of the iceberg. Closing in, the iceberg opened up…

Known in Spanish as the ‘Marin Elephant’ and in English as the ‘Elephant Seal’, Captain Luis was exclaiming what a rare site it was; he’d only seen one before in his 30 years on the water; Deckhand Joel, in his 15 years, also only one. And then Luis, as if somehow connected to this marine mammal, started calling to it – in English nonetheless – “Come here, boy”, “Come here, boy”...and it did! Right up to the boat. The site of it in the water is beyond belief. So beguilingly ugly, and yet the eyes are sweet and its actions doglike. We tossed it bait fish and it was even more engaging. Measuring half the size of the boat, through the clear water we could

The Elephant Seal was hunted to near extinction in the early part of the 19th Century. Since then, their populations have grown to approximately 150,000 worldwide, and they are found throughout the globe. The species are separated into ‘Northern’ and ‘Southern’, and the big bulls can weigh more than 5,000 pounds. Like turtles, they navigate the oceans until they reach maturity after 5 - 6 years. Some big males have been known to travel as many as 13,000 miles a year, exceeding even the Gray Whale's migration.

The Sea of Cortez is slightly beyond their normal scope, although they come to sandy sides on the Pacific side twice a year to breed and to molt.

The bizarre snout is a sort of ‘rebreather’, making a lot of noise when it dips in and out of the water but plays an essential role in hydrating the animal when it is out of the water. Males can live up to 14 years and females up to 22 years. Similar to the Sperm whale, Elephant seals attain incredibly deep dives – up to 7,500 feet down and can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes while they are searching for their favorite foods – rays, squid, eels, octopus, small sharks and big fish.

We were concerned about our new friend’s right eye, which seemed milky blue. It must have been an old injury and it was obviously blind in that eye, but faring well in life. A new friend, right here in the fathomless deep blue sea, and for more than 30 minutes we hung out together.

What an awesome gift, what a once-in-a-lifetime chance and it was ours to share!

“Come here, boy, Come here boy!”

Continued on page 33

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see that it was at least 15 feet long and with a huge girth, weighing thousands of pounds. At one point it had us all on the bow and as if to show off, it turned over and swam off with the smooth ease of a mermaid! Then right back for more fish. It was a good model as we snapped countless pictures. We couldn’t take our eyes off it.

Feb/Mar

Feb/Mar

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On Whale Watch By: Alexandra Delis-Abrams

A whale, I hear as many abandon their serious sunbasking for binoculars.

Exuberance cannot be contained as I plead, my turn, and vie for the glasses that will bring this miracle closer to view.

Nature at its best! I’m in gratitude to be in the right spot at the right time.

But then, aren’t we always, I muse.

A life lesson taught before our very eyes.

Mama humpback is teaching her student what her species has done for eons.

Could the force of mama’s tail be saying... this is how it’s done?

A splash dispersing an enormous amount of water is the result.

It’s powerfully staggering.

Pay attention now...let’s practice...watch me…

Over and over and over again, her tail slams down on the surface of the sea.

Moments after baby replicates the behavior.

Like this? I'm getting the idea.

But what does it mean, I ponder as each cell of my being overflows with sheer joy.

Who really cares, I hear.

Does knowing deepen the awe you feel of this moment of Now? In the midst of the class baby thrusts her mega body straight up out of the water, like the Apollo spaceship.

Maybe in an expression of pure exhilaration...and...maybe not.

Cheers are spontaneously heard from those who feel Our magnificent planet is school for those who are conscious of the lessons offered.

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The ebb and flow of the sea, like the in and outflow of breath, giving and receiving.

The precise cycle of the moon, offering the gift of Divine timing versus forcing life.

The wisdom of the salmon following its smell to its birthplace, natural knowing.

The miraculous moment has passed, mama and baby are on their way.

Briefly my heart goes heavy, legs weaken, and tears dampen my eyes.

When will we stop destroying our planet? I scream.

I choose to send light to the captured baby elephants, imprisoned as they await their destiny to a zoo in China and Thailand.

I choose to drench my beloved wolves in a loving energy as the monsters rip them from protection.

I choose to stay receptive to my next course of activism I trust I trust I trust The lesson offered: let go of grasping, struggle, resistance.

Although often challenging, I choose to focus on that which choreographs my life and conspires for my highest good.

It is my true north.

The anchor I cling to My lifeline.

Off they go.

Thank you for the gift my friends, as the aborigines say, I love you and support you on your journey.

The Fun of Motorcycle Riding in Baja

By Jerry Justus Riding off-road dirt bikes in Baja is an adventure enjoyed by many riders who come to Baja to enjoy the warm winter months. I am one of those riders. To date, I have ridden well over 30,000 miles in Baja with almost all of that on unpaved, backcountry roads and trails.

20 years ago I was introduced to the Baja peninsula by Malcolm Smith, a famous dirt bike racer - won the Baja 1000 race 6 times and the Baja 500 race 4 times. In 1995 Malcolm invited me to join him and a small group to ride from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas, riding mostly on the Baja 1000 race course. My youngest son and I did that ride, being the first time I had ever been south of San Diego. It was a trip that impressed me so much that it wasn’t long before my wife and I made a trip down the Baja peninsula in our motor home, ending up at Verdugo’s RV Park. That same spring we bought a small place on the beach, here in Los Barriles.

Feb/Mar

Motorcycle riding soon became one of my favorite activities down here. My wife and I had a Jeep and we started exploring the southern tip of Baja, plotting out routes that would be fun to do on the bikes- long before the GPS. We had a lot of success and soon I had a nice list of Feb/Mar

places to ride. It wasn’t long and I had a good sized group of riders who wanted to ride with me. It was not unusual for a group of us to ride two or three days a week. I was a wind surfer (kite surfing now) so the wind often kept us close to the water, but windless days or any time it rained, we could be found out in the back country, enjoying the freedom of riding in the Baja.

My interest in riding in Baja has continued to grow and several years ago, I started leading groups of riders on excursions across the peninsula. I would get a group of people together, with similar riding skills, my wife would drive a support vehicle, and we would ride from Los Barriles over to Todos Santos and spend the night.

The riders would arrive at the hotel where their bags were in their rooms and snacks and cold drinks would be waiting,, I have a great wife! After a rest, story sharing, a hot shower, and clean clothes we would go out to dinner. Then the next morning the riders would suit up and enjoy riding back across the mountains on a completely different route, making our way back home.

My two sons, a son in law and a grandson, all love to ride motorcycles, so I always keep an extra motorcycle or two ready for them. During these past 20 years I have really enjoyed having them come down and ride with me. The bond we have because of the riding is Continued on pg 32

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Tattooed Man

by Renée Lagloire Javier, my neighbor’s twenty year old nephew came to the gate of the property the other day. He’d been working and wasn’t wearing a shirt. I noticed that he had what looked like a sentence tattooed across his chest, or maybe more like a title? There were three words, written in an ornate Gothic font, with each word capitalized.

Because I find the permanence of tattoos intimidating, I am fascinated by them. So naturally, I approached, saying: “Let’s see what you’ve got here,” pointing to his chest.

I read each scrolled letter, saying the words as I deciphered them: “Te … Amo …. Esmeralda” (I love you Esmeralda).

I looked into his eyes, and teasingly asked: “Exgirlfriend?”

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He looked away, saying: “Yeah.”

“So”, I said, “you still like the tattoo?”

“No, not anymore,” he answered.

“Hmm,” I said, “any options?”

“Not really, I have no money, and that’s what it would take to make it into a different design, or to have it removed.”

I thought about it, and suggested, “Or, you can look for a girlfriend named Esmeralda. You can put the word out that only Esmeraldas will be considered!”

“Yes,” he answered, “but Maria would have been better. There are more girls named Maria than Esmeralda.”

We looked at each other for a brief instant, and nodded our heads in silent agreement. Indeed, Maria might have been better.

THE EARTH UNDER OUR FEET

BY RUSS HYSLOP

Let’s talk about volcanos…

The humans have lived and died and have been disrupted by volcanoes throughout history. In ancient times the natural phenomenon merged with myth, drawing its name from a Roman God, Vulcan, ruler of fire, forge and hearth.

The first well-recorded eruption was that of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It buried the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on the Bay of Naples, killing 16,000 people.

Bits of Early History of the California Baja Before the Spaniards arrived, the peninsula of Baja California was inhabited by three major ethnic groups: the Cochimí in the north, the Guaycura in the central section and the Pericú on the southern cape. Archaeological artifacts suggest that these tribes inhabited the peninsula and Cedros Island as early as 9,000-10,000 years ago. The Cochimí, who lived on the mainland, were hunters and gatherers, but an isolated group of Cochimí living on Cedros Island developed a fairly complex agricultural system. The Guaycura and the Pericú lived by hunting, gathering and fishing. Their descendants still live in Baja California, primarily on the northernmost part of the peninsula.

From the History Channel web site.

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The deadliest in historic times appears to have been Tambora in Indonesia: its 1815 eruption claimed 92,000 lives.

Twelve thousand died in the blast; the remainder, their crops and livestock destroyed, starved to death. Tambora’s aerosol cloud lowered temperatures so much that snow fell in the United States in June, July and August of the following year; it is remembered as “the year without a summer”.

Other notable killers: Krakatoa, 1883, the Sunda Strait between Java and Feb/Mar

Sumatra . Created a tsunami a hundred feet high that drowned 36,000 people. The detonation was heard 3,000 miles away.

Pelee, 1902, Martinique. Sent a hurricane of hot gases into the town of St. Pierre, killing 30,000. Only two inhabitants survived – One of whom was safely imprisoned in a thick walled jail cell!

Nevado Del Ruiz, 1905, Colombia. A Tidal wave of mud swept down from the volcano, smothering and crushing 23,000 people.

There are some 550 known active volcanos on earth and some 500 million people living close to them. A dozen or two of these volcanos can be erupting at any moment.

We have on the Baja Peninsula 12 known volcano sites.

The most prominent, Tres Virgenes, which we pass while traveling Mexico 1 between Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio. The last eruption of this volcano, according to the Jesuits, occurred in the 1600’s.

This area remains active as it supports a thermal/electric facility that utilizes heated waters located under the ground surface around this volcano.

Next Issue: I will discuss the other volcanic areas of our beautiful Peninsula.

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When was Back in the Day? By: Jorge Bergin My fishin’ buddy in the states, Tony, is a verifiable atavist, born 100 years (or more) too late. We had some wild fireside differences about the subject behind some limes and Gusano Rojo mescal.

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In one of our fireside sessions I suggested it might be a “How you gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree” kinda thing. Something about knowing what the west looks like in the movies, TV, google earth or visiting the Tetons, Yellowstone and Yosemite in modern times by bike or car or bus seems as easy as planning the trip, jumping in the van and you’re there. That’s now. You wanna go back, it’s a very big deal.

He described the wild western part of the U.S. like a hunter’s heaven, a fishermen’s Nirvana. He kept dragging me back to the 1600 and 1700s to show me the grandeur, the empty majesty of a place yet untouched.

How about a trip from California to what is now Baja before there were cars? Try doing the pilgrim thing from north to south in your mind (apologies to Graham and Mike, The Burro

He wasn’t talking to the Princess of New York City because I was drinking out of hoof prints and eating trout on a stick at times myself so, it wasn’t city boy against country boy.

In a pinch, unless I was too drunk to make an argument, I would bring up some trade-offs: Tony would make a face when I told him I would live now, give up some personal freedom for the Beach Boys. Trade off the gift of solitude for some things like toilet paper, dentists, bug spray, a new jeep, my 6mm Remington, cold Bud, a passport and a credit card and the time to use them.

So, I had to nudge him, between shots, back to reality when his picture got too Bambi-like and on we went. I think I would enjoy such chats with some Nomads out there who, like Tony, would be willing to endure some discomfort for real adventure, a life worth living.

I reminded him that beyond the Great Basin to the west at that time, he was more likely to have the full time job of just staying alive. Not much opportunity to travel – the Western Amerindians moved south and east at the rate of 100 miles per generation (30 years). I have to leave out the boat people because they could travel much farther and faster by water but it was more arduous and dangerous than most land travel by foot. So unless he painted himself into a picture with a horse, the majesty, the grandeur he would enjoy would just be mostly his valley, the foothills and the mountains around him. He, like many new to the life of the west, might live out his life and not travel over a hundred miles from his brush hut.

Man).

We were both born in the 1930s and had all the freedom that era could give us and we lived it to the hilt. As a kid I roamed the Everglades of south Florida while Tony walked the mounds of the famous Mississippians at Cahokia but, he is very hard to convince – he says he’d rather be a loner, a hunter-gatherer than do his life over in these times.

Must be just our dreams, his of his first bison kill with a spear, mine of memory of my first vanilla milk shake, the hum of the engine in my 49 Chevy and Surfin’ U.S.A. in the background. In the main, wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Maybe all those talks led me down the path to be a writer, to preserve, for a while, the ideal opportunity to live in the here and now, let my mind and my pen wander all over the universe being amazed at what each era held for one with a different kind of free and easy travel pass.

Two Bajas By: Jorge Bergin Writing is a great hobby for me because when I write things down I often find out just how I feel about them.

In my last little think piece about Baja, “Why Wait”, I learned that there are two kinds of Bajas; one for vacationers, one for settlers.

On a week’s vacation here or anywhere in the tropics near a beach, we want clear water, white sand, no people and tranquility. After a couple of days camped on this wonderful strand we want food and showers and hospitals and auto repair places and dentists and airconditioning and big box stores and TV and lobster bisque. Then, after six months we need more and better hospitals, cadres of doctors, quick, cheap access to our far-flung friends and family, special food stores, opera theaters and bowling alleys, skating rinks and raves.

and is truer here than most places I’ve been. It works.

You can live in Orlando but it is always packed with people who get in your way. You can live in La Purisima but you will miss your kids and be miserable when you run out of your special meds.

So, in the real world the saying should not be “I just adore Rome but I wouldn’t want to live there.” More like “I love living near Rome and don’t mind the trips there where we go to get everything else we need.”

In Baja you can have your cake and eat it too but you have to have a car, money for gas, good planning and a laid back attitude. The timeshare sales people will not agree. They have other plans for you and your hard earned yankee dollars but, the great glowing irony is that their credo is exactly the same as mine.

We want what we want when we want it. The point is we wouldn’t have been happy very long as settlers on that first deserted beach. We know it won’t stay that way forever but we can’t stand it there for very long anyway; it will turn into a quaint and quiet development for a while to give the campers creature comforts for a price. We should view those special places as our private free waterparks which we hope will stay pristine and free.

It turns out that your “Wants Lists” might be a lot closer to most other Bajaphiles and your worries get scrunched down a bit when you see that you can’t really live where you play. It’s the reason I’ve said that if I had it to do all over again after the last 20 years I would have bought a nice little Mexican house in a small village I liked and followed the motto “Live in our world, play in yours.”.

It’s the very old cry of suburbia all over this lovely planet

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Los Barriles Dog Show Would you like to see how Badger got on with his agil-

ity training? Then come along to The Los Barriles Dog Show on Sunday March 15th at the Hotel Palmas de Cortez in the center of Los Barriles. Badger and his fourlegged friends will be demonstrating just how much they learnt in six weeks as they strut their stuff around the agility course. You can also see other events on the day including best looking dog (over & under 40 lbs), best costume, cutest pair and best trick or skill. The doors open at 10.30am, and if you’re coming to watch, please bring a chair, picnic rug or something to sit on, and some shade such as an umbrella. There will be music, face painting, 50/50 raffle, a bar and food vendors including Lighthouse Pizza, La Fogata and Carmen’s Smoothies.

Local veterinarians will be available to offer advice, and Cristobal will be giving free rabies shots. Other vendors include Copper River Designs (jewelry), The Baja Kennel Club stand and ALMA’s stand. All monies raised go towards spaying and neutering locally. For further information, please seewww.bajakennelclub.com.

Thank you to all of our sponsors without who this would never have happened: Annex Brands, Van Wormer Resorts, Quad Man, NuEra, Copper River Designs, EPB, Baja’s Awesome Sportfishing, Bahia Real Estate, Salon de Cortez, The supPOCKET, LB Property Services, Playa Norte RV Park, Seven Seas Property Management, Joe’s Deli, Hill’s Science Diet and Lighthouse Pizza.

Thank you for having the faith in us!!

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Do dogs wag their tail only when they are happy?

Dogs wag their tail for many reasons and the most common occurrence is that they are either happy or nervous. Learning to read what your dog is telling you, whether they are large or small, will go a long way in helping build your relationship!

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SEARCHING OUT EXOTIC MARGARITAS

By Ann Hazard In 2006 I discovered an unlikely place called Art & Beer on the far end of Cerritos Beach, about 20 minutes south of Todos Santos. I say unlikely because I was expecting a hippie art gallery serving beer. I got the art gallery right. I got the hippie part right. I was charmed by the rustic décor and all the living, breathing art and sculptures. It was magical. But the surprise was their signature—and my first—Exotic Margarita.

It was called a Citrus Margarita. Served in a frosty beer mug, it was made of fresh—as in squeezed in front of my eyes— orange, grapefruit, tangerine and limon juices, tequila, Controy, an array of garnishes and a paper umbrella. It was incredible. I came back to Buena Vista after that trip and made them for all my friends.

On recent trips to Todos Santos I began noticing a trend. Every restaurant has at least one signature, exotic Margarita. I talked (it didn’t take much talking) my friends Colleen and Deb into doing a three day Margarita Crawl—including Cerritos, Pescadero and Todos Santos. I’m certain there are fancy Margaritas all over Los Cabos, but I wanted to search out the cool, slightly offbeat places. We took three days and we visited six restaurants. We weren’t just there for the drinking. We were there for the ambience, and as always on Baja’s South Pacific Coast, the amazing food.

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It is always our favorite stop for lunch when we roll into town. Deb always orders the Shrimp Chile Rellenos. I never order anything but the Beef Chimichangas.

The food is organic, beautifully prepared and ridiculously addicting. Owner Manuel Valdez (brother of Chuy who owns Hotel Buena Vista here) is charming.

He welcomes every guest at every table. His traditional Margaritas are spectacular and he will show you how they’re made when you visit. But we fell in love with the Mango version. Garnished with a slice of limon and sprig of mint, these are the best we‘ve found. The recipes for both versions are on the wall, so bring a camera or cell phone.

Colleen met up with us at our second stop, the Hotel California. Deb and I fell in love with the JamaicaJalapeno Margarita a few months ago. Juan, the bartender showed me how it was made this time and I took notes. (I have all the recipes, actually.) I love the spicy edginess of the jalapeno, complementing the tang of the Jamaica. Colleen hadn’t ever tried one before, and her eyes lit up as she took her first sip. Another winner.

Next door, Chef Dany Lamote, Hotel California’s executive chef, has a boutique restaurant called Santo Vino. His most divine, decadent Margarita is a White Chocolate Margarita, made with Mezcal. As a dessert drink it’s unbeatable.

Friday: It rained early on, so we got a late start, stopping in for lunch at Hierbabuena Hortaliza, a farm to table restaurant I frequent every single time I’m on the west coast. Located in Pescadero just down the road by Thursday: Our first stop of the day was Tequila Sun- the Pemex Station, the dining area is an open air pavilrise, across the street from Hotel California in Todos ion in the middle of an organic farm. To the east are the towering Sierra de la Laguna .

Santos.

Continued pg 11

A Different Day in the life of Badger, the dog By: Emma Nicholson My normal morning goes something like this…

Wake up and stare at my parents until they sense my gaze and start to stir.

Thump my tail furiously to ensure they are fully woken, lick their feet/hands or whatever part of them is sticking out of the comforter, and then do an exaggerated loud yawn coupled with a vigorous shake. This is guaranteed to ensure they don’t fall back to sleep.

A five minute pee break is always followed by my morning snack, and then a wonderful hour-long romp down the arroyo with my fairly annoying sister Honey. (She got the looks and I got the brains in the family). But this morning, Wednesday 4th February to be exact, was different. Following my snack, my sister Honey and I were separated and I was led from the house ON A LEASH….

I say that with a fairly shouty voice because a leash is only for times when we’re in a town, on a sidewalk or in a foreign country. In my mind, a leash attaches my Daddy to me. This therefore gives me the right to pull him wherever I want to go (rather than where he wants to go).

Anyway, we set off in our car – I like to sit in the middle where I can be helpful navigating. My parents can sometimes be slow when it comes to directions. But today, we didn’t go towards the arroyo; we went in the other direction. I furiously licked my Daddy to let him know about his mistake, but we drove on.

After five minutes, we arrived at what I can only describe as heaven on earth…. A field of real green grass that stretched for miles and miles… what a treat! I believe, (or so I hear) that it’s the same experience as parents have when they roll around in silk sheets.

There on the grass were other dogs on leashes with their parents. Having spotted a good friend of mine Peso, I was desperate to get out of car to join the gang and find out what the jeepers was going on. Hauling Daddy by his leash, I joined the throng and we discussed quite loudly what was happening. No-one had a clue. All we could see was a bunch of plastic gate things, a hill made out of wood, and some tunnel-like contraption that looked great for peeing on. A more sensible mature dog called Kiwi thought we might be at something called ‘agility training’ but she wasn’t sure.

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Then we were moving. Daddy and I were directed to what looked like a gate. And that’s where the fun began…. Daddy produced from nowhere a bag of my favorite Feb/MarBarkery liver treats. Oh yes! This was starting

to get good! I have to admit that I was a little confused to start with, and wasn’t quite sure why I couldn’t just walk through the gate thing, or spend my time sniffing inside the tunnel. But once I realized that I could get a treat if I simply jumped over it, or speeded up slightly; I was sold!

Before I knew it, I was leaping over those gates, running up the wooden hill and dashing through the black tunnelthing. Granted, there were a couple of moments I had to stifle an inward laugh. The first was when Peso ran so fast through the tunnel that he knocked his parent over.

(That’s because Peso doesn’t know his own strength).

The second was when a young pup called Amy ran through the tunnel-thing and then carried on running out of the field and towards her home. Hilarious.

Seriously? Could this get any better? A morning spent with some of my best four-legged friends, eating as many treats as I could get my paws on, and hanging out with my Daddy doing fun, jumping and running stuff. Just as I was beginning to perfect my run up the wooden hill, Daddy shouted a chorus of goodbyes, and we were heading back to the car. I was getting a little tired by now, but I had had a fantastic time.

On arrival back at home, I was met by my quite stupid sister Honey. Honestly, you would have thought I had been away for months judging by her reaction to my arrival. After calming her down, by basically ignoring her for a few minutes, I told her about my experience that morning. How I had achieved things I had never done before, how Daddy and I had worked closely together, and how I had had tons of fun! At one point I realized she was feigning interest as I could see her eying up an old almond stuck under a chair leg. I didn’t care. I was the star of the house today. I wasn’t going to lose that great feeling. So with that, I took myself off to my bed and reflected on the day’s achievements. I can’t wait until the next training session in a week’s time, and tomorrow, I’m going to tell the story all over again to my best friend Vonnie. Soon I started to nod off with the fading sounds of ‘weave Badger, weave Badger’ drifting into my consciousness…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Badger showing of his skill and new talents!

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the Basil Margarita. Deb and Colleen had theirs on the rocks and I had mine blended. We agreed mine was better. I am a huge fan of basil, and this drink rocks my world. The view isn’t bad either and we spotted plenty of whales in the short time we were there.

Because we could, we made out last stop Hierbabuena Hortaliza again. This time, Marcos made Deb his version of the Basil Margarita with muddled basil from his garden, white tequila, limon and Controy. It was shaken like and served with a salted rim. Colleen tried his Watermelon Margarita and I had a PineappleCilantro Margarita. Every one delicious.

Continued from Pg 10

To the west is the Pacific. Sitting there, we were surrounded by fields, palm groves and the farm. I am always in awe when I go there. The food, again, was phenomenal. Owner/Chef Marcos made us a trio of exotic Margaritas. I chose the Pomegranate Margarita, made with mescal and fresh pomegranate juice from the garden. Deb had a Mango Margarita and Colleen had a Baja Sunrise, with house made Jamaica liqueur, lime, fresh orange juice and tequila. Craving Italian food, I had Eggplant Parmesan for lunch. The others shared hummus and fresh veggies along with Roasted Squash Soup. To-die-for.

We had planned to visit Rancho Pescadero, a world class boutique resort closer to the beach, but it was closed for a private event. I’ve been there before and I will attest that their Pineapple-Cilantro Margarita is excellent, as is there chile-rimmed Mango Margarita.

Saturday: Our first stop was Art & Beer, the place that started it all for me nine years ago. Instead of just one Exotic Margarita, there was now an entire chalk board filled with them. Deb ordered a Kiwi Margarita. Colleen ordered a Mixed Berry Margarita and I went with my old favorite, the Citrus Margarita. While we were waiting for them to be made, we wandered around the property and took photos. There was far more art and sculptures than on my previous visit, and the backdrop of Cerritos Beach and the Pacific was beautiful. All three Margaritas were delicious and beautifully garnished. As we drank them, we discussed but decided against having another round. Instead we put the paper umbrellas behind our ears and headed north to our next destination.

So … is anyone up for an Exotic Margarita Party? Ole!

.

Citrus Margarea and board— Art and Beer (above) Basil Margareta—Hacienda Cerritos (left) Exotic Margaritas - Hierbabuena Hortaliza

Hacienda Cerritos is a spectacular Mexican Hacienda perched dramatically on the cliffs at the north end of Cerritos Beach. Its oceanfront bar is open to the public, and a must see for all visitors. Their signature drink is

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RECYCLING ANNOUNCEMENT By: Lynn Mirasson East Cape Recycling Baja must announce that we are no longer able to recycle any glass until further notice. Several creative people have come forward with projects that utilize glass bottles, such as building them into walls and other decorative ideas, but the vast remainder end up going to the landfill. Until we can again find a receptive organization, please try to reduce the number of bottles you buy (beer in cans?) and toss in the garbage, and put on your thinking cap regarding creative ways to reuse what you do produce. ECRB continues to recycle many other materials on the first Thursday of each month. Please consult our website: www.eastcaperecyclingbaja.com for dates and a complete list of what we accept. We are particularly trying to save EPS (expanded polystyrene) from landing in the landfill. This is the white "styrofoam" packing material that comes around your new TVs and appliances. We collect this material and it is

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recycled into a wonderful building block with outstanding insulating properties. There are several homes in Los Barriles built from this EF Block. Thank you for recycling, supporting environmental education in our schools, and preserving our beautiful marinecentered community!

This should get your garden started; but if you want to go to the extra effort (you reap what you sow), I add worm castings. Worm castings are one of the world richest fertilizers. Worm castings are worm “poop” and occur naturally in soil that has earthworms. Not surprisingly, the soil in Baja is so sandy and rocky that I have never seen an earthworm in my natural garden. Unlike animal manure and artificial fertilizers, it is absorbed easily and immediately by plants. Lucky for us, Maurico Acle, the owner of Organicos Baja Sur, in La Paz (near the La Paz airport), http://www.organicosbajasur.com (use Google Chrome and it will automatically translate websites from Spanish to English) has a worm farm and sells 50-kilo bags of worm castings for approximately $200 pesos per bag. I add about 5% worm castings to my raised beds each year.

Raised garden beds require rotating your crops and extra effort each year to keep your soil rich and vital. It does take a little extra work, and some added cost, but the payoff is HUGE. Except as discussed above, I rarely fertilize my vegetable garden; and every year I have a bumper crop. If you start with rich organic soil, you will have a wonderful garden. If the ground in which you plant your seeds is weak and lacking nutrients, your plants will be weak, small and will not have the strength to deal with insect infestations and other blights. We cannot eat all that I grow in my garden and so my friends and neighbors become the beneficiaries of my great garden soil.

It’s the dirt!!! Happy gardening!

HELP

STRETC H OUR CIRCULATION OF EASTCAPERS MAGAZINE! When you are done reading the Eastcapers magazine, if you don’t plan on saving it in your collection of great reads and have no one to pass it on to, then return it to the Eastcapers Rack where you found it! Not only will this allow more people to enjoy the Eastcapers, but this will help us stretch and recycle it in the very best way!!!

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IT’S THE DIRT By: Holly Burgin

I planted the seeds for my vegetable garden in December before we left for the US for the holidays. When I returned a month later, the garden had gone crazy. Not only had all the seeds come up and the plants had grown tall, but I also had a crop of weeds and volunteers. After a few days of weeding, it was clear I had an over-abundance of tomatoes and other vegies. So, I put the word out on the BPE and people as far away Cabo Pulmo came for veggie starts for their gardens. I shared about 70 of my tomato “children” with my fellow gardeners.

Tomato lovers brought their own pots; and we dug up my extra seedlings, as well as the volunteers. Of course, with the volunteers, it is always a surprise as to which variety it will be; but I think most were a small cherry variety (really about the size of currants) called Matt’s Wild Cherry that I first planted in 2011. They are tiny sweet

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morsels that just keep coming back, year after year. I figure, now that I have shared so many volunteers, all of Los Barriles will be eating Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes.

One question I was asked, over and over, as the garden people arrived to claim their tomatoes was “Where do you get your dirt?” Well, there is not a simple answer to this question. But one answer might be -- “Not here.” I do not consider the terra firma that is around my house to be “dirt.” Up here on the hill, north of town, it must be decomposed granite, because only the hardiest of the local flora can survive in this inhospitable terrain. I have raised beds for my vegetable garden and every year I consider new ways I can amend the soil that has, little by little, improved to become a beautiful, rich, organic “tierra”.

So, how did I do it? Well, it took a while, but I think with all the rain this year, anyone starting a garden has some advantages that are not always available. So, take advantage of this moment.

First, dig out all the crappy dirt; and I am using the term “dirt” loosely (although not the word “crappy”) that is in your garden plot. Unless you live in an arroyo, assume your “dirt” is as above described.

Head to La Riberia and when you get to the place where the road to La Ribera crosses an arroyo, pull over and start digging. The loamy soil that has washed down the arroyo is the perfect base for building your garden soil. Take as much as you need for 80% of your pots or garden plot. But this is just the beginning.

Home Depot is my source of instant organic matter. If you do not have a compost pile, peat moss will provide most of the needed organic material you will need to help build great garden soil. I add about 10 - 15% peat moss to my raised beds each year. If you are just starting a garden, use as much as you can afford. I have read that peat moss retains up to 20 times its weight in moisture, and releases water slowly as plants need it; allows for proper root growth by loosening and aerating soils; adds body to sandy soil; reduces leaching of nutrients in or added to the soil (which saves on fertilizer); protects soil from hardening; and is environmentally friendly and free of insects, weeds, seeds, salts and chemicals, and represents good economic value. Or course, if you have a compost pile, use your own compost to amend the soil. BTW, Buen Provecho in San Bartolo (our fabulous Mexican cooking school) will be selling compost from their huerta next season, replete with seasoned goat, cow and horse manure. It should be amazing!

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TALK IS CHEAP or is it???

By: Sefi Held, Talking is something that is very unique to us humans, yet it still remains a mystery. Noam Chomsky, was an intellectual prodigy who went on to earn a PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania and is deemed to be the godfather of linguistics, and was the first to suggest that our ability to talk is innate. Noam Chomsky’s best-known book on linguistics is called, “Syntactic Structures”. We barely notice that we are doing it, yet it takes thousands of decisions and thousands of thoughts each time that we use language. Just the physical action of pushing air through our mouths, we take a thought in our heads, and release it as the spoken word. Amazing!

Other animals also make sounds to communicate, but speech and language distinguishes us from all the other species. It really is miraculous how our brain does it and how we learn to talk remains an even deeper mystery.

And, then, you take into consideration the fact that we speak in so many different languages that it makes talking even more amazing!

Are we losing this fine art of speech? Of conversation?

AND Of Talking? 88% of North Americans are on line daily! Take a look around you the next time you are at the airport, in a restaurant or on the beach and you’ll see whole families checking email, reading from an e-reader, chatting online, Twittering, etc. during the entire time that they are together to spend “some quality time” with each other. Apparently IPhone are allowed into school classrooms now! What happened to talk? To looking at people directly and making eye contact with them and to just listening to the person or persons you are with? This may also have something to do with our very shortattention span and the need for immediate results. Yes, we are truly a changing society and what has taken us eons to evolve, is being lost.

The throat is a particularly important area of the body as it is associated with our respiratory system, our digestive system and it, is one of the higher levels of our energetic system. The given name is Visshuddha in Sanskrit.

Vishuddi or throat chakra is the fifth primary chakra according to the Hindu tradition. Vishuddha Chakra unleashes an unlimited feeling of happiness and freedom that allows our abilities and skills to blossom. Along with this stage of development there is a clear voice, a talent for singing and speech, as well as balanced and calm thoughts. When we give voice to our thoughts, many times the chatter in our heads which appears as “thoughts”, are made clear. Until this Chakra is fully developed, certain difficulties may be experienced. Blockage of the Vishuddhi Chakra produces feelings of

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anxiety, lack of freedom, restriction, thyroid and throat problems. There may be physically unfounded manifestations of swallowing problems and speech impediments.

An open Throat Chakra allows us to express ourselves and communicate with others. Are you in need of a communication tune-up? Visit us at the Sukhasan Yoga and Pilates Studio: we talk, we listen and we welcome you.

Think about the next time that you choose email, Twitter or Facebook over the phone, or better yet, face-to- face contact, Re-think, Re-feel and choose talk!! Also, listen to what is not being said. Just Listen.

The key is finding that balance in whatever we do in life.

After all, it is up to us individually to recognize when we need to detox digitally. So many things that we think are of extreme importance don’t really matter very much at all. There is no secret to life and no magic path. Every experience we share is golden and every experience informs who we are and who we will become. Make your experiences count.

“For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”

Stephen Hawking Sefi Held, A.C.E., CanfitPro certified Personal Trainer, Fitness, Yoga, Pilates and Older Adult Fitness Specialist Instructor, Resist-A-Ball and Zumba certified teaching at the Sukhasana Yoga and Pilates Studio located within the Healing Winds Holistic Center, Los Barriles, BCS.

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Feb/Mar

A Letter of Introduction from

Caffe’ Encinalito Three years from now we may be friends. In two years perhaps you’ll know us. Next year you might be regulars. And right now you have no idea who we are. Caffe’ Encinalito is our name and espresso is our business. We are Jacqueline and Sasha Landis, your enthusiastic local baristas. You may have seen us last year selling our coffee beans at the Community Market. Or perhaps you’ve driven by our storefront on Calle Costa Brava on your way to the beach. These days we spend most of our time here at our cafecito where we roast coffee, sling espresso, and bake little yummies. While it’s tempting to use this space to wax poetic about our organic, fairly traded wares, let’s instead quench any lingering curiosity and tell you a bit about how this caffe came to be.

It wasn’t the wind that we chased down to Los Barriles, but family. Though Sasha hails from Alaska, and I myself am a native of California, we met in the middle: Port Townsend, Washington. Sasha’s father, Scott, has been living here in Southern Baja for the better part of twenty years, so Sasha himself has been visiting for equally as long. I entered the Landis family picture about five years ago and, with Sasha, have yearly been swooping down from Washington ever since. After ever-lengthening vacations to the area, in 2013 we were married in the hills at the beautiful Rancho La Venta. Soon thereafter we began scheming on how to spend more time in Mexico. Promptly, a little business plan was hatched for what we saw as a much-needed commodity: coffee. And before we knew it, thanks to the massive support of our families, the dream of a caffe’ was realized. The result is here for you to see!

Caffe’ Encinalito, which means â little oak grove, gets its name from Sasha’s father’s rancho in the sierra. Our menu is a simple one, based in the authentic Italian ritual of espresso. We use a traditional piston machine made

by Rancilio, meaning our shots are hand-pulled, ultimately giving us more control over our espresso. In all our machine’s nuances we were trained by Andrea Spella of Spella Caffe in Portland, Oregon (named best espresso in Portland by the New York Times). As far as our aesthetic: it follows our menu in its simplicity, marrying the calm of Baja with the clean, cool shade of our palms. We are open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, from 8 am to 3 in the afternoon. Come say hello and share your own story. We would love to know you.

Feb/Mar

“We are a Family Company working in the Eastcape area since 1998…”

Jorge Ayala, Jr Architect since 2006 Prof Lic # 5832089 Cell Ph # (624) 348-5607 ljacompanylb@gmail.com

Jorge Ayala, Sr Civil Engineer since 1984 Prof Lic # 1356247 Cell Ph (612) 348-8417 losbarrilesdesigns@gmail.com We can provide you the following services: Architecture from the Concepts to the Final Drawings in Cad system, including the services in 3D renderings.

Civil, Structural & Mechanical Engineering.

Construction of any type of Building Systems such as Foam Panels, Cement Blocks, Post and Beams, Concrete Insulated Forms, Rammed Earth, Etc… Our Main Office is located in downtown Los Barriles on the main drag, next to La Fayla’s Supermarket.

Office Ph # (624) 141-0155 Email: losbarrilesdesigns@gmail.com www.losbarrilesdesigns.com

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Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

Biking continued from pg 21

we're happy to say she's on the mend thanks to East Cape's Charlene Wenger and Dr. Toledo along with Dr. Cardenas at CIFO in San Jose del Cabo.

Making Friends with the Chayote

Heather is on the mend and we're happy we found this oasis. Serendipity played a role in this story too. On a rainy morning in Cannon Beach Oregon, we met a lady named Chris. She was fascinated by our tour and asked where we were going. Our original plans had us riding as far south as Nicaragua, through Baja, and not really going any farther south than the La Paz/Mazatlan ferry. We had no idea how lucky we were when she told us about the little town of Los Barriles.

By: Renée Lagloire and Denise Elliott Buen Provecho Baja Chayote is your friend! When Hurricane Odile hit the East Cape area and few fresh vegetables were available for purchase, there it was … the chayote, green, hard to the touch, and shaped like a pear. It finds its way into most Mexican kitchens, and is therefore almost always available in small and large grocery stores. Chayote is inexpensive, readily available, and can be very tasty! If you don’t know it, you might want to become acquainted!

It is thought that chayote is native to Central America and Mexico. It was a staple in ancient Mexico, where it was first domesticated. In the Aztecs’ Nahuatl language, it was called chayotl, but it was known thousands of years before among the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula where its fruit, its tendrils, flowers and roots were part of the cuisine.

Chayote is now grown all over Latin America, and worldwide under various names, among others, vegetable pear, chocho, mirliton, or christophine.

A perennial vine, chayote (Sechium edule) is in the gourd family, but is unusual in that it has a single, edible seed which is considered the most delicious part of the vegetable. Chayote is simple to grow, simply bury a whole chayote halfway in the ground horizontally near a fence where it can climb, and water regularly. You will soon have a vigorous tall vine that will produce numerous chayote.

Follow our blog: www.crazyguyonabike.com/quesnelbikers2014

Lime and Herb Grilled Chayote Chayote a la Plancha con Limon y Hierbas 4 chayotes 2 Tbsp. olive oil Juice of 2 limes 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley (Other herbs of choice if desired) Salt and pepper 1. Make sure the grill is turned on.

2. If the chayotes are large and the skin is tough or spikey, peel them. Otherwise, no need to peel. Do not remove the seed, it is considered a delicacy!

3. Slice the chayotes about 1⁄4 inch thick. Place in a shallow bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.

4. Grill the marinated chayote slices until very tender and serve. Make sure they are cooked until they are soft and darkly golden.

While the taste of chayote is relatively neutral, its ability to soak in added flavors makes it a welcome addition to any meal. Only the larger chayotes need to be peeled to be eaten. It is cubed or sliced, depending on its use. It should be treated much like you would a zucchini or other squash, but it needs to cook longer. Chayote is wonderful on the grill with a mojo de ajo, or cubed in stews and stir-fries, but you might make lifelong friends with it by trying this simple grilled chayote recipe from one of our Buen Provecho Mexican cooking and culture classes.

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15

Recycle and share with a friend or return to the Eastcapers Rack.

Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

Quesnel Bikers cycle to Baja Sur By: Chris and Heather Hartridge, Every year for the past nine years we've taken the time to do what we love - self supported bicycle touring. Tours have taken us around the Pacific Northwest as far south as Utah. We typically leave from our doorstep to cycle south and our current trip is no exc e p t i o n .

Having just retired, we left home in Quesnel BC on July 26th with a goal to get as far south as we could in 9 months. We made it known that if we found a nice place to spend time away from the blowing snow back home, we'd stay there. Through the summer and fall we followed a route that included the Chilcotin Plateau in BC, Vancouver Island, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the Hood Canal. As we rolled south, we came to Astoria Oregon and stayed with the amazing Pacific Coast roads all the way to San Diego. We had no desire to ride our bikes through busy LA so we took the Amtrak from San Luis Obispo to San Diego where we prepared for the crossing in to Mexico.

At the border, if you're on a bicycle you shuffle along with the pedestrians up to the now famous revolving gate under the MEXICO sign. No turning back now!

We got our precious tarjetas touristicas and we headed down the ramp out of the office with the hundreds of other walkers headed out into the melee. There's no question, riding on bicycles through Tijuana in the middle of a busy afternoon is not for the faint of heart. Like most people who haven't visited Baja, our family and friends were really concerned for our safety. Not long after crossing the border we realized there were more people waving, smiling and asking if we needed help than we'd EVER see in Canada.

For the next seven weeks we meandered down the length of Baja sticking to Hwy. # 1 most of the time. We met so many wonderfully friendly people along the way the daily stresses of cycling melted away. Oh, and how WAS the cycling? There's no question that the road is not an easy one to ride and it's not for novices. However, it was made possible and even comfortable by courteous drivers. Imagine a place on the highway with no shoulder, just a drop off. Yes, there's plenty of them! Now imagine a semitruck coming towards you and one coming up behind you. We made it a point to always pull over and stop,

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trying to get as far off as we could. What happened next amazed us. The truck coming from behind would stop... and wait for the other lane to be free so he could pull out and around us. And he'd wave as he went by! This happened dozens of times!

Riding through the incredible landscape of Baja has been an experience we won't soon forget. Being surrounded by the raw and rugged beauty of places like the Reserva de la Biosfera de El Viscaino and the Catavina Boulder Field were quite remarkable and humbling experiences. Essentially you just can't believe you're actually riding a bicycle through such places. And it continued... further south there was the mind blowing beauty of the Bahia de Concepcion. On a bicycle one has the time to let the beauty of these places make an imprint on your soul.

As we progressed into Baja Sur, we slowed our pace down to enjoy it all. We had an extended stay in Loreto, partly because it's a pretty cool little town, but mainly because we had to. Unfortunately, Heather was bitten by a dog and we needed to make sure the injury was OK before we moved on. We were lucky to have a doctor and two nurses staying in the RV park where we were camped so we chose not to access local care. By this time, we had made reservations at a hotel in Los Barriles for Christmas and we were behind schedule. Good Samaritans from BC and Germany gave us rides that got us all the way to La Paz. Just before Christmas, we rode from La Paz to Los Barriles. We were happy to be finally settling into the Hotel Los Barriles - our comfortable home for the holidays. It was at that point we realized Los Barriles might be "that place" we had thought about at the start of our tour. For us it was a perfect fit. What more could one want? January 1st we moved into a rented palapa in Juanita's Garden and celebrated our achievement of cycling over 5000 kilometers only to arrive at such a beautiful place. We had also met our goal - to miss the Canadian winter! And we got here under our own steam!

Los Barriles has become a place of refuge as well. On January 5th, Heather's brush with the dog in Loreto came back to haunt us. We made sure to have all our immunizations before we left including Rabies and Tetanus but it was different than either of those things. We started with a visit to the wonderful East Cape Urgent Care Clinic and the even more wonderful Dr. Toledo. After receiving some exemplary care, Continued on Pg 22

21

Recycle and share with a friend or return to the Eastcapers Rack.

"Orphanage" Are your passing thoughts wanting action?

By: Alexandra Delis-Abrams It is said that we have 60,000 thoughts a day (mas o menos). Some are sabotaging, demeaning and down right nasty. While others are elevating, supporting and inspiring.

Which do you choose?

Chocolate or vanilla? Which do you choose?

After returning to LB from the Todos Santos art tour and learning about an annual auction to support their local orphanage, I had a thought….an idea!!! Why couldn’t we do that for the orphanage in LaPaz? “We can,” was the next message I heard from the powerful inner voice.

OK...the universe sent the message, I got it and took action. To give the idea energy, the next day, I went to Lazy Daze, business establishment of the infamous Rexe. Rexe is the lady who, along with her crew, raised 15K pesos to help improve the lives of young people on the East Cape. We can thank Lord Of The Winds for choosing Los Barrlles as the location for their kiteboarding event and offering proceeds to various community projects. Recently, at a Rotary meeting held at Lazy Daze, the club gave a check to Roberto, the man who runs the orphanage, for half that amount. Rexe and her crew were also honored for originating this successful and lucrative event for the kids. So awesome!

That check will go a long way, but not long enough to rebuild the working mechanism of the carpentry shop which was destroyed during the hurricane. The structure that now stands in its place is made of concrete, however, it is vacant. No windows, doors or necessities to restore this space into a working facility to once again, make items that are sold for their sustenance. “For example it costs about $10,000 pesos per week to provide the 30 children with food, water, school, dwelling, electricity, fuel etc and they only receive money from selling things

Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

and donations. So money for food and things like this is very helpful,” says Adam Greenberg, advocate for New Creations.

Well back to my visit with Rexe to share my idea. Within a few minutes she said, “honey, anything for the kids.” And a week later, I had commitments and promises of over 30 items...from hand made earrings, to overnight at the Palmas De Cortez to an all-day fishing trip. The generosity from this little community is deeply electrifying. The universe just continues to open one door after another…..A good indication that I’m on the right path.

I invite you to take a few moments while basking in the surrounding beauty, applying a touch of sunscreen to your face and sipping your negro modelo to ponder the idea of what life would be like living in an orphanage...no parents, no actual bedroom to call your own, no playdates. Instead, being with others like yourself who have become “family” due to similar circumstances. Would you tout a stellar positive attitude most of the time? Would you dream big for your future? Would you hustle about to secure jobs to grow your very own bank account? Would you believe in yourself? A support team is essential for all of the above. We can each make a difference in their lives by first of all listening--how can I provide encouragement, emotionally? How can I offer my skills to help rebuild structures or improve the landscape? How can I inspire these kids to believe in themselves and to see their own unique inner goodness, worth, and power? How can I give financially to enrich their lifestyle?

Save the date: March 15, 4 pm - ??

Lazy Days. Looks like we’ll have a huge

musical surprise that will take this event off the charts. So come one come all, and bring your open hearts to the festivities.

PS: (Meetings will be held every Tuesday for the next 3 weeks at Lazy Daze at 2 pm--all are welcome)

5K Beach Bash Footrace on the beach at Buena Vista Beach Resort Adult, Masters and Student age categories 1K Kids Fun Run Kids to age 12 Free Date: March 15, 2015 Time: Kids K 8:30 am 5K 9:00 am Beneficiary: Los Barriles Cabo Este Rotary Club for community projects

Major sponsors: Snell Real Estate Fees: Kids K 5K

Buena Vista Beach Resort 0-12 YEARS FREE 0-18 YEARS $50 PESOS 19 AND OLDER $150 PESOS

The 3rd Annual Eastcape Beach Bash is coming to a beach near you on Sunday, March 15.

You can run the 5 kilometer course in your favorite sneakers or barefoot, whichever is better for the sandy, maybe wet race course!

This unique race was the brainstorm of Ironman Triathlete and Los Barriles resident, Bonnie Herter and Duke City Marathon (Albuquerque, NM) Race Director and RV visitor Tico Navarro. The first race was in 2013 and Roadrunner Café owner Bob Farmer and Buena Vista Beach Resort’s Felipe Valdez signed on as title sponsors. The sponsorship funds and registration fees from the 60 participants were then donated to the Eastcape Guild’s scholarship program.

Last year, with the additional marketing and timing expertise of Sportvision Race Systems of La Paz, the race grew to 150 participants. The male and female winners of the 5K race were awarded free entry and expenses (airfare not included) to the October 2014 Duke City Marathon in Albuquerque, NM. where Beach Bash female winner Delia De La Toba of La Paz finished second in her age group, and male winner Luis Garcia Rangel of San José finished an astonishing 10 th overall, and qualified to enter the 2015 Boston Marathon. What an amazing accomplishment for both of these runners!

This year, the race will feature the same course and awards, which include laptop computers to the winners in two student categories. There will be a special Kids one kilometer Race, free for children up to 12 years, as a warm-up to the main 5K event.

Registration for the 2015 Eastcape Beach Bash is available at the Snell Real Estate offices in Plaza del Pueblo, Los Barriles, and Plaza Eres in La Ribera. Registration is also available at Innasports stores in La Paz & Los Cabos .

For complete information in Spanish or English: navarro@pagosa.net

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17

Recycle and share with a friend or return to the Eastcapers Rack.

WAIT… SHAKESPEARE DIDN’T WRITE “ROBIN HOOD,” DID HE?!

By: Larry Epstein

We all know the legend of Robin Hood: robbed from the rich, gave to the poor, and, with his band of Merry Men, battled the evil Prince John and his Sheriff in the forests of medieval England.

In 2015 BAJA SHAKESPEARE will reveal the source of the legend: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, who stars in this original script! Come watch as Shakespeare befriends Robin Hood and persuades him to take up the cause of the oppressed peasants of Stratford-upon-Avon. Fall in love with the fair Maid Marian, Shakespeare’s niece and muse. After all, both the hero Robin Hood and the evil Prince John fall in love with her, too. Join Marian in the dungeon after she rejects Prince John, and he leaves her in the clutches of a couple of musical dungeon keepers.

Watch as the ladies of Stratford-upon-Avon and a hilarious court jester soften Marian’s hard time. Quaff a cup of mead with Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlett and the quaint townsfolk of Stratford-upon-Avon.

And see Marian’s “Uncle William” and Robin’s Merry Men and Women save her and the Kingdom with a little help from their friends and the true King of England.

Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

special deals. For room and meal reservations, contact info@hotelbuenavista.com or phone 624-142-0099.

Performances will be held on Friday March 20, Saturday March 21st, Thursday March 26th, Friday March 27th, and Saturday March 28th, 2015. The curtain will rise promptly at 7:00 PM. For those with early bed times, there also will be a matinée performance at 1:30 PM on Sunday March 22nd, 2015.

Tickets are only $20 or 300 pesos. They will be available in Los Barriles at Galeria Los Angeles and at Baja Homes and Land. For “Will Call” tickets, contact nanatembden@ymail.com or phone 624-141 -0593. And to secure seats in the front rows, join Friends of Baja Shakespeare, our support group.

Contact Anne at herschleb@gmail.com.

Do not miss it! And do not wait. We expect another sell-out crowd this year at every performance! Buy your tickets today. Seats are limited.

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/pages/BajaShakespeare/220397878011557 or contact our producer Kim at tyfield1@hotmail.com.

So join Shakespeare, his niece and our heroes, villains and townsfolk as they ride through the English forest --- with breaks for drinks, songs and humor --- to a thrilling conclusion.

This year a lively band --- the Merry Minstrels, under the baton of Jeanette Grittani --- will accompany our actors as they sing and dance their way into your hearts.

This year’s production is directed by long-time Baja Shakespearean Camilla Ford and choreographed by Robin Jackman.

Our family-friendly script was penned by Larry Epstein, who also wrote last year’s play, and co-writer Jill Broussard. They have woven some 90 quotes from works by the Bard into their thoroughly modern script to help make this SHAKESPEARE’S Robin Hood.

For the second year, the show will be performed at the air conditioned Buena Vista Beach Resort in Spa Buena Vista. The resort will offer audience members

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19

Recycle and share with a friend or return to the Eastcapers Rack.

WAIT… SHAKESPEARE DIDN’T WRITE “ROBIN HOOD,” DID HE?!

By: Larry Epstein

We all know the legend of Robin Hood: robbed from the rich, gave to the poor, and, with his band of Merry Men, battled the evil Prince John and his Sheriff in the forests of medieval England.

In 2015 BAJA SHAKESPEARE will reveal the source of the legend: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, who stars in this original script! Come watch as Shakespeare befriends Robin Hood and persuades him to take up the cause of the oppressed peasants of Stratford-upon-Avon. Fall in love with the fair Maid Marian, Shakespeare’s niece and muse. After all, both the hero Robin Hood and the evil Prince John fall in love with her, too. Join Marian in the dungeon after she rejects Prince John, and he leaves her in the clutches of a couple of musical dungeon keepers.

Watch as the ladies of Stratford-upon-Avon and a hilarious court jester soften Marian’s hard time. Quaff a cup of mead with Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlett and the quaint townsfolk of Stratford-upon-Avon.

And see Marian’s “Uncle William” and Robin’s Merry Men and Women save her and the Kingdom with a little help from their friends and the true King of England.

Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

special deals. For room and meal reservations, contact info@hotelbuenavista.com or phone 624-142-0099.

Performances will be held on Friday March 20, Saturday March 21st, Thursday March 26th, Friday March 27th, and Saturday March 28th, 2015. The curtain will rise promptly at 7:00 PM. For those with early bed times, there also will be a matinée performance at 1:30 PM on Sunday March 22nd, 2015.

Tickets are only $20 or 300 pesos. They will be available in Los Barriles at Galeria Los Angeles and at Baja Homes and Land. For “Will Call” tickets, contact nanatembden@ymail.com or phone 624-141 -0593. And to secure seats in the front rows, join Friends of Baja Shakespeare, our support group.

Contact Anne at herschleb@gmail.com.

Do not miss it! And do not wait. We expect another sell-out crowd this year at every performance! Buy your tickets today. Seats are limited.

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/pages/BajaShakespeare/220397878011557 or contact our producer Kim at tyfield1@hotmail.com.

So join Shakespeare, his niece and our heroes, villains and townsfolk as they ride through the English forest --- with breaks for drinks, songs and humor --- to a thrilling conclusion.

This year a lively band --- the Merry Minstrels, under the baton of Jeanette Grittani --- will accompany our actors as they sing and dance their way into your hearts.

This year’s production is directed by long-time Baja Shakespearean Camilla Ford and choreographed by Robin Jackman.

Our family-friendly script was penned by Larry Epstein, who also wrote last year’s play, and co-writer Jill Broussard. They have woven some 90 quotes from works by the Bard into their thoroughly modern script to help make this SHAKESPEARE’S Robin Hood.

For the second year, the show will be performed at the air conditioned Buena Vista Beach Resort in Spa Buena Vista. The resort will offer audience members

18

Feb/Mar

Feb/Mar

19

Recycle and share with a friend or return to the Eastcapers Rack.

"Orphanage" Are your passing thoughts wanting action?

By: Alexandra Delis-Abrams It is said that we have 60,000 thoughts a day (mas o menos). Some are sabotaging, demeaning and down right nasty. While others are elevating, supporting and inspiring.

Which do you choose?

Chocolate or vanilla? Which do you choose?

After returning to LB from the Todos Santos art tour and learning about an annual auction to support their local orphanage, I had a thought….an idea!!! Why couldn’t we do that for the orphanage in LaPaz? “We can,” was the next message I heard from the powerful inner voice.

OK...the universe sent the message, I got it and took action. To give the idea energy, the next day, I went to Lazy Daze, business establishment of the infamous Rexe. Rexe is the lady who, along with her crew, raised 15K pesos to help improve the lives of young people on the East Cape. We can thank Lord Of The Winds for choosing Los Barrlles as the location for their kiteboarding event and offering proceeds to various community projects. Recently, at a Rotary meeting held at Lazy Daze, the club gave a check to Roberto, the man who runs the orphanage, for half that amount. Rexe and her crew were also honored for originating this successful and lucrative event for the kids. So awesome!

That check will go a long way, but not long enough to rebuild the working mechanism of the carpentry shop which was destroyed during the hurricane. The structure that now stands in its place is made of concrete, however, it is vacant. No windows, doors or necessities to restore this space into a working facility to once again, make items that are sold for their sustenance. “For example it costs about $10,000 pesos per week to provide the 30 children with food, water, school, dwelling, electricity, fuel etc and they only receive money from selling things

Read the color version online at www.eastcapearts.com

and donations. So money for food and things like this is very helpful,” says Adam Greenberg, advocate for New Creations.

Well back to my visit with Rexe to share my idea. Within a few minutes she said, “honey, anything for the kids.” And a week later, I had commitments and promises of over 30 items...from hand made earrings, to overnight at the Palmas De Cortez to an all-day fishing trip. The generosity from this little community is deeply electrifying. The universe just continues to open one door after another…..A good indication that I’m on the right path.

I invite you to take a few moments while basking in the surrounding beauty, applying a touch of sunscreen to your face and sipping your negro modelo to ponder the idea of what life would be like living in an orphanage...no parents, no actual bedroom to call your own, no playdates. Instead, being with others like yourself who have become “family” due to similar circumstances. Would you tout a stellar positive attitude most of the time? Would you dream big for your future? Would you hustle about to secure jobs to grow your very own bank account? Would you believe in yourself? A support team is essential for all of the above. We can each make a difference in their lives by first of all listening--how can I provide encouragement, emotionally? How can I offer my skills to help rebuild structures or improve the landscape? How can I inspire these kids to believe in themselves and to see their own unique inner goodness, worth, and power? How can I give financially to enrich their lifestyle?

Save the date: March 15, 4 pm - ??

Lazy Days. Looks like we’ll have a huge

musical surprise that will take this event off the charts. So come one come all, and bring your open hearts to the festivities.

PS: (Meetings will be held every Tuesday for the next 3 weeks at Lazy Daze at 2 pm--all are welcome)

5K Beach Bash Footrace on the beach at Buena Vista Beach Resort Adult, Masters and Student age categories 1K Kids Fun Run Kids to age 12 Free Date: March 15, 2015 Time: Kids K 8:30 am 5K 9:00 am Beneficiary: Los Barriles Cabo Este Rotary Club for community projects

Major sponsors: Snell Real Estate Fees: Kids K 5K

Buena Vista Beach Resort 0-12 YEARS FREE 0-18 YEARS $50 PESOS 19 AND OLDER $150 PESOS

The 3rd Annual Eastcape Beach Bash is coming to a beach near you on Sunday, March 15.

You can run the 5 kilometer course in your favorite sneakers or barefoot, whichever is better for the sandy, maybe wet race course!

This unique race was the brainstorm of Ironman Triathlete and Los Barriles resident, Bonnie Herter and Duke City Marathon (Albuquerque, NM) Race Director and RV visitor Tico Navarro. The first race was in 2013 and Roadrunner Café owner Bob Farmer and Buena Vista Beach Resort’s Felipe Valdez signed on as title sponsors. The sponsorship funds and registration fees from the 60 participants were then donated to the Eastcape Guild’s scholarship program.

Last year, with the additional marketing and timing expertise of Sportvision Race Systems of La Paz, the race grew to 150 participants. The male and female winners of the 5K race were awarded free entry and expenses (airfare not included) to the October 2014 Duke City Marathon in Albuquerque, NM. where Beach Bash female winner Delia De La Toba of La Paz finished second in her age group, and male winner Luis Garcia Rangel of San José finished an astonishing 10 th overall, and qualified to enter the 2015 Boston Marathon. What an amazing accomplishment for both of these runners!

This year, the race will feature the same course and awards, which include laptop computers to the winners in two student categories. There will be a special Kids one kilometer Race, free for children up to 12 years, as a warm-up to the main 5K event.

Registration for the 2015 Eastcape Beach Bash is available at the Snell Real Estate offices in Plaza del Pueblo, Los Barriles, and Plaza Eres in La Ribera. Registration is also available at Innasports stores in La Paz & Los Cabos .

For complete information in Spanish or English: navarro@pagosa.net

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Quesnel Bikers cycle to Baja Sur By: Chris and Heather Hartridge, Every year for the past nine years we've taken the time to do what we love - self supported bicycle touring. Tours have taken us around the Pacific Northwest as far south as Utah. We typically leave from our doorstep to cycle south and our current trip is no exc e p t i o n .

Having just retired, we left home in Quesnel BC on July 26th with a goal to get as far south as we could in 9 months. We made it known that if we found a nice place to spend time away from the blowing snow back home, we'd stay there. Through the summer and fall we followed a route that included the Chilcotin Plateau in BC, Vancouver Island, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the Hood Canal. As we rolled south, we came to Astoria Oregon and stayed with the amazing Pacific Coast roads all the way to San Diego. We had no desire to ride our bikes through busy LA so we took the Amtrak from San Luis Obispo to San Diego where we prepared for the crossing in to Mexico.

At the border, if you're on a bicycle you shuffle along with the pedestrians up to the now famous revolving gate under the MEXICO sign. No turning back now!

We got our precious tarjetas touristicas and we headed down the ramp out of the office with the hundreds of other walkers headed out into the melee. There's no question, riding on bicycles through Tijuana in the middle of a busy afternoon is not for the faint of heart. Like most people who haven't visited Baja, our family and friends were really concerned for our safety. Not long after crossing the border we realized there were more people waving, smiling and asking if we needed help than we'd EVER see in Canada.

For the next seven weeks we meandered down the length of Baja sticking to Hwy. # 1 most of the time. We met so many wonderfully friendly people along the way the daily stresses of cycling melted away. Oh, and how WAS the cycling? There's no question that the road is not an easy one to ride and it's not for novices. However, it was made possible and even comfortable by courteous drivers. Imagine a place on the highway with no shoulder, just a drop off. Yes, there's plenty of them! Now imagine a semitruck coming towards you and one coming up behind you. We made it a point to always pull over and stop,

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trying to get as far off as we could. What happened next amazed us. The truck coming from behind would stop... and wait for the other lane to be free so he could pull out and around us. And he'd wave as he went by! This happened dozens of times!

Riding through the incredible landscape of Baja has been an experience we won't soon forget. Being surrounded by the raw and rugged beauty of places like the Reserva de la Biosfera de El Viscaino and the Catavina Boulder Field were quite remarkable and humbling experiences. Essentially you just can't believe you're actually riding a bicycle through such places. And it continued... further south there was the mind blowing beauty of the Bahia de Concepcion. On a bicycle one has the time to let the beauty of these places make an imprint on your soul.

As we progressed into Baja Sur, we slowed our pace down to enjoy it all. We had an extended stay in Loreto, partly because it's a pretty cool little town, but mainly because we had to. Unfortunately, Heather was bitten by a dog and we needed to make sure the injury was OK before we moved on. We were lucky to have a doctor and two nurses staying in the RV park where we were camped so we chose not to access local care. By this time, we had made reservations at a hotel in Los Barriles for Christmas and we were behind schedule. Good Samaritans from BC and Germany gave us rides that got us all the way to La Paz. Just before Christmas, we rode from La Paz to Los Barriles. We were happy to be finally settling into the Hotel Los Barriles - our comfortable home for the holidays. It was at that point we realized Los Barriles might be "that place" we had thought about at the start of our tour. For us it was a perfect fit. What more could one want? January 1st we moved into a rented palapa in Juanita's Garden and celebrated our achievement of cycling over 5000 kilometers only to arrive at such a beautiful place. We had also met our goal - to miss the Canadian winter! And we got here under our own steam!

Los Barriles has become a place of refuge as well. On January 5th, Heather's brush with the dog in Loreto came back to haunt us. We made sure to have all our immunizations before we left including Rabies and Tetanus but it was different than either of those things. We started with a visit to the wonderful East Cape Urgent Care Clinic and the even more wonderful Dr. Toledo. After receiving some exemplary care, Continued on Pg 22

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Biking continued from pg 21

we're happy to say she's on the mend thanks to East Cape's Charlene Wenger and Dr. Toledo along with Dr. Cardenas at CIFO in San Jose del Cabo.

Making Friends with the Chayote

Heather is on the mend and we're happy we found this oasis. Serendipity played a role in this story too. On a rainy morning in Cannon Beach Oregon, we met a lady named Chris. She was fascinated by our tour and asked where we were going. Our original plans had us riding as far south as Nicaragua, through Baja, and not really going any farther south than the La Paz/Mazatlan ferry. We had no idea how lucky we were when she told us about the little town of Los Barriles.

By: Renée Lagloire and Denise Elliott Buen Provecho Baja Chayote is your friend! When Hurricane Odile hit the East Cape area and few fresh vegetables were available for purchase, there it was … the chayote, green, hard to the touch, and shaped like a pear. It finds its way into most Mexican kitchens, and is therefore almost always available in small and large grocery stores. Chayote is inexpensive, readily available, and can be very tasty! If you don’t know it, you might want to become acquainted!

It is thought that chayote is native to Central America and Mexico. It was a staple in ancient Mexico, where it was first domesticated. In the Aztecs’ Nahuatl language, it was called chayotl, but it was known thousands of years before among the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula where its fruit, its tendrils, flowers and roots were part of the cuisine.

Chayote is now grown all over Latin America, and worldwide under various names, among others, vegetable pear, chocho, mirliton, or christophine.

A perennial vine, chayote (Sechium edule) is in the gourd family, but is unusual in that it has a single, edible seed which is considered the most delicious part of the vegetable. Chayote is simple to grow, simply bury a whole chayote halfway in the ground horizontally near a fence where it can climb, and water regularly. You will soon have a vigorous tall vine that will produce numerous chayote.

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Lime and Herb Grilled Chayote Chayote a la Plancha con Limon y Hierbas 4 chayotes 2 Tbsp. olive oil Juice of 2 limes 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley (Other herbs of choice if desired) Salt and pepper 1. Make sure the grill is turned on.

2. If the chayotes are large and the skin is tough or spikey, peel them. Otherwise, no need to peel. Do not remove the seed, it is considered a delicacy!

3. Slice the chayotes about 1⁄4 inch thick. Place in a shallow bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.

4. Grill the marinated chayote slices until very tender and serve. Make sure they are cooked until they are soft and darkly golden.

While the taste of chayote is relatively neutral, its ability to soak in added flavors makes it a welcome addition to any meal. Only the larger chayotes need to be peeled to be eaten. It is cubed or sliced, depending on its use. It should be treated much like you would a zucchini or other squash, but it needs to cook longer. Chayote is wonderful on the grill with a mojo de ajo, or cubed in stews and stir-fries, but you might make lifelong friends with it by trying this simple grilled chayote recipe from one of our Buen Provecho Mexican cooking and culture classes.

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TALK IS CHEAP or is it???

By: Sefi Held, Talking is something that is very unique to us humans, yet it still remains a mystery. Noam Chomsky, was an intellectual prodigy who went on to earn a PhD in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania and is deemed to be the godfather of linguistics, and was the first to suggest that our ability to talk is innate. Noam Chomsky’s best-known book on linguistics is called, “Syntactic Structures”. We barely notice that we are doing it, yet it takes thousands of decisions and thousands of thoughts each time that we use language. Just the physical action of pushing air through our mouths, we take a thought in our heads, and release it as the spoken word. Amazing!

Other animals also make sounds to communicate, but speech and language distinguishes us from all the other species. It really is miraculous how our brain does it and how we learn to talk remains an even deeper mystery.

And, then, you take into consideration the fact that we speak in so many different languages that it makes talking even more amazing!

Are we losing this fine art of speech? Of conversation?

AND Of Talking? 88% of North Americans are on line daily! Take a look around you the next time you are at the airport, in a restaurant or on the beach and you’ll see whole families checking email, reading from an e-reader, chatting online, Twittering, etc. during the entire time that they are together to spend “some quality time” with each other. Apparently IPhone are allowed into school classrooms now! What happened to talk? To looking at people directly and making eye contact with them and to just listening to the person or persons you are with? This may also have something to do with our very shortattention span and the need for immediate results. Yes, we are truly a changing society and what has taken us eons to evolve, is being lost.

The throat is a particularly important area of the body as it is associated with our respiratory system, our digestive system and it, is one of the higher levels of our energetic system. The given name is Visshuddha in Sanskrit.

Vishuddi or throat chakra is the fifth primary chakra according to the Hindu tradition. Vishuddha Chakra unleashes an unlimited feeling of happiness and freedom that allows our abilities and skills to blossom. Along with this stage of development there is a clear voice, a talent for singing and speech, as well as balanced and calm thoughts. When we give voice to our thoughts, many times the chatter in our heads which appears as “thoughts”, are made clear. Until this Chakra is fully developed, certain difficulties may be experienced. Blockage of the Vishuddhi Chakra produces feelings of

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anxiety, lack of freedom, restriction, thyroid and throat problems. There may be physically unfounded manifestations of swallowing problems and speech impediments.

An open Throat Chakra allows us to express ourselves and communicate with others. Are you in need of a communication tune-up? Visit us at the Sukhasan Yoga and Pilates Studio: we talk, we listen and we welcome you.

Think about the next time that you choose email, Twitter or Facebook over the phone, or better yet, face-to- face contact, Re-think, Re-feel and choose talk!! Also, listen to what is not being said. Just Listen.

The key is finding that balance in whatever we do in life.

After all, it is up to us individually to recognize when we need to detox digitally. So many things that we think are of extreme importance don’t really matter very much at all. There is no secret to life and no magic path. Every experience we share is golden and every experience informs who we are and who we will become. Make your experiences count.

“For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”

Stephen Hawking Sefi Held, A.C.E., CanfitPro certified Personal Trainer, Fitness, Yoga, Pilates and Older Adult Fitness Specialist Instructor, Resist-A-Ball and Zumba certified teaching at the Sukhasana Yoga and Pilates Studio located within the Healing Winds Holistic Center, Los Barriles, BCS.

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A Letter of Introduction from

Caffe’ Encinalito Three years from now we may be friends. In two years perhaps you’ll know us. Next year you might be regulars. And right now you have no idea who we are. Caffe’ Encinalito is our name and espresso is our business. We are Jacqueline and Sasha Landis, your enthusiastic local baristas. You may have seen us last year selling our coffee beans at the Community Market. Or perhaps you’ve driven by our storefront on Calle Costa Brava on your way to the beach. These days we spend most of our time here at our cafecito where we roast coffee, sling espresso, and bake little yummies. While it’s tempting to use this space to wax poetic about our organic, fairly traded wares, let’s instead quench any lingering curiosity and tell you a bit about how this caffe came to be.

It wasn’t the wind that we chased down to Los Barriles, but family. Though Sasha hails from Alaska, and I myself am a native of California, we met in the middle: Port Townsend, Washington. Sasha’s father, Scott, has been living here in Southern Baja for the better part of twenty years, so Sasha himself has been visiting for equally as long. I entered the Landis family picture about five years ago and, with Sasha, have yearly been swooping down from Washington ever since. After ever-lengthening vacations to the area, in 2013 we were married in the hills at the beautiful Rancho La Venta. Soon thereafter we began scheming on how to spend more time in Mexico. Promptly, a little business plan was hatched for what we saw as a much-needed commodity: coffee. And before we knew it, thanks to the massive support of our families, the dream of a caffe’ was realized. The result is here for you to see!

Caffe’ Encinalito, which means â little oak grove, gets its name from Sasha’s father’s rancho in the sierra. Our menu is a simple one, based in the authentic Italian ritual of espresso. We use a traditional piston machine made

by Rancilio, meaning our shots are hand-pulled, ultimately giving us more control over our espresso. In all our machine’s nuances we were trained by Andrea Spella of Spella Caffe in Portland, Oregon (named best espresso in Portland by the New York Times). As far as our aesthetic: it follows our menu in its simplicity, marrying the calm of Baja with the clean, cool shade of our palms. We are open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, from 8 am to 3 in the afternoon. Come say hello and share your own story. We would love to know you.

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“We are a Family Company working in the Eastcape area since 1998…”

Jorge Ayala, Jr Architect since 2006 Prof Lic # 5832089 Cell Ph # (624) 348-5607 ljacompanylb@gmail.com

Jorge Ayala, Sr Civil Engineer since 1984 Prof Lic # 1356247 Cell Ph (612) 348-8417 losbarrilesdesigns@gmail.com We can provide you the following services: Architecture from the Concepts to the Final Drawings in Cad system, including the services in 3D renderings.

Civil, Structural & Mechanical Engineering.

Construction of any type of Building Systems such as Foam Panels, Cement Blocks, Post and Beams, Concrete Insulated Forms, Rammed Earth, Etc… Our Main Office is located in downtown Los Barriles on the main drag, next to La Fayla’s Supermarket.

Office Ph # (624) 141-0155 Email: losbarrilesdesigns@gmail.com www.losbarrilesdesigns.com

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IT’S THE DIRT By: Holly Burgin

I planted the seeds for my vegetable garden in December before we left for the US for the holidays. When I returned a month later, the garden had gone crazy. Not only had all the seeds come up and the plants had grown tall, but I also had a crop of weeds and volunteers. After a few days of weeding, it was clear I had an over-abundance of tomatoes and other vegies. So, I put the word out on the BPE and people as far away Cabo Pulmo came for veggie starts for their gardens. I shared about 70 of my tomato “children” with my fellow gardeners.

Tomato lovers brought their own pots; and we dug up my extra seedlings, as well as the volunteers. Of course, with the volunteers, it is always a surprise as to which variety it will be; but I think most were a small cherry variety (really about the size of currants) called Matt’s Wild Cherry that I first planted in 2011. They are tiny sweet

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morsels that just keep coming back, year after year. I figure, now that I have shared so many volunteers, all of Los Barriles will be eating Matt’s Wild Cherry tomatoes.

One question I was asked, over and over, as the garden people arrived to claim their tomatoes was “Where do you get your dirt?” Well, there is not a simple answer to this question. But one answer might be -- “Not here.” I do not consider the terra firma that is around my house to be “dirt.” Up here on the hill, north of town, it must be decomposed granite, because only the hardiest of the local flora can survive in this inhospitable terrain. I have raised beds for my vegetable garden and every year I consider new ways I can amend the soil that has, little by little, improved to become a beautiful, rich, organic “tierra”.

So, how did I do it? Well, it took a while, but I think with all the rain this year, anyone starting a garden has some advantages that are not always available. So, take advantage of this moment.

First, dig out all the crappy dirt; and I am using the term “dirt” loosely (although not the word “crappy”) that is in your garden plot. Unless you live in an arroyo, assume your “dirt” is as above described.

Head to La Riberia and when you get to the place where the road to La Ribera crosses an arroyo, pull over and start digging. The loamy soil that has washed down the arroyo is the perfect base for building your garden soil. Take as much as you need for 80% of your pots or garden plot. But this is just the beginning.

Home Depot is my source of instant organic matter. If you do not have a compost pile, peat moss will provide most of the needed organic material you will need to help build great garden soil. I add about 10 - 15% peat moss to my raised beds each year. If you are just starting a garden, use as much as you can afford. I have read that peat moss retains up to 20 times its weight in moisture, and releases water slowly as plants need it; allows for proper root growth by loosening and aerating soils; adds body to sandy soil; reduces leaching of nutrients in or added to the soil (which saves on fertilizer); protects soil from hardening; and is environmentally friendly and free of insects, weeds, seeds, salts and chemicals, and represents good economic value. Or course, if you have a compost pile, use your own compost to amend the soil. BTW, Buen Provecho in San Bartolo (our fabulous Mexican cooking school) will be selling compost from their huerta next season, replete with seasoned goat, cow and horse manure. It should be amazing!

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RECYCLING ANNOUNCEMENT By: Lynn Mirasson East Cape Recycling Baja must announce that we are no longer able to recycle any glass until further notice. Several creative people have come forward with projects that utilize glass bottles, such as building them into walls and other decorative ideas, but the vast remainder end up going to the landfill. Until we can again find a receptive organization, please try to reduce the number of bottles you buy (beer in cans?) and toss in the garbage, and put on your thinking cap regarding creative ways to reuse what you do produce. ECRB continues to recycle many other materials on the first Thursday of each month. Please consult our website: www.eastcaperecyclingbaja.com for dates and a complete list of what we accept. We are particularly trying to save EPS (expanded polystyrene) from landing in the landfill. This is the white "styrofoam" packing material that comes around your new TVs and appliances. We collect this material and it is

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recycled into a wonderful building block with outstanding insulating properties. There are several homes in Los Barriles built from this EF Block. Thank you for recycling, supporting environmental education in our schools, and preserving our beautiful marinecentered community!

This should get your garden started; but if you want to go to the extra effort (you reap what you sow), I add worm castings. Worm castings are one of the world richest fertilizers. Worm castings are worm “poop” and occur naturally in soil that has earthworms. Not surprisingly, the soil in Baja is so sandy and rocky that I have never seen an earthworm in my natural garden. Unlike animal manure and artificial fertilizers, it is absorbed easily and immediately by plants. Lucky for us, Maurico Acle, the owner of Organicos Baja Sur, in La Paz (near the La Paz airport), http://www.organicosbajasur.com (use Google Chrome and it will automatically translate websites from Spanish to English) has a worm farm and sells 50-kilo bags of worm castings for approximately $200 pesos per bag. I add about 5% worm castings to my raised beds each year.

Raised garden beds require rotating your crops and extra effort each year to keep your soil rich and vital. It does take a little extra work, and some added cost, but the payoff is HUGE. Except as discussed above, I rarely fertilize my vegetable garden; and every year I have a bumper crop. If you start with rich organic soil, you will have a wonderful garden. If the ground in which you plant your seeds is weak and lacking nutrients, your plants will be weak, small and will not have the strength to deal with insect infestations and other blights. We cannot eat all that I grow in my garden and so my friends and neighbors become the beneficiaries of my great garden soil.

It’s the dirt!!! Happy gardening!

HELP

STRETC H OUR CIRCULATION OF EASTCAPERS MAGAZINE! When you are done reading the Eastcapers magazine, if you don’t plan on saving it in your collection of great reads and have no one to pass it on to, then return it to the Eastcapers Rack where you found it! Not only will this allow more people to enjoy the Eastcapers, but this will help us stretch and recycle it in the very best way!!!

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the Basil Margarita. Deb and Colleen had theirs on the rocks and I had mine blended. We agreed mine was better. I am a huge fan of basil, and this drink rocks my world. The view isn’t bad either and we spotted plenty of whales in the short time we were there.

Because we could, we made out last stop Hierbabuena Hortaliza again. This time, Marcos made Deb his version of the Basil Margarita with muddled basil from his garden, white tequila, limon and Controy. It was shaken like and served with a salted rim. Colleen tried his Watermelon Margarita and I had a PineappleCilantro Margarita. Every one delicious.

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To the west is the Pacific. Sitting there, we were surrounded by fields, palm groves and the farm. I am always in awe when I go there. The food, again, was phenomenal. Owner/Chef Marcos made us a trio of exotic Margaritas. I chose the Pomegranate Margarita, made with mescal and fresh pomegranate juice from the garden. Deb had a Mango Margarita and Colleen had a Baja Sunrise, with house made Jamaica liqueur, lime, fresh orange juice and tequila. Craving Italian food, I had Eggplant Parmesan for lunch. The others shared hummus and fresh veggies along with Roasted Squash Soup. To-die-for.

We had planned to visit Rancho Pescadero, a world class boutique resort closer to the beach, but it was closed for a private event. I’ve been there before and I will attest that their Pineapple-Cilantro Margarita is excellent, as is there chile-rimmed Mango Margarita.

Saturday: Our first stop was Art & Beer, the place that started it all for me nine years ago. Instead of just one Exotic Margarita, there was now an entire chalk board filled with them. Deb ordered a Kiwi Margarita. Colleen ordered a Mixed Berry Margarita and I went with my old favorite, the Citrus Margarita. While we were waiting for them to be made, we wandered around the property and took photos. There was far more art and sculptures than on my previous visit, and the backdrop of Cerritos Beach and the Pacific was beautiful. All three Margaritas were delicious and beautifully garnished. As we drank them, we discussed but decided against having another round. Instead we put the paper umbrellas behind our ears and headed north to our next destination.

So … is anyone up for an Exotic Margarita Party? Ole!

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Citrus Margarea and board— Art and Beer (above) Basil Margareta—Hacienda Cerritos (left) Exotic Margaritas - Hierbabuena Hortaliza

Hacienda Cerritos is a spectacular Mexican Hacienda perched dramatically on the cliffs at the north end of Cerritos Beach. Its oceanfront bar is open to the public, and a must see for all visitors. Their signature drink is

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SEARCHING OUT EXOTIC MARGARITAS

By Ann Hazard In 2006 I discovered an unlikely place called Art & Beer on the far end of Cerritos Beach, about 20 minutes south of Todos Santos. I say unlikely because I was expecting a hippie art gallery serving beer. I got the art gallery right. I got the hippie part right. I was charmed by the rustic décor and all the living, breathing art and sculptures. It was magical. But the surprise was their signature—and my first—Exotic Margarita.

It was called a Citrus Margarita. Served in a frosty beer mug, it was made of fresh—as in squeezed in front of my eyes— orange, grapefruit, tangerine and limon juices, tequila, Controy, an array of garnishes and a paper umbrella. It was incredible. I came back to Buena Vista after that trip and made them for all my friends.

On recent trips to Todos Santos I began noticing a trend. Every restaurant has at least one signature, exotic Margarita. I talked (it didn’t take much talking) my friends Colleen and Deb into doing a three day Margarita Crawl—including Cerritos, Pescadero and Todos Santos. I’m certain there are fancy Margaritas all over Los Cabos, but I wanted to search out the cool, slightly offbeat places. We took three days and we visited six restaurants. We weren’t just there for the drinking. We were there for the ambience, and as always on Baja’s South Pacific Coast, the amazing food.

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It is always our favorite stop for lunch when we roll into town. Deb always orders the Shrimp Chile Rellenos. I never order anything but the Beef Chimichangas.

The food is organic, beautifully prepared and ridiculously addicting. Owner Manuel Valdez (brother of Chuy who owns Hotel Buena Vista here) is charming.

He welcomes every guest at every table. His traditional Margaritas are spectacular and he will show you how they’re made when you visit. But we fell in love with the Mango version. Garnished with a slice of limon and sprig of mint, these are the best we‘ve found. The recipes for both versions are on the wall, so bring a camera or cell phone.

Colleen met up with us at our second stop, the Hotel California. Deb and I fell in love with the JamaicaJalapeno Margarita a few months ago. Juan, the bartender showed me how it was made this time and I took notes. (I have all the recipes, actually.) I love the spicy edginess of the jalapeno, complementing the tang of the Jamaica. Colleen hadn’t ever tried one before, and her eyes lit up as she took her first sip. Another winner.

Next door, Chef Dany Lamote, Hotel California’s executive chef, has a boutique restaurant called Santo Vino. His most divine, decadent Margarita is a White Chocolate Margarita, made with Mezcal. As a dessert drink it’s unbeatable.

Friday: It rained early on, so we got a late start, stopping in for lunch at Hierbabuena Hortaliza, a farm to table restaurant I frequent every single time I’m on the west coast. Located in Pescadero just down the road by Thursday: Our first stop of the day was Tequila Sun- the Pemex Station, the dining area is an open air pavilrise, across the street from Hotel California in Todos ion in the middle of an organic farm. To the east are the towering Sierra de la Laguna .

Santos.

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A Different Day in the life of Badger, the dog By: Emma Nicholson My normal morning goes something like this…

Wake up and stare at my parents until they sense my gaze and start to stir.

Thump my tail furiously to ensure they are fully woken, lick their feet/hands or whatever part of them is sticking out of the comforter, and then do an exaggerated loud yawn coupled with a vigorous shake. This is guaranteed to ensure they don’t fall back to sleep.

A five minute pee break is always followed by my morning snack, and then a wonderful hour-long romp down the arroyo with my fairly annoying sister Honey. (She got the looks and I got the brains in the family). But this morning, Wednesday 4th February to be exact, was different. Following my snack, my sister Honey and I were separated and I was led from the house ON A LEASH….

I say that with a fairly shouty voice because a leash is only for times when we’re in a town, on a sidewalk or in a foreign country. In my mind, a leash attaches my Daddy to me. This therefore gives me the right to pull him wherever I want to go (rather than where he wants to go).

Anyway, we set off in our car – I like to sit in the middle where I can be helpful navigating. My parents can sometimes be slow when it comes to directions. But today, we didn’t go towards the arroyo; we went in the other direction. I furiously licked my Daddy to let him know about his mistake, but we drove on.

After five minutes, we arrived at what I can only describe as heaven on earth…. A field of real green grass that stretched for miles and miles… what a treat! I believe, (or so I hear) that it’s the same experience as parents have when they roll around in silk sheets.

There on the grass were other dogs on leashes with their parents. Having spotted a good friend of mine Peso, I was desperate to get out of car to join the gang and find out what the jeepers was going on. Hauling Daddy by his leash, I joined the throng and we discussed quite loudly what was happening. No-one had a clue. All we could see was a bunch of plastic gate things, a hill made out of wood, and some tunnel-like contraption that looked great for peeing on. A more sensible mature dog called Kiwi thought we might be at something called ‘agility training’ but she wasn’t sure.

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Then we were moving. Daddy and I were directed to what looked like a gate. And that’s where the fun began…. Daddy produced from nowhere a bag of my favorite Feb/MarBarkery liver treats. Oh yes! This was starting

to get good! I have to admit that I was a little confused to start with, and wasn’t quite sure why I couldn’t just walk through the gate thing, or spend my time sniffing inside the tunnel. But once I realized that I could get a treat if I simply jumped over it, or speeded up slightly; I was sold!

Before I knew it, I was leaping over those gates, running up the wooden hill and dashing through the black tunnelthing. Granted, there were a couple of moments I had to stifle an inward laugh. The first was when Peso ran so fast through the tunnel that he knocked his parent over.

(That’s because Peso doesn’t know his own strength).

The second was when a young pup called Amy ran through the tunnel-thing and then carried on running out of the field and towards her home. Hilarious.

Seriously? Could this get any better? A morning spent with some of my best four-legged friends, eating as many treats as I could get my paws on, and hanging out with my Daddy doing fun, jumping and running stuff. Just as I was beginning to perfect my run up the wooden hill, Daddy shouted a chorus of goodbyes, and we were heading back to the car. I was getting a little tired by now, but I had had a fantastic time.

On arrival back at home, I was met by my quite stupid sister Honey. Honestly, you would have thought I had been away for months judging by her reaction to my arrival. After calming her down, by basically ignoring her for a few minutes, I told her about my experience that morning. How I had achieved things I had never done before, how Daddy and I had worked closely together, and how I had had tons of fun! At one point I realized she was feigning interest as I could see her eying up an old almond stuck under a chair leg. I didn’t care. I was the star of the house today. I wasn’t going to lose that great feeling. So with that, I took myself off to my bed and reflected on the day’s achievements. I can’t wait until the next training session in a week’s time, and tomorrow, I’m going to tell the story all over again to my best friend Vonnie. Soon I started to nod off with the fading sounds of ‘weave Badger, weave Badger’ drifting into my consciousness…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Badger showing of his skill and new talents!

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Los Barriles Dog Show Would you like to see how Badger got on with his agil-

ity training? Then come along to The Los Barriles Dog Show on Sunday March 15th at the Hotel Palmas de Cortez in the center of Los Barriles. Badger and his fourlegged friends will be demonstrating just how much they learnt in six weeks as they strut their stuff around the agility course. You can also see other events on the day including best looking dog (over & under 40 lbs), best costume, cutest pair and best trick or skill. The doors open at 10.30am, and if you’re coming to watch, please bring a chair, picnic rug or something to sit on, and some shade such as an umbrella. There will be music, face painting, 50/50 raffle, a bar and food vendors including Lighthouse Pizza, La Fogata and Carmen’s Smoothies.

Local veterinarians will be available to offer advice, and Cristobal will be giving free rabies shots. Other vendors include Copper River Designs (jewelry), The Baja Kennel Club stand and ALMA’s stand. All monies raised go towards spaying and neutering locally. For further information, please seewww.bajakennelclub.com.

Thank you to all of our sponsors without who this would never have happened: Annex Brands, Van Wormer Resorts, Quad Man, NuEra, Copper River Designs, EPB, Baja’s Awesome Sportfishing, Bahia Real Estate, Salon de Cortez, The supPOCKET, LB Property Services, Playa Norte RV Park, Seven Seas Property Management, Joe’s Deli, Hill’s Science Diet and Lighthouse Pizza.

Thank you for having the faith in us!!

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Do dogs wag their tail only when they are happy?

Dogs wag their tail for many reasons and the most common occurrence is that they are either happy or nervous. Learning to read what your dog is telling you, whether they are large or small, will go a long way in helping build your relationship!

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When was Back in the Day? By: Jorge Bergin My fishin’ buddy in the states, Tony, is a verifiable atavist, born 100 years (or more) too late. We had some wild fireside differences about the subject behind some limes and Gusano Rojo mescal.

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In one of our fireside sessions I suggested it might be a “How you gonna keep em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree” kinda thing. Something about knowing what the west looks like in the movies, TV, google earth or visiting the Tetons, Yellowstone and Yosemite in modern times by bike or car or bus seems as easy as planning the trip, jumping in the van and you’re there. That’s now. You wanna go back, it’s a very big deal.

He described the wild western part of the U.S. like a hunter’s heaven, a fishermen’s Nirvana. He kept dragging me back to the 1600 and 1700s to show me the grandeur, the empty majesty of a place yet untouched.

How about a trip from California to what is now Baja before there were cars? Try doing the pilgrim thing from north to south in your mind (apologies to Graham and Mike, The Burro

He wasn’t talking to the Princess of New York City because I was drinking out of hoof prints and eating trout on a stick at times myself so, it wasn’t city boy against country boy.

In a pinch, unless I was too drunk to make an argument, I would bring up some trade-offs: Tony would make a face when I told him I would live now, give up some personal freedom for the Beach Boys. Trade off the gift of solitude for some things like toilet paper, dentists, bug spray, a new jeep, my 6mm Remington, cold Bud, a passport and a credit card and the time to use them.

So, I had to nudge him, between shots, back to reality when his picture got too Bambi-like and on we went. I think I would enjoy such chats with some Nomads out there who, like Tony, would be willing to endure some discomfort for real adventure, a life worth living.

I reminded him that beyond the Great Basin to the west at that time, he was more likely to have the full time job of just staying alive. Not much opportunity to travel – the Western Amerindians moved south and east at the rate of 100 miles per generation (30 years). I have to leave out the boat people because they could travel much farther and faster by water but it was more arduous and dangerous than most land travel by foot. So unless he painted himself into a picture with a horse, the majesty, the grandeur he would enjoy would just be mostly his valley, the foothills and the mountains around him. He, like many new to the life of the west, might live out his life and not travel over a hundred miles from his brush hut.

Man).

We were both born in the 1930s and had all the freedom that era could give us and we lived it to the hilt. As a kid I roamed the Everglades of south Florida while Tony walked the mounds of the famous Mississippians at Cahokia but, he is very hard to convince – he says he’d rather be a loner, a hunter-gatherer than do his life over in these times.

Must be just our dreams, his of his first bison kill with a spear, mine of memory of my first vanilla milk shake, the hum of the engine in my 49 Chevy and Surfin’ U.S.A. in the background. In the main, wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Maybe all those talks led me down the path to be a writer, to preserve, for a while, the ideal opportunity to live in the here and now, let my mind and my pen wander all over the universe being amazed at what each era held for one with a different kind of free and easy travel pass.

Two Bajas By: Jorge Bergin Writing is a great hobby for me because when I write things down I often find out just how I feel about them.

In my last little think piece about Baja, “Why Wait”, I learned that there are two kinds of Bajas; one for vacationers, one for settlers.

On a week’s vacation here or anywhere in the tropics near a beach, we want clear water, white sand, no people and tranquility. After a couple of days camped on this wonderful strand we want food and showers and hospitals and auto repair places and dentists and airconditioning and big box stores and TV and lobster bisque. Then, after six months we need more and better hospitals, cadres of doctors, quick, cheap access to our far-flung friends and family, special food stores, opera theaters and bowling alleys, skating rinks and raves.

and is truer here than most places I’ve been. It works.

You can live in Orlando but it is always packed with people who get in your way. You can live in La Purisima but you will miss your kids and be miserable when you run out of your special meds.

So, in the real world the saying should not be “I just adore Rome but I wouldn’t want to live there.” More like “I love living near Rome and don’t mind the trips there where we go to get everything else we need.”

In Baja you can have your cake and eat it too but you have to have a car, money for gas, good planning and a laid back attitude. The timeshare sales people will not agree. They have other plans for you and your hard earned yankee dollars but, the great glowing irony is that their credo is exactly the same as mine.

We want what we want when we want it. The point is we wouldn’t have been happy very long as settlers on that first deserted beach. We know it won’t stay that way forever but we can’t stand it there for very long anyway; it will turn into a quaint and quiet development for a while to give the campers creature comforts for a price. We should view those special places as our private free waterparks which we hope will stay pristine and free.

It turns out that your “Wants Lists” might be a lot closer to most other Bajaphiles and your worries get scrunched down a bit when you see that you can’t really live where you play. It’s the reason I’ve said that if I had it to do all over again after the last 20 years I would have bought a nice little Mexican house in a small village I liked and followed the motto “Live in our world, play in yours.”.

It’s the very old cry of suburbia all over this lovely planet

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Tattooed Man

by Renée Lagloire Javier, my neighbor’s twenty year old nephew came to the gate of the property the other day. He’d been working and wasn’t wearing a shirt. I noticed that he had what looked like a sentence tattooed across his chest, or maybe more like a title? There were three words, written in an ornate Gothic font, with each word capitalized.

Because I find the permanence of tattoos intimidating, I am fascinated by them. So naturally, I approached, saying: “Let’s see what you’ve got here,” pointing to his chest.

I read each scrolled letter, saying the words as I deciphered them: “Te … Amo …. Esmeralda” (I love you Esmeralda).

I looked into his eyes, and teasingly asked: “Exgirlfriend?”

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He looked away, saying: “Yeah.”

“So”, I said, “you still like the tattoo?”

“No, not anymore,” he answered.

“Hmm,” I said, “any options?”

“Not really, I have no money, and that’s what it would take to make it into a different design, or to have it removed.”

I thought about it, and suggested, “Or, you can look for a girlfriend named Esmeralda. You can put the word out that only Esmeraldas will be considered!”

“Yes,” he answered, “but Maria would have been better. There are more girls named Maria than Esmeralda.”

We looked at each other for a brief instant, and nodded our heads in silent agreement. Indeed, Maria might have been better.

THE EARTH UNDER OUR FEET

BY RUSS HYSLOP

Let’s talk about volcanos…

The humans have lived and died and have been disrupted by volcanoes throughout history. In ancient times the natural phenomenon merged with myth, drawing its name from a Roman God, Vulcan, ruler of fire, forge and hearth.

The first well-recorded eruption was that of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It buried the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on the Bay of Naples, killing 16,000 people.

Bits of Early History of the California Baja Before the Spaniards arrived, the peninsula of Baja California was inhabited by three major ethnic groups: the Cochimí in the north, the Guaycura in the central section and the Pericú on the southern cape. Archaeological artifacts suggest that these tribes inhabited the peninsula and Cedros Island as early as 9,000-10,000 years ago. The Cochimí, who lived on the mainland, were hunters and gatherers, but an isolated group of Cochimí living on Cedros Island developed a fairly complex agricultural system. The Guaycura and the Pericú lived by hunting, gathering and fishing. Their descendants still live in Baja California, primarily on the northernmost part of the peninsula.

From the History Channel web site.

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The deadliest in historic times appears to have been Tambora in Indonesia: its 1815 eruption claimed 92,000 lives.

Twelve thousand died in the blast; the remainder, their crops and livestock destroyed, starved to death. Tambora’s aerosol cloud lowered temperatures so much that snow fell in the United States in June, July and August of the following year; it is remembered as “the year without a summer”.

Other notable killers: Krakatoa, 1883, the Sunda Strait between Java and Feb/Mar

Sumatra . Created a tsunami a hundred feet high that drowned 36,000 people. The detonation was heard 3,000 miles away.

Pelee, 1902, Martinique. Sent a hurricane of hot gases into the town of St. Pierre, killing 30,000. Only two inhabitants survived – One of whom was safely imprisoned in a thick walled jail cell!

Nevado Del Ruiz, 1905, Colombia. A Tidal wave of mud swept down from the volcano, smothering and crushing 23,000 people.

There are some 550 known active volcanos on earth and some 500 million people living close to them. A dozen or two of these volcanos can be erupting at any moment.

We have on the Baja Peninsula 12 known volcano sites.

The most prominent, Tres Virgenes, which we pass while traveling Mexico 1 between Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio. The last eruption of this volcano, according to the Jesuits, occurred in the 1600’s.

This area remains active as it supports a thermal/electric facility that utilizes heated waters located under the ground surface around this volcano.

Next Issue: I will discuss the other volcanic areas of our beautiful Peninsula.

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On Whale Watch By: Alexandra Delis-Abrams

A whale, I hear as many abandon their serious sunbasking for binoculars.

Exuberance cannot be contained as I plead, my turn, and vie for the glasses that will bring this miracle closer to view.

Nature at its best! I’m in gratitude to be in the right spot at the right time.

But then, aren’t we always, I muse.

A life lesson taught before our very eyes.

Mama humpback is teaching her student what her species has done for eons.

Could the force of mama’s tail be saying... this is how it’s done?

A splash dispersing an enormous amount of water is the result.

It’s powerfully staggering.

Pay attention now...let’s practice...watch me…

Over and over and over again, her tail slams down on the surface of the sea.

Moments after baby replicates the behavior.

Like this? I'm getting the idea.

But what does it mean, I ponder as each cell of my being overflows with sheer joy.

Who really cares, I hear.

Does knowing deepen the awe you feel of this moment of Now? In the midst of the class baby thrusts her mega body straight up out of the water, like the Apollo spaceship.

Maybe in an expression of pure exhilaration...and...maybe not.

Cheers are spontaneously heard from those who feel Our magnificent planet is school for those who are conscious of the lessons offered.

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The ebb and flow of the sea, like the in and outflow of breath, giving and receiving.

The precise cycle of the moon, offering the gift of Divine timing versus forcing life.

The wisdom of the salmon following its smell to its birthplace, natural knowing.

The miraculous moment has passed, mama and baby are on their way.

Briefly my heart goes heavy, legs weaken, and tears dampen my eyes.

When will we stop destroying our planet? I scream.

I choose to send light to the captured baby elephants, imprisoned as they await their destiny to a zoo in China and Thailand.

I choose to drench my beloved wolves in a loving energy as the monsters rip them from protection.

I choose to stay receptive to my next course of activism I trust I trust I trust The lesson offered: let go of grasping, struggle, resistance.

Although often challenging, I choose to focus on that which choreographs my life and conspires for my highest good.

It is my true north.

The anchor I cling to My lifeline.

Off they go.

Thank you for the gift my friends, as the aborigines say, I love you and support you on your journey.

The Fun of Motorcycle Riding in Baja

By Jerry Justus Riding off-road dirt bikes in Baja is an adventure enjoyed by many riders who come to Baja to enjoy the warm winter months. I am one of those riders. To date, I have ridden well over 30,000 miles in Baja with almost all of that on unpaved, backcountry roads and trails.

20 years ago I was introduced to the Baja peninsula by Malcolm Smith, a famous dirt bike racer - won the Baja 1000 race 6 times and the Baja 500 race 4 times. In 1995 Malcolm invited me to join him and a small group to ride from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas, riding mostly on the Baja 1000 race course. My youngest son and I did that ride, being the first time I had ever been south of San Diego. It was a trip that impressed me so much that it wasn’t long before my wife and I made a trip down the Baja peninsula in our motor home, ending up at Verdugo’s RV Park. That same spring we bought a small place on the beach, here in Los Barriles.

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Motorcycle riding soon became one of my favorite activities down here. My wife and I had a Jeep and we started exploring the southern tip of Baja, plotting out routes that would be fun to do on the bikes- long before the GPS. We had a lot of success and soon I had a nice list of Feb/Mar

places to ride. It wasn’t long and I had a good sized group of riders who wanted to ride with me. It was not unusual for a group of us to ride two or three days a week. I was a wind surfer (kite surfing now) so the wind often kept us close to the water, but windless days or any time it rained, we could be found out in the back country, enjoying the freedom of riding in the Baja.

My interest in riding in Baja has continued to grow and several years ago, I started leading groups of riders on excursions across the peninsula. I would get a group of people together, with similar riding skills, my wife would drive a support vehicle, and we would ride from Los Barriles over to Todos Santos and spend the night.

The riders would arrive at the hotel where their bags were in their rooms and snacks and cold drinks would be waiting,, I have a great wife! After a rest, story sharing, a hot shower, and clean clothes we would go out to dinner. Then the next morning the riders would suit up and enjoy riding back across the mountains on a completely different route, making our way back home.

My two sons, a son in law and a grandson, all love to ride motorcycles, so I always keep an extra motorcycle or two ready for them. During these past 20 years I have really enjoyed having them come down and ride with me. The bond we have because of the riding is Continued on pg 32

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Motorcycle continued from page 31

very strong. The boys often make multiple trips down during the winter, to get out of the cold north for a few days and to “turn the throttle” out in the desert sun with me.

Over the years, with GPS and SPOT Satellite Tracker, I have expanded my “scouting” trips and ventured farther north. With a computer, my wife can see where I am and how I am progressing -- in real time. In December 2014, with my son Kellsey and a couple of local riders, we did a 500 mile, 3 day unsupported ride going up to San Everisto, west to Puento Conejo and down the Pacific to Todos Santos, and back to Los Barriles. We had a wonderful time and the trip was so much fun, Ronnie Verduego and I started planning an even bigger adventure.

On February 8th of this year, five of us left Los Barriles to do a 900 mile, 5 day unsupported ride. The group included Ronnie Verdugo, Jason Russ, David Thornton, my son Ken and myself. Our planned route was to use back roads and stay off the pavement as much as possible. We again went north of La Paz, up the Sea of Cortez to the end of the road near San Evaristo, then west through the mountain ranges to Constitution and then east to Agua Verde. From there we headed north to the Mission San Javier, continuing north west to the Comondus and La Purisima before starting south to Todos Santos and then home. The trip was relatively problem free, and it was a true adventure with amazing scenery, great companionship, and the thrill of facing the

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unknown, the unexpected, and sometimes, the impossible. In my 20 years of riding in Baja I don’t remember the mountains ever being so green and beautiful.

On our ride we had three flat tires and one wheel bearing failure, which, for a ride like this and with five bikes, was only a minor inconvenience. We had everything necessary to make repairs and get back on the trail. With the current day GPS systems it is easy to navigate and stay on the route. Without good maps and a GPS route it would be almost impossible to find your way, and the desert can be a very hostile environment to those who enter unprepared.

The biggest adventure part of our trip came about on the 2 nd day. Severe hurricane damage had taken place in a couple of the most critical sections of our route. The first big challenge was the 1000 foot, 2 mile decent into Agua Verde. We had been told by a person we believed to be reliable (who lives at the top of the mountain) that the road was passable by motorcycle. We arrived at the top of the pass, after already riding over 200 miles that day, only to find treacherous vertical drops and huge water erosion with boulders strewn about everywhere. One of our sayings is “How hard can it really be?” After all, it was only a thousand feet downhill. less than 20 miles of roads that were problematic. Since all 5 of us were experienced riders we felt confident that we should be able to get to the bottom, one way or another. We did make it, but that 2 miles took us close to 2 hours. That tells you something!! In some places we were helping each other push our bikes through the rocks. About 1/3 of the way down I had the thought “what if we get almost to the bottom and there is a 100 foot sheer cliff?” I knew we couldn’t ride our bikes back to the top. By now the sun had gone down. I was finally able to find my way through to the bottom. Eventually everyone made it safely down. By then it was getting really dark and one bike had a flat rear tire.

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Splashing in to snorkel at Cardonal, the water was warming and clear. The fish were plentiful, big, and abundant coral heads appeared to have been power washed clean during Hurricane Odile and their colors clear and striking. As a shallow reef, sadly some of the coral had been completely uprooted and knocked over during the havoc of the storm, with much coral debris now gathering on the sea floor.

Having gotten the nod from Captain Luis and facing the day’s end, we were underway. We were just off Las Tinas north of Punta Pescadero when we spotted something floating on the surface that was…bizarre, other worldly. Sticking about three feet from the water, it looked like the top of a craggy, miniature, vanilla covered iceberg. Captain Luis began shouting ‘Elefante Marino, Elefante Marino’! He was awestruck as he powered down, careful not to disturb the top of the iceberg. Closing in, the iceberg opened up…

Known in Spanish as the ‘Marin Elephant’ and in English as the ‘Elephant Seal’, Captain Luis was exclaiming what a rare site it was; he’d only seen one before in his 30 years on the water; Deckhand Joel, in his 15 years, also only one. And then Luis, as if somehow connected to this marine mammal, started calling to it – in English nonetheless – “Come here, boy”, “Come here, boy”...and it did! Right up to the boat. The site of it in the water is beyond belief. So beguilingly ugly, and yet the eyes are sweet and its actions doglike. We tossed it bait fish and it was even more engaging. Measuring half the size of the boat, through the clear water we could

The Elephant Seal was hunted to near extinction in the early part of the 19th Century. Since then, their populations have grown to approximately 150,000 worldwide, and they are found throughout the globe. The species are separated into ‘Northern’ and ‘Southern’, and the big bulls can weigh more than 5,000 pounds. Like turtles, they navigate the oceans until they reach maturity after 5 - 6 years. Some big males have been known to travel as many as 13,000 miles a year, exceeding even the Gray Whale's migration.

The Sea of Cortez is slightly beyond their normal scope, although they come to sandy sides on the Pacific side twice a year to breed and to molt.

The bizarre snout is a sort of ‘rebreather’, making a lot of noise when it dips in and out of the water but plays an essential role in hydrating the animal when it is out of the water. Males can live up to 14 years and females up to 22 years. Similar to the Sperm whale, Elephant seals attain incredibly deep dives – up to 7,500 feet down and can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes while they are searching for their favorite foods – rays, squid, eels, octopus, small sharks and big fish.

We were concerned about our new friend’s right eye, which seemed milky blue. It must have been an old injury and it was obviously blind in that eye, but faring well in life. A new friend, right here in the fathomless deep blue sea, and for more than 30 minutes we hung out together.

What an awesome gift, what a once-in-a-lifetime chance and it was ours to share!

“Come here, boy, Come here boy!”

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see that it was at least 15 feet long and with a huge girth, weighing thousands of pounds. At one point it had us all on the bow and as if to show off, it turned over and swam off with the smooth ease of a mermaid! Then right back for more fish. It was a good model as we snapped countless pictures. We couldn’t take our eyes off it.

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We repaired our third flat of the day and continued riding the 25 miles on up the cliff ridden road out of Ague Verde to highway 1 and on to our motel, arriving at 9:30 pm. We had left La Paz at 7:00 am which means we were on the road fourteen and one half hours that day. Thankfully all of the bikes, except mine, had very powerful lighting systems.

The hotel where we stayed (Villa Del Palma) is a new 4 or 5 star hotel about 20 miles south of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez. When we arrived to check in, all the staff and other guests were staring at us like we had the plague or something. I asked the girl at the counter if she had ever had customers who looked as tired and dirty as we looked. She answered “No sir, I haven’t seen anyone like your group before.” Then she quickly added, “But neither have I ever seen any other guests that were obviously having so much fun. Can I go with you?”

“Come here, boy”, “Come here, boy”...and it did! Right up to the boat

A Rare & Awesome Sighting

An ‘Elefante Marino’ or ‘Elephant Seal’ By: Theresa Comber We never want magical days on the sea to end, yet we know when Captain Luis gives the nod of the head to the south and we know that we’d better head back.

And this is when Mother Nature really gave us a rare treat.

It was Sunday on the sea. Dawn had begun with a tequila sunrise morning and clouds coursed the deep, grenadine sky. The water’s surface was glassy calm, in large contrast to the excitement of us on board.

“Awesome” & “Too Awesome” had just floated on Friday after a new motor for “Awesome” and a deep maintenance massage for “Too Awesome”. Our shake down day of fun aboard “Awesome” had whales at the top of the list; any sort of meat fish we might find on a winter day; and a snorkel at Cardonal’s shallow, abundant reef. “Too Awesome” was also cruising, out with guests hailing from Saskatchewan in Canada’s frozen north, clearly folks who were well deserving of a warm, beautiful day on the Sea of Cortez.

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Within ten minutes heading southeast to the area outside La Ribera, we joined a small group of local boats hand lining for bottom fish and others trolling for the coveted yellow tail or a dorado that might be searching for their own morning breakfast. It was not to be for them or us, as the Captain’s had been radioing that little luck was happening.

We pulled up our lines and pulled off with whales on our minds and all eyes shifted to the horizon. Another short ten minutes and shouts greeted Captain Luis - there they are, off to the right! No, there they are, off the left! No, there they are, off our stern! And of course our keen eyed Captain & crew had spotted whales dead ahead. Once again in the Cortez aquarium whales were in sight all around. A Momma and her baby were closest and the baby started showing off its jumping abilities. Again and again the baby flew into the air around its momma, splashing and frolicking and showing off its new found skills. Within five minutes in all directions we were treated to the immense joy and privilege of watching school-bus-sized humpback whales and their soccer-mom -van-sized babies breaking the water’s surface. Lulled from our calm delight, Captain Adan had found an enormous school of bottle nose dolphin to our north. We headed to them and beyond to Cardonal. The dolphins stretched for miles, joining along and cruising our bow wake while dolphins were breaking the surface as far as we could see.

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On our third day we had another incident that added to the adventure side of our trip. As we departed San Jose Comondu, one rider noticed that his rear wheel bearing had failed rendering his bike un-ride able. We had the necessary tools and parts to make repairs but lost two hours of daylight in the process. We were not prepared for the condition of the 14 mile stretch of road between San Jose Comondu and San Isidro. The road was totally washed out during the last hurricane. Once again we were forced to ride with our headlights and helmet lights on before arriving very late in La Purisima.

or spook the cattle. There is much more riding pressure now than there was 20 years ago. Back then, I often would ride into a ranch and the ranchers had never seen anyone in full riding gear, with heavy boots and full helmet. Those ranchers all know me now, and I enjoy interacting with them. Many have given me keys to their gates.

The back country of Baja is still no place for an inexperienced rider. Never go out riding alone. Always have plenty of water. Know your gas range and don’t take a chance of being stranded someplace in the back country.

Luckily, we now have a local experienced motorcycle tour guide, Kurt Russell. His company, Captain Baja Tours, is located here in Los Barriles. You can contact him at kirk@captainbajaadventures.com. You can check his company out on line as well. This is giving even more new riders a chance to experience this magnificent peninsula from the seat of a motorcycle.

I don’t know how many more years I will get to enjoy being “The Flying Fossil” down here, but I am very grateful for every mile I have ridden, for every rider I have ridden with, and for every day I have been able to ride with my family and friends. Baja has been very good to me and my time down here has been greatly enriched because I ride.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip with no injuries -- that required medical attention. The beauty was breathtaking, the mountains were vast and green, miles of riding through cactus forests or mile after mile of riding along the crashing waves of the blue Pacific, finding gas at ranches along the way, not to mention the adrenalin rush of wicking the throttle and flying down a straight narrow sandy two track road. . In our 900 miles we actually had less than 20 miles of roads that were problematic.

I earned the name of “The Flying Fossil” 15 years or so ago by a riding friend (Jamie Young.) I was 60 years old at the time. I guess I should change my name to “The Petrified Fossil.” A lot of my riding companions have stopped riding, have sold their bikes, or just had to give up the sport for a variety of reasons. But each year, new riders find their way down here to the Baja. I have greatly enjoyed teaching riding skills to younger riders… now all riders are younger than I am. I enjoy helping riders pick the right bike for them and I enjoy solving some of the mechanical issues that we all face. Today, many of the areas that we have ridden in past years have been closed off. Fences have gone up, gates installed, locks put on. Part of that is due to careless riders who haven’t always respected the local ranchers, or who tear up roads Feb/Mar

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Los Barriles, How Did it Get its Name?

By: Chris Courtright With excerpts from Research by Theda Bassett and Rosalyn Ostler (Printed in Eastcapers Magazine Dec 2002)

I have wondered from the time I first came to Los Barriles what the origin of the name was. For some reason it is important to me: why ‘Los Barriles’? Los Barriles, meaning ‘the barrels’ has a few stories of the name origin.

One good one I heard was that in the late 1800’s the Ranchers would bring their cattle to the shores of what is now known as Los Barriles, to meet the ships to get their cattle to market. The ships were anchored off shore, and since you could not use your row boat to take cattle out to the ship, they tied barrels to the cows, and they would float out to the ship. Now, I was impressed with this idea, you know when there is the will there is a way. I even like that image of the entire process, but really, it all sounded pretty tough. So, I have asked many history buffs who have been around for years, and they say no, that is not the right story – but they did think it was an ‘imaginative’ story.

Now interesting as the above story may be, it is agreed that

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the name came from the story of the Legend of the Pirate Tree a story which was originally printed in the Eastcapers Magazine, Dec 2002. One of the most significant stories in Los Barriles history is that of visiting pirates and The Pirate Tree. Most of us have heard the story of pirate ships that anchored in the Bahia de Palmas in early 1800’s. Legend has it that one time, during a hurricane, a pirate crew needed to remove excess weight for the safety off their ship and brought barrels of gold treasure ashore. They were buried just off shore, to be retrieved later. This story has special significance since the original name of the village, Las Palmas, was later changed to Los Barriles.

To mark the place of the burial, a carving of the pirate’s ship was made on a sturdy Palo San Juan tree standing on a beach berm near the water. Martin Verdugo, a member of one of the founding families of Los Barriles and owner of Martin Verdugo’s R.V. Park, reports that the Pirate Tree was situated on the Verdugo family property just north of where the R.V. Park stands today. He heard the story of the pirates and the carving on The Pirate Tree from his grandfather when he was a young boy. “It is assumed,” Senor Verdugo recalls, “that the ship was wrecked. Neither the ship nor any of its crew was ever found”. The barrels are still buried, if the story is true.

As part of the research regarding the history of Los Barriles, we inquired about The Pirate Tree. We discovered that it had remained on the lot due north of the R.V. Park until late 1990’s. We were told by the owners that it had become diseased and was removed. The section containing the carving was stored for a while and later discarded.

Kinda makes you want to set up camp at Verdugo’s doesn’t it?! Making sure you bring a shovel or two and maybe a metal detector!

Festival de Artes Continued from pg 1 vacation program, Local Artist Studio tours and our ever popular Saturday Arts and Crafts at the DIF for the local children.

Special discounted room rates are available at Hotel Palmas De Cortez or Hotel Playa Del Sol. Call 624-141-0044 or US 877-777-8862 for reservations.

If you are a vendor please come by 7am, unload and move your car down past the Palmas de Cortez condos as to not interfere with the guest parking.

Booth fees are $400 mxn/$30 usd paid in advance or $500 mxn/$35 usd, the day of event from 9am – 1pm.

Pre Pay locations are as follows: 1. Baja Beach Company in Los Barriles at Plaza del Pueblo. Open Mon -Fri, 9 - 5 and Sat 9 - 3.

2. Baja Books & Maps, San Jose del Cabo, Open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat at Organic Market, 624-142-5596 For complete vendor information and applications, go to www.eastcapearts.com

Any questions email: festivaldeartes22@gmail.com

History of the Festival In February of 1992, a small group of residents in the Est Cape region of BCS, Mexico formed a committee to organize a spring “Festival de Artes.” The purpose of the event was to give local artists an opportunity to show and sell their original work and to raise money to support art programs in the schools.

Twenty four artists attended with their original work.

Then 250 members of the community came to enjoy the event. At the end of the day, $2500 pesos had been raised to purchase art supplies for the Los Barriles Elementary School. It was a modest but encouraging beginning. The spring “Festival de Artes” has grown over the years, attracting artists and visitors from Los Cabos , La Paz and beyond By 1998, the number of artists had tripled and the number of visitors had climbed to over 1500. Funds earned by the event were now able to buy more art supplies for the schools. In 1999 the committee decided to form a private Mexican non-profit organization (an Asociacion Civil) and establish a formal Board of Directors. The Asociacion de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C. Has been developing programs for the benefit of East Cape communities along the Sea of Cortez ever since.

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Feb/Mar

Feb/Mar

Asociacion de Artes Happenings

By: Chris Courtright February has been a busy month for Asociacion de Artes.

We started off on the 13th with the Artist Studio Tour, which showcased 22 local artists at 17 different studios!

Even the date, Friday the 13th or the mean looking clouds and gusts of wind, could not dampen the great time that was had by all – and the wind actually kept us all cool as we walked between studios. The talent displayed that lives right here in our little community is just amazing. I am sure I am not the only one that came home with some really beautiful works of art!

The next day the 14th, Valentines Day, we had our first of the year “Saturday Crafts” at the concha by the DIF. We made Valentines Day cards, explaining to the children the reasoning behind the special day. They had a great time making cards for their Mom’s or Grandmas – not quite the group ready for the girl/boy friend yet! The volunteers also enjoyed themselves working with the kids and seeing their enthusiasm for learning a new project. If you want to get involved, try the Saturday Crafts. It is only a 2 hour commitment, once a month. No ‘crafting’ skill or language needed! Just a desire to make a difference!

March brings the Asociacion head on into the Festival de Artes Show season (see pg 1), and we hope to see all you out to sell and buy – yes, vendors do buy too! We are also working on doing a baseball spring training/ Sawyers Camp for the Los Barriles area kids. We are in the process of firming up our date. It is tentatively set for the March 21st. Volunteers are greatly needed for the 4 hour camp.

We have found a person to house the equipment and that person will also continue working with the kids in the LB area. Watch for details on the LB camp!

Coach Lael, from the fall camp, came back this month and went down to work with the kids in Campamento. Every day at 4:15, the kids go to the field, someone goes and gets the equipment, and they practice. They have even found a local ‘amateur’ player, and these kids work to collect money for his gas so he can come and work with them on their skills. Lael and this young man worked on skills, and then they split into two teams and played. There is some talent in the kids! The only thing that stopped them was it got dark! The way the kids of Campamento have embraced baseball, gives us great ambition for the game of baseball in the Baja Sur. Keep up on the details of the camp on our facebook page – facebook.com/beisbolcampoeneastcape I will also keep everyone informed with BPE also. See, I did say I would shamelessly promote the camp, as only the editor can!!

For more information on either Saturday Crafts or the baseball camps, contact me at jonandchris@juno.com.

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Advertising in East Capers Advertising in the East Capers gets the word out about your business AND your ad money supports the 3 week 'Cursos de Verano' summer school, for over 120 local children and provides art supplies for 18 East Cape public schools.

In addition to space in the printed version, your color ad appears in the online version at no additional cost. You can download the 2014/15 Advertising Kit by v isiting our website at: www.eastcapearts.com.

Tax-deductable Contributions to the Asociación de Artes The Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C., Los Barriles, B.C. Sur, Mexico is a legal non-profit Mexican corporation not affiliated with any other organization, association, club or business.

The Asociación is in full compliance with the terms of the NAFTA agreement of January 1, 1994. As such, contributions made to the Asociación de Artes are tax-deductable in the United States, Mexico and Canada. For more information visit: www.eastcapearts.com or the NAFTA Website at: http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/freetrade -agreements/north -american-free-tradeagreement-nafta.

Volunteers Needed!

The Asociación de Artes needs volunteers to help support their programs that bring the arts to the local communities and the schools. To learn more about these programs, visit: www.eastcapearts.com.

If you would like to volunteer, send an email to: eastcapearts@gmail.com.

Call for Articles East Capers is looking for fiction and true stories about our region and items that affect our residents.

If you are interested in submitting articles, recipes, stories or your personal experiences in Baja, email your 1,000-words or less article to: eastcapersmagazine@gmail.com

Thank You!

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Publisher Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C., Los Barriles, BCS, Mexico Editor Christine Kenck-Courtright

Copy Editor Pako Ford

Circulation Brian Cummings

By: Connie M. Heinen Permanent makeup dates back at least to the start of the 20th century. The tattooist George Burchett, was a major developer of the technique when it became fashionable in the 1930s, he described in his memoirs how beauty salons tattooed many women without their knowledge, offering it as complexion treatment, injecting dyes underneath the skin.

Permanent Makeup has come a long way since the 1930's. The pigments are safer and more stable, the machines are better and more efficient and the needles safer and less painful, the techniques have improved also.

Advertising Kathy Obenshain Denise Linnet

Contributors

Permanent makeup has found its way to the mainstream market and appeals to women of all nationalities from all walks of life. In our hectic, stress-fill world, permanent makeup provides that ability to wear a fresh, “always ready” look without the effort. It’s perfect for those who find themselves in a hurry every morning and don’t have time for applying makeup on a daily basis. It's waterproof and won't smudge or smear, it won’t come off in the shower or the pool. In fact, it will last for years before you may need a touch-up. Lips can be made to look fuller, eyebrows can be even and symmetrical. Eyes can be lined to add definition and enhancement.

Jerry Justice Pako Ford Connie M. Heinen Russ Hyslop Sefi Held Chris and Heather Hartridge Ann Hazard Renee Lagloire Emma Nicholson Jorge Bergin Larry Epstein Holly Burgin Alexandra Delis-Abrams Chris Courtright Theda Bassett and Rosalyn Ostler Theresa Comber

Lynn Mirasson

Printer Imprenta Ciudad Los Niños, La Paz, BCS, Mexico To learn about Ciudad Los Niños, visit their website at: http://ciudadninoslapaz.org/english/home.htm ———————————

The opinions expressed within the articles in East Capers are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Asociación de Artes del Mar de Cortez A.C.

Newsletter Email Address eastcapersmagazine@gmail.com

This publication is possible with the help of the board members of the Asociación de Artes and members of the community.

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WAKE UP with MAKEUP!

East Capers Periódico

Feb/Mar

There are several methods of implanting the pigment into the skin. Some being a rotary, coil, or digital machine or a hand tool soft tap or the newest and latest manual method called Microblading or Microstroking.

The Microstroking technique originated in Asia and is very popular in Europe. This technique is quickly becoming the must have beauty treatment for that glamorous, tidy brow. Microblade uses a hand tool which holds several needles to deposit pigment into the epidermis. Because the color is closer to the surface the strokes appear crisp and very fine, you can hardly distinguish it from a real hair. These 3D or HD eyebrows do not appear as a tattoo. The results are natural looking hair strokes, regardless of the amount of hair present.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to learn the Microblade technique from one of the leading instructors from Russia who teaches this method and be on the Feb/Mar

cutting edge of the latest techniques in permanent makeup. In my 16 years as a permanent makeup artist we have tried to simulate hair strokes with some success but nothing compared to this revolutionary microblading technique. The hair strokes are crisp and fine just like real hair.

I have been performing the art of Permanent Makeup since 1998 and have had training from some of the leading instructors in the industry. I use state of the art digital machine and Organic pigments. I am Master Certified and hold numerous certificates. If you would like more information about Permanent Makeup or other services that I provide please visit my website www.solutionsdebellesa.com. For an appointment please call 141-0422 or email: permsolutions@aol.com

“Seriously, who would want to be energetic for five hours?”

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Free / Gratis

Festival de Artes The 22nd Annual

Festi-

val de Artes to be held at the

Issue No. 70

beautiful "Hotel Palmas de Cortez" from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday, March 29, 2015. This popular event sponsored by the Asociación de Artes on the East Cape, is known as the premier showcase for local artists who display and sell their original art.

Feb / Mar 2015

The FOOD COURT will feature the famous Palmas Carne Asada Taco Stand, Baja Biscuits, Seth’s Panaderia, just to name a few. We will have all of your favorite cold beverages and a bar that is second to none.

On the main stage, the great music of Bluz Expolsion from LaPaz. This is a toe tapin‘ dance inspiring group that are always a favorite around here. There will be other great music to entertain you all day long.

Funds from the Festival de Artes go to support the community activities of the Asociación de Artes which include: Arts and education supplies for East Cape schools, Sponsorship and participation in the Los Barriles "Cursos de Verano" summer SEE PAGE 3 FOR MORE FESTIVAL INFORMATION

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Feb/Mar

Continued on page 3