Sorry to report that all attempts to save (Willy) the whale seem to have failed. This morning it was still washed up on the beach, and still in the water, but with no signs of life. Not sure if it was a young one, or a sick one, but there were no obvious signs of injury. It's possible that it was entangled in a net at some point.

We decided to pull up stakes this morning and make a move. We headed just to the south to Puerto Escondido, and checked out the great harbour, lots of sail boats, and saw signs that indicated that most of the surrounding area and islands is a National Park! Somewhat reluctantly we started to head north. We stopped again in the the lovely little town of Loreto where we went to the 'water store' as directed by a fellow camper. Filled up two gallon jugs and got the camper's tank refilled all for $1.40! And they are very serious about the quality of the water there. It is all filtered, etc, but the guys working there wear hair nets, white rubber aprons and even face masks and gloves when they enter the 'clean area' to fill the jugs, carefully rinsing them out first. Then they have a long hose that reaches right out to the camper on the street to fill it's tank. pretty impressive, don't you think?

We headed on north again and went through the army checkpoint where they actually looked inside the camper for the first time, but they were all very polite and professional. I had wondered what the two guys in the little booths down the road were doing. About 150M on either side of the checkpoint there is a tiny booth about the size of a phone booth, manned by one soldier. There is a small piece of rope running across the road from the booth? This time I noticed that the rope is attached to a mega-set of spike belts that can be pulled across the road in an instant if anyone tries to make a run for it!
Stopped on Monday night at a little beach I had spotted on the way south called El Coyote, toward the northern end of the Bahia Concepcion. Beautiful little crescent shaped white sand and shell beach in a sheltered cove with lots of islands. Sat outside on a warm calm evening watching the sun set and the moon rise over the water. I was surprised to find my neighbors (Portland, OR) from three nights ago are also camped here. Had to dredge up the six bucks, but even got an offical camping permit - another first! This is a place worth coming back to! Lots of Albertans and BC'ans as per ususal. There are apparently some hot springs just down the beach that I will have to check out in the morning.
Unfortunately the ghost of the dead whale vapourized the image from my computer, and all the rest of the day's photos.


Playa El Coyote, Bahia Concepcion, Baja Sur
Ivan

Updated Santa Rosalia