We wouldn’t leave San Juanico for five days, ultimately this special spot was Mike’s favorite stop of the trip. And it isn’t hard to see why, we had amazing snorkeling right off the boat. The quantity of fish was well beyond what I had seen in the past. A trip to the Cruiser’s tree confirmed that Strikhedonia’s contribution was unscathed from the summer hurricane season with the exception of some fading which was easy to update.
Our first morning we made the hike to the organic farmer up the arroyo. He was very generous showing us his immaculately maintained gardens which were just starting to sprout. I have heard that he is an employee of the owners of the large homes overlooking the bay and provides them with fresh produce, and in season sells the excess to cruisers. Today we picked up some fresh goat cheese, probably close to 1.5 pounds all for 30 pesos. What a deal. On the hike back we decided to explore a bit and I no doubt had Mike questioning my navigation skills as there were a number of course reversals when we became surrounded by cactus. But after lots of ducking under branches, a few scrapes, and following a dry river bed I ultimately got us back to the dirt road which led to the bay.
The next day, I spent a relaxing morning paddling to a quiet spot to watch the sunrise and for morning meditation. An hour turned into two and before returning to the boat as I snuck in another bushwacking hike. This time with less drama but still a nice view.
Our other days failed to lack of hiking, we took the trip to the north anchorage (La Ramada) where we were treating to a breathtaking feeding frenzy of larger fish on massive bait balls. Another sunrise we hiked to the top of the hills to the west of the anchorage. There wasn’t much of a trail to follow but on my past trips I had climbed the summit so I knew what we were in for. The trick really was getting back down as we decided to try a different way which took us over a couple lower peaks. This did not work out, as we learned upon reaching a number of drop-off cliffs where we had to back track. Eventually, tail between our legs, we worked out way back to the area where we had ascended.
Our final walk, hard to call it a hike, was to an area where there are veins of crystals. This area of the bay has amazing geological features and I will be back.
Mike got a taste of fishing from the dinghy and we netted about 10 cabrillas. The fishing trip ended when we hooked up a dorado. Much bigger than expected and nearly too much for our light spin casting rod. After a good long fight we had him near the boat but with no easy way to get him into the boat, as I reached to grab him, he snapped our line taking my $15 lure with him. Duh! Our only consolation was the two cabrillas we kept that made for a damn fine fish fry. With Mike’s time aboard Strikhedonia quickly fading away we had to say goodbye for now to San Juanico and head further south.
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