We have a had a busy past few weeks prior to leaving San Carlos with a dinner tour, turtle release, my last day of work, and lots of provisioning.
Shortly after we arrived in San Carlos, I read about a dragon fruit farm tour and dinner offered by Rancho Pitahaya. I contacted Greg, the farm owner, and he said that the tours would start back up in October, so we had a few months before we could get one organized. Once October rolled around we secured a date and started planning. We needed at least 15 people in order for the tour to happen. We reached out to some other cruisers and got a group together. Since none of us have cars, Greg coordinated with a local adventure company to pick us up at the marina and take us to the farm in a modified safari style pickup truck. It added to the experience and we all had a "wind blown" look for the rest of the day.
The dragon fruit farm tour was informative and we learned how and why Greg decided to start growing the fruit there. The farm was originally a citrus farm, however the dragon fruit takes a lot less water to grow and is much more sustainable. We enjoyed some dragon fruit and dragon fruit cocktails and headed to the Cardon Cactus Forest to see the largest and oldest cacti in the world. Next we went back to the dragon fruit farm for a 7-course organic dinner. It was a fun outing with friends and we would recommend putting the tour on your "things to do in San Carlos" list.
Earlier in the month we were invited to go to a sea turtle release one evening with our friends Ray and Kathy. A nest of 122 eggs had to be relocated due to being on a high trafficked beach. A nonprofit group relocates the nest to a safe place and once the turtles hatch they are taken back to the beach where their original nest was located and then released. It takes them a couple hours to find the water, but it was a fun experience to watch. On the way to the release we came across a small brush fire, between two houses. We stopped to try and help the situation, however the city water was turned off (which is a regular occurrence in Mexico). Ray had a fire extinguisher in the Jeep, so he grabbed that and Doug grabbed a shovel. They did their best to build a perimeter to protect the neighboring houses, but a big gust of wind came and it spread very quickly. The fire department was on their way, so we left it to the professionals.
Next up was my last day of work!! I have been working remotely during the pandemic, and had a contract end date of October 31, 2021. It was great to work during this unpredictable time as our travel plans were put on hold with countries' borders closed down. We are looking forward to not needing the internet or having a schedule. It was bitter sweet to log off for the last time, after working for the same university for almost 15 years!
Since hurricane season is coming to an end and Doug's list of boat projects is dwindling, and now not needing the internet for work, it was time to provision and leave San Carlos. San Carlos has been good to us the past three and half months. We met some great people, did some fun excursions, drove to mile marker 21 to renew our visas, and we survived a very hot summer! All in all, it was a success!!!
Shout out to some folks...Ray & Kathy and Steve & Sharyl. Both helped us out tremendously with getting ready to leave. Both couples make routine trips back to the US, so they helped bring down items that we could not find in Mexico! Thank you, thank you!! Doug and I appreciate you all very much!! We will miss you!
As I write this, we are swinging at anchor in Santo Domingo. It's a perfect 87 degree day and we are the only boat in the anchorage. We have already crossed the Sea of Cortez and we will travel very slowly down the Baja, taking time to enjoy some beautiful anchorages, snorkel spots, and hikes.
More adventures to come....
