A year ago, Big Papa and I were preparing for a trip to Baja, Mexico. Our first trip to Mexico and our last trip just-the-two-of-us.
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A year ago, Big Papa and I were preparing for a trip to Baja, Mexico. Our first trip to Mexico and our last trip just-the-two-of-us.
Find more bliss…check out Delicious Baby Photo Friday!
Prickly Pear farms dotted the horizon as we made our way south into Baja, California. I had never seen a crop so thorny that everyone said could be so delicious.
Nopal cactus or prickly pear is native to Mexico and has served as a staple food and healing plant for thousands of years, perhaps as many as 20,000 years ago with the first man to arrive in Mexico. Native Indians used it as food, mainly during drought years where it became essential to the survival of the people in the region and their cattle and livestock. The juice from the pads of this plant were also used to soothe wounds, stiffen cloth, purify water, waterproof pain, strengthen mortars and as a hedge. And, on top of all this, it’s also great eating! Both the “heart” or red flower (the fruit called the tuna) can be eaten, along with the prickly pad itself.
In Mexico, nopal is eaten in many ways: raw or cooked in salads, in soups and stews, grilled, as a base for ice cream and even as a beverage. We enjoyed ours in the form of a salad, served as an appetizer in Catavina, a little town in Baja.
So tasty–muy bueno. Salud!
Mexican Nopal Salad
How to: Cut onions, tomatoes and chili peppers into very small pieces and mix together in a large bowl. Add a few drops of lime and water and mix into a sauce. Boil the nopal pads, clean (remove all prickers) and cut into cubes, drain and add to sauce. Serve the salad on the side with your favorite Mexican dishes, like the delicious ceviche we enjoyed!
Want to prick up your meals with more deliciousness? Check out Wanderfood Wednesday!
My first trip to Mexico was a three day excursion to Baja, California. I was in awe of the rich colors, the desert, the beauty of it all.
Dying flowers against an orange wall
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For such a small place Catavina gets a lot of attention! Located on Baja Highway One between El Rosario and the Bay of L.A. junction, travelers have loved Catavina for many reasons over the years, and not just as a place to stop for gas on a long stretch of highway.
Located in the middle of the Desierto Central de Baja California, Catavina is a combination of gigantic granite boulders, unique vegetation and white sand. Hundreds of species of cacti and desert plant, many of which are endemic—like the boojum–seem almost artfully arranged between the boulders along dry river beds.
Another reason to visit Catavina is to see the cave paintings. Reported to be between 8,000 and 10,000 years old, these amazingly intact and vibrant paintings tell the story of indigenous life—both human and animal—that existed in this region.
It was awe-inspiring imagining what might have been in this very spot many, many years ago. The cave paintings are a hidden gem that we were fortunate to see. If you are interested in visiting the caves, inquire at the La Pinta Desert Inn. Our tour company, Andiamo Travels, handled our visit but I heard that guides can be arranged.
“Touch it. Touch it. Touch it!” That’s what the naturalist yelled at me to do, on a boat in the middle of Scammon’s Lagoon near the town of Guerrero Negro in Baja, Mexico.
So that’s exactly what I did. I stuck my hand out over the water, and just at that moment, the whale flipped on her side and headed under our boat. As her fluke flew up into the air, my fingers grasped it. For one brief moment, I held a whale by the tail.
“I’ve got a whale by the tail,” I hollered at my eight comrades aboard our “panga,” a small fishing boat used to observe these giant mammals—literally—at arm’s length. In one’s lifetime, how often do you get to say that and have it be the honest to goodness truth?
Spending half a day surrounded by 2,000 gray whales was the high point of our recent trip to Baja, Mexico. Karla, our Andiamo Travel tour guide, told us that a record 922 babies had been born in the lagoon this year, and they were keeping company with nearly 1,000 adults. Sure enough, just looking out on the horizon—at any given moment—we could count not one, not two, not three….but at least a dozen whale spouts. Unbelievable!
Each fall, gray whales travel 5,000 miles from the Arctic Ocean to the warm lagoons of Baja. They arrive late December in the shallow protected waters to court, mate, give birth and care for their babies. Mothers and calves remain the longest in the lagoons, until April, when they take their young back to feed in the rich, cold, Arctic waters.
During their time in Baja, male whales show off to eligible females by breeching or throwing their entire body into the air while mamas frolic with their babies in the turquoise water. Although the number of human observers is strictly limited, having an opportunity for a close encounter with one of the many “friendlies” is a huge draw for two-legged mammals, like us.
When you consider that our boat was dwarfed by even the baby whales, you would think we’d be scared by the prospect of tour bus-sized whales at play in, around and under our boat. But the truth the only thing any of us felt was sheer excitement to be in such close proximity to these amazing animals.
We spent a few bliss-filled hours watching as the whales breached, spy-hopped, rolled, sprayed, flapped their flukes, and let their curiosity get the better of them…because it was obvious they were just as interested in checking us out as we were them.
Hanging out in Mexico with mamas of the sea and their amazing babies was just the ticket for this northwestern girl. It was an experience I’ll never forget!
Please don’t stand between me and my morning coffee, but you can have my soda. Soda has never done much for me and part of the reason is I don’t like the taste of plastic or metal with my beverage.
On our recent trip to Baja, Mexico I got to sample Mexican Coke and almost changed my tune. It was pretty darn good.
Mexican Coke is Coca-Cola that is made and bottled in Mexico. It comes in a thick glass bottle and apparently has quite the following in the United Sates. Fans say it is more “natural tasting.” I read that this natural taste is partially attributed to the use of refined cane sugar in Mexican Coke, as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup found in soft drinks bottled in the U.S.
There have even been blind taste tests where tasters have commented that Mexican Coke has “a more complex flavor with an ineffable spicy and herbal note” and that it contained something “that hinted at root beer or old-fashioned sarsaparilla candy.” Sounds like chit-chat at a fancy wine tasting, but I have to say I agree on those tasting notes. Mexican coke was decidedly tastier than the acidic, chemical flavor I associate with Coke in the U.S.
And while we’re talking old school, there’s no getting around that bottle, that curvy, elegant—glass—bottle. It even has an enamel label painted on it, instead of the standard tacky U.S. vinyl label.
I sipped and sipped and sipped and then I stopped. I didn’t want to stop. But since I was traveling on a tour bus, a tour bus with one bathroom, one bathroom for forty people, one bathroom that wasn’t working…well, I didn’t want to have to spend much time in there.
We drove off into the Mexican sunset while I waxed prosaically about Mexican Coke. It was good. So good, that it almost made a soda drinker out of me.
Want more old school delights? Check out Wanderfood Wednesday!
A Kapok tree grows in Seattle! Kapok trees grow in tropical climates like Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Northern South America, India and, apparently, Santa Barbara, which is where Big Papa got his little sprout from a friend about five or six years ago. Full-grown Kapoks can reach an impressive 200-230 feet in height and 10 feet in diameter. The fiber in their seed pods was once used in life vests as it’s waterproof and buoyant.
When I met Big Papa, the Kaypok sat potted in his kitchen window box, and was about six inches tall with a couple leaves. I quickly grew very fond of this little sprout, a stranger in a foreign land. I wanted the Kapok to feel welcomed and loved and come to know the Urban Cabin as home. I made sure the Kapok got water and fertilizer and I turned it every week to give each side equal bits of sunshine. Big Papa and I even got the Kapok its own Tiger.
Every time the little Kapok put out a new leaf, we made a big fuss, like two hens nurturing their brood. The little Kapok grew and grew. Soon it needed a new pot. By now the Kapok had several levels of leaves. Each time it would bust out a new set of leaves, the lower set would drop and the little Kapok would take the entire trunk up a notch.
Two summers ago we thought we should introduce the Kapok to the world outside. I carefully set it on the back deck in the sun. Within 24 hours, the leaves were burned and it soon dropped most of them. In a panic, I brought the Kapok back indoors and worried for a few weeks that I’d killed it. But I hadn’t. That little plant just kept on growing.
This summer we set the Kapok outside again, but this time, in dappled sunlight underneath a couple friendly old yellow plum trees. The Kapok has been out there for a solid month, through rain and wind and more sunny days than Seattle typically sees this time of the year. I go out and check on it daily, give it water if it’s dry and make sure the Tiger has a good view. And, of course, every time we see more leaves, we make a fuss.
Today I took out a measuring tape and I’ll be darned if that little Kapok isn’t a few inches over three feet. It’s still got 197 feet to go, but I’m darn proud of our little tree. I’m also fairly certain we’ve got the only Kapok in Seattle.
At three feet plus the pot, the Kapok now exceeds the height of its former abode, the window box. What do we do? Our sprout has become a toddler. I’m not sure it’s ready for life outside year-round, but it’s definitely outgrown its old digs. Big Papa and I discuss the future of our Kapok. Should we try to donate it to the Volunteer Park Conservatory, home to many exotic and tropical plants? Or possibly plant it in our backyard. We smile when we imagine a 200 foot Kapok dwarfing even the 80 year old, 60 foot plus cedar tree in front of our house.
On many occasions, when I think about our Kapok, I also think about our kiddo. The little sprout we have yet to bring home and nurture. I hope Big Papa and I can give him a home where he will thrive and grow. Seattle is not Armenia. The soil is different and so is the light. But I hope that as time passes, our child will feel welcomed and loved. One thing I know for sure is that he can count on us taking good care and making a big fuss.