Day 16: finding our way north

It is a three day's drive of 1200 miles home. We pulled off the highway and turned into the desert on a sand road. We venture into the maze of paths for about a half mile and find a great place to camp near some magnificent rocks. again, we have a 'campground to ourselves'!
The next day, we make it to my great friends, Cindy and Chris' home in Palos Verdes, who put us up unannounced! Today we will sleep in our own beds for the first time in almost 3 weeks.
Thanks for following David and Shahe's Excellent Baja Adventure.
David and Shahe
April 3, 2011

quote from my friend Jerry:
"The adventure is on the outside. The journey is on the inside. The challenge is to not let the one lose sight of the other, to bring them both home."

Day 15: Two Images from Cateviña

Camping in the desert of Catevina just before dawn

our campsite

Day 14

Day 14 

Today Bill, Shahe and I went on a 4 hour hike an arroyo that alternated between pools of water, fan palms and a huge diversity of cactus and desert plants. I didn't anticipate to find such diversity here, in the land of little rain, and I have new respect for the power of evolution. Bill taught me the names of a two dozen of them and we had a great time analyzing the geology of the area and philosophizing. Shahe and I rode above this old trail from the pictographs up to the Parra Rancho both going out and coming back from our bike camping trip. It seems so long ago now. Walking down along the creek proves to be a very different perspective, we can feel the ancient ones here, in tune with the seasons, the plants and animals. Scraping out a living by their shared knowledge, powers of observation and respect. The same things that Shahe and I have been using.

Tomorrow we begin our three days drive home. 1200 miles, did I tell you that before? It's all getting a bit scrambled, so many images and thoughts of my time here. I am glad that I wrote it down. Journal, you have been a good friend. You have helped me remember, you have helped me process, you have helped me grow and get the most of these precious experiences.
And who knows, maybe you will help me reintegrate with my other life, and become a better person for it.

David Casterson
March 2011

Day 14

Day 13

Day 13 kayaking back to Loreto from a deserted rocky beach south of Nopolo

March 30, 2011

Yesterday, waiting for the couscous to cook, I stood on this deserted rocky beach and used the last of my gallon of washing water to rinse my naked, salty body. Isla Carmen smiled in the distance. I remembered the fertile green scent of the sea, the defiant mother gull and her unhatched young, turning within their shells, waiting to enter a world they had not yet seen. In my other life, I am still asleep, maybe turning over  to match the spaces of my body with the warm curves of hers. In my other life, I do not often see sun rise. But then, I rarely go to sleep so early in the night. There are always other things to do, electricity to power lights and screens. Here there are o nay Shahe's flute and my journal. After a day full of energetic adventure, an hour in the darkness with these is usually enough. The stars hypnotize us into a deep, dream filled sleep.

This is our last morning out. Shahe and I listen to the 'early birds' as they fly through the dawn sky in search of their first meal. Fish roil the flat water below camp. We eat our own food and watch the sun rise from behind the graceful curve of Carmen's back. As above, so below.

Unlike the other mornings, today we pack in silence. Unspoken is a small mourning for the end of this 'other life', the one that connects us so strongly to nature. For one last time, we pack our boats, slip into the cockpits, take our paddles in our hands and pull forward into the sea. There is a gentle wind behind our backs, helping us make the eight mile journey in two hours. The rising sun silhouettes Shahe as it did the first day. This time, I pause my paddle to capture the image of him, wild and free upon the water. This time, I want to remember.