We left La Cruz harbor in the morning while it was calm and easy to get out of the tight slip ways of the marina. We then anchored just outside of the harbor in order to wait for the day’s wind to fill in. While we were waiting we dove in to clean Malo’s bottom and to cool off after all the activity of the morning. I was underwater cleaning the hull when something gradually crept into my conscious, a beautiful, melodic sound, that was both soft and pervasive. It took me a few moments to realize what I was hearing. Something that I’ve been listing for my whole adult life but never heard before in the wild. Whale songs. I’ve heard recording of them but this was the first time I’ve ever heard them in their natural environment and that was so thrilling. I had to hold my breath and have my head underwater in order to hear them. What I heard sounded like at least two whales doing a duet and it’s was amazingly beautiful.
A little bit later, after the hull was cleaned the wind started to come up, so we hoist the main sail and started to raise the anchor. As we were up at the bow doing that a young Mahi Mahi about 2’ long came by and made several circles around our bow only about two feet a way. What a beautiful fish. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a live Mahi Mahi. Another thrill.
Soon after we got under way we sailed through a pod of 6 to 8 dolphin that were busy hunting. And, and, and then we saw a large pod of whales feeding only a few hundred feet away. Perhaps they are some of the ones that we heard singing earlier.
We had a great sail to Boca De Tomatán but unfortunately when we got there the anchorage was just to sketchy and ill defined for my comfort. It was way deep, off soundings until we got quite near the beach, too near for my comfort too. There was one spot that seemed doable but another boat was already there. So I did the conservative thing and turned tail and scooted out of the bay. We headed east to Yelapa which tuned out to be an amazing consolation prize.
We took a morning right next to the beach in 120’ of water and then settled in to enjoy a nice dinner of fresh Ahi tuna from this morning’s fish market.
Yelapa is a beautiful little village located on a steep hill on the side a bay that is split by a river. Everyone who lives there enjoys an ocean view from their homes. The river that passes thorough Yelapa is their water source and a beautiful waterfall sits at the top of the village.
Yelapa itself is populated by a collective of indigenous folks that received a land grant from the King of Spain in 1581. There are no roads that get to Yelapa. The only way in or out is by boat which is usually small pangas that work the coast of Mexico.
The folks here support themselves via tourism and by making and selling hand crafts along with some fishing. The land is owned collectively by the community with no one owning “private” property.
Frita made an appearance, of course…
Frita Koho, looking at us, we look back and see what? I know what I see; a beautiful, strong and highly creative woman. A woman who is looking outward at the same time she’s looking inward but is that what others see, maybe not… I wonder?
I also wonder what it must be like living in a village where one’s family and connection to the place go back over 400 years. What story they have and the changes they have seen mostly from the outside.
We hiked up to the waterfall at the top of the village. It looked there might be some sort of pond or reservoir up there that feed the water fall and also the whole village of Yelapa as there are several dozen 1” water pipes leading down from there that followed the cobblestone walking trail back down into the village. They are all drinking out of the same pond. That must impart some deep and readily apparent bond also. We all breath the same air, you, me and everyone else on our planet, but are we aware of that…?
Sharing a heritage, sharing bloodlines, sharing land, sharing water, sharing air…
…all in tiny Yelapa…me thinks that we have much to learn from these people in the “huge” USA….
And, and, and… last night we set the alarm and got up to see the Southern Cross Constellation just over the horizon, which is equivalent of Ursa Minor and the north star, Polaris. Another first for me!
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