Butterfly apartment complex.
With darkness in quick pursuit we approached Bahia Candelero on Isla Espiritu Santo and noticed a cluster of anchor lights. Hoping
for a more secluded anchorage we hugged the shoreline and peeked into nearby
Mezteno Bay. Empty. Nothing but dark canyon walls and calm, inviting water. Perfect.
For the past several anchorages (Bahia Frailes, Bahia de Los Muertos, Ensenada
de La Paz and now, Mezteno) we have arrived in the dark, with only images from
charts and guidebooks of our new, momentary home.
During my Junior year of college I was lucky enough to go on
a three month domestic study abroad trip called Semester in the West. We
traversed the Western US and Northern Mexico learning about natural resource
issues from the people who live them every day. Each week (sometimes multiple
times a week) we would tear down and rebuild camp, oftentimes in the dark. On
those nights I always looked forward to daybreak. The light would slowly reveal
every intricate feature of our surroundings, a gift being slowly, carefully
unwrapped.
We rose with the sun and were immediately inspired by this
little spot. Sun burnt orange cliffs, dotted by cactus and other robust desert
dwellers. A small, private beach with white sand and an ephemeral wetland lush
with vegetation. Muscular boulders climbing steadily up an arroyo that
stretched beyond our view. A hike was clearly in order.
Our indicated that there was a “trail” up the arroyo, but I’m
not quite sure it qualified as a trail. We navigated through the boulders until a
point when it made more sense to scramble up the side than follow the arroyo to
its inception. The reward at the top was sweet, a stunning view of Caleta
Partida along with many other treasures discovered along the way. Butterflies inhabiting a cactus apartment, coupling and uncoupling in mid air with a lizard darting conspicuously between them. Bleached skulls of mystical creatures sandwiched between crumbling stones. Canyon walls that carry and echo your calls, claps, whistles, wishes. Cacti that bend and twist in and out of shadowy crevices. A shallow, inviting beach where four inches of bouyant water will levitate your bare body, your cracked heels barely touching the bottom.
Can you see Serenity in the distant background? 
Caleta Partida. 
Goat? Deer? Baby Centaur? 
The descent after our uphill scramble. 
Someday I’ll learn the names of all these fun plants.
