There's great whale-watching in Pacific Mexico this time of year. About a half an hour outside our anchorage in San Blas we spotted a big ol' mama and little calf. After some jumpin' and misting, the mama decided to give the calf a lesson (and us a great show). The mama brought up her tail, held it steady, then slapped it down...seven times. Then it was the little guy's turn. One slap, two slap, and maybe a half. Well done.

Getting to our anchorage in Estero el Pozo proved to be just as exciting. Our chart book warned that the sand bar was continually shifting and to keep an eye out for dredgers. We should have known something was up when there no dredgers in sight. Inside the marked channel was extremely shallow, and we ended up running aground twice before anchoring upriver in our quaint junglely spot.

A word about cruisers (people who live on their sailboats and go places):
So after unsuccessfully reaching the port captain and while aground for the second time, a guy who's anchored gets on the radio and gives us advice (i.e. there's a deeper unmarked channel to the west side of the river). We never asked for it; he had just heard our call to the port captain and decided he'd give his two cents (very helpful). After we anchored dad made the claim that cruisers are some of the friendliest people on the planet. Almost as if on queue, a couple in a dinghy pulled up and asked if we had been to San Blas before. They gave up the lowdown on the places to eat, the circus in town, the bird festival and music that night, etc. We thanked them, got our dinghy readied and another couple pulled up alongside our boat. They offered us a map and told us DO NOT talk to this guy Norm who does the radio check-in and weather in the morning. Apparently, he's a little kooky, dubbing himself, "the cruiser's best friend," claiming to work for the government, and he gets mad when boaters help each other out because that means he's not helping them out. Anyway, within about five minutes we made five new friends and had more information about the city than we could use in our short stay.

San Blas is really a great little city with its architecture of bright colors and aging patinas. The streets are round river rocks pressed in dirt, giving you a nice foot massage as you walk. There were very few gringos and it was a pleasure to observe the implications socially and materially. We had dinner across from the town square and it was amazing to see a group of skater-punks, all joking and noisy, with two old-timers in cowboy hats ten feet to their right, and group of young girls playing foosball ten feet to their left. Even more amazing was when one of the punks decided to see how his sister was doing at foosball and when one of the old-timers started jokingly giving a skater grief for not be able to pull off a trick. It was a treat to see such a close-knit community and their small public space used so vibrantly.