Exploring Baja in the Pandemic: Sea of Cortez
With Mexican protected areas remaining closed due to the pandemic, my two recent exploratory trips covered their exterior boundaries instead. Being on the Sea of Cortez brought back a lot of nostalgia from the time when I first came here. It was almost 20 years ago now I was here with an excellent skipper and local named Javier or “Machaca.”
Slowly Getting Back to Normal, COVID Series
The house arrest has finally been lifted in Baja and it didn’t take too long for us to take off for a 2-night camping and fishing trip. We took the opportunity to get out of the house and away from Netflix and social media.
Kayaking from Sweden to Africa: 1001 Ways to Fail (Chapter One)
PART ONE: FALSE STARTSPART ONE: FALSE STARTS
CHAPTER ONE
THE BIG IDEA
Why did I start to paddle? I have always been interested in water. Crazy about fishing since I was 2 years old, I learned to swim and build rafts early. Rubber rafts were excellent for fishing raids on the ponds of Jamtland, where I come from. My first kayak was a self-made white-water kayak that I bought when I was 15 years old. Some years later, I made long trips through the jungle areas in Honduras and Nicaragua on balsa rafts that I learned to tie together.
Getting Busted by the Police, COVID Series
I wanted to give fishing another go when we got home from our camping trip, so we went on my motorbike to save fuel and go off-road to a remote beach. We were alone. Tanya went for a run, while I went fishing. I had a good feeling about it; the tide was right, the moon and the stars were aligned. This was going to be my catch! On my fifth cast I heard a car honking. I looked up to where my motorbike was parked. There was a police pickup truck with its blue light on and a policeman waving at me.
What now?
The Great Escapade, COVID Series
It has been two months since the WHO declared this coronavirus as a pandemic and the last time we saw the world making sense. Luckily, we live in the countryside and manage to take a break from the Martial Law status that is taking place here in Baja.
We packed the truck to get away from people and be out in nature, with the plan of getting some free food: fish! I have always regarded myself as an excellent fisherman, at least when it comes to brown trout and arctic char in Sweden. However, I haven’t done a lot of fishing in the Pacific (or Baja) because I work in the diving industry. It gets a bit complicated in an environment where fish are friends.
I grew up fishing and hunting, and found it more natural get your own food than gobble up a can of tuna. (We can discuss this forever, but I prefer to catch my own food.) The idea was to get free food, save some money, and get away from Netflix; instead, be out in nature for some food for our drained souls. Things did not turn out as planned…
Rainbow Hawk, One of the Last True Hippies
It was in 2001 when I arrived in La Paz after I had been hitchhiking up the Pacific coast of Mexico. I only had my backpack, some dive gear, and a camera. Money was non-existent, so I was looking for a new place to work and live.
By the malecón, in one of the side streets where there were only foot traffic, some cafes and a few restaurants, a man wearing a straw hat and sporting a long white beard was observing me with very piercing eyes. I sat down with him after he proffered a greeting. It was Rainbow Hawk, with his dogs, Ricky and Bruja.
Till We Meet Again, Timo. Wep!
I met Tim Means for the first time in 2001, when he was driving in to Marina La Paz in his dilapidated blue-and-white truck that had a bumper sticker Bush is a moron on the back. I uttered a polite greeting, but I don’t recall him answering back. My first impression of Tim, or Timo as he was fondly called, was that he did not give a rat’s ass about me. Maybe it was true in the beginning.
I was broke when I came to La Paz, in the same year I met Timo. Wanting to recover a bit of my economy, I worked as much as I could in whatever job I could find. (I even did a stint of modeling, but that’s another story.)
Baja Exploratory Trip: Diving Both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez
My friend Gabe and I have been talking about doing a Baja exploratory trip for some time, and we finally make it happen on Nautilus Undersea. This is the first time in Nautilus Explorer’s (now Nautilus Liveaboards) history that we sail up north from Cabo San Lucas to explore the Pacific coast of Baja.
My First Malpelo Half Charter
It hasn’t been all fun and games. I have seen a lot of things that have turned my chest hair gray. After 25 years of being a dive guide, last month was my first time to bring my own small group to Malpelo on a half charter.
Malpelo Dive Log: April 18-28, 2019
Last month I brought my first group to Malpelo on a half-boat charter onboard Ferox. I wanted to have like-minded, solid divers with no ego so that I could focus on my work as a guide and do what I am good at.
I had the best divers! We all had the right attitude and we ended up having the best trip!
Please continue reading for the Malpelo dive log of my trip.