Asunto
Our life afloat on a boat
Sailing Trips
Sailing, sailing, sailing That’s why we live the life we do, so that we can untie the lines and explore the world in our own backyard. From Sept 2015-October 2016 we sailed with a 2 year old and a baby from Vancouver to Mexico, across to Hawaii, across to Alaska and then down, Read More
Dec 26- a calm morning despite the forecast of winds up to 30 knots. At 10 am we met several others on the beach to hike over to some caves. Since our desert hike escapade I have grown weary of hiking as I seem to pay for it later, carrying the weight of Fynn on my back and the baby bump in the front.
Hiking the beach
Mummified turtle on the beach
This hike was pleasantly different. Fynn was hugely energetic and walked a large portion of the way there – maybe even two of the three kilometres. The path was easy- we followed it up over the ridge behind the house on the beach, which lead down to an old cemetery. From there we followed a washed out river bed to the beach, then continued left along the beach until we reached the base of the cliff. From here you can see the caves, and we scrambled up the path to have our lunch in the caves. When we had feasted on the view and our snacks, we took the road back, a hotter and less lovely way home.
Petroglyphs
The view from the caves
Still trying for that perfect family shot…
The wind had picked up when we got back to Asunto and it would blow a steady 20 knots plus for the next 36 hours.
What a strange thing for us- we have never been away from our family for Christmas. It felt almost wrong – we certainly missed them!
Fynn was so excited to open the gifts she was completely over the top. It was very entertaining for us to watch – we had to slow her down a bit! I made fresh muffins for breakfast and everything felt laid back and relaxed. Fynn was spoiled by her Grandparents, but Kolby and I didn’t exchange many gifts – just a few things that were needed for the boat. That was certainly one thing that I didn’t miss, all that racing around buying things.
Christmas tea party
Kolby went with Dennis and Faye to Roca Solitaire for a snorkel while Fynn had her nap. What a concept to go snorkelling on Christmas Day! In the afternoon we had a potluck on the beach with the fellow cruisers. I made spring rolls with peanut sauce, which made nice addition to the other rice dishes that were brought. Andi from Akka brought a delicious apple pie. Most of the talk was around sailing and boats and parts- no surprise there.
Roca Solitaire at sunset
The sunset it in the most speculator sky of red and orange and purples. It light up the mountains and reflected off the clouds. It was perhaps the best Christmas gift of all.
Dec 24 – That Jimmy Buffet song comes to mind – ‘it’s Christmas in the Caribbean…’ but really this in nothing like the Caribbean. No palm trees, and the water is a bit chilly – 67 degrees F.
Trimming the tree
But it is Christmas Eve and it is sunny and lovely. We spent the morning making and decorating a paper Christmas tree, complete with paper candles and snowflake decorations. Fynn had fun and at 2 is just starting to piece together the holiday. She was busy flipping through her Christmas book and pointing out the Christmas tree and stockings hung on the the pages, just like what we had. We told her that Santa would find us here and bring her a Christmas present. I don’t think she understood that yet but she would by tomorrow
Christmas on Asunto
Mid morning we tok Otto to the southerly beach where the town is and headed to the small Tiedas. Aqua Verde has perhaps 30 families living in the valley, where they fish and tend to their goats. There is even a small scale dairy where we purchased a 1/4 kg of goat cheese for 30 pesos. The first tienda was run beside the family home, and consisted of mostly bare shelves and some produce. We purchased our goods, including fresh tortillas, from a young girl while her 4 year old sister watching wide eyed. Fynn passed out chips to the family kids, who seemed happy for the snack. We then headed to the other tienda, which had just stocked up in town, so we could fill our bags with more produce and enjoy a cold drink. How such a small town can support two stores is beyond us. Here the family was preparing for a Christmas Eve feast and the whole town would be coming over for dancing and drinking and feasting. The matron of the home invited the group of us (about 10 at this point, all anchored in the bay), to come for dinner and dancing. Dancing at 9 she said, dinner at 10. With the little asleep at home this was an impossible invitation for us, but the other headed over to soak up the local culture.
Goat pasture at Aqua Verde
Back home in Whistler, I knew my family was enjoying a German dinner of sausages and sauerkraut, so I did my best here and pulled my Oma’s recipe for potato salad. Not quite the same, but neither is Christmas in Mexico. I played Santa, leaving the toys and gifts under our tree, then snuggled into bed for the night.
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