Sunday, January 9, 2011

Days 1 and 2 of vacation

Shadow was pretty sure if he just got in the car and kept quiet, we'd take him.

But instead he's happily with Cheryl, Dan and Taz.


The plan Saturday was to drive to Bahia Kino, rest and relax next to the ocean, then head on. Alas, 6 km from town we were stopped, as was everyone. We only heard there was a problem and it could take a day or an hour to get through.

But wait, all these people are headed out into the desert as though they know where they are going! Let's follow!


Melody's not so sure...


A stop as everyone got out to scout ahead, and...





Nope, no go, let's head back. So we went to Hermosillo instead.

Where early on Sunday morning, we went to the zoo, or Centro Ecologico de Sonora. Here are some pictures from there, it was quite delightful. We're the only gringos in town, I think, and everyone's been very friendly.

Zoo Map:



And in no particular order:


This is a cool tree called a Benjamina

Carl found a friend at the petting zoo.

Cimarron, big-horned sheep of the desert. Native to here.

This coyote wanted that little boy. The coyotes were very active and growly.


Grey fox. This is very fun for us, because like our friend Osvaldo's son, we're just learning the words for animals in Spanish. Zorro Gris.




I liked the monkey enclosure.

The ocelot was looking away, but so beautiful.

There was an aviary to walk into, where parakeets flew madly around over your heads. These two sat still for a moment.


This is a purple nopales. I thought it was pretty. Same as the regular nopales, or prickly pear, but purple.

Carl like the ugly frog and fish:


The raccoons were active. We got there early, and avoided the lineups and screaming kids, but some of the animals were sleepy.



If I have this right, these are Jabali, pigs indigenous to this desert, and hunted here and in AZ.

Alpacas. I wanted a sweater made of them a few weeks ago.






After the zoo we went to the central square and hung out for a while.There was a large cathedral there and lots of families playing around. This is the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion.




Palacio de Gobierno



Then a spot of lunch and we carried on to the Archaeological museum, which is housed in a former prison that they've fixed up. There are a few cells left the way they were, and...brr. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was quite interesting.

There was a suit of armor from the 16th century, pots and other ceramics, and lots of historical notes in Spanish that we tried to translate qith some success. Or so we think.



And now I know why people blog while on vacation- not that much to do back in the hotel room, might as well download and sort those pictures, oh well while we're at it let's blog!

5 comments:

  1. Pesky pescadores!! The fishermen's blockade on the highway to Kino Bay lasted about 9 hours, according to the paper. They're protesting restricted permits for harvesting scallops. Hermosillo looks like a better destination. Nice pics!!
    Dan

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  2. Sorry Carl, the GPS doesn't plan routes around fishermen's blockades.....

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  3. Hermosillo looks wonderful! I love those colonial towns where everything is centered around the main zócalo.

    Those jabali pigs look a lot like warthogs - must be related. Do they run like wacky walkers on fast forward?

    Weird how some of your pictures are fine and some of them are HUGE. Welcome to the new blogger. I think it used to ask what size you wanted to upload, but now you have to size them after you've loaded them.

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  4. Loved the zoo pictures.

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  5. ok, fixed the pictures, thanks for your patience. Dan, thanks for letting us know what was going on outside Bahia Kino. Now we're in Los Mochis where we will find out about the Copper Canyon train, and maybe go for a ride. This is a very clean, well-groomed city, and so green after the desert!

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