Dec. 10, 2014

The winds are calm today, we could have continued to kayak around the bay. Instead we are planning a hike up the arroyo to visit cave paintings.  A hurricane moved thru the area in Sept. and dropped a fair amount of moisture. It is evident in the plants and wildlife that we see. Several birds are sitting in trees as we start out.  I make a plan to later in this Baja blog just have several blogs devoted to birds, plants and seashells that we see on this trip. Otherwise I would probably have a hard time limiting our photos for the daily blog.  One critter that we probably will not see again is a small frog.  It is a frog that hangs out in the mud along a potential water source. If the rain falls and there is enough moisture out they come to breed and lay their eggs. This is also true about plants and how they survive by processes to conserve water. As we continue up the arroyo we can see where water has been recently in a small stream bed.  Then we see the water and it is running quite nicely.  We start to notice the red paintings on the walls,  Ones that have been protected from the sun are still quite red. There is a debate about who were the artists and what they represent. One theory is that they were done many years before the arrival of the Spaniards. The were known as the Giants, but little can be found of their civilization. As we continue up the arroyo we are eventually stopped by a running waterfall.  We are excited about being here in Baja after the rains and look forward to seeing the plants in bloom.