30th November - Tepic
Today we were exploring the city. Our host Jose took us to the centre (bus ticket costs 5 pesos, in Baja it was 10) and our first steps led us to the central market - noisy, full of people and scents, the best place where to be right here and right now. And the best place if you want a good breakfast. Then Jose invited us for sightseeingto tour through Tepic. For a while we tasted how it was to be "just" ordinary tourists. Actually it wasn't bad, we saw big part of the city (local government is in the building which was originally prison), we saw sun dial hidden in forest (originally there was a farm field) and stopped at a nice viewpoint with panorama of whole Tepic below and with stands where Huichol Indians sell amazing bracelets and necklaces from small (unfortunately plastic) beads. Location of Tepic is quite unique. In the language of natives 'Tepic' means town between mountains, and it really is, partly because it is in volcano and partly because it is surrounded by volcanoes, too. There is whole mythology about them.
At the end of day we showed Jose and his father (he was really enjoying that he could speak with us - most of the travellers who had stopped here didn't speak Spanish -and asked as a lot about Slovakia), pictures from our travels and also from Slovakia. Jose wants to do a big bike tour in Europe so we gave him a lot of tips and probably changed his plans, originally he wanted to travel more in the west part of Europe, but we did pretty good advertisement for central and eastern Europe :-) (I don't know why, people in America, when talking about Europe, they usually mean just western Europe, like if Europe east from Germany doesn't exist; they don't know how much they miss...)
29th November - Yago to Tepic, 63,19 km
Cycling:
From Yago back to hwy 15D and then to Tepic. Although the signs on the road showed something more than 40 km to Tepic, by the end of the day we did more than 60 km. Tepic is quite long town. Another challenge was the elevation from 30 meters above the sea level to more than 900, so we were biking uphill almost whole day (with two nice downhill rides).
Learning:
- don't forget to count with elevation because then even 40 km can be pretty far, especially if you want to climb into the volcano :-)
- that even to ride downhill can be actually the ride uphill
- that sunny day can be worse than rainy day
- that even right next to the beautiful waterfall can be dumping site for gravel and building materials
- that we can survive the night ride on the main roads in the crazy Tepic traffic
Living:
~ we took it pretty easy in the morning, somehow we forgot to count how many steep hills are between us and Tepic
~ near by Yago another tarantula crossed our way, this time the big one
~ the first hills were easy, but after we realised that even hills which look like they are heading down, are going up; and after we climbed to the top of the hills and find out that there is still more uphill to go, it started to be a little harder. The sun and temperatures about 30°C and smoke from semi-trucks and cars (engines of some of them probably remembered Spanish king), didn't help either
~ there are two old men sitting in the shade under the trees on the edge of the road. One looks like Carl Marx and the second one like Gandhí :-).
~ we arrived to Tepic after the sun set, tired, covered in dust, sweat and salt and just realised that to our warmshowers host Jose we had about 15 km more to go ~ night ride through Tepic traffic was dangerous but exotic too: scents of different kinds of food from small restaurants and stands was mixing with emissions from cars and smell of dark corners, people were laughing, yelling, banda music was roaring from speakers and sometimes from local bands, automobiles were honking, small cars were trying to get in front of the big ones, buses were trying to get in front of everybody just to stop immediately, motorcycles weaved between all that chaos, sometimes the traffic lights didn't work; and then there were us, trying to avoid holes, missing bars on sewage screens and cars and checking the map often to make sure we didn't get lost. But finally we made it, maybe a little bit deaf and almost poisoned from exhaust fumes but more less ok. Our host Jose is very nice young guy, he took us for taco dinner (after we took shower -one of the best moments of this day :-)).
From Yago back to hwy 15D and then to Tepic. Although the signs on the road showed something more than 40 km to Tepic, by the end of the day we did more than 60 km. Tepic is quite long town. Another challenge was the elevation from 30 meters above the sea level to more than 900, so we were biking uphill almost whole day (with two nice downhill rides).
Learning:
- don't forget to count with elevation because then even 40 km can be pretty far, especially if you want to climb into the volcano :-)
- that even to ride downhill can be actually the ride uphill
- that sunny day can be worse than rainy day
- that even right next to the beautiful waterfall can be dumping site for gravel and building materials
- that we can survive the night ride on the main roads in the crazy Tepic traffic
Living:
~ we took it pretty easy in the morning, somehow we forgot to count how many steep hills are between us and Tepic
~ near by Yago another tarantula crossed our way, this time the big one
~ the first hills were easy, but after we realised that even hills which look like they are heading down, are going up; and after we climbed to the top of the hills and find out that there is still more uphill to go, it started to be a little harder. The sun and temperatures about 30°C and smoke from semi-trucks and cars (engines of some of them probably remembered Spanish king), didn't help either
~ there are two old men sitting in the shade under the trees on the edge of the road. One looks like Carl Marx and the second one like Gandhí :-).
~ we arrived to Tepic after the sun set, tired, covered in dust, sweat and salt and just realised that to our warmshowers host Jose we had about 15 km more to go ~ night ride through Tepic traffic was dangerous but exotic too: scents of different kinds of food from small restaurants and stands was mixing with emissions from cars and smell of dark corners, people were laughing, yelling, banda music was roaring from speakers and sometimes from local bands, automobiles were honking, small cars were trying to get in front of the big ones, buses were trying to get in front of everybody just to stop immediately, motorcycles weaved between all that chaos, sometimes the traffic lights didn't work; and then there were us, trying to avoid holes, missing bars on sewage screens and cars and checking the map often to make sure we didn't get lost. But finally we made it, maybe a little bit deaf and almost poisoned from exhaust fumes but more less ok. Our host Jose is very nice young guy, he took us for taco dinner (after we took shower -one of the best moments of this day :-)).
28th November - Ruiz to Yago, 24,5 km
Cycling:
From Ruiz to Yago on hwy 15D.
Learning:
- that about 0,5 kg of fresh cheese in Ruiz can cost only 25 pesos
- that 5 kg of oranges in Yago can cost 20 pesos
- that even though motorcycles (and Ruiz was almost as full of them as roads in India) and cars are dominating the world, there are still old rancheros using horses to bring their products to the market (which is not only romantic but maybe also practical with that horrible pavement)
- that hospital can be also in a train - that people in Yago are hospitable too
- that two Slovaks with fully loaded bicycles in the village where tourists don't usually stop are quite an attraction
Living:
~ left Ruiz after saying goodbye to our new friends (we traded our hand made key chains from cactus wood for beaded bracelets made by local Indians called Huicholes), with full belly after amazing breakfast and full panniers (after we did some grocery shopping, cheese and vegetable are significantly cheaper here than on Baja)
~ saw another tarantula on the road (we didn't know they were active during the day)
~ on the road to Yago (not very far from the exit from 15D) is purificadora which gets it's water from strong spring which springs (isn't this English funny?) under lime rocks and is guarded by Saint Mary. Now it's little spoiled by all that concrete around, but in the past this must have been magical place
~ we were surprised how busy Yago was. People and cars were swarming in the main street full of merchants and small shops
~ during the lunch break on central plaza we were surrounded by local junior baseball team, all the kids were very curious about our bikes. Few people stopped and asked us about our travels, always shocked when we told them where we came from and where we go. In one moment there were maybe 10 people around us, they probably don't see people like us very often here.
~ one man offered us room in his house where we can stay overnight if we want. Later we met him again passing mango orchard on the horseback. This time he told us that next time we should come in summer and we would have as many mangoes as we want :-)
~ rest of the day we spent on the bank of local river, close to the railroad bridge. Here we realised how cool the healthcare in Mexico was, when Dr. Wagon passed by - something like hospital in the train :-).
From Ruiz to Yago on hwy 15D.
Learning:
- that about 0,5 kg of fresh cheese in Ruiz can cost only 25 pesos
- that 5 kg of oranges in Yago can cost 20 pesos
- that even though motorcycles (and Ruiz was almost as full of them as roads in India) and cars are dominating the world, there are still old rancheros using horses to bring their products to the market (which is not only romantic but maybe also practical with that horrible pavement)
- that hospital can be also in a train - that people in Yago are hospitable too
- that two Slovaks with fully loaded bicycles in the village where tourists don't usually stop are quite an attraction
Living:
~ left Ruiz after saying goodbye to our new friends (we traded our hand made key chains from cactus wood for beaded bracelets made by local Indians called Huicholes), with full belly after amazing breakfast and full panniers (after we did some grocery shopping, cheese and vegetable are significantly cheaper here than on Baja)
~ saw another tarantula on the road (we didn't know they were active during the day)
~ on the road to Yago (not very far from the exit from 15D) is purificadora which gets it's water from strong spring which springs (isn't this English funny?) under lime rocks and is guarded by Saint Mary. Now it's little spoiled by all that concrete around, but in the past this must have been magical place
~ we were surprised how busy Yago was. People and cars were swarming in the main street full of merchants and small shops
~ during the lunch break on central plaza we were surrounded by local junior baseball team, all the kids were very curious about our bikes. Few people stopped and asked us about our travels, always shocked when we told them where we came from and where we go. In one moment there were maybe 10 people around us, they probably don't see people like us very often here.
~ one man offered us room in his house where we can stay overnight if we want. Later we met him again passing mango orchard on the horseback. This time he told us that next time we should come in summer and we would have as many mangoes as we want :-)
~ rest of the day we spent on the bank of local river, close to the railroad bridge. Here we realised how cool the healthcare in Mexico was, when Dr. Wagon passed by - something like hospital in the train :-).
27th November - San Felipe Aztatàn to Ruiz, 66,4 km
Cycling :
On hwy 15D to Ruiz through first "serious" hills since we started from Mazatlán. Almost all roads in Ruiz, except the main street, are paved with small rocks and boulders which make them the worst nightmare for bicyclists.
Learning:
- that tarantulas and coral snakes live here (we saw one tarantula alive and many coral snakes flat on the road)
- that there is many kinds of green (especially after 9 months in Cabo Pulmo with it's desert around) - that there is more motorcycles (brand Italica) than flies in Ruiz
- that five years old boy with his younger brother can drive the four wheeler motorcycle on the main road in full traffic
- that even though you are looking only for water, you can get dinner, bed and warm shower (but you must be charming, communicative and fluent in Spanish like Barbora :-))
- that rock (music) is not dead in Mexico
Living:
~ since morning we were cycling between hills
~ one moment the road is empty and in a second it is full of semi-trucks (convoy with maybe 10 semi-trucks in the row)
~ we passed through first real forest after more than 10 months, enjoying all those trees, vines, leaves and all different kinds of green
~ in Ruiz we were looking for "purificadora de agua" and met one family of mother and two daughters who were very exited when they found out that we aren't gringos, but from Slovakia. Later that day we met them again, this time in park after we had lunch (street food - whole grilled chicken with tortillas, salad, pasta and tree different kinds of salsa, all for 60 pesos) and they were so amazing and invited us to their home, later took us to small rock concert of local music school, and gave us a tour of Ruiz with climbing the hill above Ruiz where we had beautiful view of the night city. And then they took us for dinner. We'll never forget the "gorditas" from Ruiz. Thank you very much Alma, Rachel and Milashaska.
On hwy 15D to Ruiz through first "serious" hills since we started from Mazatlán. Almost all roads in Ruiz, except the main street, are paved with small rocks and boulders which make them the worst nightmare for bicyclists.
Learning:
- that tarantulas and coral snakes live here (we saw one tarantula alive and many coral snakes flat on the road)
- that there is many kinds of green (especially after 9 months in Cabo Pulmo with it's desert around) - that there is more motorcycles (brand Italica) than flies in Ruiz
- that five years old boy with his younger brother can drive the four wheeler motorcycle on the main road in full traffic
- that even though you are looking only for water, you can get dinner, bed and warm shower (but you must be charming, communicative and fluent in Spanish like Barbora :-))
- that rock (music) is not dead in Mexico
Living:
~ since morning we were cycling between hills
~ one moment the road is empty and in a second it is full of semi-trucks (convoy with maybe 10 semi-trucks in the row)
~ we passed through first real forest after more than 10 months, enjoying all those trees, vines, leaves and all different kinds of green
~ in Ruiz we were looking for "purificadora de agua" and met one family of mother and two daughters who were very exited when they found out that we aren't gringos, but from Slovakia. Later that day we met them again, this time in park after we had lunch (street food - whole grilled chicken with tortillas, salad, pasta and tree different kinds of salsa, all for 60 pesos) and they were so amazing and invited us to their home, later took us to small rock concert of local music school, and gave us a tour of Ruiz with climbing the hill above Ruiz where we had beautiful view of the night city. And then they took us for dinner. We'll never forget the "gorditas" from Ruiz. Thank you very much Alma, Rachel and Milashaska.
26th November - Escuinapa to San Felipe Aztatán (más o menos), 77,5 km
Cycling :
From Escuinapa to fields near San Felipe Aztatán on the new hwy 15D with nice wide shoulder. Land was quite flat, mountains of Sierra Madre Occidental on the left and lagoons on the right.
Learning:
- that camarones secos (dried shrimps) cost 10 pesos for bag and you can buy them everywhere around and in Escuinapa
- that there are still places where there is less traffic on a freeway than on an ordinary highway (because it is free?)
- that local lagoons must be paradise for birdwatchers
- that there are lot of snakes here, the road is paved with them :-(
- that even a farm field can look like masterpiece painting or as we use to say in Czech: “políčka řádně obdělána, holt Mexiko!“
Living:
~ woke up early (about six) with local "bomberos" (firemen), even though they were volunteers, they worked since sunrise.
~ got lost a little in Escuinapa
~ saved one turtle from getting truck-tire imprint on it's back
~ spent whole day on the freeway, barely passed any village, but saw many birds in lagoons and beautiful volcanic rocks and cliffs in the mountains
~ got water from people working at one "caseta de cobro" (turnpike)
~ found perfect place for our tent in the farm fields near San Felipe Aztatán, it was calm, far from highway, right next to the river and open to the east, with the view of small hills and lake underneath
From Escuinapa to fields near San Felipe Aztatán on the new hwy 15D with nice wide shoulder. Land was quite flat, mountains of Sierra Madre Occidental on the left and lagoons on the right.
Learning:
- that camarones secos (dried shrimps) cost 10 pesos for bag and you can buy them everywhere around and in Escuinapa
- that there are still places where there is less traffic on a freeway than on an ordinary highway (because it is free?)
- that local lagoons must be paradise for birdwatchers
- that there are lot of snakes here, the road is paved with them :-(
- that even a farm field can look like masterpiece painting or as we use to say in Czech: “políčka řádně obdělána, holt Mexiko!“
Living:
~ woke up early (about six) with local "bomberos" (firemen), even though they were volunteers, they worked since sunrise.
~ got lost a little in Escuinapa
~ saved one turtle from getting truck-tire imprint on it's back
~ spent whole day on the freeway, barely passed any village, but saw many birds in lagoons and beautiful volcanic rocks and cliffs in the mountains
~ got water from people working at one "caseta de cobro" (turnpike)
~ found perfect place for our tent in the farm fields near San Felipe Aztatán, it was calm, far from highway, right next to the river and open to the east, with the view of small hills and lake underneath
25th November - El Rosario to Escuinapa, 10,2 km
Very hot day again. We climbed one big hill and we entered wide and flat land and left hills further on the East. After a good downhill ride we came to the town called Escuinapa. Our cell phone battery was almost empty so it was easy decision to stay here, especially when Baška found stand with friendly Mexicans and an outlet which we could use. The main square with ugly looking cathedral was full of life, streets full of cars and smoke, from local market place one could hear mix of mariachi records and cover versions of American bands. Suddenly one guy, sitting in the nearby shoe cleaner stand, asked us about our journey. It turned out that he was from fire department and invited us to stay overnight in local firemen station. We still needed to charge our laptop and possibility of shower was attractive as well, so we agreed. I had headache since yesterday evening (probably too much sun and too little water) so this opportunity to rest was timed perfectly.
The firemen station turn out to be nothing fancy, just small building with workroom and bathroom, outdoor "something-like" kitchen. Communication centre with radios and internet (still playing mariachies on YouTube) was in big trailer. The firemen were friendly and invited us for lunch. We could leave all our stuff there with no worries, while doing some grocery shopping in the town. And even though it had been only two days on the road, it was nice to take a shower :-).
The firemen station turn out to be nothing fancy, just small building with workroom and bathroom, outdoor "something-like" kitchen. Communication centre with radios and internet (still playing mariachies on YouTube) was in big trailer. The firemen were friendly and invited us for lunch. We could leave all our stuff there with no worries, while doing some grocery shopping in the town. And even though it had been only two days on the road, it was nice to take a shower :-).
24th November - Aqua Caliente to El Rosario, 40,8 km
Started late today. It was very hot, we thought November was cooler, but we were probably wrong. The road goes through many hills, luckily not very steep. We are not in the shape yet. Highway is still narrow and the amount of trucks is much higher than we would like. Today the most abundant roadkills were opossums and snakes, many snakes. Hills were very close now and we went through some mountain ranges, hills were all around us.
El Rosario was small town, sitting on the bank of some big river and under beautiful mountain and with nice old cathedral - in it's shade we ate lunch. To refill our bottles (about 2 gallons)with water cost us 10 pesos in local water "purificadora" (it was little bit cheaper than in a shop).
We spent night in mango orchard.
El Rosario was small town, sitting on the bank of some big river and under beautiful mountain and with nice old cathedral - in it's shade we ate lunch. To refill our bottles (about 2 gallons)with water cost us 10 pesos in local water "purificadora" (it was little bit cheaper than in a shop).
We spent night in mango orchard.
23rd November - Mazatlàn to Aqua Caliente, 57,51 km
Well, so finally it wasn't tomorrow but tomorrow after tomorrow after tomorrow when we left from Mazatlàn. Bob introduced us to one of his sailor friend which was from Czech republic. Honza (John) emigrated from Czech republic in 68`s (right in the time before Russian army came and occupied Czechoslovakia for next 21 years). He and his wife Alenka invited us to their sailboat after Bob left. And they cooked for us "Vepřo-knedlo-zelo“ traditional national Czech dish. It was like to be home again :-).
So we stayed with them for one more day but when we were finally ready to go (after very long packing) it was too late and Honza with Alenka convinced us to stay one more night.
Ok, the next day we were packed early in the morning, but again we found it hard to leave and again when we were finally ready to go, it was too late. Honza and Alenka were ok with that, I think they liked our company. So to not feel like we completely wasted this day (as if you can waste any of your days...), we drove to the Walmart and back to find out if our bicycles are ok and if we still can keep a balance :-). We still can :-) And Alenka cooked another "home" meal for us :-).
Next day, next morning we were as ready as possible... And finally it worked out, after many good byes and thanks to Honza and Alenka we left Mazatlán Marina. Our first trip was to Home Depot to buy machete. Than we had to find our way through crooked and full streets of Mazatlán to highway 15. After maybe one thousand speed bumps (called "tope" here, very common, very high and usually invisible) we became a part of traffic on highway 15, with all the benefits of company of noisy, smoky cars, motorcycles, trucks or buses and smell of burnt gasoline and horrible smell of roadkills (this day we saw mainly dogs and snakes). For about 16 km we were in crazy Mazatlán`s traffic. The highway was good, new with shoulder and with only small hills (which was good for us and our super heavy bikes). Landscape around us was so green, quite change to Baja. More trees; cardons could be seen very occasionally. Where it was possible, corn fields or mango orchards or fields with agave. Banana trees grow in the gardens. On our left side (the East) were mountain ranges like huge waves, slowly getting closer. The mountains were covered by green carpet of trees but unity of green was interrupted by many trees in pink blossom.
In front of town called Villa Union, young guy from South Korea caught up with us, he was also touring on bicycle, from Alaska to Argentina, so far he's been on the road about one year. His name was Yun.
In Villa Union the highway 15 splits into old and new highway. We decided to stay on the old one, thinking that there is less traffic. Well, probably it wasn't and it was without shoulder. After our lunch, when ready to go, police car suddenly stopped by us. The police guy asked us if everything was ok, if we'd had any troubles with Mexicans.
Later that day, after we got drinking water in small village Aqua Caliente (10 pesos for gallon) we found a place for camping between farm fields. It wasn't so easy to find a spot because of barbed wires which are everywhere. We enjoyed beautiful evening and saw"the leaves ants" for the first time.
So we stayed with them for one more day but when we were finally ready to go (after very long packing) it was too late and Honza with Alenka convinced us to stay one more night.
Ok, the next day we were packed early in the morning, but again we found it hard to leave and again when we were finally ready to go, it was too late. Honza and Alenka were ok with that, I think they liked our company. So to not feel like we completely wasted this day (as if you can waste any of your days...), we drove to the Walmart and back to find out if our bicycles are ok and if we still can keep a balance :-). We still can :-) And Alenka cooked another "home" meal for us :-).
Next day, next morning we were as ready as possible... And finally it worked out, after many good byes and thanks to Honza and Alenka we left Mazatlán Marina. Our first trip was to Home Depot to buy machete. Than we had to find our way through crooked and full streets of Mazatlán to highway 15. After maybe one thousand speed bumps (called "tope" here, very common, very high and usually invisible) we became a part of traffic on highway 15, with all the benefits of company of noisy, smoky cars, motorcycles, trucks or buses and smell of burnt gasoline and horrible smell of roadkills (this day we saw mainly dogs and snakes). For about 16 km we were in crazy Mazatlán`s traffic. The highway was good, new with shoulder and with only small hills (which was good for us and our super heavy bikes). Landscape around us was so green, quite change to Baja. More trees; cardons could be seen very occasionally. Where it was possible, corn fields or mango orchards or fields with agave. Banana trees grow in the gardens. On our left side (the East) were mountain ranges like huge waves, slowly getting closer. The mountains were covered by green carpet of trees but unity of green was interrupted by many trees in pink blossom.
In front of town called Villa Union, young guy from South Korea caught up with us, he was also touring on bicycle, from Alaska to Argentina, so far he's been on the road about one year. His name was Yun.
In Villa Union the highway 15 splits into old and new highway. We decided to stay on the old one, thinking that there is less traffic. Well, probably it wasn't and it was without shoulder. After our lunch, when ready to go, police car suddenly stopped by us. The police guy asked us if everything was ok, if we'd had any troubles with Mexicans.
Later that day, after we got drinking water in small village Aqua Caliente (10 pesos for gallon) we found a place for camping between farm fields. It wasn't so easy to find a spot because of barbed wires which are everywhere. We enjoyed beautiful evening and saw"the leaves ants" for the first time.
Mainland Mexico
Two days ago we arrived to Mazatlan on the mainland of Mexico. We left Cabo Pulmo in the beginning of November and after a week in La Paz with Jonn and Maria, we found the sailboat to Mazatlan. The captain Bob was a great guy and sailing was fine (maybe for us a little bit adventure). It took us four days to get to Mazatlan. Tomorrow we are going to be on the road again :-)
Some pictures from our life in Cabo Pulmo and La Paz
and pictures from sailing to Mazatlan and our progress on the mainland
Also here you can see some older pictures:
Across the USA
West Coast
Some pictures from our life in Cabo Pulmo and La Paz
and pictures from sailing to Mazatlan and our progress on the mainland
Also here you can see some older pictures:
Across the USA
West Coast
Cabo Pulmo after the hurricane
Hola hola.
So we are back in Cabo Pulmo. Gordon (the owner of the house we are staying in) had arrived two hours before us. He knew about the hurricane, but couldn't get any detailed news, he couldn't reach any of his friends from the area (due to no phone and internet service in the hurricane area), so he decided to come and see what had happened to his house. In nine days he drove from south-eastern coast of Canada to southern Baja California.
Cabo Pulmo was lucky, didn't get direct hit of hurricane, everybody agrees, that they had expected stronger wind. But besides that the opinions of witnesses differ. According to some, the wind speed was 'only' in category 2, around 150 km (90 miles)/hour, other say, that it was stronger here than in La Paz and everybody had some damage. Based on what we've seen we think it was stronger and more damage in La Paz. Some palapas (roofs made of palm leaves) were little destroyed, the sea took a wall which was on the beach, trees lost many branches and leaves. On the beach Las Barracas next to Cabo Pulmo they even lost the whole beach. But otherwise everything seems ok, just some cleaning is needed. The biggest lost for them now is that there are very few tourists coming, so all the businesses are struggling (except palaperos and carpenters). First few days after the hurricane they were cut off the rest of the world, not having the phone service and arroyos (riverbeds) being full of running water, some of them across the road to La Ribera. They started to run out of drinking water and food, but the helicopters founded by government came and brought some supplies. The cob-houses we had helped to build, had some troubles too; parts of the plaster of the first one were washed away (we knew it needed more lime), the second one doesn't have roof yet and some parts of not plastered walls collapsed.
Gordon's palapa needs some repairs too, some of the palm leaves are broken (because the net covering the roof to protect the leaves, was old and torn) and the pergola in front of the house, made from wooden sticks, was blown down and now it's just pile of wooden sticks and splinters. Some parts of the inside walls are dirty because of water trickling through the holes in the roof. And some parts of leaves, which were supposed to be outside, are inside now. But in spite of that the roof is still holding pretty well, we've had some rain again and the water almost didn't get inside. These palapas are more durable than they look (and also more expensive, repair will cost almost 2,000 dollars.)
So now we are cleaning and working on the outside oven for Gordon (building this oven is our payment for the opportunity to live in his house). But working here now is not easy at all – it's too hot during the day and in the morning and evening the insects go crazy – mosquitos and “nosee'ems” - flies so small you can hardly see them, but smaller they are, more they bite. And, of course, “bobos” - small flies which like to go inside your eyes, ears and nose. And now this place looks like green jungle. Apparently the fastest growing plants on the Earth are the dessert ones – as soon as they get water.
On October 15thwe'll go back to La Paz, to take care of Jonn's house and dog once again.
All the best,
Barbora and Martin.
P.S.: While writing this e-mail I suddenly feel floor moving a little – probably small earthquake just happened. So many new things that we've never experienced in Europe :-)
After the Hurricane
Have you ever woken up on a strange place which definitely wasn't your bed? And then you found out it was actually a bathroom floor? I hadn't, this was very new experience for me. I don't know what you do in this situation after a party night. But the first thing you do after the hurricane night is going to look out of the window. The curiosity is great, so you don't even mind standing barefoot in the paddle of water and the pieces of leaves stuck on the windows blocking your view (in fact, you are lucky that the window is still holding together and you are not standing in the broken glass.). The next thing you need to do is letting your family know that you are alive and absolutely fine (have never experienced anything like hurricane, they can't even imagine it, so they'll appreciate to hear from you). We have no electricity, but the phone service works now and then, so luckily the message is finally sent before we lost service completely. Next few days we are going to be without any contact with the outside world.
The morning is peaceful and calm – how relative everything is! Two days ago I wouldn't have called this peaceful and calm: the trees bent in the direction of the wind, the sky is dark and the clouds moving so fast... But people in La Paz are not moving anywhere. They are staying in their warm (which is not really different from outside) and dry (well, not all of them) houses and knowing there is going to be a lot of work needed to be done during the next days...
One of our jobs while staying at Jonn's place is to keep his yard nice and clean. Which is going to require more time and energy than we originally thought. Our first task is to clear the way out, we are trapped here. One of the two big trees on Jonn's property, yucca tree, which used to be a home for birds, reptiles and insects and Jonn's favorite plant, broke (that explains one of the “boom” we heard last night). Now the fallen trunk is blocking our exit. The shape of metal railing and big plastic box were changed under the weight of the trunk. The ground is covered with leaves, broken twigs and branches, some of the plants are completely “bald” now. Broken flowerpots to be found and the harvest of tomatoes and peppers will be smaller than Jonn had expected. Two big shading tarps are ripped of and laying tangled on the ground. Pieces of broken cinder blocks and things blown from the whole property are laying on a pile, it's just a mess. But it looks like we have no damage except of those two tarps and the tree. Even the barbecue grill which tried to fly last night, seems to be ok.
In the evening we went for a walk to see what had happened in the town. First we had to truckle the fallen electric wire, right in front of our gate. Looks like we won't have electricity for a while. The greatest damage is done on trees, some streets are blocked with fallen trees and broken branches. Some parts of the downtown are little flooded. While crossing them we try not to think about the fact, that it's not only the rainwater coming from the full sewage canals... There are some fallen lamps - looking closer we can see that it's because of “mexican style” of attaching them to the ground – the screw is smaller than a hole where it's supposed to hold. All the restaurants are closed, sunshades and umbrellas are torn in pieces. The tape is apparently favorite window-protecting tool and seems to be working really well – only few windows, all of them without tape, are broken. Heavy metal cross fell from the church roof, it is arrow-shaped now. Metal sheets are bent, wooden boards blown down, signs and billboards blown away, some metal constructions ended up in pile of bent metal sticks and sheets. But overall we are well surprised, we were expecting more damage. A few days of cleaning and everything will be back to normal...
Cleaning and sweeping is our main job during the next days. Martin proved to be good “liberator”, he cut across the fallen tree and knew how to open and close the electric garage gate without the “magic button” which usually does the trick. Our dinners are rich – there is a lot of food in the freezer which has to be eaten (even though we tried hard, we couldn't eat everything in time and had to throw some food away anyway) and romantic – with the candlelight. Having nice view of La Paz, every night we watch another part of the city having the light again, and every night we hope that it will be our turn tomorrow... It's too hot inside without the air-condition, so we sleep on the porch, what is greatly appreciated by mosquitos, whose annoying “bzzzzzzzzzzzzz” is our “music” all night...
The fifth day after the hurricane, Maria went to CFE (electric company) office to ask them when we would have the power again. “Nobody knows, but thank you for letting us know about your problem” was the answer. Two days later she was there again and she was told that they couldn't have repaired it yet, because nobody had told them that we still didn't have power.
The eight day after the hurricane, electricians were working close by our house. Maria went to ask them if they would fix our problem. They said they'd had no idea we were still without power, because nobody had told them that... But since they were already here, they were going to look at it. So it happened we ate our dinner not with the twinkling candlelight, but with the blinking light of our lamps. We have power, but it's unstable and anything else but light turns it off. No fridge, neither air-condition yet. And as we found out later – the wire hanging about 5 feet above the ground, is under the high voltage, the safety standards are not met yet. Not sooner than three days later, after Jonn arrived, we finally have the full and safe power.
Based on our view – we were the first ones without power and the last ones with it. But it's still not that bad, some households were even without water. Each house has it's own water tank on the roof, which is filled by pump. The problem is that the pumps run on electric power. Therefore those people whose tank wasn't big and full enough lack water now. Some tanks were even blown down from the roofs. One our friend told us her story, how she wanted to go out during the hurricane, but her family convinced her it wasn't a good idea. Just at that moment the big tank fell from the roof, exactly at the same place where she would have been standing... (By the way: in 2001 she lived in New York and worked in the building of World Trade Center. On September 11thshe had a stomach ache, so she didn't go to work... Somebody has a good guardian angel :-)).
A week after the hurricane we visited Todos Santos – the village 50 miles southwest of La Paz, visited much by tourists for its nice atmosphere and typical art shops and galleries. Nothing like that to be found there now. Instead of tourists walking on the streets, local people cleaning fallen trees, broken branches, pieces of glass and bricks and other hurricane mess. Everything is closed except for Hotel California (do you know the song by Eagles? This is the hotel they sing about), because it's powered by their own generator. Based on what we have seen on the way here – all the broken electric poles (like they were just stalks of straw instead of concrete) and torn wires – we estimate they are not going to have power until Christmas! We saw many CFE cars and poor electricians who look like they have no idea where to start with repairing of all that damage. We feel sorry for them and don't blame them anymore that we have been without power for so long...
All the road signs along the highway are bent and folded like they were made of paper. That made me to start calling them “origami signs” :-). And now we see what we were taught in ecology classes: the local plants are well adapted to the local conditions, as opposed to the introduced ones: most of the palm trees survived, cacti seem to be without any damage, but big eucalyptus trees are uprooted...
On our way back we have to go through the military control. All the cars coming from Los Cabos are checked, the electric appliances or suspiciously big amount of beer is what the soldiers look for. Los Cabos got the strongest wind and therefore there was the most damage. The airport, sport stadium, some hotels and shopping centers were ruined. But even more damage than by hurricane was made by people. The stores are closed, there is no power, and even the ATM doesn't want to work without the electricity... But the family is hungry, where to get food? Of course, in the store. Is it closed? No problem, it's easy to break in without those annoying alarms... Seeing there is no way to stop it, police decided to control it: everybody can go in once and take what they can carry in their hands. The idea wasn't bad, just one detail ruined it: there are too many customers and too few policemen. The situation got out of hands of policemen soon, more than one store were emptied by well organized groups of “carriers” and “car loaders”. The first taken things were beer and TVs. In some parts of the city, houses were robbed too.
There was no robbing in La Paz, but some panic happened here as well. Gasoline, drinking water, candles and batteries were lacking soon. And guess what the first missing goods in grocery stores were – candy and canned soups.
Non-working infrastructure = no tourists = problem (this area depends on tourism). Mexicans showed that they can work hard and quickly if they want to. Workers, especially electricians, from whole Mexico came to help. The airport “rose from the ashes” and it's functioning again. Tourists are coming back. La Paz almost looks like there has never been any hurricane. In Los Cabos, however, you can see that Odile wasn't much fun here – ruined hotels (some of them were built of dry wall, which I think is not exactly the right hurricane-resistant material...), fallen billboards and signs and many missing trees is what you still can see there.
And one more “gift” Odile and rainy season left for us – clouds of hungry mosquitos! Local mosquitos saw your ears (metaphorically) and suck your blood (literally) and on a top of that some of them transmit Dengue. Dengue is an endemic virus in Carribean area and some parts of Asia. Symptoms are: high fever, strong headache, muscle and bones ache, digestive problems, rash. It usually takes about two weeks, some days you feel better and the next day it comes back. There is no pill for it, you just have to wait till your body wins the fight. The good news is, after that you have at least one year immunity. And you won't die of dengue unless you are baby, too old or too ill. There was the epidemic of Dengue in La Paz and a few dengue cases were found in Cabo Pulmo as well. Martin got it too, so it's another new experience for him. Dengue is also called “break-bone disease”, because during the first days of dengue you feel like all the bones in your body are broken. Luckily Martin had this phase only for two days and then he was just exhausted for the next two weeks (which is also typical for dengue). Martin is back to normal and healthy again now and he doesn't need every-day-a-few-hours-nap anymore.
Jonn and Maria got dengue too, which changed the plans. They didn't fly to Mexico city and therefore we weren't needed in La Paz for house and dog sitting. We finished our projects in Cabo Pulmo (the cob oven and bench made for Gordon). We met our good friends Sally and Wilkie and their son Luke, who returned from Colorado on November 1st. And during rainy and cold (not really, but it's below 75 °F, which is cold for here :-)) day - caused by another hurricane, unusually late, but this time land-friendly one – we got a ride to La Paz with Wilkie and Luke, who had a dentist appointment there (in Mexico it's about ten times cheaper than in USA). We said good bye to Cabo Pulmo – the place we had come to visit for a weekend and ended up staying here for nine months.
P.S.: So we found out that Odile is female name. The destructive hurricanes usually have female names (for example Katrina). I don't know who and how decides the names for hurricanes, the only rule I know is that the names of hurricanes in one season are in alphabetic order (there was hurricane Maria and then Norbert before Odile). And for some reason the “female hurricanes” are usually more destructive ones. But every rule has an exception – the most destructive hurricane for Cabo Pulmo, in 2006, was called John.
Po hurikáne
Už sa vám niekedy stalo, že ste sa ráno zobudili na nejakom zvláštnom mieste, ktoré určite nebolo vaša posteľ? A keď ste si trocha pretreli oči, tak ste zistili že ležíte v kúpeľni na zemi? Mne doteraz ešte nie, toto bola pre mňa nová skúsenosť. Neviem, čo spravíte ako prvé, keď sa takto prebudíte po preflámovanej noci. Ale keď sa takto zobudíte po hurikánovej noci, tak prvé vaše kroky vedú k oknu. Zvedavosť, aké sú následky nočného vystrájania Odile je taká veľká, že neriešite ani to, že stojíte bosými nohami v kaluži vody, ani to, že sa musíte pozerať cez clonu kúsočkov listov prilepených na oknách a dverách (a ste radi, že to tie okná a dvere prežili bez ujmy, to že v tej kaluži, v ktorej stojíte, neplávajú aj črepy, je dobré znamenie – nie vždy črepy znamenajú šťastie). Ďalšia vec, ktorá Vám príde na um je, že by ste mali dať vedieť svetu a hlavne rodine na opačnom konci sveta, ktorá nikdy nezažila hurikán a nevie si ho poriadne ani predstaviť, že ste nažive a v absolútnom poriadku. Piatok sa hneď zhostil tejto úlohy a poslal domov túto správu:
Ahojte, tak zdá sa, že to najhoršie z hurikánu Odile už máme za sebou, vonku je síce ešte stále vietor že by jednému aj spodky odfúklo, ale v porovnaní s tým čo bolo v noci je to už iba slabý vánok. To sme mali o zvukové a svetelné efekty celkom postarané. Ale prežili sme bez ujmy na zdraví, iba náš dom má trocha “pocuchanú fasádu“ a záhrada vyzerá ako keby sa cez ňu prehnal šialený holič s úchylkou na listy, ale inak sme zatiaľ nezaznamenali vážnejšie škody (zdá sa, že tá lepiaca páska na okná nie je až tak zlý nápad). Celé La Paz je ešte bez elektriny, mobilný signál je ako tak, píšem vám teraz z mobilu. Našťastie vodu a plyn máme vlastný tak až na ten plný mrazák nemáme problémy. Keď začnú veci opäť fungovať dáme vám vedieť.
Elektrina samozrejme nejde, ale telefónny signál chvíľami naskočí, takže na tretí pokus sa ju podarilo poslať. Neskôr však sa nám aj telefónny signál vytratil a sme na pár dní bez spojenia so svetom...
Ráno je veľmi pokojné – pri použití tohto slova si však uvedomujem, aké je všetko relatívne. Predvčerom by som toto určite pokojným dňom nenazvala – palmy v La Paz sú stále zohnuté v smere vetra, nebo je temné, mračná sa rýchlo presúvajú... Ale obyvatelia La Paz sa nikam nepresúvajú, všetci sú zalezení, zatiaľ všetko pozorujú z tepla (ale to je aj vonku) a sucha (to je tu ale veľmi relatívny pojem, nie všetci majú teraz v domoch to, čo by sme nazvali suchom) svojich príbytkov. A vedia, že čoskoro ich čaká veľa roboty – rovnako ako nás.
Našou náplňou práce počas Jonnovej neprítomnosti bolo aj starať sa o záhradu a udržiavať je peknú čistú. V svetle nových udalostí sa zdá, že splnenie tejto úlohy bude vyžadovať viac času a energie, ako sme si pôvodne mysleli. Úloha číslo jeden bude presekať si cestu von, momentálne sme tu totiž uväznení. Jeden z dvoch vysokých stromov, juka, ktorá bývala domovom pre vtáky, plazy aj hmyz a Jonnovou obľúbenou rastlinou na jeho pozemku, to neustála (jedno z nočných „tresk!“ je vysvetlené). Pod jej spadnutým kmeňom je teraz pochovaný náš východ von. Železné zábradlie, ktoré ho lemovalo z obidvoch strán, pod váhou spadnutého stromu zmenilo tvar, rovnako ako plastová bedňa, ktorú sme zabudli schovať a vietor ju presunul práve do cesty padajúcemu stromu... Všade po zemi sa váľajú kúsky listov a konáre, niektoré rastliny „oplešateli“ celkom, niektoré čiastočne. Nejaký ten rozbitý kvetináč a úroda paradajok a paprík bude menšia, ako si Jonn predstavoval. Dve z tieňových cielt sa váľajú na zemi, jedna bola vytrhnutá zo steny, takže až na zopár dier je stále ešte použiteľná, druhej železné rohy zostali na svojom mieste, ale zvyšok celty, spolu s oceľovými lankami, sa odtrhol, teraz leží na zemi celá zamotaná, rozmotať ju bude celkom hlavolam. Betónové kvádre, z ktorých sa tu stavajú domy a z ktorých tu mal Jonn spravené nízke oplôtky, sú pováľané a polámané na zemi. Váľajú sa po zemi spolu s inými vecami, ktoré sem vietor nafúkal z celého pozemku. No na pár dní máme o zábavu postarané, ale zdá sa, že až na ten strom a dve potrhané celty žiadne vážnejšie škody nemáme. Dokonca aj gril, ktorý si v noci vyskúšal skok z výšky (sfúklo ho to z vrchnej terasy), to prežil len s odlomenou plastovou priečkou, ktorá nevyzerá, že má vplyv na jeho fungovanie.
V podvečer, keď Piatok troška presekal cestu k východu, sme sa išli prejsť mestom. Hneď na začiatok na našej ulici musíme podliezť elektrický kábel. Keď sa tak pozeráme na tie potrhané drôty, tak to vyzerá, že elektrinu ešte pár dní mať nebudeme... Najväčšie škody sú na stromoch, niektoré ulice sú vyvrátenými a polámanými stromami a ich časťami celkom zablokované. Zopár častí mesta je mierne zaplavených vodou (pri ich prechádzaní sa snažíme nemyslieť na to, že okrem dažďovej vody je to aj to, čo sa už nezmestilo do preplnenej kanalizácie...).Všetko to steká rovno do mora. Turistami najvyhľadávanejšia časť La Paz - „malecón“ (- keďže nemáme more, neviem ani, či na to máme v slovenčine slovo, skrátka promenáda po nábreží),je okrem popadaných stromov a konárov plná aj pováľaných lámp – čo ale, ako sme pri bližšom preskúmaní zistili, nie je až tak chyba Odile, ako mexických robotníkov, ktorí lampy priskrutkovali skrutkami menšími, ako boli diery na ne, takže celá lampa držala len na tenkej kovovej podložke, čiže by ju zhodil aj vietor slabší, ako 200 km za hodinu. Všetky reštaurácie sú zavreté, pokiaľ mali vonku slnečníky alebo plátené prístrešky, teraz z nich majú len franforce. Lepiaca páska je tu obľúbeným ochranným opatrením, skoro všetky okná a výklady obchodov sú nimi polepené. A zdá sa, že to aj funguje, zopár sklenených plôch lepiacou páskou nepolepených je vybitých. Z jedného kostola spadol zo strechy kovový kríž, teraz sa váľa na zemi a už nemá tvar kríža, ale šípky. Plechy sú poprehýbané, drevené dosky sfúknuté, tabule pozhadzované. Podaktoré železné konštrukcie, ktoré boli postavené špeciálnym „mexickým spôsobom“, sa zosypali ako domčeky z karát. A v celom meste neostal ani jeden billboard*. Celkovo sme však milo prekvapení, očakávali sme oveľa väčšie škody. Stačí pár dní upratovania a všetko bude zasa v normále...
Nasledujúcich pár dní sa venujeme najmä upratovaniu, čisteniu a zametaniu. (Aby nám nebolo málo, tak ešte María omylom spravila menšiu potopu v dome po tom, čo nechala tiecť vodu v umývadle v kúpeľni). Piatok sa osvedčil ako „osloboditeľ“, prerezal nám cestu cez spadnutý strom a overil si, že vie, ako otvoriť a zatvoriť elektrické garážové dvere (za normálnych okolností na to stačí len stlačiť tlačidlo). Večere máme bohaté – treba rýchlo zjesť zásoby z mrazničky, (aj tak sme to nestihli všetko a nejaké to jedlo sme museli aj vyhodiť) a romantické – pri sviečkach. Každý večer pozorujeme, ako v La Paz pribúdajú svetielka a každý deň dúfame, že teraz sme na rade my... Po večeri si s Piatkom stelieme posteľ na terase, keďže vnútri sa bez klimatizácie spať nedá. Čo je dobrou správou pre komáre, ktorých je tu teraz po dažďoch viac, než je nám príjemné. Radostne si na nás „pochutnávajú“ a ich tenké bzučanie nám robí neustálu zvukovú kulisu...
Piaty deň to Maríu už prestalo baviť a vybrala sa do centrály CFE (miestna elektrická spoločnosť, zatiaľ ešte štátna, ale onedlho vraj prejde do súkromných rúk, z čoho tu však nikto nie je nadšený, keďže to bude pravdepodobne znamenať zvýšenie cien a menšiu kvalitu služieb). Poďakovali jej za nahlásenie závady, nikam si to však nezapísali, ani jej nedali žiadne potvrdenie. Na otázku, kedy asi budeme mať elektrinu povedali, že vôbec netušia. Keď sa María o dva dni bola opäť spýtať, dostalo sa jej rovnakej odpovede a poučenia, že nikto to nepríde opraviť, keď o tom nevedia, závadu treba nahlásiť... O tom, že tam bola María pred dvoma dňami, nič nevedeli. A rovnako ako minule, ani tentokrát si to nikam nezapísali...
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* Nepredstavujte si ale naše „prebilbordované“ mestá, v celom La Paz je billboardov len zopár. Počas našich ciest, nielen po americkom kontinente, sme došli k záveru, že Slovensko a Česko držia svetové prvenstvo v počte billboardov. Ešte nikde inde sme ich nevideli toľko, ako u nás...
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Ôsmy deň po hurikáne, keď sme sa večer vrátili z mesta, tak na „našom“ kopci práve elektrikári pilne pracovali. María sa bola uistiť, či opravia aj náš stĺp. Vraj to nemali v pláne ani v popise, keďže o tom nevedeli, ale vraj keď už sú tu, tak sa na to pozrú. Tak sa stalo, že ten večer nevečeriame pri blikajúcom svetle sviečok, ale pri blikaní lámp. Elektrinu síce máme, ale je veľmi nestabilná. Ako sme čoskoro zistili, okrem svetla a wi-fi nič ďalšie neutiahne, ak zapneme čokoľvek iné, všetko sa vypne. Tak to ešte pár dní budeme musieť vydržať bez chladničky a klimatizácie... A ako sme sa neskôr dozvedeli, tak ten kábel, čo nám tu tak visí zo stĺpu pred domom necelé dva metre nad zemou, má byť uzemnenie, teraz je však pod napätím, takže bezpečnostné štandardy tiež zatiaľ nespĺňame... Naplno nám všetko začalo fungovať až o ďalšie tri dni, po tom, čo sa vrátil Jonn – tieto dve udalosti spolu síce nesúvisia, ale Jonnovi to nahráva, aby si z nás mohol uťahovať... :-).
Súdiac podľa nášho výhľadu to vyzerá, že sme boli prví bez elektriny a poslední opäť s elektrinou. Ale stále sme na tom neboli zasa až tak zle. Niektoré domácnosti boli napríklad aj bez vody. S vodou to tu funguje tak, že každý má na streche veľkú cisternu, do ktorej je pumpovaná voda z mestského systému každé dva až tri dni. Lenže na aký pohon funguje taká pumpa? No predsa na elektrický. Takže ten, kto nemal cisternu dostatočne plnú či dostatočne veľkú, sa ocitol bez vody (Jonn má na streche takéto cisterny tri a v čase hurikánu boli na naše šťastie všetky takmer plné). Boli aj takí, ktorým cisternu zo strechy sfúklo. Jedna naša známa nám rozprávala, ako videla počas hurikánu vonku niečo, čo chcela zachrániť, rodina ju však prehovorila, že teraz vychádzať z domu nie je bezpečné. Práve v tej chvíli, presne na to miesto, kde by stála, dopadla veľká cisterna... (Len tak pre zaujímavosť: v roku 2001 bývala v New Yorku a pracovala v jednej zo slávnych dvojičiek. 11.9. ju ráno bolelo brucho, tak nešla do práce. Niekto má skrátka dobrého anjela strážneho...)
Spomínaná voda sa nepovažuje za pitnú. Pitnú vodu si treba kupovať vo fľašiach. Tie boli načas nedostatkovým tovarom a keď zasa začali fungovať tzv. „agua purificadora“- „filtrárne“, kde si prídete s vlastnou fľašou, či kanistrom do ktorého vám načapujú (to je tu najlacnejší spôsob, ako získať pitnú vodu**), tak pred nimi stáli dlhé rady ľudí.
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** Najbežnejšie majú ľudia pitnú vodu doma v tzv. „garafónoch“ - 19 litrových fľašiach. Tieto sú každý deň rozvážané chlapíkom, na ktorého len zamávate, keď ide okolo a on vám vymení prázdne garafóny za plné, bežná cena je 17 pesos (=približne 1 euro) za garafón. Keď si však prídete do „purificadory“ sami, tak za takúto výmenu zaplatíte iba 10 pesos. V obchode či na pumpe najlacnejšie kúpite balenú vodu 15 pesos za galón (3,6 litra). Väčšinou vám všade povedia, že v Mexiku si pitnú vodu treba kupovať, tá z kohútika vraj nie je pitná. Stretli sme sa však už aj s ľuďmi, ktorí „kohútikovú“ vodu normálne pijú a tvrdia, že to je reklamný ťah, aby boli ľudia nútení si vodu kupovať. V niektorých oblastiach sme aj my „kohútikovú“ vodu pili a žiadne ťažkosti sme nemali. Problém je väčšinou asi nie v tom, že by voda bola nepitná, ale že jej prívodnému systému nie je venovaná dostatočná starostlivosť. Čo ale často vraj nie je ani v prípade filtrov v „purificadorách“ (či je to pravda, neviem posúdiť, tak sme počuli). A keď vidíme tie plastové garafóny, ako sa často vyhrievajú na priamom slnku (napr. na korbe auta, čo ich rozváža), tak je otázka, ktorá voda je tu vlastne „pitnejšia“...Faktom ostáva, že sme v Mexiku už jedenásty mesiac a žiadne žalúdočné ťažkosti v súvislosti s vodou sme ešte nemali.
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La Paz na tom zďaleka nebolo najhoršie. Asi týždeň po hurikáne sme si spravili výlet do Todos Santos***– turisticky obľúbená dedinka na západnom pobreží, 80 km od La Paz. Obyčajne tu býva veľmi živo, toto miesto je známe najmä svojimi galériami a umeleckými obchodíkmi. Teraz sme tam však nič také nenašli, všetko je pozatvárané, na uliciach namiesto prechádzajúcich sa turistov miestni upratujúci polámané stromy, črepy, kúsky fasády a iný vetrom spôsobený neporiadok. Jediný otvorený podnik je Hotel California (poznáte tú pesničku od Eagles? Toto je ten hotel, o ktorom spievajú), pretože má vlastný generátor. Inak súdiac podľa množstva pováľaných elektrických stĺpov, polámaných ako keby to boli steblá slamy, ktoré lemujú cestu sem, máme pocit, že tu nebudú mať elektrinu ani do Vianoc. Kolóny opravárskych elektrikárskych áut vyzerajú, ako keby sa len bezradne rozhodovali, kde vlastne majú začať... Rozhodne im ich situáciu nezávidíme a už chápeme, že nejaká ulica na kopci, kde zopár rodín nemá elektrinu, nie je pre nich prioritou, keď nevedia, kam skôr skočiť...
Dopravné značky a smerovníky sú pováľané a pozohýbané do všakovakých tvarov, pri pohľade na ne mi príde na um origami (japonské umenie skladania z papiera), od tejto chvíle všetky takéto značky nazývame „origami signs“. A ešte environmentálne okienko: teraz v praxi krásne vidíme, ako sú pôvodné druhy pekne adaptované na miestne podmienky, čo sa o tých introdukovaných povedať nedá – väčšina paliem to ustála, kaktusy tiež nevyzerajú, že by ich hurikán nejak poznamenal, zato obrovské ….................................................................................................................................................................................
*** Todos Santos v preklade znamená všetci svätí. Veľa miest a dedín sa tu volá po nejakom svätcovi, tu si asi nevedeli vybrať, tak si povedali, že to budú všetci a basta :-).
…..................................................................................................................................................................................eukalypty sú vyvrátené z koreňov...
Cestou späť musíme prejsť cez vojenskú kontrolu. Autá idúce od Los Cabos sú kontrolované, či neprevážajú podozrivé množstvo elektrických spotrebičov či bední piva... V Los Cabos, ako sa aj predpokladalo, to „schytali“ najhoršie. Odile tu vystrájala a napáchala veľa škôd na majetku (napr. letisko, štadión, zopár hotelov a jedno z obchodných centier skončili v troskách), ešte viac však vystrájali ľudia v nasledujúcich dňoch. Nie je elektrina, obchody sú pozatvárané a peňazí tiež nieto (keďže bol akurát deň výplaty, lenže nie je ako sa k nej dostať, keďže aj tie bankomaty odmietajú bez elektriny pracovať.) Lenže rodinu nakŕmiť treba a odkiaľ zobrať jedlo, než z obchodu? Že je zavretý, to nevadí, sklo sa ľahko rozbije a bez elektriny ani ten otravný alarm nebude bliakať na celé kolo. Bolo jasné, že sa rabovaniu obchodov nedá zabrániť a že treba doma nakŕmiť hladné krky je tiež pochopiteľné, policajné a vojenské orgány sa teda rozhodli vyriešiť situáciu takto: vchod do obchodu je povolený, každému však len raz a zobrať si môžete toľko, koľko odnesiete v rukách. Plán to nebol úplne zlý, mal však jednu muchu: „nakupujúci“ boli vo veľkej presile, takže strážcovia poriadku sa márne snažili strážiť poriadok, situácia sa čoskoro vymkla kontrole a organizované skupiny v krátkom čase „vybielili“ nejeden obchod, systémom dokonale skoordinovaných „nosičov“ a „nakladačov do áut“. Ako prvé vraj išli na odbyt pivo a televízory. V niektorých častiach sa vraj rabovali aj domy.
V La Paz sa nič nerabovalo, ale menšia panika prebehla aj tu – z obavy pred nedostatkom sa veľmi rýchlo vypredali zásoby benzínu, pitnej vody, sviečok, batérií a niektoré regály v obchodoch s potravinami tiež zívali prázdnotou. Tak schválne, či uhádnete, ktoré to boli... Na naše prekvapenie to boli najmä sladkosti a polievky v konzerve.
Nefungujúca infraštruktúra = žiadni turisti = pre túto oblasť, na turistickom ruchu závislú, problém. Mexičania ukázali, že ak treba, tak vedia aj rýchlo pracovať. Na pomoc prišli robotníci – najmä elektrikári - z celého Mexika, aby sa všetko dalo čo najskôr zasa „do normálu“. Letisko v Cabo San Lucas „povstalo z popola“ a už zasa funguje, teda až na eskalátory. A turisti sa pomaličky vracajú. Zatiaľ čo v La Paz už by ste ani nehádali, že tu niekedy bol nejaký hurikán, v Los Cabos je ešte aj dnes vidieť, že Odile tu nebola žiadna sranda – ruiny hotelov (ktoré ale boli postavené z tak nevhodného materiálu, že pre Odile nepredstavovali vôbec žiadnu prekážku – školy na to síce nemám, ale myslím, že sadrokartón nie je práve najvhodnejší stavebný materiál do hurikánovej oblasti), pováľané tabule a palmové aleje zmenené na palmové solitéry... Toľko sme sa dopočuli od očitých svedkov.
A ešte jeden „darček“ nám tu Odile a dažďová sezóna zanechali – mračná čerstvo vyliahnutých hladných komárov. Miestne komáre však majú okrem toho, že pília uši (obrazne) a pijú krv (doslovne), ešte jednu nepríjemnú vlastnosť – niektoré z nich prenášajú vírus Dengue – endemický vírus, ktorý sa nachádza iba v karibskej oblasti a niektorých častiach Ázie. Vyznačuje sa vysokými horúčkami a silnou bolesťou hlavy, svalov, kĺbov, kostí, skrátka celého tela, žalúdočnými problémami, vyrážkou a tým, že to trvá obyčajne tak dva týždne, pričom ale v priebehu prídu dni, kedy si chorý myslí, že už to má za sebou, aby sa to potom ďalší deň zasa vrátilo. Nie je na to žiadny liek, treba to doslovne len pretrpieť, odmenou je to, že potom má človek minimálne rok imunitu. Ak nie ste batoľa, starec, či s veľmi podlomeným zdravím, tak sa na to nezomiera. (V prípade ľahšej formy, existuje aj ťažšia, komplikovanejšia, ktorá môže byť sprevádzaná napr. aj vnútorným krvácaním, táto je však oveľa zriedkavejšia). No a v La Paz mali tento rok epidémiu, aj v Cabo Pulme zopár prípadov dengue zaznamenali. Piatkovi sa tiež jeden taký dengue štípanec ušiel, takže si môže pripísať ďalší nový zážitok a ďalší nový endemit do zbierky. Dengue sa občas hovorí aj „choroba polámaných kostí“, keďže sa človek cíti ako by mal polámané všetky kosti v tele. Piatkovi táto fáza trvala našťastie len asi dva dni a dva týždne sa cítil veľmi vyčerpaný – táto únava je tiež pre dengue typická. Dnes už je Piatok zasa ako rybička a už si ani nemusí dať každý deň niekoľkohodinového „šlofíka“.
Ani Jonnovi a Márii sa dengue nevyhlo, tiež si „užili“ svoje, čo spôsobilo zmeny plánov – museli odložiť svoju cestu do Mexico city a tým pádom sme nešli do La Paz postarať sa opäť o dom a o Krima. Dokončili sme teda v Cabo Pulme rozrobené projekty (hlinená pec a lavička pre Gordona), stretli sa s našimi dobrými kamarátmi Sally a Wilkie-m a ich synom Luke-om, ktorí 1.11. dorazili z Colorada; a za daživého a na miestne pomery chladného dňa (rozumej teplota pod 25°C) – toto počasie je spôsobené ďalším hurikánom, nezvyčajne neskorým, ale k pevnine tentoraz milosrdným – sme využili ponuku Wilkie-ho, že nás zoberie do La Paz, (kam idú s Luke-om k zubárovi****) a rozlúčili sme sa s Cabo Pumom – miestom, ktoré sme vo februári prišli navštíviť na víkend a stalo sa naším pôsobiskom na celých 9 mesiacov...
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**** Zubári v Mexiku sú asi tak desaťnásobne lacnejší, než ich kolegovia v USA – byť zubárom v Mexiku v blízkosti hranice s USA teda znamená nemať núdzu o pacientov.
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P.S.: Tak nakoniec sme sa dozvedeli, že Odile je vraj žena. Ako doteraz všetky ničivé hurikány. Neviem, kto a ako vyberá meno pre hurikán, jediné pravidlo, ktoré je mi známe je, že každý rok od začiatku sezóny sa jednotlivé hurikány pomenúvajú postupne podľa abecedy – pred Odile sme tu mali Norberta a predtým Máriu (predchádzajúce hurikány tejto sezóny sa nás netýkali, takže ich mená sme nezachytili). Ale z nejakého dôvodu to vraj vždy vyjde tak, že hurikán s ničivejšími následkami zhodou okolností nesie ženské meno (určite si ešte spomeniete napr. na Katrinu). Aj tomuto pravidlu sme však našli výnimku: zatiaľ najničivejší hurikán, ktorý postihol Cabo Pulmo sa volal John (v roku 2006).
Once Upon a Time, There Was a Hurricane...
Sometimes around September 12th2014, somewhere above the Pacific ocean, Odile was born (we are not sure if Odile is girl or boy, some names in English are very confusing for us). On Friday 13th people in La Paz already knew they should prepare for possibility of a hurricane. Kids and teachers finished at school very early, people who could, finished at work very early, for having enough time to prepare themselves and their houses for a hurricane. Meanwhile, the residents of the house on the top of the hill, next to the transmitter tower, lived their peaceful life without knowing anything. These residents were: Barbora, Martin, Maria – Jonn's girlfriend* and Krim, Jonn's dog, recovering from his bad luck of the last few days: being bitten by rottweiler in Cabo Pulmo (and probably cut in half if it wasn't for Martin being there); then his master left and the people taking care of him now are nice and friendly, but only until they start to tease him with this purple spray they call 'disinfection' and spray it into his wound; and also they mix this disgusting white pill into each of his meals, which forces him to make this unpleasant decision every day: starve or eat this nasty thing?
On Sunday, September 15thKrim is very nervous and doesn't leave the closet (small room without windows) almost whole day. Maria goes to the city and when she comes back (around 2 p.m.), she says: “I have two news for you, one is good and one is bad, which one do you want to hear the first? The good is, that I met my friend who works for a local newspaper and she wants to make an interview with you, she'll call on Thursday. The bad new is, there is a hurricane coming on us!” We consult this information with Mr. Google immediately and see that there is a hurricane of category 4**, at this moment to be found south from Baja, and goes north. Supposedly it's going to hit the southest part of Baja California, which is Los Cabos. (Los Cabos is the
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* Jonn is the owner of this house, currently somewhere in Belgium with his family. We met him two months ago, while hitchhiking from the border back towards Cabo Pulmo. He drove us to La Paz, we became friends and he asked if we didn't want to do house and dog sitting for him in September, while he is visiting his family in Europe. He also said he had met a lady, and he thought she was special. Later we got e-mail from him, that he had met with this lady again and she turned out to be very special. They are in love like teenagers (Maria is in her fifties, Jonn is in his sixties), it was the Love at the first sight. Now they live together and they think they've always known each other :-).
** The categories are based on the wind speed, category 5 is the highest.
name for Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, two towns, which used to be just fishing villages not so long time ago. But they were found by developers who turned them into tourist resort for the rich and chosen ones, with the big luxury hotels on the beach, each with a big swimming pool, of course, many golf courses and so on. And higher concentration of rich tourists usually attract poor people, who want quick money, so the 'dark side' of Los Cabos are these poor neighborhoods with falling shelters made from garbage, whose inhabitants came from whole Mexico, just few citizens of Los Cabos are originally from here.). According to the online news, many people from Los Cabos had been already evacuated because of the coming hurricane. And then, they suppose, the hurricane Odile is going to direct to the west coast of Baja, which means we won't get the direct hit, as we are on the east coast. But even being on the edge of category 4 hurricane is not much fun and it's better to be prepared. Truthfully, we (Martin and me) are excited that we'll experience our first hurricane, safely in the house (I have this feeling that it wouldn't be much fun being hit by hurricane on the bicycle or while camping :-)), we only regret a little that we won't experience the hurricane in Cabo Pulmo.
Even though I've never experienced a hurricane before, my instinct says “take inside everything you can”. So the big movement begins: furniture, flower pots, decorations and other small things from both of two terraces of Jonn's house (good it's so big). Then Jonn's atelier (Jonn is an artist, painter), John wouldn't be happy if he had to look for his canvases, brushes, colors... all over La Paz. And here comes another challenge: how to protect the windows and glass doors without having plastic windshields like those ones we put on Gordon's house before we left Cabo Pulmo? So it's going to be 'McGyver's solution' - the tape. So we search the whole house for all pieces of duct tape, masking tape, paper tape... which we can use to put them on the windows. Martin wants to take down the big tarps which are around the whole house for making shade, held by metal ropes. But he doesn't know how. Maria and me convince him that it's not necessary...
Since 10 p.m. the wind starts to blow stronger and stronger and by midnight it's quite 'something'. The 'sound effects' are very intense, Meluzina*** sings her loud arias, the windows, doors and tarp-shades joggle... Now we see how useful it was to put all the
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*** Meluzina [maloozeenah] is the word we use for those sounds which wind makes in the house, blowing through the chimneys, pipes and so on. The story says that Meluzina is name of the girl who cries in the houses every time when it's windy. So now you learned something new :-).
things inside, everything heavier than 80 pounds suddenly feels this urge to fly away. We had a big wooden board (around 6x6 feet), which was laying on the floor, weight down by big wooden beam (around 100 pounds). Suddenly the board just disappeared, we've never seen it again. (The beam wasn't aerodynamic enough to fly away, but it was moved on the floor like a hockey puck). I regret I didn't see the board flying away, I still can hardly believe how such a thing could just fly away. “Boom!” What was this? Oh, just big metal barbeque grill fell from the terrace to the ground. “Boom! Boom! Boom!...” And what was this? We'll see in the morning...
We are still checking the satellite images online to see where the hurricane is heading. It looks like the supposed direction isn't changing and now it's said we'd have 'only' category 3 in La Paz. The center of the hurricane is supposed to hit Los Cabos around midnight. But at that time we cannot check it online anymore, because the power just shut off. Being on the top of the hill and having this beautiful view of whole La Paz, we can see that we are the first ones without power, the other parts of the city are still having power. But not for very long. Suddenly there is a green lightening above the city and another part of La Paz stays dark. We saw a few of these green lightenings, caused by the short circuit on the part of electric power line. Within an hour there is just one small part of the city which still has light left. (Probably they have their electric power lines underground? We don't understand why they don't put more lines underground, strong winds which cut the wires not being so unusual here...).
We've been told by locals, that there are two types of hurricanes here: first which brings very strong wind and second which brings more rain. The second type is less dangerous during the hurricane, but brings lot of damage after, creating big floods. Odile is the first type. But each hurricane brings both – wind and rain, the question is, how much and how strong. Around the midnight it starts to rain. Which makes the whole situation even more intense, bringing new sound effects and new 'entertainment' for us – moping the floor. Since we came to Mexico, we haven't seen a water resistant house yet. For creating the window or door they just make a hole in the wall and put the window or door there. That's it. No sealing or filling in the gaps (or just very little). Therefore it's nothing unusual to find a gap between the door/window and the wall which is a few millimeters thick. So we are having small waterfall under the door, which brings also leaves and mud.
The rain is becoming weaker, the waterfalls under the doors are caught into the towels, we have already got used to all those strange sounds and vibrating of the windows and doors and we are tired, so it's time to go to sleep. Maria said, that without the tape the windows would be already broken. Although this house is protected from the south side (where the wind comes from) by high concrete wall. Maria had already experienced one hurricane, when the windows were broken by strong wind and her legs were cut by pieces of broken glass. That's why she rather goes to sleep in the closet without windows, with Krim. Martin and me go to the bed in the guestroom, which is in another part of the house, so we need to walk ca. 40 feet through outside. The outside conditions are not very pleasant, I must say... :-)
We've been sleeping maybe for one hour, when we were waken up by loud “boom” directly into our glass door, 4 feet from our bed. What happened? Martin's worries became true – the big shade above our entrance had broken, and now one of it's metal corners, which were supposed to hold it in the wall, is not in the wall anymore, but hitting our door. Another “boom” and for the first time during this hurricane, we are scared. If the door breaks, we'll get the 'rain' of broken glass pieces directly on our uncovered bodies (even during the hurricane it's still very hot, especially inside of the concrete building without the air condition). Before the heavy metal piece hits our door next time, we run into the bathroom. It's 3 a.m., hurricane Odile is in his/her stronger phase here. The sound effects were intense and interesting before, now they are super intense and very scary. Every once in a while we hear another 'boom sound' or breaking sound. What was it? The tape couldn't hold the window anymore? What did just hit the roof? What is Maria doing? Is she ok? Now we are regretting our decision to come here, we feel trapped. And those wind blows are just incredible! We make our “bed” from the towels and pillows in the shower, because it's the best protected area of this part of the house. One more “boom” to our door from the metal corner of the tarp and then the whole tarp finally falls on the ground. We are grateful for that.
What's going on? The wind is little weaker for a while... that's our chance, now or never! Cross the paddle of water, leaves and mud on the floor, carefully open the door and hold it strong, so it doesn't get blown away and run, run, as fast as possible, cover the head with the hands, just in case of some flying objects... The concrete path is completely covered with leaves, branches, pieces of broken flower pot, concrete, looks really apocalyptic, but there is no time to look around. And we don't see much, the whole La Paz is in darkness now. When we closed the door of the house, we are finally feeling some relief, we are safely inside. All the windows are still ok, even though vibrating vigorously, but still holding together. Maria and Krim are lying on the ground of closet together, Maria says the whole floor is vibrating. She is grateful we are here and we helped her to prepare for this (she wouldn't put inside all the things we did) and my masking tape saved the situation too... We hope that the windows and doors can hold it longer...
After moping the paddle of the water in front of the door, we make our bed in the bathroom (there is no more room in the closet :-)). Listening the wind blowing and hitting sounds and feeling the vibrations of the whole house I cannot fall asleep for a long time. But we are all sleeping before the dawn.
Later we found out, that Odile was the strongest hurricane La Paz has experienced in the modern history. It was category 3, but very close to category 4, the wind speed 22o km/hour (140 miles/hour). Quite a wind. I can't even imagine what category 5 must be...
Bol raz jeden hurikán...
Niekedy okolo 12.septembra 2014 sa kdesi nad Tichým oceánom zrodila Odile*. V piatok trinásteho už v La Paz vedeli, že sa majú pripravovať na možný hurikán. Deti a učitelia odišli skôr zo školy, tí, ktorí si to mohli dovoliť, odišli skôr z roboty, aby mali čas sa na to pripraviť. Medzitým v dome na kopci hneď pri televíznom vysielači si jeho obyvatelia pokojne nažívali, netušiac vôbec nič. Tými obyvateľmi sú: Baška, Piatok, María – priateľka** Jonna, majiteľa domu, ktorý je teraz kdesi v Belgicku a Krim – Jonnov pes, ktorý sa spamätáva z rán osudu, ktoré sa mu prihodili v posledných dňoch: v Cabo Pulme bol pokúsaný rotvajlerom (keby Piatok okamžite nezasiahol, tak možno aj prekúsnutý na polovicu!), čo bolo vlastne prvé zranenie v jeho pokojnom živote, teraz mu niekam odišiel páníček a tí ľudia, čo sa oňho teraz starajú sú síce milí a priateľskí, ale len do chvíle, kedy si zoberú do ruky nejaký fialový sprej (nazývajú ho dezinfekčný a repelentný, či tak nejak) a sprejujú mu ho do rany a každé jedlo znehodnotia jednou hnusnou tabletkou, čo jedného chudáka psa privádza k životnej dileme: hladovať či zjesť tú odpornosť?
V nedeľu 15. septembra bol Krim nejaký nepokojný a skoro celý čas bol zalezený v šatníku – miestnosti bez okien, ktorá slúži len na uskladnenie oblečenia. María potrebovala niečo vybaviť a tak odišla do mesta. Vrátila sa asi o druhej hodine po poludní a hneď vo dverách hovorí: “Mám dve správy, dobrú a zlú, ktorú chcete počuť ako prvú? Tá dobrá je, že som sa rozprávala s kamarátkou, redaktorkou miestnych novín a rada by s vami spravila interview, vo štvrtok nám zavolá a dohodneme sa na termíne. Tá zlá je, že na nás ide hurikán.” Ihneď sme túto informáciu skonzultovali s pánom Googlom a ukázalo sa, že v oceáne na juh od južného cípu Bajy sa pohybuje smerom na sever hurikán 4. stupňa***. Jeho predpokladaná trasa je zasiahnuť južný cíp
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* Alebo zrodil Odile. V tomto ešte nemáme úplne jasno, či je to ženské alebo mužské meno, v angličtine je to často veľmi nejednoznačné.
** Keď nás Jonn viezol do La Paz, rozprával nám o nejakej dáme, ktorú prvýkrát stretol tesne pred odchodom a nemal čas s ňou prehodiť veľa slov, ale že sa s ňou chce určite ešte stretnúť, lebo z nej mal pocit, že táto dáma je “very special”. Neskôr nám potom v maili napísal, že sa s ňou stretol a že je naozaj “very special”... Teraz už bývajú spolu a sú zaľúbení ako puberťáci (María má cez 50, Jonn cez 60), vraj to bola láska na prvý pohľad a majú pocit, že sa poznajú odjakživa...
*** Kategórie sú podľa rýchlosti vetra, najvyšší je 5. stupeň.
Bajy, čiže turistické letoviská Los Cabos****, odkiaľ už vraj aj evakuujú ľudí a potom sa predpokladá, že to Odile lízne západným pobrežím, čiže my tu, v La Paz, by sme nemali schytať najničivejšie jadro hurikánu, ale len jeho okraj, keďže my sme na východnom pobreží. Čo ale nie je dôvod na podceňovanie situácie, pri hurikáne 4. stupňa je aj jeho okraj “riadna pecka”. Úprimne povedané, my s Piatkom, netušiac do čoho ideme, sme sa tešili, že zažijeme pravý hurikán, v bezpečí domu za vysokým múrom, len nám bolo trocha ľúto, že nezažijeme hurikán v Cabo Pulme...
Síce som hurikán ešte nezažila, ale inštinkt mi velil schovať dovnútra všetko, čo sa dá. Takže nastalo veľké sťahovanie nábytku, kvetináčov, ozdobných predmetov a iných cerepetičiek z dvoch terás dovnútra domu (ešte, že je taký veľký). Ďalším orieškom bol Jonnov maliarsky ateliér, ktorý je síce z troch strán chránený múrom, ale stále je vonku, ja si myslím, že netreba nič ponechať náhode, Jonn by sa nám iste nepoďakoval, keby svoje plátna, štetce, farby, stojany... musel zháňať po celom La Paz... Potom prichádzajú na rad sklenené okná a dvere – hurikánový vietor má vo zvyku nechránené sklenené plochy vybiť. Len ako ich ochrániť, keď nemáme žiadne okenice, ani plastové kryty, aké sme montovali na okná Gordonovho domu, kým sme opustili Cabo Pulmo. Pre tieto prípady je tu riešenie a lá McGyver – lepiaca páska. Prehľadajúc celý dom sme zhromaždili všetky kúsky lepiacich pások, ktoré sa nám podarilo nájsť, oblepiť krížom krážom všetky okná a dvere, na to je celkom spotreba. Piatok stále dumá nad tým, ako dať dole veľké celty, oceľovými lankami natiahnuté okolo celého domu ako tienidlá. Ja s Maríou ho presviedčame, že to nie je treba, tak silný ten vietor hádam nebude, aby ich zhodil...
Od desiatej hodiny večernej sa začína dvíhať vietor a do polnoci už je to riadny fučák. Zvukové efekty sú naozaj intenzívne, meluzína vyspevuje árie, vietor lomcuje celtami-strieškami, oknami, dverami... Teraz zisťujeme, že naozaj malo zmysel schovať všetko, čo sa dalo, pretože ak je to poriadne nepripevnené, či ľahšie ako 50 kíl, tak to zrazu pocíti neodolateľnú potrebu lietať. Tak sme napríklad prišli o veľkú drevenú
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****Los Cabos je súhrnný názov pre Cabo San Lucas a San José del Cabo, dve, ešte nie tak dávno rybárske dedinky, ktoré mali tú smolu, že prilákali developerov, takže dnes sú to turistické rezorty najťažšieho kalibru, pre bohatých a vyvolených, superluxusné hotely hneď na pobreží (každý samozrejme s veľkým bazénom), početné golfové ihriská a pod. A keďže bahatí turisti sú lákadlom pre chudobných, peňazínajlepsšiebezprácechtivých občanov, odvrátenou stranou Los Cabos sú špinavé štvrte rozpadajúcich sa barabizní rodín, ktoré sa sem nasťahovali z celého Mexika – málo obyvateľov Los Cabos je pôvodom odtiaľto.
dosku, rozmerov asi 2x2 metre, ktorá bola položená na zemi a zaťažená veľkým dreveným trámom – proste zmizla, už sme ju nikdy viac nevideli. Mrzí ma, že som ju nevidela, keď bola práve na úteku (totiž úlete), stále mi totiž príde neuveriteľné, ako taká vec mohla len tak odletieť. Veľký drevený trám nebol dostatočne aerodynamický na to, aby odletel, ale vietor si ho posúva po podlahe, ako keby to bol hokejový puk. Zrazu veľké “bum”. Čo to len mohlo byť? Ále, len veľký železný gril spadol z terasy na zem. “Bum, bum bum bum...” a ktovie, čo bolo toto, čo sme len zabudli schovať, či sme podcenili? Uvidíme ráno...
Neustále sledujeme satelitné snímky na internete, zdá sa, že predpokladaný smer sa veľmi nemení a dokonca už tvrdia, že v La Paz budeme mať “iba” 3. stupeň... Okolo polnoci má Odile práve vystrájať nad Los Cabos... O tomto čase si to ale my už nemôžme skontrolovať na satelitnom snímku, vypla sa nám totiž elektrina. Keďže sme tu na kopci, máme krásny výhľad na La Paz pod nami a zdá sa, že sme prví, ostatné štrte si ešte veselo svietia... Nie však dlho. Zrazu sa nad mestom zablysne zelená žiara a ďalšia časť mesta zostáva v tme. Takýchto zelených žiar sme potom videli ešte niekoľko, spôsobených skratom na elektrickom vedení a postupne tak zhasínajú ďalšie a ďalšie časti mesta, do hodiny už je skoro celé mesto čierne – okrem jednej malej oblasti, kde stále svietia osamelé svetielka, táto ulica má možno to šťastie, že má elektrické drôty vedené pod zemou (čo je tu ale veľmi netradičné – pre nás je to dosť nepochopiteľné, keďže silný vietor trhajúci nadzemné elektrické vedenia tu nie je zas až tak neobvyklým úkazom...).
Od miestnych vieme, že hurikány sa tu delia na dva typy – tie, ktoré prinesú veľmi silný vietor a tie, ktoré prinesú veľa dažďa. Druhý typ je menej ničivý počas hurikánu, ale zasa vystrája ešte po ňom, v podobe záplav. Odile je prvý typ. Ale každý jeden hurikán nadelí obojo, vietor aj dážď, otázka je len v akom pomere a v akej sile. Okolo polnoci nám tu celkom intenzívne prší. Čo dodáva celej situácii ďalší rozmer – okrem nových zvukových efektov máme aj postarané o ďalšiu zábavu – neustále mopovanie a utieranie podlahy. Za tú dobu, čo sme v Mexiku, sme ešte nevideli dom, ktorý by bol vodotesný. Okná a dvere sa tu robia tak, že sa pre ne spraví diera do steny, do ktorej sa potom zasadia. Bodka. Utesňovaním a vypĺňaním špár sa tu veľmi nezaoberajú (a keď, tak iba veľmi „zbežne“). Niekoľkomilimetrová špára medzi oknom a stenou nie je nič neobvyklé. A niečo také ako práh vôbec nepoznajú. Takže nám sem pod dverami prúdi malý vodopád, prinášajúci so sebou aj hlinu a listy.
Dážď trocha ustal, vodopády pod dverami a oknami sú zachytávané do uterákov, ktoré sme tam naukladali, na kvílaciu meluzínu, búchavé zvuky aj okná a dvere vibrujúce vo vetre už sme si celkom zvykli... (María, ktorá už zažila jeden hurikán, čo vybíjal okná, hovorí, že nebyť tej lepiacej pásky, tak by sa už ani tie naše asi neudržali. Nevieme to posúdiť, pravdou ale je, že nám nimi lomcuje poriadne. A to máme v tomto dome ešte to štastie, že zo strany, odkiaľ fúka, sme chránení vysokým betónovým múrom.) Už sme aj riadne unavení, ideme teda spať. María s Krimom si ustlali na zemi v šatníku (María už zažila mať porezané nohy od lietajúcich črepov a nemieni si to zopakovať) a ja s Piatkom ideme do svojej izby do postele. Hosťovská izba, v ktorej bývame, je v inej časti domu, takže musíme prejsť nejakých 10 metrov po vonku. No nie je tam veľmi vľúdne, treba povedať.
Spali sme asi hodinu, keď nás zrazu zobudilo veľké “tresk” priamo do našich sklenených dverí, asi meter a pol od našej postele. Došlo na tie tienacie celty, ako sa Piatok obával. Tá, čo bola nad našimi dverami, sa už drží len na dvoch rohoch. Na každom rohu je ťažké železné “udelátko”, ktorým to je pripevnené ku stene, no a jedno sa práve z tej steny, zabetónovanej mexickým betónovacím spôsobom (rozumej tak, aby to udržalo, kým robotník odíde, čo sa s tým bude diať ďalej, už nie je jeho starosť), vytrhlo a teraz nám celou silou búcha do dverí. Ďalšie “tresk” a nám tuhne krv v žilách, konečne sme sa aj my začali počas tohto hurikánu trocha báť. Ak sa pod nárazom dvere rozletia, tak schytáme dážď sklenených črepov priamo na svoje nezakryté telá (aj keď tu okolo nás vystrája taký hurikán a človek by hádal, že sa konečne aj trocha ochladí, nie je tomu tak, stále je veľmi teplo a vo vyhriatom betónovom dome je bez klimatizácie naozaj teplo, hádame, že cez 30°C). Nečakáme na ďalší úder a utekáme do kúpeľne. Sú asi tri hodiny ráno a hurikán Odile nám tu práve vystrája svojou najväčšou silou. Ak boli predtým zvukové efekty intenzívne tak, že to bol pre nás zaujímavý zážitok, teraz sú ešte oveľa intenzívnejšie a začíname pociťovať aj strach. Každú chvíľu počuť tresknutie niečoho veľkého, či zvuk črepov. Čo to bolo? Že by lepiace pásky už ten nápor nevydržali a okná sa nám rozleteli? Čo to bol ten buchot na streche? Čo asi robí María? Je v poriadku? A čo my tu, odrezaní? Cítime sa tu ako v pasci. A tie nárazy vetra sú naozaj neuveriteľné. Ustieľame si sprchovací kút uterákmi a vankúšmi, to bude teraz naše útočisko, tu sme najchránenejší pred prípadnými letiacimi črepmi. Veľká celta nám dožičila ešte jedno “tresk” do dverí a potom sa utrhla celá a spadla na zem, za čo sme veľmi vďační, už nám nebude ohrozovať dvere.
Čo to? Že by vietor na chvíľočku troška ustal? To je naša príležitosť, teraz, alebo nikdy! Prejsť cez mláku plnú hliny a listov na podlahe, všetkou silou udržať pri otváraní dvere, aby sa nerozleteli a utekať do domu, ako najrýchlejšie sa dá, pre istotu si kryť hlavu pre prípad zblúdilých letiacich predmetov. Betónovú cestičku skoro nevidíme pod vrstvou listov, konárov, kusov betónu, kvetináčových črepov, vyzerá to dosť apokalypticky, ale nie je čas sa obzerať. A ani toho nie je veľa vidieť, tma je čiernočierna, celé La Paz už je v tme. Keď sme za sebou zabuchli dvere domu, konečne sa nám uľavilo. Zdá sa, že všetky sklenené plochy sa zatiaľ držia, tie črepy, čo sme počuli, boli iba kvetináče. María s Krimom sa k sebe túlia v šatníku, María hovorí, že cíti, ako sa pod ňou chveje zem a ďakuje všetkým svätým, že sme tu boli a pomohli jej to všetko pripraviť, ona sama by možno polovicu vecí, čo sme my schovali, nechala vonku a ani dosť lepiacej pásky na okná by vlastne nemala, keďže väčšinu som poskytla ja... Hlavne nech to tie okná a dvere vydržia.
Poutierame ďalšiu mláku pred dverami a ustieľame si na zemi v kúpeľni, v šatníku už nie je miesto. Počúvajúc poryvy vetra, búchanie a meluzínu a cítiac tie vibrácie celého domu, ešte dlho neviem zaspať. Nad ránom sme to však predsa len všetci zalomili.
Neskôr sme sa dozvedeli, že toto bol najsilnejší hurikán, aký La Paz vo svojej novodobej histórii zažilo. Bol v kategórii 3 (aj keď už skoro na hranici s kategóriou 4), rýchlosť vetra v nárazoch 220 km/hod. Celkom slušný vetrík. Čo to musí byť pri kategórii 5, to už si ani neviem predstaviť...
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