La Paz

After a nice and leisurely daylight ride down from Loretto, I landed in La Paz.  The last time I had been there, other than with Guy and the Winners, was 6 years ago.  Then, I met two crazy Englishmen who were doing a round the world trip. I managed to keep up with them for a few days, (minus the drinking and carousing at night), and thus earned from them the title "Mad Dog." 

I had arrived in La Paz a day ahead of the scheduled ferry departure from La Paz to Mazatlan. I secured a nice little room with decent wi-fi and wandered about the city, trying to record those features which struck me as unique about this city.  Being a tourist town, there are a lot of tourists milling about, and it took a bit of wandering to get away from their haunts.  The Southern Baja folks are very nice and friendly, and open to chatting about their life.  Again, my lack of effective Spanish holds me back.  I found that the little bit that I do manage to communicate goes a long way, and that Mexican people are more than willing to go the extra mile to help and assist me. 

This shot of the wall spoke to me of two different ages and periods in the history of Mexico: from Peublo to street art and graffiti..

There appears to be a totally different attitude towards street art and murals than what we have in the North. The art is respected and maintained, and I did not see evidence of the murals and graffiti being destroyed.

La Paz has a wonderful museum of sea creatures on the main drag.  On the length of the building is a full size skeleton of a Sperm Whale.

It would appear that the Mexican Federal government is beginning to recognize the economic value of tourism, and I have seen similarly designed "city" signs throughout Baja.  Again, there is an expression of the art inherent in what is seen in much of the Mexican culture.

All along the waterfront, the city has intstalled original sculptures depicting aspects of the local life.
This bronze piece contained a goddess within a sea shell..and possibly a whale bone...

More examples of street art...

The Mexican Navy had one of their ships standing by offshore...

This mural covered the entire two story building...

Here's looking at you. I am publishing this page on my son Gord's 32 birthday. Next year at this time, he will be a parent and hopefully his son will read these pages...maybe not next year....but soon enough!