Ensenada Grande, el Embudo, Los Islotes

We’re slowly moving our way up to the top of the islands.  It’s easy to get complacent about the scenery here.  It’s all very beautiful, but starts to look the same after a while.  The rocks take on a slightly different color and shape and the coves are bigger or smaller, cozy or grand.  But overall, they’re all still very beautiful.  Because they do tend to look alike, we decided to skip a few anchorages in our guidebook and go all the way up to Ensenada Grande.  This is a pretty good anchorage for overnight stays and it's close enough to Los Islotes, where the sea lion rookery is located, that you can go there in one day.

As we pulled into the cove, we noticed a familiar looking boat, Ceilydh.  This is another catamaran that our friend, Cindy told us to watch for as they have a child on board.  After getting all settled in, we decided to go for a hike.  On our way over, we stopped by Ceilydh to introduce ourselves.  It's really nice out here how you can just drive/walk/swim over to someone's boat and say hi and no one thinks anything of it.  It makes it really easy to make friends.  Evan, Diane and Maia were headed in the same direction so we all ended up hiking together.  Maia, their daughter was quite the climber.  I think she really inspired Jake as he managed to keep up with everyone and didn't whine or complain at all. We all enjoyed each other's company and decided to continue our fun over cocktails and appetizers on our boat.  

One of the reasons we chose this anchorage was because we wanted to swim with the sea lions.  The crew on Ceilydh had already had the experience and filled us in on the easiest way to get there.  They enjoyed it so much they decided to go with us the next day.

What an amazing experience.  I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by the huge sea lions.  I've swam with sharks on more than one occasion, but wasn't nearly as nervous as I was jumping in the water with these huge creatures.  They're very curious and playful and swim right up to you.  Andy, Evan and Diane went diving while I waited in the dinghy with the kids.  When they came up, I went snorkeling while the kids got to buddy breathe off of the regulators.  Andy got some more fantastic pictures.  

Baby seal getting dinner from mama.

We ended the night with dinner on Ceilydh, said our goodbyes, then we pulled out the next morning, back to LaPaz.  We didn’t quite provision well enough in the beverage department (for anyone).  I don’t think either of us realized how far away the next mini mart would be, much less a grocery store.  And maybe even more urgent is the garbage.  We’ve tried to separate the biodegradable stuff from the not and it’s still stinky.  So we’re now back in LaPaz, provisioning and catching up with our friends on Ulalena.

NOTE:  I've added Ceilydh's blog to our list on the right if anyone wants to follow their travels as well.