SUNDAY

Today was almost a repeat of yesterday except the crowds were absent in the morning. I caught the bus back to Central District about noon and did not get back to the beach so I have no idea how many people showed up later. I returned to the house about 4pm and Natalia arrived about 5:00. She went straight to her room to nap. She has to return to work tomorrow and I have a feeling she is not really looking forward to that.

Another picture of the main Cathedral and town square.

More petroglyphs I discovered during the Equinox outing.

SATURDAY

Today I took another walk on the Malecon, pictures to follow. The crowds today were perhaps larger than yesterday and there was a lot going on. I stopped by the Library and picked up another 20 peso used  book to last me through my layover in Phoenix on Tuesday. It is a one thousand page Tom Clancy thriller.

These guys stand up there waiting for the other divers to collect enough money to intice them to dive off.

This is two pictures, side by side, this computer program did a wonderful job of stitching them together.

Another warm, windy day at the beach.

He sells goodies from this little table he carries around on his head, in front of him is an ice cream vendor.

This is cut fruit put in plastic cups and sold. He carried this on his head and the homemade stand in his hand.

They were making a lot of happy music. The fella in the red shirt was pretty drunk but did a good job singing and dancing although he was not part of the Trio.

The uniforms say Marina and the guy on the left is carrying a rifle in his left hand. The uniform on the left is a woman.

These guys are also Marina. Natalia told me that MZT brings in law inforcement from all the neighboring cities and Federal Gvt. for security during these big weekends. I saw no problems at all while here.

FRIDAY

This was almost a repeat of yesterday, I again walked to the Gold Zone taking pictures of the beach scene [below] and riding the bus back to Centro for lunch and lazing in the shade reading a good book. The sea breeze was most welcome!

The above were taken Thursday about sunset.

The last three were taken today, Friday. It is expected to be even more crowded Saturday and Sunday

THURSDAY

It got pretty warm today but I was busy and didn't spend a lot of time outside. Olivia had to work today so Natalia said she would wash my bedding in her place. I certainly was not going to have that happen so after Natalia left for the day with a sack of food she had prepared for a family gathering I washed and dried the bedding myself. She had done her own yesterday. After breakfast she told me she had left some lunch and dessert for me in the refrigerator and by the time my laundry was finished I had lunch. I then walked to Central Market for a coke and an hour or so of reading before purchasing a dozen  oranges and heading home. I was back at the house at 4PM. I was not surprised to see a few businessess closed for the four day weekend running through Easter Sunday.

A couple more shots of the Big Circle I had posted earlier.

There are six different kinds of wild Cats in the 236,000 acre refuge and this is a posting of what they look like, in case you get lucky and see one. In the states we call them Mountain Lions.

 

Two more pictures of the beach.

This might be a repeat.

 

WEDNESDAY

With Equinox week and Easter arriving back to back I decided to take a long walk on the Malecon to see what changes are taking place. The crowds are in the early stages and the police are out in force, the sun bathers are beginning to locate their place in the sunny sand. I walked about five miles to the Gold Zone and snapped a few pictures along the way  then caught a bus back to Central District. It was just too warm to attempt to walk back and my sore toe is starting to complain again. After getting off the bus I walked a mile to Macaw's for lunch then walked home. That was another mile. I got back about four PM. I'm still posting pictures of the Equinox Festivities.

There were two of these entertainers but I never saw them dancing.

There were a lot of male dancers, I guess that is the culture for this Festival. Notice that one drum is floating in a tub of water while the other two are buried in sand.

He was dancing to the one drummer only.

This is a blessing for couples, there is flame in that pot and a black smoke is eminating from it. The pot is waved in a particular fashion around each couple.

this lady is an English speaking Media personality from somewhere. I watched her explaining to the camera what they were witnessing during this day. Maybe she was making a travelog, that is one possibility among many.

TUESDAY

That sea breeze was most welcome this afternoon, there is no doubt summer is arriving and the sudden shock of getting off that airplane in Portland in a few days is on my mind. I am going to put my jacket in my checked luggage and hope I won't need it too soon after getting out of the terminal. Perhaps I am being a baby but it is really nice down here in late March.
 

Perhaps all of this should have been recorded on video. The bottom picture is interesting because it looks like that one instrument is a sort of Harp. 

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MONDAY

It was a bit warmer today, I was happy to sit in the shade while reading and people watching. Got back to the house about 5pm, Natalia is off this week, the University is closed to celebrate the Equinox so she is visiting friends and family.

Dancers waiting to perform

A better picture of the 'sprig' used to bless the partisipants.

You can see him dipping the sprig in water between each blessing.

Lining up, lots of folks taking part in the blessing.

Three younger dancers posing with tourists.

SUNDAY

We had beautiful, warm sunshine all day today and I was out there soaking up as much of it as I could. I Went to 'Karens' in Central Market for lunch and ordered a chicken dinner that I really like. It contains a few french fries Spanish Style that I really like. The chicken in this dish is always the dark meat and that is my favorite! The full meal and a coke came to about four dollars US.

A visitor is posing with four of the dancers while family takes pictures.

While the ceremony was going on during the great circle there were rockets shot into the air, must have been a dozen or more. A very large BANG overhead as each one exploded.

 

 

When the ceremony ended all the folks met in the center and retrieved the items that they had to set aside to take part in the festivities. 

SATURDAY

Just another lazy day in the sun. Nice lunch, finished another book by Ken Follett, almost fell asleep on a park bench and got my shoes shined. The shoes took a beating on the beach when I took the pictures. They needed cleaning.

This is the only way to see the carved rocks, walk on them, they are there.

Many are well worn.

The 'priest' in the red bandanna is 'blessing' the lady in white with a sprig of green leaved plant dipped in water. Fresh or salt water I don't know. White is the color of the day at this gathering.

They are blessing the arrival of the Equinox in a more private affair.

This 'priest' is explaining to the TV camera what is going on today, in Spanish of course.