Fay 6 Cóndor de California

Today was an amazing day. I know, I know... you are thinking, "Kasey, you sap, everyday is an amazing day to you!" But, today was very special because we saw an animal that was listed as extinct in 1987 when the only known California Condors were captive. Since then they have been reintroduced in several places including the Sierra San Pedro Martir National Park.

It didn't quite start out that way. None of slept very well last night because it got in the low 30's and our furnace is not working. We paid Kamper Korner a quadrillion pesos to fix the thermostat and to totally replace the AC before we left. We took the motorhome to Eugene the weekend before furnace worked fine. Before we left on the Big Trip we tested the AC and it worked fine. Fast forward to Saturday in Baja when we needed the furnace and neither the furnace nor the AC are working. We Googled some suggestions and used all the right expletives and still no go. We slept in the mountains and while no one froze, none of us slept very well.

So this morning, we headed up several thousand thousand kilometers of narrow crazy ass road hoping to see a California Condor, the National Park and National Observatory which is located a few thousand kilometers from the moon. Sadly, when we got to the "Condor Lookout" there were no Condors to be found.

We then headed up the hill to the nearby National Park only to find it wasn't that nearby but conveniently located near the National Observatory. We stopped at the entrance and gleefully paid the entrance fee using some of the pesos we obtained at Walmart and headed into the National Park. There were no gift shops or concessionaires, only a nice road and the beginning of what will someday be a nice headquarters. 

We proceeded up to the National Observatory to finish our quest but when we got within a mile we came across a sigh written in Spanish "Gringos No Pase!" Well not really, it said the Observatory was closed and before I could make up some official business in Spanish, a young man, who didn't speak English or pig Latin showed up. I got out with the intention of convincing him in Spanish to let us pass but could only muster "tu camioneta tiene lindas llantas". Apparently, "Your truck has nice tires" was not the right password and we sheeplessly made a u-turn to head back down to earth where we left the motorhome.

We stopped and ate lunch in the beautiful park and Janice started to name all of the trees and fauna we encountered.

We were all tired and a little disappointed as we headed down the mountain. Diana and I conspired to address Janice's disappointment by agreeing that a small black bird we were seeing was a California Condor. Even though she was driving, she quickly (and correctly) determined it was just a raven. Ever the optimist, I proclaimed it was likely a raven- Condor hybrid as it was flying so high and so effortlessly. 

We traveled less than 30 seconds (8888 secondtivos) and came to the "Condor Lookout" and saw four California Condors in the small dirt parking lot! I stealthily bolted, stumbled and hopped out of the car to get a picture. They took flight and we spent 15 minutes watching them soar around the area above our heads. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in nature!

We headed back to Rancho Melling and took showers and said our goodbyes. I was very happy to connect with Daniel and Gilberto who didn't know a lot of English but I was able to speak with them in Spanish well enough to be understood. I love the language, people, culture and food and am determined to become fluent in Spanish (and in English). 😉

What a day!