We are still in Bahia de Tortuga. It hasn’t gotten too monotonous yet, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be holed up here for much longer. At the moment there are about 12 sailboats waiting as we are. A few brave souls left two days earlier: one lost their anchor and the other reported 12 foot waves with a 7 second interval. I’m glad we decided to wait.

In the meantime, we’ve been checking out the town. There is no bank, and very few services. The town is about 2 ½ hours away from the main highway, ensuring its remoteness. We don’t know how people function. Without a bank, and with the cannery being closed, it must be quite difficult for people. A couple of the families in town have businesses that cater to the cruisers by providing diesel, but other than that, there simply isn’t much here.

To curb the cabin fever, a bunch of us from sailboats decided to head into town for a fish taco. Mercedes and Carlos run a nice little place overlooking the bay, that serves delicious tacos, and when we were there, in honour of ‘Dia del Padre’, they were also serving up a wonderful ‘Pozole’. Pozole is an authentic pre-Colombian dish typically made for special occasions. The main ingredients are corn, chilis and meat, usually pork, and chicken, but there are many variants of this all across Mexico. For example, Mercedes’ pozole had included fish.  The soup is served with a number of sides: cabbage, avocado, lime, onions, cilantro and a smoky salsa, all of which you can add to suit your taste. The Pozole was a treat and even more so, since Mercedes dragged me into her kitchen to show me how she makes hers. They are a super cute older couple. They love the visiting cruisers and keep track of everyone with an extensive guest book that everyone signs.

Poking around on the history of Pozole on the web, I ran across this somewhat controversial tidbit:

“After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with corn. The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious communion. After the conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became the staple meat, as it “tasted very similar”, according to a Spanish priest.” (http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=317065)

Hmmm….cruisers imprisoned on their boats. The ritual sacrifice of the Baja Bash. Good thing we have that guestbook at ‘La Palapa’.

In spite Pozole’s colourful history, the dish is a culinary delight!

Eroding former cannery.

A man intent on fish tacos....or pozole