La Manga

La Manga

We had just finished our lunch yesterday when Ciro and Irene called us. They were on their way to San Carlos and wanted to know if we wanted to go along with them. We thought about it for a few minutes as we had intended to go to the carnival parade. We decided that whatever they would show us would probably be more interesting so away we went. We drove through Miramar and then on to San Carlos or sort of. We drove through the town, then past Algodones beach and onward. They showed us where the movie "Catch 22" had been filmed, with a couple of stops in between we ended up in a small fishing village of La Manga. There are actually two villages called La Manga, they are differentiated by being called one and two. There is no power or other town services in these pueblos. There are however, schools for the children and there is some minimal generated power. There are small homes made out of plywood with few amenities and the people make their living by fishing. We stopped at several beaches and at one there was a fellow wind surfing so we stopped to watch him for a few minutes. Naturally I found a few more shells that just couldn't be left behind. Ciro showed us how the "sand dollar" shells are actually the "protection plugs" for the creatures in another type of shell. We saw our first starfish, which was a beautiful bright red.

Later on we saw a couple more of them; but they were tan colored and not as eye catching. We also saw some sea cucumbers and slugs, along with an assortment of other things. It is amazing what you can find just by lifting a rock. Beautiful views that are impossible to describe.

The photos are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/548061937uVcVCq

We arrived back home around five and reviewing the day we decided that once again our new home had exceeded our expectations.