when it starts sinking in like quicksand

a fact of life here is that you get your car stuck in the sand. it just happens. there is no avoiding it. there is a lot of sand here.

for example, my first day in peñasco, before i'd even arrived at CEDO, i got stuck in the sand. i drove past the turn-off to CEDO, and while turning around, decided that it would be fine to drive through some sand. and i had to stop, because a car was coming. and then, surprise surprise, couldn't get going again. my dad was just shaking his head at me, "i told you to be careful in the sand". i'm not even here yet and i'm doing stupid things.

and then a man from town drove by, came back, and hauled me out with a rope. "stupid gringa"

haha.

so ... on saturday, pia and i went with club ecologico to an ejido an hour plus from here to visit one of the other esteros in the area, all piled into CEDO's 15-passenger van. it's pretty secluded, but really stunning. you're just driving through the desert, sand dunes, blah blah blah and then come to this overlook





and there just past estero san francisquito, is isla san jorge. it's refuge and over 3000 sea lions live there and hopefully i'll be going there in two weeks with a group to go snorkeling! how exciting! but i digress. it's stunning, yes? both pia and i were like, "whoooaaaa" the kids were not nearly as impressed.

we drove along this dirt/sand road right along the coast, and stopped to check out a huge flock of birds - mostly cormorants and pelicans who were hanging out just off shore.





and then we decided to head back to the estuary to do some various activities. and on the way back, we got stuck. and i mean really stuck.







in a way, it was actually quite amusing. i mean, there we are pretty literally in the middle of no where stuck in the sand. and we tried everything - digging, cardboard under the tires, throwing water under the tires to try to create traction, letting air out, pushing, reversing, back and forth and nothing worked. we are extremely lucky that we got stuck close to a building that some fishermen in the area use and they came over with their truck to try to pull us out. after three hours or so, we were out. and then they got stuck. and then we got stuck trying to help pull them out. and finally a huge truck full of fishermen drove by and pulled us all out.

it was actually pretty hilarious.

i think i'm going to keep cardboard in my car from now on. just in case.