Cave paintings in Agua Verde

This morning we got up and headed off with 4 others from sailboats here in Agua Verde to find the "cave paintings" about 4 kilometers up the beach from here.  After getting directions from some locals we finally accepted the offer from a family on a small ranchito along the way to take their 12 year old son Enrique as our guide.  It is a good thing we did because it was a two hour hike criss crossing trails along the coast to the base of the hill where the cave paintings were.  It was worth the hike.  Two large caves about 30' deep and the same across, situated about 200' up the rocky hillside were the keepers of this, supposedly, ancient art.  Painted on the side of the cliff, between the two caves are about a dozen or so red hand prints.  Above the hand prints there are several others that appear to be a hand print that was drug downward along the wall leaving long, red streaks and at the bottom the where the streaks stopped, a hand print.  The prints are somewhat small, looking to be the size of maybe a 12-16 year old child.  Supposedly they are hundreds of years old.  Looking at them, one would not necessarily doubt that.  However, who knows, maybe they are the marks of some Mexican kids that got into their dad's red house paint and wandered up into the hills and decorated their "club house".  Kind of doubtful since it is in the middle of no where but it leaves me wondering. So any curious ones out there maybe you could Google "cave paintings Agua Verde BCS" and see what you find out.  I would love to know what the "pros" say about the origin and age of these paintings.  If you find any info, please email back and share.  We have some awesome pictures that we hope to post later.

A view from inside the cave

After the morning exploration we took the dinghy around to the beach in front of the village to get some groceries and allow Marne to see some baby goats that we were told about.  The little store, which is basically a little metal shed in someone's back yard, just received fresh goods yesterday.  We bought a few items including several beautiful bunches of bananas that we promptly peeled, thirded and put into our solar food dryer on the back deck.  A quick stop to see the 4 day old goats, ok, they were pretty cute, and then we were off.  However, not without some excitement.  With the strong winds blowing there was quite a wind chop swell surging on the beach.  It was a bit tricky but we managed without incident.

At 4pm today the 7 boats here in Agua Verde are getting together for a pot luck.  We were going to do it on the beach but with all the wind the Machado's (the pro surfer Rob Machado's parents) offered the spacious aft deck of their catamaran to hold the festivities.  Marne prepared a 5 layer bean dip and chips complete with home made sour cream that she learned how to make from half and half and vinegar from her "Galley" cookbook.  Yes, she is learning to cook with substitutes, minimal ingredients and minimal cookware.  

The only other noteworthy event today was when I thought I saw a sea lion swimming along side the boat.  It didn't take long before I realized it was a dog!  Keep in mind that we are anchored about 100 yards off shore and the water is a bit stirred up with all of the wind.  I jumped in the dinghy and came to his rescue putting him in the dink and giving him a lift to shore.  I have no idea what he was thinking or where he thought he was going.  About 30 minutes after dropping him on the beach he swam by the boat again but proceeded over to the shore.  Strangest thing I have seen in a while.

Ciao for now.

SV Liahona
Bret and Marne