on the road: Bahia de Kino

Mark Mulligan, the local musician, put together a trip of about 30 people from San Carlos and Kino for a weekend trip to Kino Bay. Mark did a show of his songs and old favorites and we were entertained by local native dancers and singers from the Seri Indian tribe. During the day, we went to a native museum where we learned about the Seri culture and then we visited the Indian reservation.

Kino is a beach town about an hour and a half west of Hermosillo. Today it has a population of several thousand people. It is the traditional land of the Seri natives who now live communally north of town (sound familiar?). Kino itself is a beautiful ocean area but it is now pretty full of hotels, expensive homes, tacquerias, stalls selling beach wear and tourists who arrive for the weekends or longer. RV parks of all kinds seem to be everywhere.

This was our first glimpse of the beach. That's Alcatraz Island out there.
Tiburon Island which is out near the reservation is many times larger and
is now a nature preserve.

I collected a slew of fabulous shells on this beach.
Don't ask me what I'm going to do with them but
it sure is fun looking for special ones.

This is the main drag in "Nuevo Kino", the newer part of town.
This is where most of the tourist action takes place. We were
surprised that you even have to pay for parking at some places
here-what is this?!

Mark led us on a tour of the Museo de los Seris. Since all the exhibits were in Spanish, it was really helpful to have him interpret the words of our guide. We are getting better at Spanish, but certainly nowhere close to being able to understand a tour director. Sadly, the history of the Seri reminded us very much of our own native american history. The Seri inhabited the area from Guaymas to Tiburon Island for at least 500 years. They had traditions, beliefs and customs of their own which worked well for them until the Jesuits came and attempted to "save" them by converting them to Christianity. The museum honors the Seri ancient traditions and ceremonies.

In the entrance to the museum

Dogs allowed-amazing!

The Seri women are beautiful. I loved
this shell headdress.

The young girls can have their faces painted after attaining
puberty. At their second menses, they are eligible to marry!

The women are tall and thin and say that their good posture
comes from the tradition of carrying things in baskets on
their heads-including babies!

The reservation is in the arid north of Kino and fishing
remains their main industry.

Many pangas line the shore.

I think these are used for crabs.

Boo was chomping at the bit (even chewing his leash) to get
in the water. We finally relented.

What a beautiful shoreline.

This is a typical government made home.
At first, the Seri would not live in them because
they did not take into account how hot and how
cold the homes would be. Soon the Mexican
government learned the lesson and brought
electricity to the reservation. Note that dish
on the roof.

The beaches on the reservation are just gorgeous. We did
not see anyone at them however.

Their fences are alot like the western coyote
fences made of tree limbs, although these
are made of dried cactus! Coke is everywhere
and extremely popular in Mexico.

We were greeted by many of the local
women selling baskets and jewelry. It
was impossible to resist them. They are
relentless until you buy.

I bought a necklace from each of these women.

Waiting for the tourists like swarming bees

One man trying to say no

Where the desert meets the sea.........

Back at the ranch-actually, The Hacienda Hotel.....

Happy hour with traditional dancers

Local ladies selling their wares

Loved this little one peeking out at the festivities

While his Mom painted the faces of some
of us.

Watching his mom perform

Beautiful ladies

And caballeros

Such energy

One of the elders singing about whales

Another singing about sea lions

And this elder singing a chant about the desert turtle
Turtles are a sacred animal to the Seri. They have
permission from the government to use them in some
of their ceremonies.