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I first heard of “the green flash” in the Northern Territory where watching the sun set at East Point was a bit of a hippie tradition in the old days. Just as the sun sinks below the horizon you will see a green flash…. if you’re lucky?…… enhanced?
Tonight I’m watching the ever-spectacular sunset from my balcony at the Hotel La Siesta in Mazatlan, Mexico, still one of my favourite places, even after all the rest.
The sun sets through a low layer of glowing red coals clouds then breaks clear for the last free plunge into the Pacific. My third time here and still magic.

WAS IT THE GREEN FLASH?

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:06:57

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the gringo influence is apparent as soon as I get back to centroamerica, Panama with its US currency and the gringo development at dead frog, Bocas, Costa Rico, always has been, Nicaragua, and so on.

Here in the southern tip of Baja, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo and all around the cape, huge developments, condos, private mega-mansions, real estate is the culture, very difficult to find anything remotely real, all a bit of a culture shock. So I flee to Cabo Pulmo, down the dirt road, way out in the sticks, suddenly the coast again, the colour of the sea is intense, partly in comparison to the deathly dry, dusty terrain on the way in, I find the little
sleepy-hollow settlement, 3 dive places, quite a large housing estate of rental places, all v cute, Baliesque flower gardens, quite a little oasis and very tranquilo.

Back a step, the ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz in Baja. The ‘new’ ferry didn’t run on Saturday and Conrado, touting for business at the weighbridge, convinced me to go on his ferry. Cheaper, and loaded with huge truckloads of whatever, and a thousand promises, the Santa Rita (the name gave me some hope) is a big old rustbucket not really designed for the passenger as most of the truckies ended up in their sleeper-cabs.

Quite a thorough search getting on, the sniffer dog was all over one guy like he’s been smeared in PAL, of course I’m clean.

There are about 25 passengers, 10 truckies, the usual stocky, muscular little jockey types, 6 nervous young men who I discover on talking with them, are heading (illegally) for the US, they are accompanied by a slick young bloke, all in black, he tells me he has done this run many times, he recruits down south and takes them all the way, across the border into the US, not like some who take
Bajathe money and abandon their charges as soon as they get near the frontera. I didn’t ask how much he charges, it had taken some time before ...