La Paz pearls

Have you ever wondered about the famous La Paz pearls, prized world wide and included in the crown jewels of the royalty of Spain, England and France? Twelve of us from Los Barriles had a wonderful weekend adventure and got the full story on a very interesting and informative tour (in English) conducted by Dr. Carlos Cáceres, the founder of Perlas del Cortez www.perlasdelcortez.com , a pearl farm in La Paz. Dr. Cáceres is a professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur, conducting research on aquaculture and sustainably reviving pearl farming in in Baja. Dr. Cáceres met us at our hotel on Sunday morning. Our first stop was at the Museum of Anthropology for the history and importance of pearling in Baja. Then we drove to his pearl farm in Pichilingue where he explained and demonstrated, step-by-step, the process of collecting and growing oysters, seeding the oysters and ultimately harvesting the beautiful black pearls. It was fascinating. Dr. Cáceres enthusiasm and passion for not only pearls, but our wonderful natural environment is contagious. Thumbs up from all twelve of us for Dr Cáceres and the tour. If you are interested in taking a tour, contact me for the details of our trip, or Dr. Carlos Cáceres ccaceres@uabcs.mx. To make it a really special weekend, go to La Paz on Saturday, spend the night and have dinner at Restaurante Las Tres Virgenes (Calle Madero #1130, between Constitution and Hildalgo). The best restaurant in Baja. Holly Burgin burgin.holly@gmail.com