Category Archives: Mexico

Last of La Paz – Que Lastima!

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I am propped up on my pillows in the Pension Baja Paradise having a Facebook Messenger exchange with Margie, as she continues to reassure me that the Winnie is doing fine in her driveway without me.  But then, she mentions two words which I had not considered, “cloudy” and “rain.”  She tells me the rain forecast calls for clouds to move in, and rain to continue throughout the weekend.  This is a factor I have not considered, as my paradigm says “It never rains in Southern California.”   You know how the rest of the song goes, right?   “….it pours, man it pours.”IMG_8874 Continue reading →

Inspire. In Spirit. Espíritu.

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In addition to my Moon Guide, which is helpful for budget options, I always consult Tripadvisor.com for their “Top 10 things to do in…” whenever I am destination planning.  Yes, those are always the most crowded activities, but just like our National Park system, there is a reason they got to be that way.  So I figure that makes them worthy of exploration.

The Number 1 activity for La Paz is a boat trip out to Espíritu Santos, (translates to “Holy Spirit,) a UNESCO-protected island in the Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve.  Jacque Cousteu called this neighboring island surrounded by idyllic bays, “the world’s aquarium.”  Continue reading →

Lovable, Livable La Paz!

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Arriving at the bus station in downtown La Paz, I am immediately smitten.  The station is right on the malecón (waterfront,) with big floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the calm turquoise bay.    Just a two hour bus ride, and I have gone from the Chaos of Cabo back to the Bliss of Baja.    My love affair is back on again. Continue reading →

Catch a Wave, You’ll Be Sittin’….

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…on Playa de Cerritos!

I talked earlier about the “Firefly Effect,” meeting a fellow traveler who seems to “light up” when you meet them, and if you stop and share a conversation, they usually have some wisdom to impart.  Such was the nature of the effect in Todos Santos.  The unfortunate lack of wifi in my room in Hotel Gulguarte had me sitting in the courtyard, plugged in next to the laundromat, when a 50-something “surfer dude” leans over the railing and shouts down from the second floor, “What does a guy need to do to get wifi around here?”  My response, “Come down to the laundry pit.  It’s the only place it works.” Continue reading →

“Table for One” in Loreto

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The next jaunt down Highway 1 is a short one – only a 90 minute bus ride to Loreto.  My Moon Guide describes Loreto as “sleepy” and “relatively undiscovered.”   I would describe it as “mediocre.”  Yes, it was beautiful, clean, new, nicely developed, but it also felt a bit “sanitized.”  Somewhat “midwestern” in that it lacked the grittiness of Ensenada, the charm of Mulegé, or the glimmering white beaches of the Bahia.   Maybe it was because it reminded me of a “convention town.”  There were two organized gatherings taking place while I was there;  Baja Bush Pilots, and the Harley Davidson club, complete with booze, buffet tables, and big bands. Continue reading →

The Curves and Culture of Bahía Concepción

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As I mentioned in the previous post, the town of Mulegé is tiny.  There are six taxis.  Not taxi companies, mind you, but six taxi cabs!  Two of the six cabs belong to Salvador and his brother Ignacio.   Salvador runs the only tour company in town, typically offering tours to see the cave paintings in nearby La Trinidad.  Having spent the last year touring ancestral puebloan cave paintings, petroglyphs and pictographs in the west, I am not really up for more cave paintings right now.  But I sure would love to go to the beach. Continue reading →

Moo-leh-hey and the Beautiful Bay

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One of the benefits of traveling the “Gringo Trail,” i.e. staying in hotels and following the recommended itinerary in guidebooks like the Moon Guide or Lonely Planet is that you end up interacting with like-minded travelers.  This can be a blessing and a curse.  It can tend to insulate one from the local culture, but at the same time, the exchange of information among fellow travelers is invaluable. Continue reading →

The Black Warrior and the Gray Whale

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The town of Guerrero Negro was purportedly named for a sunken ship, the Black Warrior, an American whaling ship that sunk back in the 1850’s. It’s a small town that reminds me of some of the more desolate towns on Indian reservations. There is a casino there, a few restaurants, and little else along the dusty stretch of Highway 1 that runs through town. Continue reading →

La Boheme by Candlelight

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The stretch down Highway 1 to my next destination is a long one, requiring eight hours of travel.   Bus schedules are not as frequent in the northern state of Baja de Norte as they are further south, so I have the option of leaving at 10:00am and spending all day on the bus, or leaving after dark and sleeping on the bus.  No question, I want to see as much of the countryside as possible. Continue reading →