Back to doing what We Do Best

Back in Baja after a great week home in the U.S.  and that means back to doing what we do best: beaching, snorkelling, cooking and beach-combing.  Here's a shot from yesterday:

More interesting posts to come this week, I promise! Election Day is tomorrow and I will be sure to talk about that! For now, Happy Saturday!

Balm for my So[u]l

Home in the U.S. for a week's visit and to attend a college friend's wedding! Flew home last Thursday and got a few more days on my visit.  Getting a few shifts of work tonight and tomorrow.  I had a wonderful weekend visiting family and friends, although it was hectic at times.  I'm extremely grateful to those in my life who rearrange their schedules to see me, even if it's just for an hour, while I'm home. Sometimes coming home feels like a breath of sweet, fresh air and other times it feels pressure-filled, tense and serves to remind me why I love living in Baja. Most times the two places complement the other very nicely.  I'm never really tired of either place.

Some things I'm loving getting to experience in the U.S. this week:
1. Stop signs = STOP
2. Toilet paper can be flushed down the toilet!
3. Tons of radio stations singing songs in English
4. My friends' laughter all around me
5. It being cool enough to make a fire in the backyard and roast marshmallows
6. Smelling Gramma's cooking wafting up from the kitchen

And a few things I'm missing terribly already from Baja already:
1. Waking up with E
2. Quality Beaches!!!
3. Food trucks selling mouth-watering food any time of the night
4. Bars serving after 2am/Liquor sales after 9pm
5. Lack of "no duh" rules & laws that seem very redundant in the U.S.

Back to Baja on Thursday!!

What We Do with a Few Free Hours

When we have a few hours to kill (or be lazy with), E and I like to take the short ride to La Concha beach just past the very end of the Malecon.  The beach is small with a few palapas and buildings to the back, but has great snorkeling and calm lapping waves.  The condos you see in the photos below are where my family has rented several times, really nice and a perfect home base for exploring La Paz.  

Beach Day

This past weekend we drove out past Tecolote Beach to a beach with no name.  The asphalt ends (as it often does here in Baja) and we drove on a dirt road for about 20 minutes.  The land out on the peninsula is slowly being sold off and developed bit by bit, but there has to remain access roads to each beach per Mexican law (amazing!).  The beach we arrived to was worth the effort. excellent snorkelling, white sand and the best part about beaches in Baja if you ask me - we were ALONE. I've gotten spoiled with having my "own" beach and now dread seeing other visitors drive up!

What a lucky dog!



Boys being boys

Feliz Dia de Los Fathers!

A very Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.  We are celebrating today with E's dad who is here visiting for awhile.  Took him to the Chinese Buffet and relaxing in the AC watching movies :)

More later this week about our weekend adventures!

Our (2 Week) Kayak Trip

I'm sure I could write an entirely separate blog about the role kayaking has played into our lives here in La Paz.  But that's for another day.  I wanted to share some pics of our self-sustained, 14 day kayak trip that E and I did last May 2011.  We paddled from Loreto to the outskirts of La Paz Bay (about 130 miles).  Physically, it was the hardest thing I've ever done and believe me, there were mornings and nights I cried in pain or frustration that I couldn't go on. But we had no serious injuries, no dehydration (our #1 worry) and no run-ins with dangerous marine life. Beautiful views, secluded beaches to camp on every night (my favorite part of the day!) and the best part: sometimes we wouldn't see another human being for days at a time. Incredible!

Views of Danzante Island, off the coast of Loreto - after shoving off from Loreto Malecon. Day #1

Bruise on my left leg, don't remember from what but we got to watch it change colors all trip long!

Docked for lunch! Our favorite lunch spot, hands down.
We watched mobula rays jumping out of the water during our canned tuna lunch.

Canyon de la Zorra

E and I got to talking about some spots we'd like to visit in Southern Baja this summer. We want to try the new Water Park that opened up on the highway between Los Barriles and San Jose and try to swing a road trip up to Ensenada to see our friend who's having a baby in September! Another place we agreed we want to return to is Canyon de la Zorra, or Canyon of the Fox, which sounds pretty mysterious to me.  It is a canyon system off the highway, accessed through Santiago.  You arrive on a ledge and have to walk down into the waterfall area via a rough path.  Kind of a hike, especially if you're carrying gear to camp or spend the day, but definitely worth it! We visited for the day in 2008 and were not alone...as you can see. The water is fresh and cool and right off the mountains that act as a spine to the Baja peninsula. Daring young kids and teenagers make the leap off the top of the waterfall to the pool below and there's even some good snorkeling to be seen.  There are plenty of smaller pools and streams stemming off the main pool for each family or group to have their own oasis.  Aahhh, cant wait to go back!

Canyon de la Zorra

Dog Tails

Spent the morning at Baja Dogs, a dog refuge outside La Paz on the highway north.  I have been following them online and sending money when I can for about 2 years now, but just started volunteering as a dog-walker last fall.  It's so great to go and visit and play with the dogs and puppies! They have a bodega with smaller stalls for the smaller dogs and outside there are bigger corral-type enclosures for the bigger dogs.  Some dogs have "roommates" and are 2 or 3 to a pen.  There is a "hospital" for dogs that arrive sick or injured and a quarantine area away from both buildings that each dogs spends some time at when they arrive, just in case he or she is contagious with a doggy disease. 

The Mexican, American and Canadian staff and volunteers work so hard each day to make a good life for each dog and find a "forever" home with a good family.  Some days, on my drives home from the refuge I feel like I see more dogs on the streets than I just spent the morning helping. These mornings it can feel all the work we do is a mere drop in the bucket.  But I try to remain positive that what we do matters and we are improving the quality of life for the refugio dogs!

Please visit Baja Dogs La Paz' great website and consider donating via their online portal. Every little bit helps and the organization does SO much with so little!  http://www.bajadogslapaz.org/index.html

El Triunfo

On our way home from San Jose over the weekend we pulled off the Transpeninsular highway in a small town we've always wanted to spend an afternoon exploring.  El Triunfo is in Central Baja Sur about halfway between La Paz and Los Barriles.  It only has about a dozen buildings and 325 (ish) people now, but in its heyday it was an important mining center of Baja Sur.  Wikipedia says that at one time it was the biggest city in Baja with 10,000 miners when gold and silver were discovered in the hills and mountains surrounding it.  That was in the 1860's.  Gustav Eiffel even designed the two big smokestacks that now sit idle and falling apart.  By the 1910's most of the population had moved out to either La Paz or the Cabos. 

We started our afternoon with a absolutely delicious meal at a roadside stand.  I had 2 beef tamales with fresh white cheese and refried beans. E had a beef burrito and quesadilla that also did not disappoint.  We then crossed the street (the only street) to the smokestacks and the shells of the old brick buildings to explore.  When we got too hot and dry to keep hiking (day time temps = 95*F) we got back in the car and drove a little ways to the town's cemetary.  Hiking along the graves again we saw many that were from around the 1920-1940's but some more recent ones from 2004.  Most seemed really old with just a pile of rocks, no markers or crosses.  Seems they have been forgotten.  Our footprints were the only ones in the sand on the path leading up to the cemetary, so I'm guessing not too many people make the drive out to visit their loved ones.  I would love to go back there during Dia de los Muertos and see if the activity picks up then!  All in all, a great, though hothothot afternoon!

Goofing around with the old smokestack

view from the very much-welcomed shade!

Graves on the hillside

Getaway to San Jose

This past Saturday we drove the familia back to the airport in San Jose and decided to make it an overnight trip. We stayed at the Hotel Posada Real on the tourist corridor, but closer to San Jose. San Lucas is gearing up for the G-20 Summit and is already a crazytown! We had a wonderful time frolicking in the beachside pool and hot-tub with the bar service always ready to supply the next cold cocktail! Our room was small, 1 king bed, but very comfortable and even had a sea-facing balcony with patio chairs to enjoy once the sun went down. The on-site restaurant and bar had a good mix of pub food and traditional mexican dishes and of course those free beers and drinks! This is the second time we've been to spend the night and we both really enjoy going there. Excellent service, way affordable price and you can't beat the location!

Beachfront property, great for lounging

View of the pool. Our room was in the building in the background

Bikini on & Pina Colada in hand!

R.I.P Bourgainvillea Arch

In stark contrast to my last post about how beautiful our arch was - it brings me great sadness to display the photos of the barren yard. The wall on one side of our property was replaced and the bourgainvillea plant did not survive the work. Look how sad it looks!

On a positive note, E has given me the full approval to take over as "exterior designer" and "jardinera" for our new yard. Can't wait to paint the wall so we can go pick out new plants and shrubs!