(see below map for details)
Travel Log, March 1st - 31st, 2005
Part 1
(see below map for details)
Days - 215 to 245
Total Miles Traveled this month - 1,497
Total Miles Traveled to March 31/05 - 6,223
During the first part of March we continued our travels north
toward Playa Santispac and Mulege. Our trip south to Cabo was wonderful, however, it
was great to be back at Playa Santispac again. We had missed our friends
from the beach and it was
really nice to chat with everyone and get updates on what was happening while we
were away. It was also a bit hard though because we only stayed a few days, and had
to explain to everyone there that we had decided not to stay until the end of May after all.
We let everyone know that we had decided to continue our travels back up Baja
and head over to Mainland Mexico. We made the best of the few days that we
were there. We scooted around on our scooters and took pictures all over
Mulege, so that you would be able to see where we shopped, got water, and ate
dinner. We wanted to share Mulege with you in picture format, to try and
capture the ambiance and home town feel of this wonderful little town. We know in
our hearts that we will never forget Mulege and we look forward to returning
there someday...
 San Carlos, Baja California Sur We were happy to be heading north again and leaving the
area of San Carlos, although we did have a very nice spot on the beach,
and met a wonderful young man named Henry while we were there. |
Traveling North from San Carlos, Baja California Sur |
 Traveling North towards Sea of Cortez, Baja California Sur This was a really incredible part of the highway, very
curvy and steep. We are on the same highway as you see below, it
switches back on itself a number of times, it was something else!
However, it is very hard to capture it in a two dimensional picture... |
 Traveling North towards Sea of Cortez, Baja California Sur We are noticing, as we are traveling north, that there is
more vegetation and flowers than there was on our trip south. Very
pretty...and look at that view! |
 Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur We decided on the spur of the moment to try to find a safe place to boondock on our way north and stretch our trip out a little further. We found this great place at a government wharf, however, there was a security guard there and so we thought we had better ask if it was ok. They are always in uniform and carrying a gun, so they can be a bit intimidating. We also noticed that often they are very serious, until you smile and say "Hola". Once you say hello, they are warm and friendly. Due to the intimidation factor Barry often...ok...always, gets the honour of approaching them. Barry is so easy going and kind that more often than not they say that we can stay and they often give us pointers and information on the area. Well as you may have guessed, we were allowed to stay and
we liked it so much there that we stayed for two nights... As you will see
from the following pictures, it was very pretty there... |
Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur |
Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur |
Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur |
Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur |
 Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur From reading this sign, we realized this area was a
protected marine park... As we stated previously, it was very beautiful here
and we would have liked to have stayed longer. However, we did not
want to outstay our welcome so we continued north towards Loreto. |
Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur |
 Loreto, Baja California Sur This time when we went through Loreto, we took some time to explore
around a little bit. It is a really nice place and we enjoyed our short stay
there. This is the marina, and it appears they have recently
completed a beautification project of the marina and surrounding area.
It
was really nice to walk around and enjoy the scenery. |
Loreto, Baja California Sur |
Loreto, Baja California Sur |
Town square in Loreto, Baja California Sur |
 Playa Santispac, Baja California Sur Yeah!! We are back at Playa Santispac, and it is so good to see everyone! Wow, it is so beautiful here, a part of us thinks we should stay for awhile. However, a stronger part is very anxious to continue our travels. This very special person is Adolfo, he owns a tienda
(store) in Mulege. However, he is at the beach everyday, sometimes a
number of times a day, to sell his wares. He is jovial and
wonderfully friendly. We try not to buy souvenirs or much of
anything other than the necessities on our trip... however, he can be very
persuasive (in a good way), and we did buy our hammock, some couch and
chair blankets (similar to the one on his shoulder, only not so bright)
and some Mexican style tops. No regrets, if we are going to buy
something we are glad it is from him. And keep in mind, that was
over the course of being at Santispac for over three months :) |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur This is Adolfo's Tienda, his wife runs the store when he
is at the beaches selling to the Gringos. Whenever you see him he
calls out one of his favorite expressions..."How Many?" or "What Color" or
"Almost Free" with a huge smile and great enthusiasm. He is so cute,
no wonder he does so well. Even when he knew we were not the
shopping kind, he still called out one of these expressions and we would
call out a different one right back at him. We are going to miss his
smiling face... |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur Ok, please take extra special note of this place.
The is Danny's Taqueria and they make the absolute best Carnitas on
Baja!! If you are ever in Mulege, you must take the time to go for
their pork Carnitas. This is and was our main weakness while in
Mexico. And the place and people are just wonderful. |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur This is the owner Danny, who does the cooking, and his wife the waitress.
They have a wonderful restaurant and every Saturday they serve Carnitas.
During the week, you have your choice of several types of tacos.
There were numerous Saturdays that we frequented their restaurant with our
friends, Jim & Deb. Hey Jim and Deb, do miss Danny's as much as we
do!?! We miss you guys too! |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur Ok, now here we are...ta da... Carnitas!! You start
your meal off with an incredible bowl of bean soup. You load the soup
with chopped red onions, salsa, hot sauce, whatever you fancy. Then,
you get to work on your Carnitas. Carnitas at Danny's are fresh soft
shelled wheat (not corn) tortillas, BBQ'd pork, cut up cabbage (cold), red onions, salsa,
hot sauce, cucumbers, fresh squeezed lime juice and
guacamole...hmmmm.... Just thinking about them makes our mouths water :) |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
This is one of the main streets of Mulege. You have to be very
careful not to go down any unmarked 'one-way' streets. With these
two streets, it is easy to tell which way you should go (look at the
parked cars). Mulege only has 3111 people so it is not much of
a concern here anyway. They seem pretty tolerant and easy going. |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
'Saul's' is one of the places we did our grocery shopping. Saul is a
wonderfully kind man who caters to the Gringos. You will find things
in Saul's that you won't find at any other store in Mulege. He makes
sure that the Gringos have all the conveniences of home. If he
doesn't have it, he orders it for you from the States. He is a
really nice man. For the most part, we ate from the basic food
groups and tried to eat all local food. However, sometimes it was
great to know that if we wanted something special that we could usually
find it at Saul's. |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
This, of course, is Saul outside of his store. Incredible likeness
of him with the picture on the sign eh? Tienda means 'store' in
English, in case you did not already figure that out :) |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
Mulege has a river running right through the middle of town. It is
very beautiful, although not very clean. This river runs all the way
from San Ignacio to Mulege and part of the river runs underground... |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
This was so funny... Outside of this really nice hotel in Mulege, we saw
this truck. The truck was filled with dirt and all kinds of fake
plastic flowers in the back... what a hoot :) Mexican Landscaping! |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
Off in the distance, on top of the hill you can see the lighthouse.
You drive along the river until you get to the ocean and then go left
along the water to the base of the hill where the lighthouse is.
Very pretty area. |
|
The Church in Mulege, Baja California Sur |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
This is the town square in Mulege, isn't it pretty? We spent many
afternoons just sitting in the square, people watching, after doing our
grocery shopping at Alba. The taxi drivers sit at a small wooden
table and play checkers or just sit around chatting... There are people
coming and going all of the time...it is a neat place to just sit and take
it all in... |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
This is Alba's, it is just off the square, and it is the other place we
would do our grocery shopping. They had a great Carneceria, which
mean butcher shop, in the back where we would got our meat, cheese and
eggs. |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
Look at those gorgeous Bougainvilleas!! Aren't they just beautiful. |
Laundromat in Mulege, Baja California Sur |
Downtown Mulege, Baja California Sur |
Downtown Mulege, Baja California Sur |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
Purified water is call Agua Pura in Mexico. This is where we would
go to get our purified water while we were at Playa Santispac. We
found out just how important it is to find the basics when you go into a
town or city. As you may have guessed, you can't just go to any tap
and have a drink of water like in Canada. This was a great place and
it cost us about 70 cents Canadian for 19 liters, except on Thursdays when
you could get two 19 liter jugs filled for 70 cents :) |
Small park in Mulege, Baja California Sur |
|
Mulege, Baja California Sur We found Blanca's Neveria, ice cream store, in Mulege
where she makes her own ice cream. It was very good and we are glad
we found it just before we left the Mulege area. However, it was not
the best ice cream we have ever had. It was not quite as smooth or
as sweet as we like it. |
Mulege, Baja California Sur |
Mulege, Baja California Sur |
Entrance to Cemetery in Mulege, Baja California Sur |
 Mulege, Baja California Sur
We really enjoyed exploring around the cemetery, they have these
incredible and elaborate shrines. Some of the graves were very, very
old. |
 Cemetery in Mulege, Baja California Sur
Aren't these something else?... |
| Well, that's it for March '05, Part 1. We hope we
succeeded in capturing Mulege for you, it is a very special place and we
really loved our time in this area. We can't wait to go back again! |
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