Vamanos! Tomorrow Brian, Peggy-O and myself will cross the Sea of Cortez and ferry to Topolobampo in mainland Mexico. Peggy-O is now running great and muy fuerte. No more leaks! (knocks on wood) As fond of the Baja and beach lounging as we are, the road is a’calling, and we want to lay some serious southbound tracks.
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Visiting a sweet Christmas display in downtown La Paz after a morning run on the Malecon
(something has to combat all those tacos!) |
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| Merry Christmas from the Ronstadts! |
We were lucky to spend a couple days in Todos Santos, a little town north of Cabo at an orphanage called Hogar del Ninos. There are about 28 kids there right now who are lovingly cared for by program director Joel, his wife and a few other staffers. The orphanage was hit pretty hard by hurricane Odile in September. Multiple wooden buildings on their property were blown to bits, or blown away not to be found again. Fortunately no-one was hurt. The staff is now hard at work rebuilding the structures, this time in concrete. Take that Odile! Brian and I, not being concrete specialists, were put to work painting some of the completed buildings.
The kids were so amazing; really friendly, eager to practice some English and especially forgiving of my terrible Spanish. Our second day there we were treated to a huge pizza party with the staff and kids to celebrate their first day of Christmas break. Brian of course made quick friends with the boys. A few learned the secret of his trademark card trick (if you have not ever seen this, prepare to be amazed!). One kiddo Julian after playing some basketball with us, took over our camera and was taking tons of pictures of the big group and animals on the property. I was so stoked to see what pictures he had taken as we were driving off, to only find that he had accidentally deleted the whole memory on the camera. Noooooo!!!! We were bummed that we couldn't share the visual experience with you all, but maybe the lack of photos will make you want to go down and see Hogar del Ninos for yourself! It truly is an incredible place.
Check out their website at http://www.hogardelnino-baja.org or email me for more information.
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| Our ferry line buddies |
From Todos Santos we came to La Paz to hop on the ferry, which we found to be pretty much sold out during Christmas week. The disappointment lasted about two seconds. Especially since we randomly reconnected with awesome friends met throughout the Baja. Spending our final Baja days eating the best fish tacos, laughing with newly made friends on pristine beaches and free camping (check out beaches La Balandra and El Tecolote) is more than a girl could ask for. Feliz Navidad!
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| Free camping at La Balandra. Some say the most beautiful beach in Mexico! I might not disagree. |
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| Sunset at La Balandra. Unfortunately this was the beginning of the onslaught of mosquitos and biting no-see-ums. They even got through our screened windows into the van. It was a long, long, long night. So. Much. Scratching. |
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| Some fisherman sharing their chocolate clams with us. Kindness abounds amongst travelers down here. It is really cool to be a part of such a great community. |
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| Want a taste? Fresh from the sea! Just add a little lime and hot sauce! |
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| Brian getting in on the chocolate clam action. |
Speaking of the freshest sea food, and my personal favorite; fish tacos, these little bites of bliss are reason enough to drop what you are doing right now, and drive, fly, bike or run to La Paz. It easy to choose a taco cart: just look on any corner, visualize the one with the most locals and get in line. For a dollar apiece, bite into delicioca fish likely caught a few hours previously, wrapped in a hot, freshly made corn, maize, or flour, harrina, tortilla. Add toppings of your liking; guacamole, pico de gallo, rojo or verde hot sauce (Danger! May be extraordinarily hot! Try just a little first before you go crazy with it and have to go home crying to your mama!), cabbage, minced onions with cilantro and don't forget a little dash of salt. You can thank me later when we meet again.
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| Nothing beats breakfast fish tacos and a icy cold horchata! |
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| Don't forget the cucumbers on the side to help put out the fire! Hurts so good! |
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