Our time in Baja is coming to an end. The hurricane has moved inland and we think the locals should be recovering by now so it’s time to head further south. But we can’t leave Playa Santispac without a last go on the paddleboard for Emma and Alex and a last snorkel around.
We chat with some Germans on the beach as well as Sherri. Sherri is a Canadian ‘snowbird’ who has a place in Los Cabos and gives us her recommendations for travel in mainland Mexico and Central America. Current intelligence suggests Los Cabos is still recovering but La Paz is probably OK to visit.
Having packed up and heading towards Loreto we have gone about 15 miles when we realise we don’t have Alex’s snorkel! We head back to Santispax and search the area and the sea with lots of help from a few people - but no luck. The snorkel is providing entertainment for the fishes somewhere. Can’t think why flashes of ‘Finding Nemo’ are in my head?
Loreto is not too far but the instructions for the campsite we're looking for seem to indicate it’s off a pedestrian thoroughfare. So we park up and we walk through to where it is. Having satisfied myself we can get in and there is space I head back the 200 meters to where I’d parked, only to meet the local cop! Apparently you can’t park facing the wrong way (unlike the UK) and after some negotiations in sign language I’m 200 pesos lighter but no ticket (which would be 500 pesos). Perhaps a little 'mordida’ can work out!
We park Big Blue and Stella on the site, get set up and Emma gets a shower. As she is drying and dressing we hear music in the street and follow a local band and procession up the street into the town square. There are obvious celebrations ongoing and a large sound stage in the square. It is 326 years since the Catholic mission in Loreto was founded, plus it’s a general celebration of worthy local youths is what we understand. There is loud music and some dancing going on plus a huge group of cheerleaders which we watch through to 10pm and then off to bed. But the music carries on until midnight!
It’s Tuesday 24th October and it’s our 14th wedding anniversary! So we decide to stay another day and just relax. Breakfast is some lovely pastries and coffee in the old town square and the we just potter around.
Emma is attracted to all the brightly coloured stuff but resists even after trying on some beautiful painted hats but Alex gets a little keepsake bag. After buying some snorkelling gear for Alex and Emma we get a simple lunch then head towards the beach. Walking along the promenade we see a turtle swim by! At the beach we go along to a headland and paddle across a foot of water to an ‘island’ where we watch a local fisherman. He’s fishing with just a long piece of line and a weighted hook which he expertly throws into the surf line and …. catches another fish to go with the three he’s already caught. Whilst I head back into town to see if I can get a new plug for the paddleboard pump, the fisherman goes diving for scallops and Alex tries his new snorkel kit. The flippers make him walk funny, like a backward penguin gait.
I rejoin Emma and Alex as they are walking back to the campsite, clutching a fish the fisherman had given them. We donate it to the street cleaners, don’t fancy gutting and cleaning and cooking it in Stella, imagine the smell! Of course it’s hot here so we try to get a cold beer from one of the seafront bars - which only has one left! Evening meal is at our favourite place in Loreto, an Italian sort of restaurant on the corner of a busy crossroads. We have scallops, garlicky cheesy prawns and huge steak and pizza (pizza for Alex) washed down with gorgeous sangria. Wandering back to the town square we listen to the Nuevo Loreto Mariachi band who are fantastic. Alex messes about in the square with the local children playing with bangers and his rocket and devouring churros, one happy boy!
The following day we are up a little early as we have a 220 mile, 4 1/2 hour trip to La Paz and there is a little uncertainty about the roads after the Hurricane. However, the drive is easy (for Mexico) and we arrive in La Paz mid afternoon. The city is clearing itself up, lots of fallen vegetation, residual flooding, broken sewers and ripped up roads. We stop on the seafront for a quick sandwich break amid several broken yachts and washed up boats and a huge shipping marker buoy. And there is the smell of sewage in the air from where the drains and sewers have overflowed into the sea.
We head to the other side of La Paz to Playa Balandra, but it is closed. So we head to Tecolote Beach, about 3 miles further on round a headland. There the seafront businesses are rebuilding parts of their structures but are up and running serving food and drink. I walk through some dunes and a large floodwater lake and find a way to a beach bar at the end. We park right by the sea and get cold beers and fish tacos. The place is safe and Alex is happy playing in the waves (water looks and smells ok) and building sand volcanoes.
The bar has a swing in the sea but it is obvious the beach levels are different to that of a few days ago, the hurricane has scoured away about a metre in depth of the sand. The owners are happy for us to stay and we bed down to the sound of the sea and a pump getting rid of floodwater.
After a relaxing nights sleep, waking beside the sea is magical. We breakfast outside, already looking to protect ourselves from the sun. We had planned to explore La Paz but I have a dicky tummy and want to stay close to a bathroom so a day beside the sea is called for, Alex is so happy! Emma does some swimming and snorkelling and is also happy!
The day takes a pleasant turn when we end up talking with Joanne and Frank at the bar. They have both traveled extensively and Frank turns out to be a merchant seaman for the US Military Sealift Command as a second career. With a few beers and some food consumed and a happy Alex playing on the beach with some local children suddenly it’s nighttime! A quick wander along the beach with a torch discovers some storm deaths such as moray eels and even a turtle- sad but that’s nature for you. But live pipefish in the sea are spotted with a giant one even following us around.
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