La ferry y la playa

What Marcelle failed to mention in her previous blog is the impressive wipe-out she had on a banana boat in Cabo San Lucas. Marcelle has avoided going into the sea, as she prefers terra firma. I have been nagging her to give the ocean a go, and we settled on a 15 minute banana boat ride instead. On the first big corner, incidentally no more than 100m from El Arco, Marcelle slid off the boat and into the water with an impressive splash. She claims that the guy in front of her (not me) pulled her off. Opinion is divided on the matter. I also decided not to point out to her the seal colony 40m away.

From Cabo San Lucas we headed to San Jose del Cabo, via the "Cabo Corridor", a 40km stretch of golf courses and time shares. It's quite depressing, as the coastline must have been quite beautiful 50 years ago. San Jose is a sleepy tourist trap, without much to report.

From San Jose we took a fun 18-hour ferry to Mazatlan. The ferry was a pleasant change of transport. We upgraded to our own small cabin, and had a good night's listing sleep. We also got to see hundreds of mantarays jumping out of the water and flopping back down, as well as a couple of sea turtles from the side of the boat.

Marcelle nursing a Pacifico on the ferry.

Mazatlan, our next stop, had been made out to be quite dangerous, yet we really enjoyed the place. We stayed in the old historical part of town, and our hotel would seem to even predate its surroundings. The Hotel Belmar would have been splendid in the 40's. Unfortunately it would appear that no upkeep has happened at all over the past 70 years. The walls are peeling and there was a layer of dust almost everywhere. We even had a resident mouse in our room who kept us awake on our first night by eating his way through my nuts (the edible ones, you sick perverts). Yet location-wise it was, like chakalaka, nca! We were no more than 15m from the sea, and in fact had to close our balcony doors at night as the sea was too noisy. It´s a tough life, but someone has to do it.

Whilst in Mazatlan we also took a walk up to El Faro, Mazatlan´s lighthouse. Apparently it is the second highest in the world after Gibraltar, at 157m above sea level. It was a very pretty walk, and the views were great.

At El Faro, the lighthouse in Mazatlan.

It was also in Mazatlan where, my religious friends will be pleased to hear, Marcelle and I finally found Jesus. Alas, he was only our hobie-cat skipper. But, Jesus, he could sail that boat.

Jesus sailing off. He will return one day, I´m sure.

From Mazatlan we bussed down the coast to Puerta Vallarta. Two oddities of the Spanish language are that, firstly, one pronounces 'll' as 'y', and, secondly, v's are pronounced as b's. So Vallarta is actually pronounced "Ba-yarta". God help you if your name is Viv or Phillip, or even Milli Vanilli. Anywho, we are digressing. Puerta Vallarta was great. We took a tour to an offshore island where we got to explore the hidden beach - here is where is it for those who like this kind of stuff: http: hidden beach map, and here is a whole article on it as well: hidden beach article.

At the hidden beach.

Proof the Marcelle swam.

At the hidden beach, with the tunnel entrance behind.

We also got to try paddleboarding for the first time. It's harder than it looks. Whilst in Puerta Vallarta we took a day trip to a nearby surfer town called Sayulita. I even tried surfing again. It would appear that my last attempt to surf 16 years ago would prove to be just as successful as this time. I'll try again when I am 50.

Puerta Vallarta also had an amazing array of statues on their malecon (their waterfront). Some were very macabre, but they were all very interesting.

Because mermaids need motorboating too.

One of the many awesome statues in Puerta Vallarta.

So, until the next time, good-vll!

Bootleg Tequila and Spring Break Shenanigans

Todos Santos

After the big city of La Paz, we headed to the far more tranquil town of Todos Santos. Set amidst quaint art and coffee shops along with a charming cathedral at its centre, it´s not difficult to see how it earned the name All Saints.

Erik at one of the colourful town squares in Todos Santos.

It was actually into one of these trinket shops that Erik and I were lured by a very friendly salesman. After showing us the superior shinyness of his jewellery items, he could see that our attention was waning, and decided to up the ante. It was then that he took us to the back of the jewellery store and lifted a curtain to reveal a 20 litre vat of his home-made tequila. He assured us that this was a special organic reserve made only in his small home village and promptly poured us each a double shot. Despite it being only 11am, we downed it and were met with the smooth, delicious taste of a truly superior tequila. It went down easier than a Mexican hooker at the Pension California Hotel. We then promptly filled an empty 500 ml water bottle with our new favourite tequila and headed out to the buzzing town of Cabo San Lucas.

Drinking tequila from home-made shot glasses (cut from the top of water bottles). Classy!

Grrr! Erik trying on a kitschy Lucho Libre Mexican wrestling mask in Todos Santos.

Cabo San Lucas

Just a short 2-hour bus trip away, Cabo San Lucas couldn´t possibly be more different to Todos Santos.  This buzzing tourist trap hit us like a cheap shot of Mezcal with its crowded beaches and heady nightlife. You couldn´t swing a burro here without hitting an American tourist or someone trying to sell you hats/jewellery/t-shirts/drugs/a kidney.

El Squid Roe restaurant where the waiters dance on tables to Achy Breaky Heart.

Having said that, the beachfront is one of the most beautiful we've seen. Once you look past the many parasailers, jet skis and luxury yachts, there´s a spectacular peninsula called Land´s End where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. Here you´ll also find two secluded beaches (named Lover´s and Divorce Beach respectively) along with the famous El Arco rock formation.

The stunning El Arco seen from the prow of our glass-bottom boat.

There´s also some great snorkelling to be had here.

We´ve spent the last three days in this vibrant town and it´s been full of beautiful scenery and some exciting events. Not the least of which were some rather saucy shenanigans from the hundreds of students here on spring break. So before I go, I´d like to share a few photos of a wet t-shirt competiton we had the dubious pleasure of seeing at a classy beach bar called the Mango Deck. These are some of the tamer shots (censored for our more sensitive viewers). And in case you´re wondering, the first girl from the right won.

You go girl!

And on that note, I´ll say goodbye for now.

Salud!

Pension California y Isla Espiritu Santo

If you ever find yourself in La Paz, Mexico, make a beeline for the Pension California. Nestled right on the cusp of downtown and industria, it was our home for 3 days. Such was the beauty of the delapidated walls and concrete beds that we didn´t mind the lack of hot water (agua caliente for those interested in Spanish). It  also seemed to be conducive to amorous couplings. On day 1 we heard a few groans coming from the next room, and on the following night from 2am until 4am, and then again from 6am until 8am we were kept up by not only a woman singing (poorly) to Creedance Clearwater Revival, but by similar groans and amorous noises as to the day before. When we knocked on their door for some silencio we were quickly joined by another guy at the doorway from a different room. This made us fairly confident that he was a pimp and that we had booked ourselves into a brothel. Our fears were all but confirmed when the next morning, a Sunday, an elderly lady in a policeman´s outfit visited the same room, for approximately 15 minutes. One can only imagine what kind of shake down she was providing. As I said earlier, the Pension California was a real winner.

I told you the Mexican women were large. This is Talia, our chef for the boat trip and, boy, did she get excited about ceviche.

You may wonder why we didn´t move from this sewer-pit on day 2. Oddly enough, the Baja California (with the exception of Cabo San Lucas in the south) is really not very well geared up for tourism. None of the hostels or backpackers subscribe to hostelbookers or hostelworld, which were our go-to sites for bookings in South America, and none of the places advertise at bus stations. It is very odd. We spent a good hour trying to find anywhere to stay in La Paz when we arrived, and now almost regret finding anything at all.

That´s a blue whale in the distance, I promise.

For all the pension´s shortcomings, La Paz was a really cool town with a vibrant waterfront area, a large bay and friendly people. It is also the gateway to Isla Espiritu Santo, a UNESCO world heritage site and a beautiful island just off the coast. For those geographically-oriented people out there, here is a map of where it is.We spent an entire day visiting the island, and in the process had some amazing dolphin viewings (swimming with the boat and jumping right out of the water next to us), we saw a blue whale (not a small animal), mantarays jumping out of the water and even got to snorkel with sea-lions, though Marcelle, like Buster Bluth, fears a loose seal and preferred to stay on the boat. The day really was a highlight of the trip so far. And Talia did make a mean ceviche.

This was right next to our boat (you can actually see the edge of the boat in the foreground).

Swimming with seals.

Tacos pescado y senoras grande

We have now been in Mexico for close on one week, and in that time we have successfully avoided being abducted by any human trafficking syndicates. We have also avoided any drug warfare or shoot outs.

Marcelle on the ¨trolley¨, the San Diego tram, to the border.

Mexico has, on the whole, been almost exactly like one would expect. Everyone - and I mean everyone, including teenagers on a Saturday night - listens only to Mexican music. They are also generous in their listening of it, preferring to play it at a level that everyone in the town can enjoy instead of just themselves. Everyone eats tacos, empanadas, nachos, fajitas and quesadillas and drinks beer, margaritas and tequila. Spanish is obviously spoken everywhere, and English is surprisingly poorly understood, being so close to the US.

The sweet taste of Tecate. It´s actually kak, but I didn´t have a photo of a Pacifico.

However, there are parts of Mexico that have surprised us. Firstly, the border crossing from San Diego to Tijuana was odd. We literally walked across the border, through 2 turnstiles. No-one checks passports. Neither the US or Mexico actually knows in which country we are in right now. Going the other way, of course, is very different. There was a pedestrian queue of over 500m getting into America, let alone the mile-long line of cars. This is the world's busiest border crossing, seeing over 8m people cross every year.

Marcelle checking out the sea lions on Isla Coronado, just off Loreto.

A second surprising aspect of Mexico is the complete lack of attractive women. It could be that I am now married and just don't see these things anymore, but I have also asked Marcelle to find one, and so far we have been unsuccessful. The women are typically fat, and growing. Their diet of carbs filled with sour cream is obviously not conducive to weight loss. Even American tourists are smaller. The Mexican men, however, are usually quite slim. It's very strange.

Chilling at the Loreto pier.

We have been to 2 towns so far on the Baja California - Ensenada and Loreto. The Baja California itself is scenically breath-taking. It looks to me like a coastal Cederberg, with craggy mountains and placid waters in the Sea of Cortez. Ensenada was really touristy, and didn't have much going for it except the biggest flag we have ever seen. If you don´t believe me, look here (street view is also pretty good): Ensenada flag. Loreto, however, was beautiful. Small, on the coast and away from the tourist traffic, it was serene. We even saw some dolphins. It was also in Loreto that we were introduced to fish tacos. Good god they are amazing. And it would seem that the Mexican women here agree with me.