Baja Adventure part 3
Feb 9
Today after a furnished breakfast we headed out on another adventure. The campground owner and friends fixed us breakfast which we ate outside under a palm roof. The Mexican people make use of every thing; we have even seen some woven palm walls. The roofs are very nice. We drove north about 50 miles on a paved road then turned east over an unpaved stony and often ungraded road for another 25 miles until we reached Comondu. There are 2 small poor villages there, San Jose de Comondu and San Miquel de Comondu. We visited a surviving Jesuit missionary house, now used as a church. The whole area seems to take you back in time. As our caravan leader told us when he visited there last year, he could picture himself as a priest riding a donkey down the mountains to reach the mission built in 1737.
We hunted up a home mentioned in a Moon Baja handbook, where the owner, Martina, will take you into her home and cook for you. We had carnie berettos with goat cheese and tomatoes on home made tortillas, (she cooked them in front of us) for about $4.00 per person. She also sold baskets made from palm leaves, but she only had one made, and the couple we were with bought it. I have a picture which is better for me! Martina spoke no English so we worked with hand signals. We found no one that could understand us and finding her place was a challenge. She had a table and chairs, a small wicker settee with one matching chair, a boom box radio, and her kitchen which consisted of a gas stove, refrigerator. and microwave, with a work table in the center. There was another small room off the dining area which served as a bedroom. In the back was a large room with not much in it and the toilet was in the back yard and flushed with a bucket. By then that looked like a palace to me. It was a long ride!! There was also an automatic washer in the back yard along with a cow and small pig. We think she was one of the better off people in this town as she had electricity. We passed a farmer herding his goats up the road on the way back and we made it to the campground just after sunset. Driving on these roads after dark is not a wise idea.
Feb 10th
Six of us went into Ciudad Constitucion today to shop at pharmacies, get haircuts, and just snoop around. After the haircuts we headed west about 28 miles to San Carlos where we ate a late lunch at a restaurant we had heard was good. One of us had an Oyster Cocktail that had to have had 3 dozen raw oysters in it. I stuck with fish tacos! The others who had seafood got huge amounts but said it was over cooked.
Feb 11
Today we traveled about 200 miles to Los Barriles on the Sea of Cortez. On the way we crossed another mountain range and stopped at a small town called El Triunfo. The folks there make and sell baskets woven from palms. There is also a music museum there where we looked at pianos and organs, mostly in bad repair. We were then treated to a short piano concert by the owner Nicolas Carrillo, who at one time played at Carnegie Hall. We also toured the Mission. At one shop we were ask if we wanted to buy some silly tea, we declined, we later learned it was marijuana form a retired policeman on our caravan.
We are again parked by the sea and have electric and water hookups. We are about 2 miles from a very nice hotel and we have had 4 meals furnished there. Our mission here is to ride atvs and do a little bajing. Our riding lessons were in the morning then Norm found a hot springs about 25 miles away so in the afternoon we ventured out to find it. It was 15 miles down rt. 1 and 10 miles on a dirt road. I was relieved to find it and it was a lovely remote place. There were several people who came and left while we were there and the neat thing about it were the little fishes that nibbled at your feet and legs, furnishing you with a pedicure free. The spring is located on the Tropic of Cancer. On the way back we stopped at the local zoo, a small old fashioned zoo with a lot of cages.a tiger, and lion were the big draw. I was just amazed to find one.
Feb 13,
This morning half of our group put on our helmets, goggles, and scarves and headed out on our four wheelers. We drove up the coast with some spectacular scenery, and also some beautiful homes. The rest of the day was shot for me, I think I was tossed around a little to much. I found out this morning that half of our group had the same affliction that bit me.
Happy Valentines Day to everyone in our lives!
Today we head out for Cabo San Lucas, a short 70 mile move. When approaching San Jose Cabo the traffic became heavy and it reminded us of Tjuana, with lots of shops and everything looking like you wouldn’t want to go there.. The last 10 miles between the two Cabos is very well developed with big hotels and lots of flowers, People who fly here surely never know Mexico!
Feb 16th
I havn’t seen much of Cabo. This morning I went to a local clinic to help me fight dehydration due to the scoots. I was given a shot and three medications to cure an infection from something I ate. About 12 of us have it but my luck was to get it the worse.
Enough of that, THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
Yesterday Norm went to the beach and got a massage. We’ll say so long for now. Happy travels
Lois
This is where we had lunch at Comondu