The sun glistens on tiny particles of fools gold that is everywhere in
the water and sand and it just looks simply awesome. When I pick up a
shell, its covered with glittering gold and my feet and legs were
shimmering even long after we got back to the rv. Its just totally
amazing here.
Last night we stayed at the campground about 3 miles north of the
Mexican border and met up with a couple also heading to Baja for the
first time. After chatting for a while and exchanging info, we
decided to drive together for the first part, at least. We had heard
that its best to make an early morning border crossing, so we were up
and all rearing to head out around 7.30am. I am aware that this is
not 'early morning' for some, but for me...........well, it was :)
So off we headed with the sun directly in our eyes and we missed a
signboard and turned before we should have and got dumped in downtown
something-or-other-not-too-good. Not too difficult to get out of
there.........and on we went to the San Ysidro border crossing point,
pulling into the 'something to declare' lane so that we could park and
get our Tourist Cards, or FMT's as they are called. I grabbed my
file, said three silent prayers and headed towards some guards to ask
where to go. Well, there is nothing quite like being totally
ignored. I don't know if they are like the guards at the British
Castle that are not allowed to answer one or if they just muttered
about how stupid this gringo was....... I think it was the latter.
Anyway, I finally found where I should be and the sign on the door
said Open.... Frank stayed with the doglets and the rv as I knew
about all the paperwork for us, doglets, rv etc. The other couple
stood with me and the line grew and grew as the door with the open
sign stayed firmly locked. I went to one of the open windows to ask
and they said I should go around the back to the Big Immigration
Office. Ok. So through two busloads of Mexicans I walked, to the
back where I had to pass through a checkpoint back into the USA! Only
after I was checked, would she listen to me, so back through I had to
go again when we discovered that the Big Immigration Office was the
same as the little closed one in the front of the building, just on
the opposite side - also closed. At least I got some exercise. Then
someone said that they only open at 8am. See? What good would it
have done if we had really got going early?
After being told to wait another 5 minutes after opening, we were let
in, given some papers, pointed towards the open door again with a
slight dismissive wave. I went to the rv to fill in the papers - very
simple, really. It took us just a few minutes. Back to the
Immigration office, only to be ignored by him too and finally another
regular traveller said to go to the bank, pay the fees then head back
to this office.... which I did, only to be told that I did not have
all the papers I needed in order to pay!! AAarrrggh. Finally I got
it all sorted out and we were cleared to go. They did not ask about
the dogs, they did not even see them! They did not look inside the rv
or even at our passports. Frank did not even go into the offices at
all! It seemed all totally pointless apart from helping me realize
that it was necessary to slow down and simply accept that here things
are done their way. Not mine and not logically.
The guy who did our papers, or rather, glanced at them, did not look
as if he had much of a sense of humor and for me this is almost a
challenge - especially with border guards...... so around the 4th time
I went into his office, I sagged my shoulders, tilted my head and with
a sigh said..."its me - again!" He Smiled!! And I got my passport
stamped too which was not necessary but I wanted a Mexican stamp and I
knew I had him with his newly found smile. Now I have to get an exit
stamp when we leave or a huge fine will arrive....
So we and our new friends crossed over the border with a surly wave
from a guy who was backed by three others holding really big guns....
We got into the correct lane and actually made the turn to the Border
Road fairly easily. Boy do these people drive fast here though! We
took a wrong turn after this though and ended up in some or other
downtown area right at a gas station - we needed gas anyway, found a
turnaround and got back on the right road - the toll road to
Ensenada. I nearly freaked when hearing how much it took to fill the
gas tank! 700 pesos... Now I totally understand about the exchange
rate, but when you are standing in a foreign country, not speaking the
language and no one understanding you but you see that your bill is
700 bucks for a tank of gas - well, it made for a moment until I
realized they were talking peso's! Phew. Oh -and Blondie. Yes,
well she went blank today. A total Mexican Blank. She would not show
us even one road here, so she got herself unplugged and stored away
for another day. (Kay - you are now stuck to the front window with
the best view in town!)
And what a drive we were handed! We love this place....... the color,
the views the character, the different designs, the mix of abject
poverty and super rich is all just almost indescribable. The first
thing we noticed was the houses and businesses are painted in all
different colors. In the USA it seems that everyone wants to either
blend in with desert sand or be identical to their neighbours. Here
its beautiful and bright and looks airy and interesting! The
businesses are scrunched up together in almost seemless lines of
things to see and offer and interesting little alleys and alcoves all
over the place. It looks like many people live about the businesses
and some even have furniture up on their roofs - not to sit on, but it
looks like a storage place or something. There are little stands
selling everything from sombreros to fish tacos all over the
place........ it's just fascinating! The electric wires seem to be
everywhere and I don't think there is a telephone pole that knows how
to stand straight up. I kept wanting to put my camera into black and
white mode to really get the feel for these places, but I knew that
beach and ocean were about to arrive too... Mom, I kept on thinking
of Jansje and her District Six photos - its almost just like that here
in places.
We arrived at the coast a lot sooner than I anticipated and we just
lost our breath again. The coastline here is simply beautiful -
cliffs and beaches and rock pools and green-blue water and fishing
boats and white cresting waves and wide open horizon.......just
awesome. Much of the coastline near the USA border is being developed
for tourists and there are many humongeous hotels going up and many
miles of fancy villas and gated communities all over the place. And
right next to many of these will be a single little house, if one can
call it that, huddled determindly against "progress". It's sad to see
this all being taken over and I found myself applauding the people who
just wont give up their places with these views.
Then down the road we would find a stretch of wide open land right on
the coast with just one or two houses, rv's or shacks on them. What a
view these people have, even if its so obvious that they have so
little else. There was one little home that looked as if it had been
there a long time, with a very old rv parked outside and not ever
going anywhere again, horses, cows and chickens and it looked so
permanent, so ..........well, right, perched up there on this hill
overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Just lovely. Along the road stand a
Huge statue of Christ - I dont know how tall it is but it definitely
dominates the landscape and then a few miles further on is another
huge statue of a bare breasted woman who, by the way, looks rather
unhappy with life. Now there's a mystery to solve.......
We had wanted to get south of Ensenada to a place called La Bufadora
today. This is a good bit south of the border towns and nicely along
the coast. On the way we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some
fruit and veggies and then we headed to the campground - La Jolla
Campground. It's off the main road and is on one seriously narrow
road with Topes dotted all along it. Topes are speed bumps...... no
no - Serious Speed Bumps! But we got to the campground safely and
found ourselves alone here with any site to pick from. Well, there
really are no sites marked out, so we picked a spot so that we could
hook up the the electric outlets around the restrooms and have a view
of the ocean at the same time. After going on our first walk, we were
happy to see our friends pull in here too and later another camper
arrived. Good. We even had electricity, thank goodness for a
loooooong extension cord.
And then we went for a walk and discovered the gold flecked beach!
When I first went down with the dogs while Frank was still sorting out
electric cords, I saw steam coming from the sand and felt that it was
all warm! This area has natural hot springs coming up through the
sand, right at the waters edge! There are many huge holes dug around
where you can literally lay in the hot tub as the waves break over
one. The sea water is not warm - just the water coming up from under
the sand. Really fascinating! It's a bit like living in an
alternate dimension.......... there we were, walking down a beautiful
Baja beach flecked with gold, our feet beautifully warm on the bottom
and cooled by the waves on the top, seagulls and pelicans swirling
around, lovely shells dotted everywhere, only three other people far
away on the beach and the sunshine baking our shoulders and
legs......... I could not think of a place I would rather be.
And I rediscovered another thing I really like about the
ocean.......when you walk on the beach there is an almost constant
whooshing of the waves, they keep coming all the time. Almost. Well,
every now and again there is a lull in the waves and everything goes
quiet - beautifully, peacefully, gently.........quiet. And then it
starts up again. It's those quiet seconds that are so awesome. The
world seems to be holding it's breath, waiting and almost smiling.
Well, we did.
It's a bit cool here still so we are heading south tomorrow to San
Quintin, (pronounced Sahn Keen Teen) There is a campground there that
is also right on the beach, has an amazing restaurant right there and
has some interesting history and even volcanoes!
Today was simply amazing.. we are all totally exhausted after a good
few long walks on the beach - doglets loved it too. I have so many
photos to sort through but my eyes keep wanting to shut, so I am going
to let them and head off for a really early night. The drive today
was one of the best I have ever been on, its too beautiful to
describe. The beach is totally amazing and I can hear the waves
crashing as I sit here typing. Tomorrow morning we will go for a walk
to see what the tide has brought in and then head south around 10am or
so.
I promise to put photos up as soon as I have a good connection and
will send updates whenever I can. We just love it here.... it feels
so real and unprocessed and raw in so many ways - it feels like real
life and here comes a profound thought that arrived in my brain as we
were driving through some really poor areas - "Character builds from
troubles". This place has so much character and warmth. It's
wonderful.
We feel so incredibly fortunate.....
love and light
Annie
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