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We just returned from another week long sea kayaking trip with the Mar y Adventuras located in La Paz, Baja CA Sur. This was Joe's fifth and my second Baja kayak trip with this company. This website describes this particular trip. http://www.kayakbaja.com/trips/baja.html Five years ago we went on their "Island Hopping" kayak trip, which focused a little more on seeing different cultural sites.
Once again we opted to drive to Mexico and had no problems coming or going. Although we went through a total of 15 military checkpoints and our car was searched several times, the soldiers were always friendly and polite and that made the stops less annoying. We spent the first night in our favorite hotel in El Rosario, the second in Mulegé, and the third in La Paz where we stayed at the Posada LunaSol which is owned by Mar y Adventuras. They allowed us to leave our car there and we took a bus back north to Loreto to begin the kayak trip.
In Loreto, we hooked up with the others in our group, which consisted of retired NPS employees and several spouses. On the departure morning we rode in vans to Puerto Escondido where
we loaded our stuff and ourselves onto two skiffs. A third skiff would join us later. We motored to the first campsite and had time to test out the kayaks and get used to the camp routine. The next day we paddled for 17 miles, no easing into it gently for us! For six days we paddled down the coast, snorkeled with sea lions, ate wonderful meals, and enjoyed nightly happy hours with our friends and the crew. The five friendly Mexican guides and staff took very good care of us once again. We were surprised and grateful that each day when we paddled into a new camp that our tents were already set up for us. The camp cook even made a delicious cake in a Dutch oven for Joe's birthday. The guides and captains were adept at catching fish for the evenings' happy hour ceviche. We enjoyed the kayaking, the scenery, the conversation, seeing the marine life (dolphins, rays, whales, etc.), and all the specially prepared seafood and Mexican food. I don't think any of us lost weight even with all that paddling.
With the kayaks loaded on top of the skiffs on the last day of
the trip we motored into La Paz and we all stayed at Posada LunaSol. We discovered our car had a flat tire, but that was soon fixed on site for $15. We all enjoyed our farewell dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant and were mystified at first by the masks being worn by all the waiters. Our guide soon filled us in on the government requirements for food workers due to the swine flu epidemic.
The next day we drove back to Mulegé for one night, then El Rosario again for the second night. We took a 60 mile detour on the third day back and drove into the mountains to Sierra San Pedro Martir National Park. Its elevation is around 9000 feet and we were surprised and thrilled to see Ponderosa Pine forests and beautiful mountain vistas.
We decided to stay in Ensenada that night and the tourist district was void of tourists. We honestly saw no other tourists and it was Cinco de Mayo! We spoke with a few shop and restaurant owners and they said with the economy, the threat of violence and the flu that the businesses were suffering greatly. The cruise ships weren't
coming because of the flu. We felt like we were in the Twilight Zone, but liked all the attention we got from everybody. We've never been so popular.
On our way back to San Diego we drove the "Ruta Vino" (wine route) through Tecate and stopped at the Cetto Winery to buy olive oil, olives, and wine, of course. It seems these days there are vineyards wherever we go.
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Helen Ranney
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We want to go!
This looks like so much fun...we hope we can go with you next year. Helen