We had previously planned a kayak trip to the Mexico’s Baja Peninsula for April, but when we were invited to go there during the coldest winter month in New England, we jumped at the opportunity. Best of all, the invitation came from Wyatt and Sara (our son and daughter-in-law) and included their two boys, Emmett (12) and Luca (9), on February break from their Vashon Island (WA) schools. A week with family in the warmth of Baja sounded pretty attractive, so we flew into Los Cabos International Airport on Valentine’s Day, rented a car and headed north to Los Frailes, on the east coast of Baja, Mexico.
Upon renting the car, we were told to watch out for livestock on the roads and were seriously informed that donkeys might expect carrots as a toll for passage. OK, we were tourists, so we figured we deserved some good-natured ribbing, but livestock (mostly cows) was the least of the problems. Nothing prepared us for the Baja roads.
Our destination was 45 miles from the airport, but 75 miles by the fastest route, which took more than 2 hours. We started out on a paved 2-lane road, but that morphed into a dusty jaw-jarring dirt (more dust than dirt) road. With still an hour to drive, we found ourselves avoiding a minefield of potholes and speed bumps (topes). These obstacles were not always easy to see; every passing car generated a dense curtain of dust, and we had yet to learn that windshield wipers only smear the dust around, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Fortunately, traffic was sparse.
To add to the navigational challenge, there was limited, if any, helpful signage… or landmarks. Fortunately, we had not gone too far past our destination when we finally realized that we needed to turn around.
Where we went:
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Whatever frustration we felt in locating our accommodations immediately melted when we saw the AirBnB rental that our kids had secured. It was an airy ranch house, with large bedrooms, an open floor plan, lovely patio, pool, hot tub and beach frontage. It had a great view of the Sea of Cortez, a welcoming beach and some distant hills. This would be come our home for the next 4 nights, when we would move on to La Ventana/El Sargento for a couple of nights and more activities.
Where we stayed:
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It would have been easy just to hang out here but plans were afoot for surfing lessons, a cooking class at a noted desert destination, lots of hiking, a trip into Cabo, and a chance to snorkel with whale sharks in the harbor at La Paz. There was lots of wonderful family time, good meals, and time to relax and enjoy Baja together.
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Tagged Gary, Jani, travel