Robin & Karen Living the Dream: Feliz Navidad from Santispac 2016

Can hardly believe that it’s almost Christmas - obviously no snow, no continuous carols on the radio, very few decorations about and no scurrying about cleaning, preparing food and buying presents. In a way it is so much easier, but we definitely miss our family even more over the holidays!

We have been settled at Santispac beach on Bahia Conception since Dec. 7 and will be here until Christmas day. Life is easy, long, leisurely coffee watching pelicans, blue-footed boobies and gulls directly in front of us, fishing for their breakfast, maybe a walk, a kayak paddle most days and finally off to happy hour! We were lucky to secure a palapa (a palm frond roof with 4 posts) that we set up with a tarp and wind screens plus carpet for the sand. It keeps the wind out and provides some shade – Robin was quick to set up his outdoor kitchen where we do most of the cooking. It faces the bay and we are about 60 ft from the water. The beach averages 30-35 campers per night, some here briefly, others here for months. We pay 150 pesos per night, about $10. There are 2 restaurants right behind the row of RVs and we get vendors every day selling fish, seafood, veggies & fruit along with blankets, T-shirts, trinkets, etc. We are particularly fond of the tamale lady who walks down the beach with her bucket full of hot chicken tamales for breakfast.

Santispac beach

full moon

the view from our chairs

We arrived on a Tuesday just after the weekly Happy Hour began at Armandos Restaurant that is the closest to us. We left the RV in the driveway and finally got it parked several cervesas later, after catching up with old friends.

Armandos Restaurant behind us

We laugh and say that “you know you are at Santispac ‘”when you hear the “jake” brakes on the semis as they go up and down the big hill behind us. We have decided that they do this and laugh as they wake us up. The weather was amazing for the first 10 days or so, lows of 14-18C and his of 24-30C but it has cooled off and gotten windy, even have to wear long pants for part of the day! (Even Robin a couple of times!)

view of the beach from the water

We have been out kayaking often, some days the water was like glass so great visibility for seeing fish. Dolphins come into the bay regularly; we have been pretty close with the kayak.

dolphins

more dolphins

There is a group of whale sharks that hangs out around the bay but they are hard to spot. They can swim under the water with nothing visible but if you are lucky the small dorsal fin and the tail might be spotted moving slowly as they feed. We have spotted one and raced out with the kayak but failed to find it or unable to get very close – but one morning our luck changed. Robin had us out on the water before sunrise – 7:00 because he saw one. I grabbed the camera, but unfortunately it had the telephoto lens on it (and no time to waste), and off we paddled. This time it was in no hurry and was busy eating so we were able to get good and close – too close at one point as we miscalculated it’s direction, the head went under the kayak but the fin hit the underside of us and gave us quite the rocking! I got some photos of the tail & fin but nothing of its body as it was too close! We estimate it was at least 30 ft. long and its head about 3 ft. across! Quite the experience!

whale shark, head, tail & dorsal fin

We have tried fishing but only caught a nasty scorpionfish, not trying too hard as the freezer is full. We are enjoying birdwatching; finally saw the crests on the cormorants head, lots of pelicans and yellow crowned night herons.

yellow crowned night heron

double crested cormorant

The closest town is Mulege, 20 minutes away, with about 3000 people, a few small stores, a laundry, the purified water store, 2 gas stations and the only place that you can get WiFi or cell service. This is a bit of a pain but we manage. We finally gave up on the US cell phone and switched to a Mexican Sim card, cheap and fairly reliable – sometimes we have to dial a number 6 or 7 times before the call actually goes thru! We drove 120 km to Loreto to make the switch but we were lucky to get someone who spoke excellent English to get us set up.

We have driven towards the mountains hoping to find interesting rocks but all we found was a lot of dust, dirt and cacti. Beautiful drive though.

the cacti grow pretty big here!

We have several old friends and some new ones that we are spending our time with, hanging out, happy hours, meals at the restaurant – Robin has taken a liking to their “deadly” margaritas! Not a good thing on 2 for 1 nights! We know a good place to dig for baby butter clams so we have shared this with several folks and have enjoyed some delicious clam meals, plus froze some clams for later on. Robin has been showing off his” bird booze house “and sharing the Fireball with all the neighbors, quite the hit! Finally got around to doing some decorating for Christmas – looks pretty festive!

all decked out for Christmas

We always planned to continue down to Cabo but when we learned that the main campground closed this year we were a bit worried. The options were slim to none but we were lucky to catch a cancellation at one spot so we will spend January there. We plan to spend Christmas Eve with friends, enjoying a buffet supper at Anna’s restaurant at the end of the beach, then head south Christmas day.

We would like to send a big Thanks to all who read about our travels and especially those who are so kind to send us comments – we appreciate them greatly!