Feliz Ano Nuevo 2017 from Cabo

I have been way too lazy to sit down and write this entry – not that we don’t have the time, life is at a slower pace here!

To continue our story, we had quite a rain on Dec. 21 and we woke on the morning of the 22^nd to our fridge alarming! Not a good thing – it had quit and wouldn’t restart. Luckily our neighbors knew of a “fridge guy” who lived on the next beach, we headed there right after breakfast then off to town to get a cooler. The fridge guy arrived in the afternoon and rebooted it so it would work with the generator running. He figured that the rain had caused too much humidity which affected some wire. Thankfully by evening the fridge started back on propane! – running a generator all night on the beach does not make friends! Touch wood – it still works, it has given us a couple scares and now we have a new wire in case it gives up totally. Our freezer is pretty full of fish so we really would be screwed if it quits!

Christmas on the beach was quiet – 30-35 RVers including several Mexican families. The 2 beach restaurants put on special meals on the 24^th, we enjoyed chicken cordon blue, followed by dancing and drinks, spent with many good friends. Several boats decorated with lights and playing Christmas music serenaded along the beach.

 

Santispac beach

Christmas Eve dinner

We were very lucky to secure a reservation at a RV park in Cabo for January so we headed south on the 25^th. Easy drive as not much traffic and few semi-trucks.

car with loud speakers, usual way to advertise - store specials, etc.

 We spent 2 nights in Ciudad Constitution at Palapa 206 – a small RV park, little used, attached to a very busy” no-tell motel”. The owner was candid, agreeing that we were correct in our assumptions – vehicles came & went regularly, but business was business and it paid his bills.

We missed having a turkey dinner but enjoyed our shrimp, lazy beet rolls with cream and beets.

We did a day trip with the car first to Puerto Lopez Mateos, where we have gone whale watching (too early for whales), a small fishing village. They have built a beautiful new whale watching plaza, should increase their business. We drove into the poorer parts of town, where families live in “shacks” built from plywood and pallets and handed out some of our backpacks (filled with toys, school supplies, etc.) We also give out ball caps – one little guy was following us, kicking a plastic cup – he went home with a basketball and an Oilers cap. We wished that we had dozens more backpacks as there are so many needy families.

We finished the day by heading cross-country on a dirt road to Puerto San Carlos, gave out more stuff, collected lots of shells and of course, had some tacos.

 

Puerto Lopez Mateos, new whale watching plaza

heading off with his Oilers cap & basketball

typical housing in the poor neighborhoods

cruising cross country

We continued south to La Paz, camped on Tecolote beach. Four years ago there were the remains of a dead cow on the side of the road – believe it or not, there still seems to be some left! Tecolote is a free, dry camping beach, not so great this time as the wind was howling and the sand was blowing! After 3 nights the RV was full of sand and the outside was sticky and dirty with sea spray and sand. We drove in during low tide and were greeted by a river over the road the next day – high tide had come in, crested over the beach and filled in a low area. Luckily there was an alternate dirt road to take to get out as the “lake” was at least 80 ft across. We did more day trips, out to La Ventana and a lighthouse with a deserted beach (more shells). We spent a day kayaking at Balandra Bay, rough water early on but as the tide went out the bay empties out and was really shallow, so we headed into the mangrove swamps to bird watch. Their “claim to fame” is Balandra Rock, a “balancing” rock, so of course we have a photo.

Balandra bay, balancing rock

Tecolote beach

typical European RVs

the "lake" across our access road

Balandra Bay

white ibis

black crowned night heron

kayaking in the mangroves

lunch at Los Planes

We made it to Cabo San Lucas on Dec. 30 to Cabo Glorieta. This has 7 RV sites on the outside ring of 30 permanent houses, originally built around RVs and now mainly closed in. There is a lovely pool, a bit cool, but refreshing, well-kept gardens, shower buildings, gated 24 hrs and glorious power!  We never take having power for granted, this time we went a month with only solar power!  Our site has a huge concrete pad, about 14x24 ft., lots of room for our outdoor kitchen and seating. We know 5 people here from the old campground in Cabo which closed this year. We are close to Costco and Walmart and a short drive to several beaches. We spent our first few days catching up on laundry and cleaning the RV and car. We spent New Year’s Eve with old friends, sitting on top of the “water tower” watching the fireworks.

New Year's Eve, Barb & Bill

We are now settled in, bird feeders up, happy to see 2 varieties of orioles and hummingbirds, woodpeckers and cardinals. We have a fig tree in our site and a nasty mockingbird guards it fiercely. We have walked to the marina and downtown, did 19,150 steps, 13.2 km that day! We checked out all the beaches, figuring out our best option for snorkelling and kayaking – there are many, many new resorts and residences being built which is affecting access to the public beaches. It is “high season” right now so things are pretty crowded, looking forward to next week when it should slow down.

Santa Maria beach, with new development in the background

We have spent some time on our crafts – Robin carving and I have created several wall hangings of driftwood, shells and beads. The weather has been glorious, it was 31C the day we arrived, OK, a bit too hot, but now usually 25-29C. We continued a tradition from previous years – heading to Los Michoacanos on Wednesdays for 2 for 1 carnitas (pork tacos), then over to the movie theatre for 36 peso ($2.40) movies. We watched “Passengers” – in English with Spanish subtitles, not a bad day!

We stopped at Costco today and were surprised to see a fellow armed with an automatic weapon posted at the entrance where you drive in – not sure what that was all about, some think it may be to prevent looting which may be a result of the 20% increase in gas prices on Jan. 1 – time will tell!

crested caracara

A post script – our fridge gave up the ghost last night, we await the RV repair guy who we will call first thing in the morning, fingers crossed. Our fish is safely stored in the neighbors freezer and the rest is in a cooler – Home Depot has a nice electric only fridge for about $400, might be in our future.

Despite the fridge issues, we continue to live the dream and are happy to be so lucky to spend our winter in Mexico!