After checking into a campground outside of La Paz, we drove into town to get a late lunch and find the office for Baja Ferries, which we would need to visit on Monday to buy our ferry tickets to the mainland. We found the ferry office which happened to be very close to a large playground, which Quinn noticed immediately. We were all hungry, so we promised to visit the playground on Monday and headed off to find some lunch.
We ended out in a place called La Fonda a few blocks in from the beach, on the recommendation of Lonely Planet. The served the traditional Mexican “lunch,” which is traditionally the largest meal of the day, eaten between 2 and 4 pm. It’s a set menu consisting of a soup, a choice of hot entrees, a couple of shots of tequila, and a desert. I had an excellent grilled fish, and Jen had enchiladas in a molé sauce which was also very yummy. The whole thing cost only $15, and this in one of Baja’s main tourist towns.
After lunch we walked down to the Malecón (waterfront sidewalk) and found people setting up for a concert. They even had a bouncy castle which was in the process of being inflated when we arrived. We let Quinn play in it until it started to get dark, then headed back to our campsite.
The Malecón
Bouncy Castle!
On Monday we hit the ferry office first, buying tickets for the following Monday. The whole thing was pretty simple. It took about an hour and cost $320 for us, our van, and a cabin on board. Next stop, the playground. We found a parking spot, and guy offered to wash the van, which it badly needed.
The playground even had a tiny little coin-op Thomas, which Q loved.
Next stop, the taco stand for lunch. We got our tacos to go, which is quite a challenge. The beauty of Mexican tacos is all of the accompanying salsas, which makes a to-go order pretty difficult. They had little plastic bags that you could fill up with the salsas, but unless you’re practiced at it, it’s a big mess. We took our tacos down to the waterfront to eat. It was nice, but we’ll opt for a place with tables next time.
Next we walked to the offices of Mar y Aventuras, a local guiding company, and booked a sea kayaking trip for Saturday. This is the same company that my friends Ed, Annette, and I went through for a 4 day kayaking trip over 16 years ago!
With 5 days until our departure for the mainland, we headed out to explore the rest of the cape area. First stop, Todos Santos, for an amazing but expensive lunch at a boutique hotel overlooking the sea. We decided to go to Cabo San Lucas to camp for the night, in hopes of getting some beach time. The campground turned out to be not so nice, with an ugly walk on a busy dirt road to get to the beach. See, this trip isn’t all roses and sunshine for us!
Lunch in Todos Santos
The next day turned out much better. We drove to San Jose del Cabo and pulled off the road where it crossed a bridge over an arroyo and parked under the bridge for some shade. We found a palapa on the beach and spent a couple of hours playing the waves.
Chillin’ on the beach
The waves here a little too big for Quinn to play in, but he liked it when I held him and let the breakers crash over us.
For lunch we had a choice: The tourist restaurant on the beach with views of the ocean, or the guy who had a stand set up under the bridge serving seafood out of a cooler at his three tables. We’re seeing this a lot: eat where the locals eat and there won’t be a view of the beach, the food will probably be great, and it will be inexpensive. Eat with a view of the beach and the food will also probably be good, the view will be great, the staff will speak English, and you’ll pay US prices. Today we opted for the view. ☺
After lunch it was time for something completely different. We headed inland to camp near a waterfall we read about. It was a great choice. We drove up a dirt road into the hills to a nice, if primitive, campground. The waterfalls were about a 15 minute hike away, and although the water was too cold to play in for long, we had a good time talking to a family on holiday from Michigan. That night we had a blissfully quiet evening under the stars.
Paradise Found?
The water coming down the waterfall was much warmer than the water in the pool.
Back to the beach again, this time in Los Barriles. We are staying at an amazing RV park here. It’s full of Americans here for the winter, and we can understand why. We only just arrived, and a full report on the town will be forthcoming soon!
Pool time!
Next up, birds, a dance from Quinn, and a little desert driving…
Sounds like the Baja Cape is treating you well! We can’t wait to join you in Kino soon. When do you expect to arrive and where are you camping? Here is the condo complex we will be at: http://www.mexonline.com/lastoninas.htm
It is located on the main beach front road, where New Kino (to the north) and Old Kino (original town to the south) come together. See you soon!
Hi Deb!
We are taking the ferry from La Paz on Monday the 23rd. We get to Topolobompo late, so we’ll drive to Kino on the 24th. It’ll be a long day, but we think we should make it there by that evening.
We actually called Las Toninas and booked a room there, so we’ll be living it up staying in a condo instead of the van!
Like, like, like!
Los Barriles is where we spent Thanksgiving. We didn’t get out too much, but it’s definitely a fun, little laid back town. We’re pretty sure we know the exact RV park you’re talking about! One thing you should definitely check out is the sea turtle release. They do it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night at 5:15 at the “nursery”. As you’re driving into town from the north, turn left at the first tope and drive to the beach. The nursery is right there. It took us three nights to get it right (they kept moving it that week), but it was definitely a cool experience. Other than the grocery store, vegetable stand and enjoying the view from the house – can’t say we did much else. Hope you guys are having fun!
Wow — that’s amazing! We loved Los Barriles too! We had to return to La Paz today so we can go on the sea kayaking trip that we’d booked for tomorrow, but we’re thinking about going back to Los Barriles one more time before we leave Baja on Monday.
Thanks so much for the heads up on the turtles. After we got your message we started asking around and found out that they released 130 baby turtles last night (Thurs) but of course we had no idea at the time. They don’t plan to do another release for several days, but maybe we’ll get lucky if we can return there on Sunday. We’re hoping so!