(February 2023) In between our Pacific Coast Highway adventure, we flew from LA to Baja California Sur (Mexico) for five days. It was the quickest and easiest way for us to get a taste of a country that we'd been wanting to visit for so long.
Baja has a reputation for being a party destination, and this was evident when we walked out of the airport and passed a bar directly in front the entrance, pumping music and serving up shots, beers, and cocktails.
We got our car and immediately, the vibe felt much more chilled than LA. It was an easy drive to our first stop: Cerritos beach, near Todos Santos. The first thing we did was take a short walk to a nearby restaurant and have the first of many delicious fish tacos we would eat on this trip. Washed down with the local beer, we were already feeling quite at home.
After a quick trip to Todos Santos to get some cash, we walked on the beach and returned to the same restaurant for supper, because there were so many more things on the menu that needed trying.
Here's the sunset on the road to Cerritos. Spot the cactus. Actually, they're very easy to spot because there are about a billion of them everywhere.
Cerritos is a well-known surf spot in Baja and while we didn't do any surfing ourselves, we did admire the gorgeous waves.
The next day, we spent a couple of hours in Todos Santos. Driving in, you wonder what the fuss is about. It seems quite ordinary, but when you reach the main road you learn why it's popular. The vibrant colours, cute shops, and arty feel of the place make it special. We also found a small bakery that sold #$%ing Delicious Cookies and The World's Best Brownies. It was becoming apparent that we were going to be eating a lot on this trip.
After our day trip to Todos Santos, we stayed in La Paz for two nights. A bit bigger than what we'd seen so far, and a little less colourful. But it has a brilliant promenade lined with restaurants that sell, you guessed it, fish tacos. Plus lots of other fish dishes too. We would never complain about an abundance of cheap, delicious food, so we happily continued our food adventure and watched the cool cars cruising up and down the beachfront.
Near La Paz is a beach called Playa Balandra. It's famous for its clear, brilliant blue water, and it is a popular spot for both locals and tourists. However, to limit environmental damage, the number of visitors at a time is capped and it's only open from 9 to 12 pm and then again from 1 to 5 pm. Apparently, the queue to get in can be quite long, but we arrived at the tail end of the morning shift and managed to enjoy an hour before we had to leave.
While wandering around La Paz, we stumbled across an art studio specialising in prints. We spent ages chatting to the owner who passionately explained Mexico's history of skull art and showed us a book of works of his favourite lithographer, José Guadalupe Posada. I bought a couple of small prints to take back home. Armed with some art and a good restaurant recommendation, we spent the rest of the day drinking Mezcal cocktails and eating more tacos.
Our final stop in Mexico was San Jose del Cabo. Unfortunately, this is a much more touristy part of Baja. I say unfortunately because the vibe changed and everything became USA expensive. The beach was great, and we enjoyed walking along it and watching the huge waves crashing on the shore. However, most of the beach access has been blocked by obnoxious hotels, and only a few public access paths remain. Luckily, we were close to one of those access paths.
But it wasn't too bad in the end. Sven has a colleague who is familiar with the area and who recommended a taco place that was very much local. Good food, cheap, and not a word of English spoken. We ended up eating there both nights, as the food was so tasty and the experience felt genuine. We also enjoyed walking around some of the city centre area, where despite the fact that there are tourist shops crammed in every corner, there are still some good food spots and interesting things to see.
And that was over far too quickly. I feel like we only scratched the surface of Mexico, and barely scratched it at that. This is a country that has a lot of fascinating things to share, and one needs to travel it far and wide to get a proper glimpse of it. A few things learned:
1. If it's not obvious by now, the food in Baja California Sur is delicious. And affordable! The Mexican Peso was roughly 1 to 1 to the Rand while we were there, which made it easy to work out prices. And the prices were more South African than American, so we could really enjoy what was on offer without flinching when we got the bill.
2. The art scene is lively. San Jose has a nice tradition called the Thursday Art Walk, where artists set up stalls of their art and wares in the city centre and the crowds gather to admire, shop, eat, and drink. Unfortunately, it seems to be mostly a tourist attraction and while I enjoyed the art, the restaurants and bars nearby clearly cater for tourists and charge US prices. That was a pity.
3. Driving between the towns in Baja California Sur is chilled and straightforward. We didn't even need to get a sim card to load Google Maps.
4. Cash is still king in this part of the world. We were almost caught out at a cash-only toll booth when we arrived, but luckily they accepted USD and I still had a few dollar notes on me. Some shops only accept cash too.
5. Knowing some Spanish helps, especially if you want to escape the tourist spots and explore a little further. Sven and I know approximately five words of Spanish between the two of us, and we used all five of them frequently and in every combination possible. The locals found us hilarious. We found us quite hilarious too.
6. All tequila is mezcal, but only special types of mezcal can be called tequila. Useful tidbit of info when you're ordering cocktails. Both types make great cocktails.
7. Local silver jewellery and pottery are good things to shop for if you're looking for souvenirs or gifts. Despite being common items sold to tourists, you can find unique pieces made by talented artists.
8. Mexican beer is good. And refreshing. We mostly drank Mexican beer in the USA too, as it was a lot nicer than the local offerings.
9. Mexicans have a great sense of humour. This excellent photobomb demonstrates it.
