Baja California road trip - part II

From San Jose, we continued our road trip through Baja California, following the southern coastline (past something we had thankfully been spared of so far – huge hotel complexes, mostly catering for Americans), past Cabo San Lucas up to our next destination, Todo Santos. Todo Santos is supposed to be a bit like the Saint-Paul de Vence of Baja California, a town where a lot of foreign bohemians and artists have settled down. We were staying at a lovely place called Casa Blanca, run by the equally lovely Isabel and Gabriel.

After settling in, we walked down to downtown Todo Santos (a good half an hour walk, it turned out). Todo Santos is a bit of a mixed bag of a place. It’s rather picturesque place – but not overly cutesy (not in the way for example Saint-Paul de Vence on the French Riviera isI). I guess the charm of Todo Santos lies in its general pleasantness and the laid back feel it has to it. It’s pretty touristy, it has to be said, but it’s more of a high-end style of tourism rather than “tourist trap” kind of place (as one might imagine, dare I say, of a place frequented mostly by Americans). And there are plenty of nice restaurants – which of course helps! After having some rather tasty tapas for lunch, we walked around for a bit, soaking in the atmosphere of the place.

Having checked out the town centre, and the local museum, we strolled down to the beach which Isabel had recommended – and did find it eventually (not sure that many people go there by foot – the Mexicans like their big cars like I said before). And what a beautiful beach it was, with hardly a soul in sight (apart from a couple of crazy surfers braving the big waves). And what’s best, the whales that Isabel had promised would arrive around 4 o’clock did make their appearance! OK, we saw them from pretty far away, but still pretty cool.

We then made our way up to the Casa Blanca, to get ready for dinner. We’d had enough walking for a day, so decided to take the car downtown this time. We started with margaritas at a real local institution – the Hotel California. Yes, some claim it is the one the Eagles sing about (the souvenir shop certainly makes the most of this claim), but quite a few reliable sources do refute this rumor. Be that as it may, the Margarita was good, and not even as expensive as one might imagine, considering this is after all the hotel California… We ran into the other two Casa Blanca guests there, a nice Anglo-American couple with quite an interesting background. We had dinner in one of the nice restaurants in the town centre, one that came with high recommendations both from our Casa Blanca hosts and our aperitif companions. We certainly weren’t disappointed, neither by the food, nor by the atmosphere, and definitely not by the setting (we were sat next to a rather picturesque garden - pity it was too dark to appreciate it).





After a good night’s sleep and an amazing breakfast (I would say it definitely rates among the best breakfasts I’ve ever had in a hotel), it was time for our emotional good byes with Isabel and Gabriel. They really are a lovely couple, and their little hotel is a real gem of a place. It was then time to head on to Cabo San Lucas. Cabo San Lucas, a.k.a. Gringoland. Cabo San Lucas could be described as being to West Coast Americans what Cancun is to East Coast Americans. We weren’t really interested in Cabo San Lucas itself – although in its fancy fakeness and tackiness it’s quite a fascinating place in a way, I suppose.

Our reason for being here was to head out the the arch, a famous rock formation located at the very southern tip of Baja California. It’s also the divider between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. After some searching and a bit of haggling, we found a chap willing to take us out for a trip around the arch. And a nice trip it was, the views from the boat are very nice indeed. And we were greeted to the sight of some more sea lions as well (they seem to rather like Baja California). On the whole though, it felt like a bit less privileged an experience than our boat trip on the Sandman, since there were rather a lot of boats around the Arch.

After our boat trip, we had a bit of time on our hands still, so had time to check out the ridiculously tacky, but strangely charming Tequila museum in the shopping mall by the harbor. A few laughs later, we jumped back into our car and made our way towards San Jose, from where we were catching our flight up to Tijuana. We had time to explore the town for a bit before heading up to the airport. San Jose was a pretty nice place, quite touristy, but definitely nicer than Cabo San Lucas. Let’s say it had a bit more of an authentic & Mexican feel to it. And the beaches near town were absolutely fantastic. After chilling out there for an hour or so, it was sadly time for us to head out to the airport and catch our flight to Tijuana, and from there to San Diego…

Baja California Road Tip - Part I

We were sad to say bye bye to the Sandman, but happy to continue our exploration of Baja California. For that purpose, we’d rented a BIG people-carrier (we were, after all, 8 people in total). With JayJay at the wheel, we set our course for Santiago, which is located a couple of hours’ drive south of La Paz. The Lonely Planet guide I read recommended a Baja California road trip, and I can certainly see why. It’s hard to get lost (there is basically one highway only covering Baja California), the roads are wide (which is kinda needed, since the Mexican’s seem to have taken their northern neighbors pleasure for BIG cars – mind you, there’s more need for big 4x4’s here than in a lot of places in the US of A), the driving is quite relaxed and unstressful (this is, after all, Mexico) and the landscapes are magnificent.

After a quick stop for a nice ‘n quick lunch on the roadside, we eventually arrived at Santiago. From there, the plan was to check out some hot springs at San Jorge. After a couple of wrong turn, JayJay asking for directions a few times, we eventually found the place. Lazing about at the hot springs was quite a nice way to finish off the day. After all, the weather does get a wee bit chilly in the evening this time of the year. Chatted away to a couple of friendly Canadians as well.

Accommodation was organized at an ecological farm in Sol de Mayo. Me and Mathilde shared a bigger house together with Gilles, Valerie, Celian and Hector, while Marie and JayJay got a smaller cabin a couple of kilometers away. Our house was quite a marvel. It’s basically all built of stone, giving the place a very rustic feel (even though it’s quite recently built). The eco-part comes from the fact that there is no electricity. So come nightfall, the socializing gets quite cozy & candle-lit ;-)


Naturally we were (or I was at least) starving – so we me, JayJay and Marie made our way to Santiago to pick up some food. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of choice at this time, the only option turned out to be a Mexican grill. I was going to write fast food first, but considering we waited for about 1 hour for our burritos, fajitas and burgers that wouldn’t be appropriate, really… But hey, this is Mexico – and waiting there is actually a lot less annoying than waiting say at McDonald’s, since the people are so friendly, smile at you, and just chat away (even if my dodgy Spanish means I only understand about a word in ten). And for me it actually worked out pretty well, since by the time we got back most people were at sleep. So I had an excuse to have a rather consistent meal (I think it was around this time that I acquired the nickname “Como todo” – “I eat everything”).

The next morning we got up rather early, and made our way to the restaurant of the eco farm, where we met up with Marie and JayJay for some very filling breakfast (which turned out to be rather pricey actually…). After this pit stop, we headed back to the hot springs, for a bit more chilling out. It’s a great place to relax, with the cooling waters of the nearby river to offset the heat of the hot springs. A bit like the onsens we experienced in Japan, but with a bit less extreme temperatures. Come to think of it, not entirely unlike a Finnish sauna.

After we’d had enough of the hot springs, we hiked up though the rocky terrain up to a great little pond, etched into the rocks, where we spent some more time lazing about and swimming. Just wonderful, soooo relaxing… For lunch, we decided to try the best place in town, the Palomar. The place is very well known for its seafood, so much that people drive all the way to Santiago just for that reason only. Apparently the place is a favorite of Susan Sarandon’s. And the verdict ? Well, it wasn’t bad, that’s for sure, and pretty good value for money. But I reckon I’ve had better fish elsewhere. Pero, como todo :)

We spent the afternoon at the other main local site, located near our Eco farm, at some beautiful waterfalls. A brisk 10 minute walk down to the restaurant took us to this idyllic place. What followed was more swimming, fooling around on the rocks, taking about 200 pictures of the girls posing, and just chilling out. There is even the “dare you jump from the top of the cliff” challenge that none of us was willing to go for, but thankfully some entertainment was provided by some American. The youngsters eventually jumped in, after a lot of hesitation. Braver than me, I suppose ;-).

For dinner, we had ordered some seafood, including lobster, from the restaurant. After some logistical challenges, and Valerie and Marie taking a bit longer in town than expected (they had some important calls to make – more about that later), we eventually dined. And quite a feast it was, and I certainly enjoyed the lobster. But the bill was again a wee bit high.

That was our last night at Sol de Mayo, and now it was time to split our group in two. Me and Mathilde made our way towards the South of Baja California, whereas the others were heading north to Magdalena bay for some more whale watching. So after some tearful goodbyes (well, not that tearful, the plan was after all to meet up again in San Diego in a few days), Marie and JayJay drove us down to San Jose airport, where we were picking up our rental car.

On the Sandman

After picking up our gear at Baja Expeditions, we headed down to the Sandman, our private boat and home for the next couple of days, located in La Paz harbor. We were warmly welcomed by Captain Ron and his charming wife Rosalinda.

The boat headed out of the harbor, bathed in glorious sunshine. Perfect weather for such an expedition one could say, well warm but not too hot either (there was always a refreshing breeze keeping us cool). The boat itself is very comfortable indeed, with a cozy social quarter with a big wide-screen telly and an impressive collection of movies. The cabins are small, but comfortable, more than adequate. And the boat is well equipped for diving, has a RIB for quick access to islands, and two sea kayaks for those feeling sporty. And Ron’s wife is a rather excellent cook, as we found out during the trip!

Our first stop on the boat trip was Espiritu Santo, a lovely island located not far from La Paz. The place is a real haven for ecotourism, with gorgeous landscapes, beautiful beaches and loads of possibilities for all sorts of sporting opportunities. We decided to some traditional hiking, up through a canyon of lunar landscapes and cacti. Great landscapes and great fun, all in all.

From Espiritu Santo we headed on to Los Islotes, located not too far from Espiritu Santo. Los Islotes are a couple of guano-covered rocks, dramatically rising out of the Cortez Sea. The reason to come out here are the sea lions. Loads of them. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many in one place – joined by the odd pelican. Great fun watching these playful creatures dive into the water and have fun around us. The original plan was to have a swim with these lovely creatures, but unfortunately it was getting a bit late, so we decided to postpone that activity until a bit later.

After this we headed out to sea for a bit of whale hunting – whale watching is the main reasons people come to this part of the world, this time of the year (they come to Baja California this time of the year to breed). After cruising around for a good while, we finally made contact. According to JayJay, the couple we spotted was of the Bryde’s whale variety. So was it a special experience then, as people say, I hear you asking? Yes, it was. There’s something quite special about following the water vapor produced by their breathing, and seeing that grey shape of its body briefly break the surface as it takes a dive. Then the anticipation as the whale emerges back to the surface to breath again. It has to be said that a bit of imagination is required, since normally one only sees a bit of the whales back and maybe the tail, but for me at least, my first sight of a whale was still a very special moment. These whales were rather shy, and didn’t let us very close…

Then it was time to take a few pictures of the gorgeous sunset, and finish off with some delicious dinner. A great end to a great day!

We got up the next day to a gorgeous dawn, After a filling breakfast, we headed off whale hunting again. This time we struck big, as we spotted some blue whales in the distance. It was fantastic again, although these peaceful leviathan were again too shy to approach our vessel. A real pity, but even the tail and back of these giants is a sight I will not soon forget…

After our whale hunt, we headed back to Los Islotes. The sea lions were still there in numbers. Me and JayJay decided on a spot of scuba diving, whilst the others went snorkeling with the sea lions. My dive was pretty good, even though the viz was quite bad (that was to be expected, due to the ongoing plankton boom). The currents were pretty strong as well, so my air consumption was even more abysmal than normal, no doubt ;-). The highlight of the dive was, not surprisingly, the sea lions. They are so graceful underwater, compared to their rather lazy and clumsy behavior on land. And they really are very playful, coming up nearly to touching distance. I truly had some memorable moments there with the sea lions. Apart from the sea lions, there was plenty of other sea life, with some big groupers and a stone fish being the highlights of the dive. Eventually we got back to the boat, happy after a successful dive. Speaking to the others, it seems that they also had a pretty fantastic time with the sea lions!

We then headed towards the destination for this evening, the Balandra beach, where we were supposed to moor for the night. On the way, we ran into a couple of humpback whales. These guys were less shy than the whales we’d previously spotted, and got closer to the boat than before. Not quite within touching distance, but enough to get some good-ish shots of the whales tails with my 300mm lens ;-).

Finally, we arrived at Balandra beach, which is kind of the very definition of a paradise beach. Beautiful sand, clear water, and not a soul in sight, apart from us. Not quite the same ambiance as the Cote d’Azur, that’s for sure ;-). Me and Mathilde stated by doing a bit of snorkeling in the shallow part of the cove, spotting a fair amount of colorful fishies (the highlight for me was a puffer fish). I then decided to try my hand at a bit of sea kayaking, heading out to explore some mangroves with Marie and JayJay. Just fantastic, paddling along through the clear waters, with no noise other than the birds singing, and the gentle sound of the sea. I raced Marie and JayJay on the way back to the Sandman, and lost “honorably” (hey, ‘twas two against one).

After another very tasty dinner indeed, I crashed out, having watched True Grit by the Coen brothers on the big screen of the Sandman…. The next day started pretty much like the previous, with a bit of snorkeling/swimming with JayJay, to warm up those muscles. I finished the session with a bit of more sea kayaking with Mathilde – a very nice way to end our brief but fruitful visit to this beautiful beach.

Then it was sadly time to head back towards La Paz. But we did get to enjoy a rather delicious pancake brunch during the journey back. And, to finish our trip, one more magic moment – some dolphins swam by the bow of the ship. Just a perfect way to end our trip.

After some emotional farewells to the Sandman crew (I will miss Rosalinda’s enchiladas, that’s for sure…), it was time to hit the road and continue our exploration of Baja California by land!

Via L.A. to Baja California

Start of the big holiday then! We were really looking forward to this one – two weeks in Mexico and California.

After a short stop-over in London Heathrow (where we had a lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food – pretty good restaurant I have to say, perhaps the best meal I’ve had at an airport so far!), we flew over the Atlantic to Los Angeles. The flight wasn’t too bad – got to catch up on my reading, and naturally watched a few in-flight movies.

Unfortunately, we did arrive with a couple of hours of delay, and immigration at LAX is a bit of a nightmare. And to boot, it was raining. But anyway, we were basically just spending the night there before catching our flight down to Baja California in Mexico. I did take the opportunity to have dinner with Robert (whom I met at a good friend’s wedding in Finland last autumn), we went for some Japanese (there wasn’t a lot of choice – it was pretty late by the time we hit the streets of LA). Nice meal, and good catching up with Robert.

After a pretty good night’s sleep, we got up for an early breakfast. This being the US, we went for a real American feast – pancakes with maple syrup and butter (and a bit of bacon, toast and hash browns for me, just to make a real meal of it!). Yummie.

Our flight to La Paz in Mexico was without incidents, and we were happy to see Marie and JayJay at the arrivals hall at the airport. After some enthusiastic greetings, we headed down to our hotel, located in downtown La Paz, where we were reunited with the rest of the group (Gilles, Valerie, Celian and Hector). The hotel is quite a find, I have to say, a real gem of a place. I guess the best way to describe the place would be cool & funky. The courtyard is basically full of pretty much everything imaginable: various memorabilia, old bikes, statues, bottles, old spare parts. But it’s all kind of pretty, and gives the place a very special atmosphere. The free tequila shots offered by our kind hosts definitely helped for the atmosphere as well ;-).

For the evening, we headed over to JayJay’s house for a bit of an aperitif. So we got to meet his mum, a nephew of his, and a couple of friends of his. Great fun – yet more tequila and beer was confused, as well as quite large quantities of nachos with some nice chili guacamole.

Me and Mathilde picked up some takeaway Mexican on the Malecon, and we then had our dinner at the hotel. Nicely spicy, yummie ymmie…

The next day the plan was to take a boat out into the Sea of Cortez to go and explore the natural beauty of Baja California. But jet lag was still hitting us, and we woke up rather early. Instead of lazing about in the bed, we decided to go and check out el Malecon – the famous seaside boulevard of La Paz. And what a time to check it out – at dawn. ‘twas a very beautiful morning walk, a perfect way to start the day.



After a brekkie at the hotel, it was time to head out to Baja Expeditions, where JayJay works, get some diving equipment, and then go down to the port of La Paz where our ship, the Sandman, was waiting for us…

Music and dining at La Cannet

After a night out in Nice with a bunch of Finns, it was time for some French socializing tonight – as we’d been invited over for dinner at Aurelien and Julie’s place in La Cannet. Mathilde had prepared a nice Reblochon quiche (I had selected it from a list of pies Mathilde read out to me; anything with Reblochon in it is a pretty safe – if not light – bet).

We made our way down to Le Cannet after 7, being the first to arrive. Impressively, Aurelien and Julie live in a proper villa – albeit in one of the three apartments the villa houses. Still, pretty cool stuff – I suppose this was my first visit to a proper Cote d’Azur villa. After a while, we were joined by Gilles, Valerie and their kids, and later on by Antoine and his clan.

I was the designated driver for the night, unfortunately, but couldn’t resist the offer of trying out Aurelien’s nan’s home-made nut wine. It was predictably delicious – in fact so delicious that I had to try it a couple of times more. One piece of advice, if your French dinner host/hostess offers you the opportunity to try something distilled/made by a grandparent of theirs (all French grandparents seem to do this – so it’s quite likely to happen) – go for it – I can almost guarantee enjoyment (although the head might be a wee bit sore the next day…). As always in France, there was plenty of delicious food to eat about - this time the meal was buffet-style.

Otherwise, it was quite a typical French soiree – socializing, intellectual conversation (after all – 5 adults out of 6 tonight were French teachers) and a fair bit of music (Antoine and Aurelien really let loose on Aurelien's guitar). Just generally great fun, basically. I think the younger generation had a lot of fun as well, watching Barb-a-Papa and Shrek.

All in all then, a great night out – and strangely enough we weren’t even completely nackered as we hit the sack at around 3:30 in the morning. Maybe I’m not getting old after all ? :-)

Skiing at Greolieres

The weather forecast for today was as marvelous as for yesterday, so we had decided to finally hit the ski slopes for the first time this winter. Things didn’t look very promising as we left the flat, with the sky covered in clouds. However, as we left the coastline, the skies started to clear up, and by the time Greolieres was in our sights, there wasn’t a cloud in sight! The snow situation didn’t look too promising either as we approached Greolieres-les-Neiges (the ski station), but we needn’t have worried – there was more than enough for everybody (although less than last year, it has to be said).

Happily, there were surprisingly few people at Greolieres as well, so we were able to get our ski passes, ski gear and hit the slopes by 10 AM, not bad going… The skiing was just fantastic, the sun just does so much good this time of the year… It’s true that we’ve had better snow at Greolieres, but no major complaints in that department either. We had time to do pretty much all the runs during a quite energetic morning session – and even had the chance to chill out, enjoy the views, and just bask in the sunshine as well.

After finishing our session with a run down Les Combes, a nice long blue run, we headed for lunch. After some slightly lethargic service, we finally got our tartiflettes (ah, how I like Savoyard cuisine…) and rose wine. After this rather relaxed and drawn-out lunch, we reluctantly returned to the slopes.

We did manage to get a pretty decent session in during the afternoon as well. It’s just a pity that the two black sloper (le Mur and Le Vallon) were both closed – I would’ve fancied a run down one of them to finish off the day. Oh well, next time hopefully…

We finished a fantastic day of skiing with a cold beer at the Locaski bar… I have to say, that the Cote d’Azur must be one of the best places in Europe to spend the winter in. What other place can you go scuba diving, have lunch wearing a t-shirt, and go skiing, all within 10 days (like I’ve done just now) ? Not many by my reckoning…

A day at the races

After a disappointing previous weekend weather-wise, the sun was back this beautiful Saturday. Our original plan had been to go skiing today, but in the end we decided to move that to Sunday instead. But we did get up pretty early for a change, so decided to take up Stephane and Sandra on their offer to have breakfast at our favorite P.M.U. in Cros de Cagnes.

As we had our coffee and Croissant, we mused on how good life can be in our little part of the world, I could’ve spent hours sitting on that terrace, just chilling out and drinking coffee… Things continued in a similar fashion with a vey nice lunch on the balcony (the first one this year!).

During our walk little escapade to Cros de Cagnes, we’d spotted a poster saying the town of Cagnes had organized an “open day” at the Hippodrome, which we decided to take advantage of. The hippodrome is actually one of the most famous landmarks at Cagnes, and it’s indeed the main horse racing venue on the Cote d’Azur (and indeed, one of the main ones in Europe for the trot). I’d visited the hippodrome for the yearly food and wine fare, but never for the real thing.

We showed up just in time for the 2nd last race of the day. It was quite an exciting, if short, couple of minutes. The length of the races is only 1600 meters, so it’s not going to take very long. It sort of reminded me of the Tours de France, which is also quite short-lasting fun…

After the race, we listened for a while to the band providing a bit of entertainment, after which I decided to head down to make some bets. I of course had no idea how to place a bet (not to mention which horse to bet for), so I decided to recruit the help of a local. After scanning the crowd, I selected a crafty-looking old fellow, who seemed to know what he was doing (who knows, he might even have mafia connections?). So, I placed a cautious bet of 5 Euros on horse number 10 (I was indeed being quite conservative – I bet on the horse being in the top three rather than winning).

So with more at stake for the 2nd race, I was feeling the excitement rising. This time too, the race went by very quickly – I have to admit to my shame I never even spotted my horse during the race. Perhaps that’s because I was looking at (and photographing!) the leading horses – whereas poor number 10 finished far down the field… Oh well, at least I tried….

So, another “thing to do before you die on the Cote d’Azur” ticket off the list, then ;-). And it was kinda good fun, especially since we really were blessed with excellent weather. In spite of me losing 5 Euros!