Hola everybody:
Hope you're all well and if you're a teacher you're either gone somewhere warm or shoveling snow. It seems there is a lot of snow this year even in the Okanagan.
We left Melaque on Sunday of last week without any incident of note. The weather was beautiful and hot, nothing unusual about that. We took a "libre" to the town of Guyabitos which is another seaside resort on the Pacific coast. The beach was very long, you could see for kilometres and there were very little waves because it's quite shallow in that part of the coast. Guayabitos is frequented mostly by Mexican vacationers and the beach was quite busy something which we were not used to in Melaque where much of the beach was relatively empty. We found a nice hotel and I bargained the guy down for over 10 dollars which isn't much but hey every little bit helps. What was eerie about Guayabitos was the almost total absence of gringos. We had heard that it was quite popular with Canadians and Americans alike but many of the hotels appeared empty and competition was quite fierce to land the few gringo dollars floating around. Mexico has been hit hard by the economic downturn and many Canadians and Americans are staying home or flying in for shorter stays. Melaque was the same although there were more Canadians there than in Barra de Navidad where Americans usually stay. All the " restauranteurs" were complaining and businesses were going to have to close or lay off personnel.
The next day we left for Mazatlan hopeful that we could secure a spot on the ferry leaving for La Paz on Wednesday. The road from Guyabitos to Tepic was absolutely harrowing. Think of a slalom run and imagine that road. It was twists and turns, no shoulder, cars crossing over the middle line, cars wanting to pass etc... all in all quite a white knuckle ride which I didn't enjoy very much. This went on for almost 80 kilometres and felt more like two hundred. I forgot to add that we were climbing as well. Mexico is quite mountainous and the roads follows the sinuous contours of the land. In Canada we would just blast the shit out of the mountainside to make straighter roads but they have a different way of doing things here. In any case thanks to Stan's expert driving we made it safely to our destination. We rented a room at the Siesta again in the old section and it felt a bit like deja vu since we had been there almost 2 months earlier. Our room was right beside the old corner room we had had that first time, not quite as big, but the view was just as spectacular.
On a slightly different note and something I forgot to mention can you guess which fruit is grown the most in Mexico? No it's not bananas, not pineapples, not oranges, not papayas....the answer is mangoes. I have never seen so many mango orchards, they stretch as far as the eye can see and the trees can grow to some pretty prodigious heights. We're still trying to figure out how they pick them and nobody is able to provide a satisfactory answer. I wish I could post my photos so you could see how big they are. I forgot my cable at home so I may have to go somewhere and download them onto a disk in order to post them.
We were able to book the ferry for Wednesday. It was a night crossing so we took a cabin. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 5:00 but was two hours late departing. All the big trucks had to go in backwards. Unlike our ferries you exit the same way you loaded. We didn't suffer from motion sickness. We barely felt anything, that road trip was much worse. We arrived at the port of Pichilinga and were greeting my a lot of military and extra security. Stan had to go with the car and I went another way where I had to give my index finger for verification and answer a whole bunch of questions from an overzealous official. I didn't have my passport with me so I had to give him my driver's license instead.
Stan, on the other hand, was asked for no identification at all but the car and the luggage were thoroughly searched for drugs. The big drug cartel from Tijuana controls this area and many parts of Mexico are being ripped apart because of the ongoing battle for turf between the cartels. There is also heavy military and police corruption. Twelve heads were just discovered 2 days ago in the state of Guerrero. The fighting is spreading to many different states. We are not going to linger in Tijuana on our way back that's for sure.
The Baja is beautiful and very dry with huge forests of cactus. The Sea of Cortez almost looks like the Caribbean. It is a beautiful green color in some areas alternating with blue. Garth has a very nice place in La Ventana which is a paradise for windsurfers and kite boarders because the wind roars in starting around 11:00 to 4:00. The beach below his property has very coarse sand so it's not the greatest swimming beach but the water is incredibly clear and there is a small coral reef not far away. We will be staying here till the beginning of January and then we will be looking for our own place to rent.
This computer is outside and I have a beautiful view of the ocean as I'm typing with palm trees swaying in the still gentle breeze. The best time to swim is at 8:00 in the morning when the water is calm. It's quite a sight though seeing all the kite boarders out there, they seem to go incredibly fast. I'm not much for extreme sports and neither is Stan so we will have to content ourselves with looking. Christmas will be spent at the neighbour's geodesic dome. I will be cooking a turkey in a gas over for the first time. On the 26th, I think we will go exploring Todo Santos and figuring out where we will be staying in the New Year. We want to wish you all a Feliz Navidad and a Prospero Ano. A few individual messages can be found at the bottom.

Josiane and Stan Feliz Navidad a todo