Monday, February 22
This morning we thankfully prepare to leave Punta Abreojos. I am up early and snap a picture of the sunrise from our tiny "balcony". We trade stories; none of us slept well. I make tea and coffee using the little immersion heater, and manage to kill the thing in the end. But everyone has had a cup of hot liquid.
After a few miscues the guys head to the llanteria. I walk down the street and take a picture of a typical water system; tanks on the ground, with a pump and plumbing to a rooftop tank for water pressure. We expect that water is pumped into the on-the-ground tanks from trucks. Alll the water here comes from the desalinization plant and there is no evidence of extensive plumbing for a delivery system.
The guys return about 45 minutes later with a new "used" tire for a spare. It's a little bigger than the other tires, but the price is right -- 300 pesos. We gingerly carry our things down the narrow concrete stairs. D discovers it is best to have the carried objects on the outside rather than the inside. So we load up and head for Juanita's, the restaurant that the proprieter of the tire store has recommended. D asked him if he ate at Juanita's. "No," he replies, "I eat at home. But if I weren't married I would eat at Juanita's."
As we walk from the car to Juanita's, we observe that most of the pangas are gone from the beach. A few early birds are racing home. They power the boats up onto the beach as far as they will go. The the tractor will bring the boat trailers and haul them out.
Punta Abreojos almost redeems itself. Not only is Juanita's clean and tidy, it also has good food, coffee, and ... free wireless internet. So as we wait for breakfast I post yesterday's blog entry and upload pictures. I enjoy yet another variation on huevos rancheros and indulge in a second cup of coffee. I don't have to downgrade Punta Abreojos from armpit to something worse.
Before we depart town, we revisit a large building across from our hotel. It turns out to be the town's social hall. There is a metal plaque outside commemorating its establishment in 1948. There are also a couple of enterprising folks who have set up tents in front of the hall. One is selling clothing. D tries to bargain for a shirt, but they're not bargaining. After his $5 San Ignacio find, better bargains are hard to come by. G and I each buy a candy bar at the tienda behind the hotel, Snickers and Hershey's with almonds.
It is a long day on the road. We stop at the Desert Inn (formerly the La Pinta) in Guererro Negro for lunch. We are the only people in the dining room. But it is clean and neat and the food and service are good. Back on the road, we are searched once again at a military checkpoint. This time they don't ask us to open the cartop carrier. As we leave the checkpoint, rain spatters the windshield, but only briefly. For a while, the Bahia de Los Angeles turnoff seems to be getting farther away rather than closer.
Finally we reach our turn. The road is good, and as we approach the coast, the desert greens. Grass is sprouting, the ocotillo are beginning to bloom. and the bushes are lush. We see some new trees, elephant trees, gnarly things with white bark. We take a few minutes to take pictures and admire the vegetation, and then it's on to the beach. Back in the car, we share the Hershey bar. Tastes pretty good when you haven't had chocolate for a week.
We arrive in Bahia del Los Angeles with no reservations. I tell the others my pick for hotel. Too expensive, I guess, as no one else seems to be interested. We look around at a few places. We start at Casa Diaz, rooms $30. D says that sounds about right. The "cabins" are just about as bad as last night's room; not quite as dirty but certainly they have a funky smell and the appointments are dismal, really dismal. No, we won't stay here. B allows as it's almost acceptable, because the cabins are beachfront. Good grief! So we head back up the road. There's one other place with beachfront rooms, some way out of town. We find our way to Villa Bahia.
This is a place that was once very nice. Now it's depressing, starting the long slide to uninhabitable. But it is on the beach and has a rudimentary kitchen, so we can make coffee and eat breakfast here. The views, admittedly, are very nice, as are the picnic tables on the deck outside our rooms. We negotiate with the owner, Roger, and take the two upstairs rooms we have examined.The price is just a bit more than the hotel I chose from the book. There is internet access via satellite, but no cell service here on the beach.
We settle in, motor into town, and do a little shopping. As the guidebook warned, things are very expensive here. Then we go looking for a restaurant. One on the beach road looks promising from the reviews, but it is closed. "Only beer," the lady tells us. "Sorry." She recommends Alejandrinas. So we go there. Also closed. Finally we find Las Hamacas. The food is good and the service is fine.
We return to Villa Bahia. The generator drones in the background. I wonder when Roger turns it off? We didn't ask. There are no outside lights on, so B leaves the car lights on so G can see to get up the stairs. I go before and turn on their inside and outside lights. A short while later two German guys show up and knock on our door. Where is reception? Is the place open? We point them at Roger's rooms. The old guy sleeping on the bed with a couple of dogs? Yep, that's him. This time when they approach, one of the dogs wakes and barks. So much for the pedigreed perro watchdog service. They get a room and head into town for dinner.
So tomorrow we visit the sea turtle research site, the museum, and perhaps take a stroll to an old mine. I'll also take some pictures around here; there are some very interesting sculptures and some nice murals in the rooms.
Comments