Storms and suprises

I'm very sorry about the delay in updating my blog but everything to do with the Internet seems to take forever. After the birthday break in Mulege we went to Loreto which we had been informed was lovely........ and it was but we had enjoyed a really pleasant ride and knew we were able to go much further. We rode on to Constitucion where we managed to get a room in a nice hotel recommended by lonely planet. Brian managed to purchase a top up card for the phone and we grabbed a chinese meal. The meal was presented to the table in double quick time and believe me, it came back in double quick time as well.

The following day we enjoyed yet another lovely ride. We had got everything right - no jackets, shirts to give protection from the sun. When we got to La Paz at 11am we went straight to the ferry port and obtained the permiso de importacion temporal de vehiculos needed to take the shed south on mainland Mexico.


Everything went really well. Back to La Paz, lunch and then the visitor's centre. I strongly recommend that anyone travelling in new countries and environments should make use of these services. The lady we spoke to found out what we needed , rang to find vacancies and recommended el Morow which gave us secure parking, wi fi and was within walking distance of the town and the beach. The clerk, Juan, recommended a day trip snorkeling and kayaking which we booked and which was worth every dollar.

Now, I'm going to describe the start of that day and anyone that knows Brian will be able to imagine these situations vividly. Up early to be collected at 8am. The taxi arrived and the driver spoke very little English...... we spoke very little Spanish. He didn't understand that we wanted to sit next to each other and put Brian in the back on his own whilst I sat next to an American called Richard and his friend, John sat in the front. It was a little atmospheric to say the least. When we arrived at the 'Fun Baja' office Brian prepared to settle the outstanding amount with the credit card as we had been advised by the hotel guy. We were informed that dollars were preferred and a 10% charge would be added for use of a card. A little discussion took place, she contacted the hotel and an agreement was reached. You can imagine how things were panning out by now especially when you are aware that Brian hadn't been snorkeling before and was quite unsure about it all. Next we were given flippers ans snorkel masks to try but no mention of buoyancy aids at this point. Brian informed me that he would not be snorkeling without this particular piece of equipment. It was very clear that he was actually quite nervous about the snorkeling and I was, by now, beginning to question whether we would actually be getting on the boat. Buoyancy aids were mandatory so off we went. We walked past lots of large, luxurious and powerful boats before coming to our much smaller boat.


A little disappointing. However, off we went. Joel, the co-ordinator who had been a traveler, was brilliant. Really enthused by our adventurous journey, supportive of both Brian and I when in the water and the whole day trip was truly amazing. We enjoyed the snorkeling so much that when we went to the quiet beach for lunch etc, we went out and did a bit more.



The company, the environment and everything provided - lunch, beer etc was fantastic and yet another lasting memory from the trip. La Paz is a brilliant place and I am so very glad that we stayed there for a few days.

When we left the hotel we had almost 5 hours to kill until the ferry boarding. Difficult because it was incredibly hot but we managed to find cafes and museums with air con and spent as long as we could in there. Baja ferries are very clean and the cabin was lovely. The food, however was absolutely terrible, the tie downs for the shed were totally ineffective and the crew not particularly helpful. That night we witnessed a spectacular thunderstorm over the ocean followed by exaggerated side to side rolling of the ferry. I think we both knew that this spelled trouble.At one point during the night we crossed the the tropic of cancer. In the morning following a 90 minute wait after docking we finally got down to the shed to discover a war wound on her tank where she had been over during the night.


Still, as ever, she didn't let us down, started first time and away we went into the mayhem of Mazatlan. It wasn't long before we left the city behind us, hit the rather expensive toll road and some lush green landscape with astonishing hills and mountains. This part of Mexico is truly beautiful and not what we were expecting.

We eventually found the Laguna in Santa Maria del Ora we had been recommended to us by a chap from Mexico who is part of the Horizons unlimited community. After some serious off roading round the Laguna only to find that the resort was charging $100 per night we made our way back and found a fabulous bungalow for $40. It was across from a great restaurant, had air con and hard standing for the shed. We watched another thunderstorm safe in the knowledge that the shed was ok.


The next morning we prepared to ride in the rain for the first time since riding in Canada. It was nice to ride in the cool. Reaching Guadalajara was a bit of a shock. This was a vast city, loads of traffic and no clear rules. We eventually got brought to a halt by quite a large police presence who directed us to the side of the road. What a lovely policeman.


He practiced his English on us and advised us of the speed limit around the city. He gave us a friendly warning and some advice before agreeing to have his photograph taken and sending us on our way to Marelia, a historic town with a spectacular cathedral and a warm and welcoming feel to it. As usual lady luck or fate was on our side. There is a big and dramatic firework display over the cathedral every Saturday. For some reason they held it on a Thursday night the day we arrived so we were able to experience this. It was really quite something. The streets were packed with people and vendors, traffic was diverted, classical music played loudly and there was a general feeling of joy and happiness. Fantastic. I love Mexico.