One of two outdoor showers @ NOLS.

Yes it is closed in, and yes, there are cacti and trees inside of each.
Now does that sound refreshing or what?

 

Uploaded by funchilde.

Any traveler knows that there are essentially two truths that you will encounter if you vagabond for any length of time:

1) you will get ripped off at some point (even if only for a $1 or $2)

2) you will get sick

Fortunately, since my life’s valuables are taped inside my underwear (thanks for the advice H), I haven’t yet been hustled. Unfortunately, I had a stomach bug that wore me down a bit.

I hopped off the Green Tortoise trip in Mulege Mexico so that I can continue my travels from here. Mulege is an oasis in the desert, a little sleepy town set in a valley with a river that runs through it which means nice breezes and lots of greenery. Mulege weather reminds me alot of San Diego in that the temperature can vary between a chilly 60 degrees and a balmy 80 degrees during the day, but you’ll almost always want pants and a jacket at night. The people are friendly, the pace is slow, there is no ATM, one internet cafe, and the cutest elementary school you can imagine with Disney characters painted in a mural on the exterior. You can walk around the whole town in under 20 minutes.

I decided to recuperate here at Hotel Mulege ($32 US/night incl. TV, 2 bottles of water daily). After weeks of travel and camping I was so happy to stand in a piping hot shower, roll around on the two beds and brush my teeth with running water.

I got some meds from a mexican doctor who only charged $25 to see me and the farmacia (pharmacy) was right there at the clinic. For the most part I needed rest, the last 4 months of prep and packing and partying and then traveling fast and furious wore me out. It has been nice to sit, stare out the window, watch television (which those who know me is really, really rare) but mostly I slept, I walked around the town and slept some more. Restricted to a diet of bananas and water and juice I longed for tacos and oranges and a diet coke but was happy with the scenery and the quiet, a soul deep quiet that echoed “rest”. People around town began to say things like “oh I saw you at the taqueria yesterday” or they’d start asking me (in spanish) if the dog following me was mine, etc. All in all a nice place to recover for 5 days. The funny thing is, as nice as it has been to be in a hotel w/ a shower and t.v., I find myself missing the rugged adventure of “roughing it”.

I donated my tent, snorkel gear and life vest to Cortez Explorers and am now down to my main pack (30lbs) and my daybag (9.5lbs). So with renewed strength, increased confidence and lots of Mylanta, I am ready to begin the motion of traveling again.

It occured to me that one of the reasons that travel is so personally transforming is that it infuses you with confidence. That confidence stems from realizing that you CAN adapt to a harsh environment, that you CAN deal with hygiene issues without running water or a 7-11 store, that you CAN navigate a foreign medical system. You then believe that you CAN go further, delve deeper, risk more and if all else fails, try again. The dream of the traveler is that you CAN explore far away places, seek untold adventure and return home safely to tell the tale.

*for a truly harrowing tale of adventure on the high seas, check out this post by Megan!

we hit a few more places on our journey. i know that all of my posts seem like everywhere is a little slice of heaven so i will temper that with some of the places i wasn’t so fond of:

[1]bahia magdalena for more whale watching if you wanted. i wandered around taking pictures and practicing my poor excuse for spanish skills. bahia is also home to a fish processing plant so there were thousands of birds and a smell that i couldn’t describe if i tried. it was a little decrepit (?) but another great whale watching spot. bahia is on the pacific side so we were startled to wake up to cold winds and cresting waves.

[2]i can’t say i liked todos santos (home of the original Hotel California) too many gringos building 2nd homes. and finally,

[3]los cabos is a beautiful spot that has become a totally overdeveloped, water sucking playground for the wealthy. i feel somewhat hypocritical in that i probably would/would have enjoyed playing some golf at one of the cabo resorts, but seeing how they use the water which is in critical short supply, makes me cringe. so i’ll leave you with a picture of a hermit crab.

  

the only solace for leaving Cabo Pulmo was that we headed to some secret hot/cold springs known only to local families. we paid a guide to get us most of the way there via truck then had to walk about a 1/4 mile over some really slippery rocky terrain. i had on flip flops so i was moving real slow since the nearest medical aid was 3+ hours away, but it was worth it.

there were 4 pools. the one pictured above is the smaller of the two mid-temp pools, perfect temp and depth for me so this is where i hung out. the water was amazingly clear and you could see the gold dust (micah?) on the sandy bottom. the big pool had a couple of places you could jump from and the youngins ate that up. i went down into the hot pool and then the very cold pool and back a couple of times. i wasn’t feeling too great so it took it slow. most of us were sun-weary and probably borderline dehydrated but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. and my feet were the cleanest they had been in weeks!

after that we stumbled across a mexican circus and were attacked by mosquitos! after almost 10 mosquito-free days on the beach, i finally remembered what was missing! we had to go inland to a circus to find the bugs, or rather they found us.

sunrise at cabo pulmo, originally uploaded by funchilde.

paradise. no words. 4 more days of beach, sand and sun. lots of activities if you were inclined, and lots of stars to count if you were not.

  

my favorite city by far. this place is beautiful in a way that i don’t dare try to articulate. from loreto we headed into La Paz which is a must see. it is also a waterfront city and the weather was amazing! unfortunately we rolled into town at 7 am and i spent 2 hours walking around looking for a hotel/hostel. the coolest one was out of single rooms and i needed a mental health day so i declinded sharing with 2 others though they were very chill and it would have been fine. the lodging scene is pretty skewed between skanky hostels where i would be uncomfortable putting my head on a pillow, and the 7 Crown which was $130/night with the rooftop bar, moonlight sauna and wireless. i couldn’t check in until 1pm but I got into Los Arcos which had the best.pool.ever. and had a clean double room for $85 which i justified after a week of not sleeping in a bed with another week to come.

Continue reading Baja Mexico: La Paz →

 

wow. it has been an amazing 2 weeks. i didn’t think it could get better after 5 days of camping at playa escondida and the whale watching, but it did.

Continue reading Baja Mexico: Loreto →