Final Days in Baja
Saturday we spend at Geraldo's waiting for an opening to get our speedometer installed. Always fun spending time with Rogelio and his team. Everyone is so great and he almost has us talked in to renting a house in LaPaz for a month so we can experience all the city has to offer and take side trips on the weekends with his family. Sounds like fun, but maybe after we get a bit more exploration under our belt first… We pull away marveled that we can actually tell how fast we are going, and running out of gas this morning may have actually been our last time (not placing any bets on that one).
Return to tail hunter for the ducks game and Jonathan gives us a room to ourselves and tells us to rearrange the furniture as needed. Love acting like a locals. Go Ducks!
We sleep a block off the malecon and then head back towards the main part of town to fill our prescription for anti-malaria meds. We hit every pharmacy in town but nobody thinks they can fill the prescription because it's from the states, which means the doctor doesn't have a certified number as they do in mexico. Each pharmacy assures us that a doctor will be coming within 15 minutes, but we run errands and return to each and still no medico. Jen is persistent and one pharmacist finally decides filling the prescription will get us to leave and obliges. Further proof that you don't get what you don't ask for. And if you don't like the answer, keep smiling and ask someone else ;)
Pills in hand- our work in LaPaz is done. We head out of town and back towards Playa Tecolote but stop off at the ferry terminal to make sure our research is correct and we are all set for the tomorrow. We are going to be charting new territory here as we have decided not to take the passenger ferry that everyone takes to the mainland. From the horror stories we have read your dog has to stay in your vehicle in the belly of the boat (with running diesel trucks and other fumes) for the entire 16+hour journey with no visits or walks. Most people with dogs take the shorter ferry to topolobampo, but this has the same rules for a 8+ hour ride and a longer drive through less-than-desirable territory on the other side. We are planning instead to take the cargo ferry across to mazatlan; knowing that we will have no services and simply be parked on a deck with shipping containers but prefer to keep the family together (and save some cash). Thats how we roll.
As we are walking into the cargo ferry office we run into what has easily been our most negative personal encounter yet on the trip. No, not the police officers who helped us find our way around and told us the list of which ferries were leaving at which day/time…they were as polite and accommodating as you would expect of any mexican. Same in the ferry office with their staff. Instead it was the couple we met from BC? Not sure what we did to piss these two off before our paths ever crossed but they refused to utter more than single word answers and actually walked away mid conversation after gruffly explaining that they were leaving baja after less than a week because there "wasn't much to see".
We only hope they treated the locals better than us and that they are simply having a bad day…otherwise i can see why we north americans get such a bad wrap when traveling out of our home country. Jen even asked if they were hot, thinking that might explain the shortness…but no such luck. Only after we pulled away did we realize we should have chased them down and offered to give them a tour of the beach and LaPaz so they could have some better experiences than what they must be having, and see baja through our eyes. Maybe we will have a more pleasant encounter next time we cross paths with the Grump-ingos.
Another sunday afternoon/evening on Tecolote with the locals was just what we needed after being cramped inside the bus for a few days in the city riding out the storms. Back in the ocean, we stretched out and dried out everything we could and watched the families, bbqs and children playing all around us. We can honestly say that as excited as we are to continue exploring and put new ground under our tires, we will be truly sad to leave baja. Its a laid-back, beautiful and safe place and the people here are simply fantastic. We have felt taken care of, welcomed and protected by every person we have had the pleasure to meet, talk with or work with.
Baja, we look forward to seeing you again!
