Senorita o muchacha?

I've always been curious about the definition of "muchacha." I knew it meant female of one variety or another, but this past week I really wanted to get clarity. Therefore I asked several locals on their take. The responses varied as you can see below.

"Girl," said one man.

"So what's the difference between a muchacha and a senorita?" I asked.

"They're the same," he said.

Another man confirmed the answer of the first man, but he grinned when asked the definition of muchacha.

While in Todos Santos, we asked a young waiter his opinion.

"Well," he said, "a muchaha is not what you say, a virgin. A senorita is a virgin."

This was a good scoop!

When we asked a waitress at Billigan's Island, she hinted that a muchacha might have more than one boyfriend. A waiter at Billigan's island insisted that a senorita and a muchacha are "the same."

Seems you get a different answer depending on who you ask. Therefore I'm not changing my interpretation. I still think a muchacha is not necessarily a slut, but a sexy woman.

Donde esta las muchachas?

Mexican resilience

The great thing about Mexico is the resilience of the locals. They don't like to take "no" for an answer, so if they can't sell you one thing they'll try another.

While on Medano Beach, the vendors serve up everything from silver bracelets to your name on a grain of rice. (Makes me wonder who first wrote someone's name on a grain of rice. And why would someone want their name on a grain of rice anyway?)

But others take a different approach. They'll hold up a wooden sculpture of a dolphin or something and ask you if you want to buy it. As you pass by rolling your eyes and say "no," they can surprise you with a completely unrelated offer.

"Amigo, how about some weed?"

"No gracias," is a common response.

"Blow?" they say, as they make a snorting sound.

"No amigo."

"What about ecstasy? Magic mushrooms?"

Magic fucking mushrooms? Where the hell are the Mexican's getting 'shrooms? Probably the same place we are, I suppose, but I thought they'd be offering Peyote instead.

Today, one single stroll down the beach resulted in me receiving 3 solicitations to buy marijuana.

After a few days of this I started asking the vendors if they had weed or blow or mushrooms. Not because I wanted them, but just to have fun and to see their reaction.

So tonight after dinner as we were looking for a watering hole, I was hassling the barkers, asking them if they were interested in any activities like "parasailing, fishing, snorkeling and ATVs." When they gave me that funny look, I said, "How about some blow or magic mushrooms?"

About a minute later, two men came running up from behind me.

"Amigo, amigio," they said.

I stopped.

"I think he has what you are looking for," one man said looking at the other.

"Oh no man, I don't want any blow" I said. "That was a joke."

"Aye amigo," they said, disappointed.

Maybe I need to rethink my antics.

Get your party started

Sometimes you can't always get what you want. And sometimes all you want is to get your party started.

Maybe it was my hangover this morning. Or maybe it's because I've been in Mexico five days already. Or maybe it was the crappy South American wine I drank last night. Whatever reason, I just couldn't get it going tonight. But like troopers, Jeff and Shannon did.

We started out by getting some pretty good grub at Felix's Fine Mexican & Seafood (a.k.a. Mama's Royal Cafe in the morning for breakfast). We had some margaritas with Don Julio, per Jeff's tequila requirement. I tried to drink 'em fast to get that buzz on.

With me still struggling to find the buzz and the energy, we stopped off for a Mexican Coffee, in its full glory.

Still struggling, we moved on to Jeff's favorite bar, Rip's.

And then The Smallest Bar in the World.

Todos Santos

If I had my FC-10 breathalyzer handy this morning, I'm pretty sure I would have registered above .08% alcohol in my bloodsteam. So when we agreed to make-good on our plans to drive to Todos Santos today and Jeff volunteered to drive, I was all over it.

Todos Santos is about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on a paved highway . Well, it's paved except where they are repaving Mexico 19, as we experienced. But all in all, it's a pretty easy journey.

Getting out of town was a little slow, but it also gave us the chance to soak up some of the local sights like the Cabo San Lucas jail. It's better to view the jail from the outside than the inside, I say. Once we got past the jail, we hit some road construction, and once past that it was pretty smooth sailing.

Todos Santos didn't look like much when we hit the city limits, and maybe it isn't anyway. But we veered right off the freeway and quickly found Hotel California. It seemed like a good place to park, so we did just that.

Jeff also thought it was a good place to take a leak, though he wasn't sure which bathroom to use until Shannon pointed to the hidden signs.

Feeling relieved, Jeff and Shannon thought it was also a good pace for a beer. I opted for an orange soda.

We strolled around some of the many art stores in the area. I began to forget I was in Mexico. In fact, I had the feeling I was in New Mexico. But after a while, Jeff needed another beer and I remembered I was in Mexico again.

Billygan's Island

You haven't been to Cabo San Lucas until you've been to Billygan's Island on Medano Beach.

After enjoying breakfast at The Office, we walked a few paces and plopped down on Billygan's beach chairs. Jeff promptly ordered a beer but received two, because "es happy hour all de time" at Billygan's Island.

The great thing about Billygan's is that they encourage drinking, and they have several loud competitions during the day to make their point. My spring break years are long gone, but there's something still entertaining about watching some young clowns run 50 yards, do a shot, then run 25 yards and slam a beer, and then run 10 circles before racing to the finish line.



And the Canadian girls make a fine sight, too.

But what happened to the bikini contest? The bikini contest is highly publicised but rarely seen at Billlygan's Island.

Solmar Suites

When I arrived at the Solmar Suites, I was pleasantly surprised. I had read about this hotel before booking my reservation many months ago, but there's something about Mexico that always seems over-hyped. But on first impression, the Solmar Suites was everything I expected.

My hotel room was right on the beach, with a great balcony overlooking the ocean.

After taking inventory and unpacking my bag, I headed down to the pool.

My friends Shannon and Jeff were supposed to be arriving today as well, but at first sight I didn't see them. Therefore I grabbed a towel and found a chair at the pool. I dropped Jeff a quick text message so he'd reply when they landed in Los Cabos.

The bell for Hora Feliz (Happy Hour) featuring "dos por uno" (two-for-one) drinks rang at 3:00 p.m. I was tempted, but decided to hold off imbibing until my friends arrive. I was starting to think my friends had experienced a nasty delay until I received a text message from Shannon saying, "Where u at?"

I responded, "At the pool."

Turns out, Shannon and Jeff had been sitting at the pool bar for over an hour before Shannon texted me. Apparently Jeff had no connectivity in Mexico with his Blackberry. I relocated to the bar and started enjoying some adult beverages with Shannon while Jeff "worked."

Hey Jeff, how many deals did you close in Cabo? I digress...

A little later, we all cleaned up and enjoyed a fine Mexican dinner and a few more after dinner drinks.

The road to Los Cabos

Today is the day to check out of La Paz and head down to Cabo San Lucas.

I checked out of Club El Moro, again iced down the cooler and hit the road. The only problem was that I was having a hard time finding Mexico Highway 19 south. Getting frustrated, I pulled off the road and parked in front of a small market. When I went in the store, I could see the clerk talking to a distributor.

"Habla Ingles?" I asked, first looking at the clerk, then the distributor. Both looked away.

"Donde esta Los Cabos?" I asked, concentrating my attention on the clerk. "Highway diez y nueve?"

I pulled out my map, and pointed to the road I wanted to find that would then take me to Mexico 19, then to Mexico Highway 1 to Los Cabos. The clerk seemed to understand, and in primitive communication including sign language, told me to take the road up two lights, and then to take a left. That would take me to the Mexican Highway 19 (diez y nueve). Her directions proved correct. Before I knew it, I was in the Mexican boonies, heading to Los Cabos.

When I hit the intersection of Highway 19 and 1, I turned left down Highway 1. This was the longer route to Cabo San Lucas, but I had read several places this was the more scenic route.

The route was indeed scenic, but not as dramatic as I thought. Maybe that's because I'm spoiled by living in Alta California.



I drove by the towns of El Triunfo, San Bartolo, Los Barriles and Santiago, finally arriving in San Jose del Cabo. At that point traffic got heavy, but luckily it was heavier going north, and I was heading south. After about 15 minutes, I emerged from San Jose del Cabo and traveled the road to Cabo San Lucas. The ocean in this area is always so blue!

Highway 1 again slowed in Cabo San Lucas, and I just headed straight to the southern part of town, and after a few easy turns, I arrived at the Solmar Suites.

Jamaica Water

For our lunch break today on the snorkel trip, we beached our boat and Christian and Jesus, the captain, unpacked some sandwiches, fresh fruit, chips, cookies and leverages. I'm always amazed at the interesting flavors of snack chips that are available in Mexico but not the United States. But more interesting today was one of the drink choices.

Christian pointed at one cooler and said it contained plain water, but the other cooler contained "Jamaica Water," or to the locals in Mexico, "Agua de Jamaica."

"What is Jamaica Water?" I asked.

"It's like a tea," explained Christian. "You boil the flowers of the Jamaica (Hibiscus) plant to extract the flavor, then you just add sugar."

"I've never heard of Jamaica Water before, but it tastes like fruit punch to me," I said.

Christian looked a little disappointed. "You've never heard of Jamaica Water?" he asked.

"No," I said.

Then Christian asked an America woman on the trip if she has ever heard of Jamaica Water, and she said no.

Curious, the woman then tasted the Jamaica Water.

"It does taste a bit like fruit punch," said the woman. "But I think I'd like it better if it had some vodka in it."

Isla Espiritu Santo

Prior to flying to La Paz, I pre-booked a one day kayak and snorkel trip out on Isla Espiritu Santo, an island -- or actually a formation of several islands -- just to the north of La Paz in the Sea of Cortez.

At low tide, Isla Espiritu Santo is connected to Isla Partida to the north. And just north of Isla Partida is Los Islotes, two small rocky islands that are the home to huge schools of fish and the sea lions who feed upon them.

Unfortunately, the activity company I booked my trip through, Baja Outdoor Activities, lost my kayaking reservation. But fortunately I checked with them yesterday and they put me on their snorkel trip instead. I was happy for the opportunity -- I didn't want to miss my tour of this magnificent area of the Sea of Cortez no matter what activities were involved.

Lucky for me, BOA is just 50 yards from my hotel, Club El Moro, so I walked over this morning. After getting our group fitted with gear, we headed to the La Paz marina, got in out boat and hit the water.

It's about an hour boat ride from La Paz to Los Islotes, but the scenery of Isla Espiritu Santo and the surrounding area is fabulous. The place is virtually deserted, except from the few tour operators who serve this area and the lucky few who troll these waters for a living (or retirement).

When we got to Los Islotes, the captain slowed the boat and our guide gave us the 50 cent tour. From there we anchored and strapped on our snorkel gear.

Our guide, Christian, is a native of Mexico City who relocated to attend University in La Paz. He explained how he's just finishing up his degree in Marine Biology. Needless to say, he was qualified for the job.

In addition to the teeming schools of fish and numerous bird species in the area, the big draw at Los Islotes is that it is home to a colony of over 200 sea lions. Because of the abundant fish here, these sea lions do not migrate and they have no predators. Therefore, they are very friendly.

Mexican law stipulates that it is okay to dive and snorkel here, but you should not harass the animals. But really, there's no need for that. When you swim into the natural arch formation in Los Islotes, the sea lions actually approach you. The sea lion pups are especially curious, and I touched several by only holding out my hands. Since they are as curious as humans, they look and touch you. In fact, as I took a quick break to speak with Christian, a sea lion pup actually tried to climb up on Christian's back. Christian commented later how that particular pup was more friendly than most. The only sad part of this trip is that I didn't have a waterproof camera!

After our snorkel trip, we took a slow jaunt back south, exploring some of Isla Espiritu Santo's finest beaches. We even dropped off two kayakers who will circumnavigate the island over the next seven days, and a family who would camp of the beach until Thursday.

All in all, good fun.

Playa Tecolote

After arriving to my hotel last night, I walked down the Malecon and got my bearings for the town. After dinner, I ordered a Margarita to go, which made my walk home all the more interesting. After all, the La Paz locals wait for the sun to go down before the come out to play, but it was a Saturday night.

This morning I grabbed a nice breakfast of Huevos Rancheros, filled the cooler and headed north to the beach. It was an interesting ride past the ferry terminal, an oil refinery and some other great scenery. I took the road until the pavement ended at Playa Tecolote. I wanted to press further, then I remembered why the Hertz guy showed me the spare tire. I decided this was my beach spot.

While walking along the beach I couldn't help but notice the many dead puffer fish in the sand.

This puzzled me, and also created an obstacle course. It wasn't long before I stepped on the spines of a dead puffer fish, and learned they sting quite a bit. Luckily a sting is all they pack, and about fifteen minutes later my foot was feeling no more sting.

I found a good seat on the beach and drank the two Corona Lights I had packed in my bag. Once those were done, I walked down the beach to find a rest room and another beer. I found a small beach cantina, and the bar owner said I could use the rest room if I bought a beer. What a deal, and for only 20 pesos ($2).

I grabbed a seat at a cantina table and sat with my feet in the sand as I enjoyed my beverage. I even plopped on my iPod to make the moment even more enjoyable. However, a few minutes later the bar owner walked up to me. He seemed to want money for something, but I couldn't understand him. Then he pointed to the chair I was sitting in and said, "rent."

"What, rent for this chair?" I asked. "But I bought my beer from you. No way."

I then got out of the chair and sat in the sand about 3 feet away. This guy wasn't earning any repeat business from me! Eventually I walked back down to the main part of the beach and drank at another cantina that didn't charge me extra for a bar stool.

Me and my Tsuru

According to Wikipedia, La Paz is the largest city in Baja California Sur with almost 200,000 people, but the airport is tiny.




















We deplaned directly on the tarmac and walked over to the airport terminal building. The building was small but nice. Even the local Mexican authorities were nice. I didn't see anyone wielding a machine gun, so I was reassured.

Soon enough I collected by bag and I was through security in no time. Unlike the last time I landed in Cabo San Lucas airport there were no barkers offering to give me a ride or sell me a tour, things were very civilized.

I found the Hertz car rental desk and checked in. They had my reservation for my Nissan Tsuru, so the only question was how much insurance I needed. I opted for the maximum. Twenty five dollars a day for insurance was expensive, but I didn't want to give the Mexican Policia any reason to detain me if there was an incident.

After signing my rental papers which included a 7000 peso deposit, a Hertz employee showed me to my car. He spoke no English, but I knew exactly what he was talking about when the first thing he showed me was the spare tire. He even took out the jack and crowbar to be sure I'd have what I needed. He also circled the car, making note of the numerous dents and scratches on the automobile.

After that, I pointed to my hotel on a map, and the man pointed toward the city, saying something that sounded like, "take this road all the way." I took his advice, and after driving through most of La Paz, I found my home for the next three nights, Club El Moro.

La Paz

I arrived at San Francisco airport early to be sure I could sort out any itinerary issues after my call with the airline yesterday. But surprisingly all was okay. They checked my bag through to La Paz, Mexico, but I only had a boarding pass to Los Angeles. I was gonna have to hustle over to Delta Airlines from the Alaska terminal once we got into LAX.

While I was waiting in SFO, I was surprised to see some friends waiting to board the same flight to LAX. Sure enough, there was Tom, Angela, Nick, Amy, Paul and Paul's wife. They were also headed to Mexico, but lucky for me, a different city. Tom and Angela are getting married.

"Poor bastards," I thought to myself. But at least Angela bought us all a round of drinks.

Eventually we all boarded and got out of Dodge. When I emerged from the rear of the plane in LAX, I saw none of my friends so I high-tailed it to the Delta counter, only about two miles away. It wouldn't have been so bad, but have you ever tried to speed walk in flip-flops?

Luckily, all worked out and I got on the plane.

The cool thing was that I got a left-side window, and this was perfect viewing to see the Sea of Cortez (a.k.a. "The Gulf of California") on the way down to La Paz.





























Actually, the flight was great. I even could identify Isla Espiritu Santo, which I had planned to visit later in my trip.



















We also got a great view of the city of La Paz before we landed.



















Hola, Mexico.

Alaska Ed

I logged on to Alaska Airlines to check the flight status and to pre-check in for my flight to Mexico tomorrow, but the website didn't show my reservation. I decided I better get on the horn.

"Hello, Alaska Airlines?" I said.

"Yes sir. How may we help?" said the attendant.

"Well, I'm booked on a flight out tomorrow, but I can't access my reservation online," I said. "What gives?"

The attendant check my reservation and said all things were go.

"So why can't I see that online?" I asked, smelling a Thanksgiving travel rat.

"I don't know sir," said the attendant.

"Can I speak to your supervisor?" I asked.

"One moment sir," replied the attendant.

"Hello, this is Ed," I heard a voice say. "What seems to be the problem."

"Well, Ed," I said, "It's like this. I'm flying Alaska Airlines to Mexico tomorrow, but my reservation isn't showing up on your website. Can you fix that?"

"Well sir, I see your reservation in the system, I don't know why you can't view it online," said Ed.

"So what are you going to do about it?" I asked.

"Well I can't do anything about it," said Ed.

"That's it?" I asked. "That's unacceptable."

"Sir, I don't know what you want me to do. I can't fix the problem," said Ed.

"Well, can you at least email me my current itinerary so I have something from Alsak Airlines that says I'm booked?" I said.

"Yes," said Ed, seemingly wondering why he didn't think of that.

"And what happens when I get to the airport tomorrow to check in and they can't find my reservation, either?" I asked.

"Sir, your reservation is fine," said Ed.

"Ed, can I talk to your supervisor?" I asked.

Ed said, "I am the supervisor."

"Everyone has a boss," I replied. "And I want to talk to yours."

"Well sir," said Ed. "My boss is in Seattle and that office is closed."

"The Seattle office of Alaska Airlines is closed at 4:41 p.m. PST on a Friday?" I countered.

"Well, that's the corporate office and I'm sure we couldn't get through to him," said Ed.

"Can you please tell me your last name, Ed?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," said Ed. "For security reasons."

"So when I submit a comment to Alaska Airlines regarding the service I received today, how should I identify you?" I asked.

"I'm Ed from the Phoenix office," said Ed. "It's a small office."

"Well, Ed," I said. "I think it's about to get smaller."