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.