North America,  Mexico,  Travel

La Paz, Todos Santos

December 28, 2021 /

On the way from Cabos to La Paz, I passed Todos Santos, a small coastal town. The English accent of the young man at the front desk of the hostel was very familiar. When asked, it was really Irish. He was excited to hear that I just went there last month. After putting down your luggage, go for a walk in the town. Passing by, it is said that the Eagles were inspired to write the song "Hotel California", because the lyrics describe the scenery near here, but it doesn't seem to be true, it's just a rumor. It is interesting to check the Internet that the founder of this California hotel is actually an early Chinese immigrant. After it was built in 1950, he lived here with his wife and seven daughters. In order to convince the locals that he is a native of Mexico, he also changed his Mexican name, but the funny thing is that the locals didn't call him his changed name, but called him "El Chino" (that Chinese). A Canadian couple bought the hotel in 2001 and renovated it. Todos Santos is a brightly colored town that is beautiful everywhere in the sunset.

In the morning, I walked along the dirt road all the way to Punta Lobos, the southernmost point of the beach. There are many fishing boats here. I asked the fishermen to find the hiking trail up the mountain. The view from the top of the mountain is stunning and the coastline is like lace. After that, I went back to town and hiked to the other end of the beach. After passing through a seaside hotel, I found the way to the beach. Back in town for lunch, I saw the fire up close. Fortunately, only the palm trees were on fire, and there were no casualties. The firetruck quickly came and put out the fire. When I went back to the hostel to pick up my luggage, I heard a French couple asking the front desk if they had any recommended restaurants. I immediately recommended them the delicious food I ate in the past two days. After that, they took me to the bus stop in the center of the town. La Paz.

There is no special celebration for Christmas this year, and I accidentally took a picture with a whale shark. The guy in the Bay Area I met in Cabo two days ago strongly suggested that I must sign up for a snorkeling group in La Paz to see whale sharks. He was here a week ago because the weather was bad and the wind was too strong. Check back again. Getting up close and personal with whale sharks is amazing! I am not afraid of being so close to the video, I can only feel the shock, but I am afraid of being pulled by the big tail. Everyone is always ready to jump when it's time to jump. The whale shark can't keep up with swimming too fast.

This video was made by pure luck and unexpected. Ten people in a snorkeling boat boarded the boat, because the toilet on the boat could not be used, the tour guide said that the sea is a natural toilet, and those who wanted to use the toilet jumped in. So me and the other two girls took off our diving suits and jumped into the sea to make it easier. I jumped to one side of the boat and they were on the other. It didn't take long for a whale shark to swim towards me. I had asked another tourist on the boat to help take a photo, but I later learned that he had actually recorded a video. This is probably the first time that I have been watched by people while going to the toilet and then been videotaped.

Closer to home, I learned a lot of new knowledge today and introduce whale sharks: Whale sharks belong to fish, with shark-like fins (back and tail), as large as whales, usually 9-12 meters, up to 20 meters long, Is the world's largest fish. The lifespan can reach 70-100 years. Whale sharks are filter feeders, feeding on plankton, giant algae, krill, and small autopilot animals (such as small squid and vertebrates), not humans. Whale sharks swim slowly and often float on the water to bask in the sun. All sharks have no bones! ! ! It is only composed of cartilage. Although there is no bone, the cartilage will form fossils after they die, because the cartilage has absorbed a lot of calcium salts over the years to strengthen the cartilage, and the teeth have enamel, so they also form fossils. The skin on the whale shark's back, below the scales, can be up to 10cm thick and has a rubbery texture that protects it from other predators.

Bronze marine sculptures can be seen every few streets along the promenade along the coast of La Paz, and sunsets are beautiful. The owner of the sofa here is from Mexico City, but moved here a few years ago because I like it more. Now I make coffee in a coffee shop, and I am studying marine biology in my final year. Since the epidemic, their classes have been online. Up. He chose to study marine biology because he is particularly fond of sharks and wants to study how to better protect sharks and their living environment. He said he rarely eats the ubiquitous fish taco here because shark meat is used in many places. He has been to almost all places in Mexico, but he has been saving money to travel to other countries. Like the previous sofa owner, except for the gate outside the community, his house never locks the door. Listen to me about going snorkeling to see whale sharks, and generously said that he could lend me his GoPro underwater video, thank him so much.

In the afternoon, I came back to watch the whale sharks and met up with the little brother in the Bay Area that I met in Cabo a few days ago for dinner. Many local restaurants close early on Christmas Eve, and even some restaurants will be closed until the New Year before reopening. We went to a restaurant, but they had a special limited menu for Christmas Eve, many of the dishes we wanted to order were not available, so we only ordered one first, and decided to go to other restaurants to eat something else. As a result, I went to six or seven restaurants recommended by locals, all of which were closed, so I came back after a long walk.

It is said that Balandra is the most beautiful beach in Baja California Sur, Mexico. You can't feel how beautiful it is by boat. You can only feel it when you climb the mountain with your friends and see the panoramic view the next morning.

The locals and several tourists I met along the way told me that Loreto is four or five hours away from La Paz, too far, and it is small and nothing to do, and it is not worth going. So I decided not to go to Loreto, and diverted the car to Cabo Pulmo to the south. This is a famous national marine park and diving holy land in Mexico, and he came here specifically for diving. It is said that before the establishment of this national park reserve, the overfishing of the fish here caused the number of many marine life to plummet and endangered, so the government decided to ban all fish fishing. , the restoration of the marine ecosystem has made it a famous diving destination. My friend was camping on the beach last night, and I made do with him in his car. This morning he went diving and I went hiking and saw a lot of cacti and butterflies along the way.

After lunch we picked up another Argentine girl his diving group had met, who was hitchhiking all the way through Mexico. Ask her how long she's been traveling, and it's been 13 years since she left Argentina at the age of 22. In these years, while traveling, he made handicrafts such as bracelets and necklaces to make money, or performed acrobatics on the street, or sold postcards made by his professional photography. Last year, she decided to live in Tulum, Mexico for a long time, rented a house and applied for a Mexican resident card. She said it gave her the feeling of home. She said she didn't expect to travel for so many years when she started traveling at the age of 22, but couldn't take it anymore. It's hard to imagine what it's like to be on the road for 13 years.

Tomorrow morning, my brother in the Bay Area will drive all the way north to Northern California. He asked me if I would like to take the plane the day after tomorrow and drive back with him instead. Considering that it will take two or three days to drive on and off the road, let's forget it, so I will go back to La Paz and Cabo San Lucas for two days. This little brother in the Bay Area was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to California at the age of 12. Like me, he also resigned in 2018. He has been backpacking for a year and a half, and he often participates in multi-day (10-20 days) backpacking camping and hiking, only in Nepal. I went there twice and hiked to Everest Base Camp. It feels like he can participate in that kind of wild survival show. Goodbye today, see you back in California.

On my last day at La Paz, I ate too much last night and went for a run in the morning to get some stomach out. After that, I took a nap under the awning on the edge of the beach. Then I wandered aimlessly on the street, there are many beautiful murals.

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