It wasn't the prettiest day we've ever seen but we still had a very nice time here today. Last night I was afraid I was going to have to make a trip back to the Telcel store because my Banda Ancha card kept disconnecting by itself last night. But, when I tried it this morning, it worked just fine. Must have been a Telcel issue. So, I didn't have to sweat getting to the store while they were still open and then trying to get my problem across when the person I would be speaking to and I did not share fluency in a common language. Whew!
After breakfast, we headed out to run some errands, none of which actually needed to be run but, what the heck, a guy's got to have some sort of goal I suppose.
But first, a quick flash back to yesterday's post. On our journey today we walked through the fish market again but this time I got a photo:
This is one of about 6 similar booths side-by-side. The main reason we went was to find out the name of the second fish I bought. The one we want to make tacos out of. Turns out that it's a cazón. So, when we got back to the boat, I googled cazón and found out that it's a small shark, like a dogfish.
Looks tasty.
So, back to today:
We headed up the main drag to hit one of the two tackle stores so we could load up on a little bit of fishing stuff. Just some extra line (a LOT of extra line as it turns out), some hooks and a few lures. We're happily picking stuff out, amazed at the low prices. However, once he rang everything up, it turned out that the posted prices were dollars, not pesos! Ack! No wonder things seemed so cheap. Turned out to be a wee bit more than we were thinking but, we needed the stuff and either get it now or get it later, so we bit down hard on the bullet and paid up. Catching a fish or two on our way down the coast next week would certainly help make the purchase easier to swallow.
Next we headed to the Soriana supermercado to get a couple more items. One of the things we wanted to get was some Tang. Yep, the astronaut drink. We have read that Tang in Mexico is a whole different beast than Tang in the US. One thing's for sure, they sure do have a lot more flavors. We'll let you know how it turns out.
Next stop was a bank so we could hit the ATM and replenish some of what the tackle shop depleted. We were pretty sure where it was from having hit it the other day but we were wrong. While we were never exactly lost, we also had no idea where the bank or the Calimax supermercado (another planned stop) was in relation to where we were. However, even as a blind pig eventually finds a truffle, so we eventually stumbled on the bank and, subsequently, the Calimax.
Our next stop was one that I DID know the location of, having stumbled on it yesterday: Hussong's Cantina:
Established in 1892, Hussong's is an Ensenada landmark and tradition. First I ever heard of it was back in 1973 when my roommate and high school pal, Ned wore a Hussong's T-shirt. He told me about some spring breaks in Ensenada when he was in college. Paul, on s/v Jeorgia, said that Hussong's has Mexican liquor license number 2. That's pretty cool. It was very funky and comfortable inside. We had a couple rounds trying to wait out the rain. I drank Tecate and Lulu had a couple of micheladas. Interesting note for you beerheads: for Mexican beers, Hussongs carried only Tecate, Dos Equis, Bohemia, and Sol. Not a Pacifico or Corona to be found. By the end of our third round, the rain had let up enough that we figured we wouldn't get too wet when we went back to Calimax to get some cheese for making pizza while we're underway next week.
We finally got back to the boat about 2:00. At 4:30 we have a date with the neighbors on m/v Elena for drinks and conversation and then, at 7:30 or whenever after that we finish up on Elena, our friends Byron and Jessica have invited us over to their boat, s/v Sterling, for dinner. Aren't we just the gadabouts?
Our plans are to head out tomorrow sometime between mid-morning and early afternoon. We currently are planning on doing the whole west coast of Baja in one long run. The winds and weather look favorable and we're getting antsy to get to La Paz. Yes, we'll miss some of the nice small anchorages along the west coast, but the weather is cooling and we just want to get there. We're also looking to get a little experience on a longer run than we've been doing. Be nice to have enough time to get into a groove.
So, once we leave here, unless we manage to get cell service somewhere (unlikely as we'll be 20-25 miles out), you won't hear from us for maybe a week and a half. Maybe a little longer.
BTW, today was a fiesta day. To quote Squidoo.com:
"Aniversario de la Revolución commemorates the Mexican Revolution which started on November 20, 1910 when Francisco I. Madero planned an uprising against dictator Porfirio Díaz's 34-year-long iron rule. Although November 20 is the official day, the uprising started on different days in different parts of the country."
It was celebrated here by a parade and probably other stuff as well.
And speaking of fiesta days, it would be REALLY easy to forget this is the Christmas season. When we were in Soriana, they played the occasional carol and had a few trees for sale out front. Once in awhile we'd see something in a shop window that would remind us. Otherwise, nothing. It's a nice refreshing change from the commercialization that we're used to. Maybe it'll change in December but I hope not.
2 comments:
This might sound like a dumb question, but your Tang made me think of it: do you have to be worried about drinking the water, or ice in your drinks or anything like that, when you are in port?
Beverly,
Actually, that's a pretty good question. We, of course, haven't given it much thought. We don't usually worry about it too much because mostly we drink beer straight from the bottle when we're out and about. In general, we will tend to do what the locals are doing. If they only drink bottled water, so will we. Our experience in La Paz when we spent 3 weeks there in 2002 was that the locals mostly drank bottled water, even at home (water cooler style). No one seemed to be too wary of ice in their drinks. Maybe they knew that everyone makes ice with bottled water or something. In less developed areas I would definitely veer away from anything that didn't come from a bottle that I got to see being opened. Learned that in the Navy. Empty bottles can be refilled with whatever so you want to see the bottle get opened so you know it was sealed. Never got sick in the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, or Thailand. Nor did we get sick in La Paz. At least not anything that a couple doses of Pepto-Bismol couldn't clear up.
-Steve
PS: as far as the Tang goes, we have a watermaker on board that will turn sea water into very pure drinking water so no worries there.
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