Indefinite Walkabouts: Todos Santos

The rolling hills of the desert of Baja gave way to two weeks I planned to spend on the rolling seas of Todos Santos. Although I had never been before I made the decision months ago to spend more extended time there than anywhere else during this adventure. I heard good things about it, knew there were good surf breaks, and simply had a generally good feeling about it. So yeah, good.

I booked a house on Airbnb in a neighborhood right in town and it ended up being just right. The home was modern, comfortable, and big. There was a rooftop palapa for stringing up my hammock and watching sunsets, an outdoor shower, and a washing machine, among other creature comforts. I was sharing the home with quite a few very large cockroaches and a mouse who had made a nice little bed in the oven using insulation. I lived in Thailand, Hawaii, and Grand Turk in a previous life so I'm not too freaked out by the critter roommates that make themselves comfortable in tropical habitations, but that didn't mean I was against smashing the massive insects if I found them loitering too long in the kitchen. I eventually began using a Friday reference pretty much whenever I went in to grab a snack or some water. "How come every time I'm in the kitchen, yo ass in the kitchen?"

Thanksgiving fell during my time in Todos Santos so Kerry decided she would come down for a few days to celebrate. It wasn't what you would call a traditional experience full of football and hot toddys. Ours was filled with whale sharks, humpbacks, and dolphins. Off the coast of La Paz, about 45 minutes away by car, there is an opportunity to see whale sharks this time of year. For those of you not familiar, a whale shark is a shark and not a whale, meaning it's a fish. It's actually the world's biggest fish, growing up to 40 feet long. They have no teeth being filter feeders so they're completely harmless to humans. They're pretty rare and are something of a holy grail to scuba divers. I've seen quite a few in my life but Kerry had never seen one. If you're ever in a part of the world at the right time when seeing at least one is more or less guaranteed, take advantage of it. I was excited that Kerry would have the opportunity. We were able to get in the water to snorkel with three or four different whale sharks. The previously mentioned humpbacks and dolphins were bonuses that showed up during the tour.

After we returned from La Paz we decided we would do our best to make a somewhat traditional dinner. Proper Thanksgiving ingredients were hard to come by but we were able to find enough to make it feel legit. We had chicken, boxed stuffing, yams, gravy, potatoes, green beans, and brownies for dessert.

The first problem we encountered was that the oven wouldn't work. Well, actually the first problem was than when I opened the oven I saw a little mouse scurry away and out through the bottom, leaving his cushy little insulation bed in the corner. After removing that the second problem was the non working oven. No worries, we'll make the chicken on the stove. We won't be able to toast marshmallows on top of the yams, but that's not the end of the world. Moving right along.

Problem number three: In the US if we have gas powered appliances there is a magical endless supply. We don't really think about it until the bill comes, and at least for me, I don't really even think about it then because it's on auto pay. In Mexico the homes have propane tanks. When they run out you have to get them filled before you have hot water, a stove top, etc.. So of course during Thanksgiving dinner, for which Kerry and I spent a good amount of time and money at three different stores finding the appropriate ingredients, the gas ran out. Basically, all that food we half way prepared was garbage and we had no other plans for a proper Thanksgiving. I did successfully half cook the yams which I proceeded to mash with a fork and add brown sugar and yogurt to (I had no milk). I then threw some mini marshmallows on top and boom, Thanksgiving yams. They were tasty. Kerry liked them and said they had a "trashy" taste. I told my friend Chloe back home about Kerry's opinion and she informed me that putting marshmallows on anything pretty much makes it trashy. I had no idea. I guess I'm not as classy as I thought I was.

Mexicans obviously don't give a shit about the third Thursday in Novemeber so luckily my favorite Todos Santos taqueria was open. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner of a baked potato loaded with carne asada, cheese, and vegetables and tacos al pastor.

The rest of my time in Todos Santos was pretty relaxed. My days consisted of waking up early, making coffee and a basic breakfast before heading to the beach to surf and hang out. I even bought my first surfboard, shaped right there in Todos Santos. I also met some French Canadians who were on a road trip themselves all the way from Quebec. They had made friends with some of the Mexican guys who worked on the beach renting surfboards and beach umbrellas. We all hung out quite a bit both surfing and apres surf beer drinking and eating.

Although I enjoyed Todos Santos, two weeks was plenty of time I was excited to first do some camping in a rural national park, then to get over to the mainland.

Kerry releasing a baby sea turtle at the beach near the house in Todos Santos