This week we were visited by three of our cousins: Sandi from Hawaii and Cindi and Rick from Seattle. We were so excited that they decided to come and enjoy our adventure with us!
Day #1: We enjoyed the city of Ensenada, had lunch at a local’s hangout for Mexican food not influenced by “touristas”. We decided to visit La Bufadora (translated “the puff”). We asked a man on the street who was selling trips to people off the cruise ship. He lined us up with a taxi that would take us the 45 minutes to “the puff”, wait for us and bring us back. Cool! We saw a lot of scenery while on our way, including a cow walking across the road! Arriving, we see a street full of vendors…..they sure take every advantage to sell something to we “touristas”. So we bought the obligatory shirt and continued to the sea wall. We waited until La Bufadora blew. The larger the swell and tide, the larger the spout. Interesting. Topped it all off with a nice dinner at the Cerveceria (Brewery).
Day #2: Sailed and fished in Bahia de Todos Santos. Day started off with very little wind, so concentrated on catching some dinner. A couple of hours into the day, the wind picked up and so did the swells. And it went up and up and up. Away went the fishing pole….in came part of the sails. This made for quite a rough ride, but we made it back with only a little sea sickness! (not Dale this time!) Recovered and had a nice dinner next to the fire pit at the Marina Grill.
Day #3: Began our day with an amazing champagne breakfast buffet at Hotel Coral. They had an omelet station, tortilla station, seafood station, pit with roast lamb and crepe station (Rick’s favorite!), as well as several tables of various dishes and deserts. What a feast! Ziplined at Desert Nest at Cuatro Cuatros. Wow! What an amazing experience! And a great way to see the Baja countryside. We rode in the back of a pickup truck that went straight up over dirt roads. Our “guide” was a local kid that hooked his tether to the roll bar and hung off the back! The ziplines were super long, with a hike between them. We topped it off with a lobster dinner at La Cocedora de Langosta that was celebration of Sandi’s birthday. The waiter let us know that at the table behind us sat the restaurant owner as well as the winemaker. We complemented them on both the restaurant as well as the fantastic wine. This led to some great conversations with them as well as complimentary wine and Baileys for dessert. What a fantastic day!
Day #4: Tried our luck at fishing as well as sailing again. Much more mellow day. The catch turned out to be kelp….but it was a beautiful day anyway. Ubered into town to Birrieria La Guadalajara. Birria is a “stew” of your choice of meat in a spicy chili sauce that is eaten on tortillas with your choice of toppings. Very tasty! Authentic way to end our adventure in Ensenada!
Said goodbye to our family and vowed to meet up again at another destination!