Las Casitas Hotel Mulegé

... in, publisher of Latitude & Attitude, that the only real difference between an ordeal and adventure is your attitude. This was going to be an adventure and we were going to have a good attitude, no matter what.

The last time we packed up and hit the road, we loaded up three teenagers and a cat, and explored the United States for almost three years. This time, we plan to explore ...

... the border into Latin America, specifically Mexico. Eli and I have had our transition period, mine from NLPU and all the changes it brought about in me, Eli from his life in the UK. I'm still not ready for this, but I'm realising that this whole journey will now be an emotional as well as a physical one, that I don't need to keep things clean anymore, and that I have time; time to travel, time to learn, time to integrate and time to fully blossom and become my mariposa (it ...

... the Mexican civil engineers have no choice but to follow the contour of the land...bridges are few and far between (they are so special that each one has it's own name), and more commonly you drive through "vados" which range to a shallow dip in the road to literally riding a few hundred feet through a dry riverbed...during rainy periods these would be absolutely flooded. In the dry season, poor signage can mean that you can unexpectedly hit ...

We have ventured slightly north,to Mulege, an apparent Oasis in the desert. My idea of an oasis was that it was cool, but its still damn hot here, there are a lot of palm trees here, and a river which give it a pretty cool oasis feel. Also there are hardly any tourists around, especially rich, loud ones with massive boats and bigger bellies so we are enjoying the ...

... one hundred porpoises feeding. We were in our dinghy looking for a place to snorkel one day and saw a huge sea turtle swim under us. We also see lots of sting rays, some huge, swimming underneath the dingy. We know someone who was stung the other day by one, so we are quite careful in the shallow water. In some bays, the water is so clear we can see our anchor. Each place we stop has its own distinct personality and beauty. Some beaches are covered with gorgeous ...

... looked back to see one of the boatmen following her. All of a sudden he was able to string English sentences together rather nicely. After a little small talk, he was sympathetic and escorted her to the office to help haggle a cheap price. Geraldine was not willing to go higher than $30, but the man in charge was not willing to go lower than $40 USD. Thanks in part to the helpful boatman, the boss finally agreed to take both Geraldine and Michael out for the $40 ...

... we did some of our own sight-seeing. We strolled the boardwalk Malecon and decided we could not leave Ensenada without trying some fish tacos. After all, fish tacos were invented in Ensenada, so we had to splurge to see what the rage was all about. The taco stands back onto a large open air fish market (Mercado Del Mariscos) which serve the vendors with fresh fish straight from the ocean. Fish Tacos are ...

... nothing. The plan was slightly thwarted when we thought it might be a good idea to stroll to the local Fruteria (fruit stand) supposedly only one kilometer away. We hiked the highway through low lying brush, horse poop, cacti and plenty of barking dogs to reach the Fruteria....so much for doing nothing. The trip paid off for Geraldine though as she discovered that the Fruteria sold guavas...mmmmm, guavas! We also found ...

An exciting day! We crossed the border at Mexicali without incident...mostly hand gestures and dirty looks from the Mexican customs guys (stupid gringos). Anyway it was a beautiful drive west across the Sierra Juarez Mountains to Tecate (yes they make the beer there) and then south to the winery region where we are camped now. Check the pics. We are camping at a place called Rancho Sordo Mudo. It is a school for Mexican deaf ...

Well the highlight of Mexico was the hostel in El Sauzel near Ensendad. After wandering around the village streets for a hour and nearly getting attacked by 5 massive dogs, red hair is strange in Mexico and calling the hostel from some house - Maria came out to find me. I was delighted to see this stranger as my bag pack now weighed twice as heavy, remembering I am carrying tortilla makers for mother hen round the country. Well Maria's, backpacker ...