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Days One Eighty-Four and One Eighty-Five
Entry 81 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
While staying at Playa Escondida last week, I had noticed that EcoMundo, the campo next door, looked very interesting. Founded in the late 1980s, EcoMundo was meant to be a low-impact, environmentally friendly beach hideaway. The palapas are more elaborate than any others we have encountered. Many are actually fully enclosed huts with modest beds and solar powered lights. Most come complete with hammocks and grills for cooking. The complex includes composting toilets, solar showers, recycling bins, a small restaurant and bar, and kayak and snorkeling rentals. Everything is much cleaner than Playa Escondida next door but it is also more than twice as expensive. Where Playa Escondida charged sixty pesos for a palapa, EcoMundo charges one hundred and thirty pesos plus an extra ten pesos for each shower. I was a little shocked at the price difference at first but in retrospect, the significant increase in sanitation was worth the extra seventy pesos. The founder of EcoMundo had recently moved to Thailand and a young couple from Colorado has leased the campo for five years. They seem to really enjoy what they are doing and do a great job of taking care of their guests and keeping the place clean and attractive.
The Alabamans showed up shortly after we arrived and settled into one of the fancy palapas two doors down. They immediately took a fancy to Kudzu which is to be expected since people from the South have a more sophisticated appreciation of pets than do people from other parts of the country. After a short run, I joined them for a few beers and some down-home Southern conversation before we all headed into Mulege for dinner at Pelican Reef, a pleasantly seedy expat bar on the town square. A fellow EcoMundo guest from San Diego hitched a ride to pick up her backpack in town and joined us for dinner. I had vowed to eat nothing but Mexican food while south of the border but I broke down and had a big, juicy cheeseburger and fries which was fantastic. I did however drink a Tecate.
The Alabamans and I rented kayaks this morning and paddled around Bahia Concepcion exploring a few of the many islas or islands in the bahia. I had never kayaked in my life and I'm a lousy swimmer but the water was calm so I strapped on a life preserver and said what the heck. I briefly thought about taking Zoobley along but I had taken her for a short swim yesterday and seems to be increasingly terrified of the water so I left her in the palapa to snooze in the shade. Kayaking was a lot easier than I thought it would be and immensely fun (although I'll leave the white water stuff to the danger junkies). We stopped briefly to explore Isla Liebre and then headed north across the bahia to Playa Santispac. While lounging on the beach, we were suddenly swarmed by two busloads of screaming teenagers on a field trip from Ensenada. Fortunately we could escape quickly in our kayaks. We returned to EcoMundo to find Kudzu sound asleep never having noticed we had gone.
We spent the afternoon relaxing in our hammocks and enjoying to warm, Baja sun. We were continually entertained by the two Mexican couples in the palapa next door. I had noticed them at Playa Escondida last week but they too had apparently made the move to EcoMundo. They have been quiet and unobtrusive but we are all fascinated by the amount of gear they brought to the beach. In addition to two large tents, which seem a bit redundant given that the palapas are spacious, they have a complete African safari camp with shade awning, numerous tables, multiple stoves, a kitchen full of cooking gear, bicycles, rubber raft, chairs, and two portable DVD players. At least four or five times each day, they cook an elaborate meal. The constant aroma of cooking meat or fish has increased our appetites significantly. Each day, I have noticed three of the four walking their bicycles down the road although I have never actually seen them riding. Watching people do the funny things they do is almost always the best entertainment.
Thanks to the aromas emanating from our neighbors camp, the Alabamans drove us to an early dinner at La Palapa restaurant just south of Mulege. La Palapa is one of those unnoticeable roadside places that you would never even notice if someone hadn't pointe it out. Fortunately someone did point it out because the food was great (I had chicken enchiladas) and the owner went out of his way to see that we enjoyed ourselves.
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