Baja Entry #6

1/17/09 9:26 AM Playa Santispac, furthest palapa from other human beings

Te gusto? (Did you like it?)
Quieres hacer algo esta noche? (Would you like to do something tonight?)

Made some nescafe (mmm...instant coffee) and washed dishes, killing an annoying bee in the process. Thus I'm sitting down to write (escribre) 30 mins later. Anyways, we got up and cleaned up, ate breakfast, and said "Adios!" to our beautiful casa by Mulege. Funny moment: taking our plantation style group photo before leaving la casa. We drove into Mulege to re-stock our supplies for the next 2 days of beach camping. Courtney and I walked over to Casa Yer to get mas cigarros. Then we got groceries, ice, beer, etc. at the store. Mingo had some challenges putting the full beer cooler back into the truck, but once those were overcome we stopped at another market for huevos y queso and departed south from Mulege. Intended destino: Playa El Burro. On the way we passed Playa Santispac, a beautiful beach nestled between hills that provided some wind protection to the campers under their palapas. We drove on to El Burro, however the beach was exposed to the wind, and the palapas on both sides of the sole vacant spot were occupada, so we decided to go back to Santispac to see if we could find a better spot. We were all well aware of the volume of our merrymaking, and were ideally looking for a spot that would provide some distance between our party and other campers. Anyways, on the way back to Santispac we saw a Honda CRV near the beach that appeared to be high centered in some mud. We passed through the oficina where the people were on siesta anyways, and drove down la playa to the vacant palapas. We parked after deeming the best of 4 palapas to be our home for the next couple days. Opening Tecates, Carl suggested we see if the stuck vehicle needed more help. 2 vans were there, the Mexican merchants hocking their wares, and were unsuccessful in pulling the vehicle out of the mud because the rope kept breaking.

El coche se descompuso. (The car has broken down.)

Carl sent Mingo back to fetch his truck. We wound up a few ropes to provide a more secure tugline. Then, with the people pushing the car and Mingo's truck pulling it, we edged the CRV out of the mud. It took 2 attempts before mission accomplished. The gringo who was driving was very gracious for our help, he pulled out a bottle of blanca tequila and a cooler of Sol to share with us. He was there with his wife, and they were an older, white American couple who we learned lived on the California-Oregon border. The man owns a restaurant called "Agave" in Ashland, Oregon, and offered us all a free meal anytime we happened to pass through. They were voyaging as far as La Paz, but had seen how empty Playa Santispac was and stopped to drive through the beach. Typically this playa is much more crowded, or so said the gentleman as he pulled on the bottle of tequila. Anyways, they took a group picture of us and we purchased a hammock and blanket (for 500 pesos and 300 pesos respectively) from the men who had also assisted the couple, Adolfo y Jose. They promised to return the next day with their "Junk" as Adolfo called it, and of course kept their promise by returning at around 9AM. However, we were all a bit consado and disinterested in their "Junk" at that time in the morning. Anyways, after the couple got on their way we hopped in the back of Mingo's truck, our cervezas serving as trophies for victoriously freeing the vehicle from the mud, and went back to our palapa to set up camp.

Blackness and Mingo went to get lena (firewood) and we all threw a rugby ball around and waded through the shallow, blue ocean. I filled buckets of ocean water and once we'd gathered large rocks to create the fire pit perimeter I used the water and a stupid plastic scooper to dig out the center (Note: bring a shovel when camping on the beach. And don't let Domingo convince you that a plastic scooper will suffice when you attempt to locate a shovel for purchase). Carl bought and cooked up camorrones for us to eat. While we sat drinking Tecates on the beach, a fellow gringo, Captain Jack, stopped by to greet us. He was anchored at Playa El Burro, the beach up the road where we had decided against setting up camp. We came to learn this about him: He'd been here since June, when his computer broke, and was going to be leaving to the South Pacific sometime in the coming months. He was from LA and he and Carl exchanged various stories and factoids related to sailing, where to buy supplies, best spots for sailing and camping, etc. Captain Jack was a good guy and he left, saying he'd likely stop in to see us again tomorrow. We all enjoyed hearing about his plans and chatting with him.

Ha sido un placer conocerte (It's been great meeting you.)

Carl then cooked up some pork and we ate a meal of corn, grilled pork, avocadoes, and tortiallas. Oh, and of course Tapatio. There was always Tapatio. The fire burned brightly and the night was temperate. At some point Lemur cut open his toes on an abandoned fire pit near another campsite, and Carl applied first aid to help the wounded Lemur. I got sleepy and went to the tent to retire for the evening. I woke up around 3:30AM and the Lemur was snoring up a storm. I dug out my iPod and listened to Postal Service, Elliot Smith, and other super mellow music. Finally I could only hear faint snoring fromt he Lemur, and I fell back to sleep.