Mainland

Mainland!

14/03/2015

So, the next day I was up early and headed straight off on a 10 hour drive. I actually made it all the way to Todos Santos (the confusingly named town in Southern Baja!) I was planning on cutting that drive in half, and stop off at a wave, but I completely forgot! I was in the driving zone and just kept driving all day! It was only when I got to La Paz that I realised I have missed it. I got pulled by the cops In La Paz which was annoying, but I cunningly wriggled my way out of having to pay them anything. Not really sure how I managed it, but I think after they had talked to me for a bit they took pity on me. Again the drive was stunning. The sea of Cortez Is so beautiful, Im gunna have to come back one day when I'm not on a surf trip and spend more time there, so many perfect little coves with crystal blue waters and white sand beaches.

Anyway. Long drive, but I made it! Diego met me in the centre of town and we drove to his place. Its not really his place, but he lives there. He looks after the house for the owner, who is never there. So he pretty much gets paid to live in an amazing house! And an amazing house it is! Todos Santos is stunning as it is, lovely seaside town, full of palms and plants. Diego’s place looks out over a palm filled valley. Palapa style roof (thatched with palm fronds) with the wooden beams showing. 2 Stories. The downstairs is open planned kitchen/dinning room/living room with a bedroom and bathroom. The second floor is only half, with a spiral stair coming up near the door. There was also a small guest house which is where he said I could kip for a few days. I decided it would be nice to just rest here for a while, get my energy back and get ready for the next step! Main Land!

I have had an epic time here, relaxing, surfing, sorting shit out. There is a good beach just up from Diego’s place. There has been a bit of swell, so we have surfed pretty much every morning. I have been able to clean everything up (including myself) which is nice. The truck is feeling better, I changed the oil, and just generally made sure everything was nice and tight and clean.

There was a hatching of turtle eggs while we were there as well! When the eggs start to hatch, the helper people collect all the babies so they don't get eaten by Sea Gulls and then release them as It gets dark. Diego knew the people who were doing it so we went along to help out which was like the best thing ever. Turtles have been my favourite animal my entire life. Undoubtedly because the first book I ever had was called ‘Tasman The Turtle’. Even to this day I can remember most of the top quotes ‘Ocean bubbles, turtles troubles’ or ‘My flippers are fins, I was born to swim!’ and good old Bad Barry and his Barracuda Bunch. Anyway, what I’m getting at is it was awesome. A Leather Back and an Olive Ridley hatching on the same day, so there was like 100 baby turtles running about the place trying to get to the sea.

Had some seriously good Cervichi as well. I could just eat it all day, it is so more-ish. Maybe I will call This thing ‘I Fecking Love Fish Tacos and Cervichi’ but then where do I stop… I could go on forever naming all the Mexican food I fecking love. I will have to think about it…

Booking the ferry and planning the next step has been fun. I bought the ticket online, but you need to register and get a vehicle permit at the ferry port, so I did that today. hour and a half drive in to La Paz… I did it today just in case It took a day for the shit to go through, but I could have just done it tomorrow and saved myself having to do the trip twice! But there we go! Its all good. But yeah, I have planned my journey south, I’m going to follow the coast as well as I can to Puerto, stopping at as many surf spots as I can. Im going to spend a few weeks in Pascuales and Puerto to make sure I get good size swell In both. but other than that I'm just going to be cruising, spending a few days in each spot. or so I have planned!

So yeah! Tomorrow Im going to get the ferry! Pretty excited, the main land is going to be completely different to Baja. For one it is tropical, palms and rain. And there are people. My experiences so far have been on my own, driving though empty desert. Now I am going to have to deal with the hustle and bustle of civilisation. Should be fun! The roads should be better as well which will make a nice change! Yew Frothing! See you on the mainland!

17/03/2015

I was definatly sad to be leaving Baja behind me. I have had such an awesome time making my way down the peninsular. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t ready to move on, because I was. There is only so much alone time a man can take, I’m starting to push my limit. I was a little nevous as well. Not sure what it was going to be like. Change is always daunting.

The morning of the 15th found me triple checking I had everything I needed for the mainland. I’m not sure if I mentioned, but Diego has a load of old guns which he isn’t using and thinks will be better of in Pascuales and Puerto Escondido. So It was that I found myself with 4 more boards on my roof. My quiver is now up to 11: 2x5’8’s a 5’10,6’0,6’6,6’10,3x8’0’s a 9’0 and a 9’10 8. Seven of those boards are for bigger waves… pretty much sums up my trip.

But once Diego and I got them strapped down I was ready. It is an afternoon ferry, leaves at 5 and gets in at 11 the next morning, so you can get a good sleep and have the whole day to sort your self out on the other side. 12 O'clock came and so I had to say good bye yet again, both of us knowing if we didn't meet in Puerto we would bump in to each other somewhere else in the world, chasing a big swell. He gave me some names and addresses of amigos in Pascuales and Puerto so I could drop his boards off.

The drive to Pichilingue was about 2 hours, I had to be there 2 hours before, so leaving at 12 gave me more than enough time. So it was that I found my self as one of the first on the ferry! Right up to the top deck in the open air! Other than that, the ferry was a rather megre affair, a small eaterie with some tables and chairs, cabins if you had the money and airline type seats for the rest. The ticket did include a free dinner and breakfast however, which definatly made my day! It was a beautiful evening as we left the port, so everyone was crowded up on deck drinking cervazas and watching the sun slip below the mountains. I found a pretty good bench to sleep on, I had a pillow and a blanket, and got a surprisingly good sleep!

We were cruising down the coast of the mainland by dawn, but still had a good few hours before reaching Mazatlan. No worries, as the free food and endless supply of movies kept us occupied. Being one of the first on, I was one of the last off, so I got to hang about and watch us come in to port. Its like a different world. Where Baja was dry and dusty, the mainland is humid and green with groves of palm trees stretching for miles! I was sort of un sure as to what I was going to do with my day, but I could see a cool steep hill/island/ithsms or whatever its called, just to the side of the port. So I decided to climb it as soon as I got off, to get a feel for things and go from there.

I disembarked and found my way out to the base of the hill, a pretty big hill, with steep densely forested sides and an old light house at the top. There was a long winding path leading up to the top. The route was obviously a tourist attraction, as there were lots of people walking up and down. I took it at a fast pace to get my heart pumping, but was soon regretting it. The heat had me sweating buckets. I kept on, thighs burning. It felt good to be doing something after the ferry. The rest at the top helped me make a plan. I was going to head in to town to have a look around and do some of the things I needed to do, then just slowly cruise south and try and reach a place called Teacupan where the was supposed to be a wave.

As is to be expected when driving around an un-known city, I got lots 3 or 4 times. It was pretty cool however, there was a really nice square and I got all the bits I needed (apart from a guitar, I want a guitar). After spending far longer than I meant to blundering about, I found myself on the right road south. I figured I had just enough light to make it before dark.

I didn’t, but it seems to me like it was for the better! When the light began to fade I started looking for a likely spot to park up. I saw a sign for the beach and headed down. The only thing down there was a palapa on the beach with a group of people settling in for the evening. I asked if it was ok to park out for the night and they were more than welcoming, and I was soon sat round chatting. They were there, living in the palapa for 3 months as a ‘Work crew’ of sorts, building palapas on the beach for a festival in may. 2 women who seemed to be there to cook and were very lovely, 3 younger lads and a couple of older wiser men. The lads being the muscle and the men the brains is what I figured. They didn't speak a word of english between then, but we had a laugh trying to under stand each other. They tried to feed me as well, but I felt bad and said I had food, and so I retired for the night.

The next morning (this morning) they did feed me! Didn't seem to be much I could do about it. A plat of eggs, beans and chillies were set front of me when I was sat drinking coffee (which they made for me!). It was delicious, They were hand making tortilla wraps as well, so we had a constant, hot supply as well! I was buzzing, and I had provided the milk for the coffee, so I didn't feel too bad. I asked if they were working today, and I could help if they needed. They were finishing off their own palapa in morning, so I gave them a hand with that, splitting the palm leaves in half and passing them up to the roof. It was very quick, and we smashed though it by the time the sun got too hot to do anything. Then it was siesta time. Everyone relaxed in the shade for the middle of the day, seemed like there was no rush, so why work in the heat?

I liked it here, so decided to stay another night. Being right on the beach I could see there were not many waves, but Teacupan was only about 15-20 minutes away, so I decided to go and check it out, see if it was any good.

It wasn't

But the town its self was nice, a lazy river side fishing village with a nice harbour and a few houses. The river mouth didn't look anything special, but I was seeing it on a very small swell so there might be something sometimes… I asked about if there was anywhere to buy a guitar, and a few people said there was a town up the way called Esquinapa where there was a guy who made them! Boom! I could’t be bothered to drive there today, and it is on my way south, so I decided to pop in tomorrow when Im passing through.

I got back to the camp just as they guys were heading out to get some more palm leaves, so I jumped in the back of their old battered pick up and was given a machete. We didn't go far, just trundled along in to the palm groves which line the beaches. We were grabbing the big fronds which had fallen off and were lying on the ground, so the truck just moved along, and we chucked them in the back! After we had filled the truck, it was time for some coconuts. Apparently the girls were going to make coconut bread, so we grabbed a load of older ones which had been lying on the ground for them and then picked some greener ones for ourselves! The juice was even better than I remember! So refreshing and sweet and delicious. Cool, despite having been out in the sun. It was almost like fizzy as well! soo good.

The evening was pretty chilled, I went for a little run along the beach and a swim. Water is toastie, i’m fine in boardies, cant wait to surf in boards again, it will be so nice. But yeah, we just sat around chilling, talking I ended up spending a while chatting with one of the guys, teaching each other. He was correcting me and telling me how to say things properly and I was trying to teach him a few words of english. They fed me again which was awesome, and yeah! now I'm just getting snuggled up, hopefully tomorrow I will make it down to Sayulita!