Day 3

We started by driving south. First stop was Rancho Pescaderos. On the ocean side was a large hotel (probably 5 star) with beautiful grounds. But in the middle of nowhere. Wouldn’t want to stay there. Lots of agriculture around. We drove through fields of pepper and basil (most driving here is on dirt roads). We stopped at a tiny shack advertising fresh eggs and “pan dulce” (pastries). They were baking these pastries in wood fired oven. Lots of smoke got in our eyes but pastry was good. Then we drove further south towards Cerritos beach, the only local beach that is good for swimming. It wasn’t well marked at all– we had to make 3 or 4 U turns to find it. All these places are on dirt roads. It was a nice beach (with swimming and surfing) and a couple of OK hotels. On the way back to Todos Santos we drove through the village of Pescadero. The most impressive part was that it had more paved streets than Todos Santos. We got back in time for lunch and we had carnitas burritos in a shack called Tacos Uruapan. Very different from what we are used to. We took the rest of the afternoon relaxing on our rooftop terrace. Then back to town to visit more galleries and dinner. We went back to the same restaurant we ate on Monday (Café Santa Fe) and had the same dishes. The snook was great and it is not available in US. The yellow tail was also excellent. We are now sitting on our rooftop terrace enjoying the brandy we bought in town and the post-sunset view. We got a visit from a couple of Los Colibris dogs. They have 5 dogs here (all big and very friendly) and 5 or 6 cats. Pictures and names of all the dogs and cats are included in the room package.

Day 2

Todos Santos is a gem. One of the few places we would revisit. In the morning, before breakfast, we decided to check out the fastest way to get to he beach. It goes over the hill and straight down to the beach, but unfortunately, you can hardly see the pathway, the slope is rocky and full of cacti and there are no signs so we decided to turn back. After breakfast, we took the longer trail to the beach. On the way. we visited the 5 star hotel close to the beach owned by a Swiss couple. OK but our casita is just as nice. We walked on the beach, which was completely empty except for one man who told us he was a transplant from San Diego, and a group of horse back riders, which included a young family (parents and two little boys) from Boston who are also staying at Los Colibris. The waves are immense and rip tides very strong; there are warning signs that it dangerous to swim. There is a swimming and surfing beach down the road about 8 miles called Cerritos beach. Then, we drove into town and explored neighborhoods in more remote areas, outside the historical center. These large outlying areas have big, gorgeous new homes close to the ocean and also into the desert. Most are on dirt roads. In between these opulent homes, we saw many agricultural areas with fields of peppers, onions, corn. No wonder food tastes so good here. It’s all locally grown. Back to the center for a late lunch of fish tacos in a blue shack called Mariscos Sinaloense. We ordered one taco each, but they were so good that we had to get another. Then a walking tour of the historical district provided by Sergio, the owner of our hotel. We got a real education of the history of Baja California. After the tour, we had great margaritas and mojitos and went to dinner to another highly recommended place called La Casita. It was a very good 4 star food, but not nearly as amazing as last night

Day 1 Travel

The Alaska Airlines flight from Orange County to Cabo San Lucas was excellent. Recent survey rated them in top 5 airlines. Los Cabos airport was jammed with tons of people. When we got to the immigration area and saw hundreds and hundreds of people snaking in a line that went forever, we thought it’d be a couple of hours before we get out of there. But they were extremely efficient in processing people. All it took was maybe 20 minutes. The car rental company warned us we had to get through two halls full of people trying to sell time shares, rides, etc so we walked quickly and got out into a drinking crowd outside the terminal where Cactus (car rental) people met us. They were also good and very efficient. The drive to Todos Santos was easy on good roads (first part on a new toll road), about an hour. The town is small and only the center has paved roads, other roads are dirt rods. We followed directions from our hotel and drove into the hills on a narrow dirt road. Our hotel (Los Colibres) is a group of casitas. Our casita is called La Chucha. It’s like a studio apartment with two terraces – one on the room level and the other is a rooftop terrace, both overlooking the ocean. Because the dirt roads are unlit, it’s better not to arrive after dark. We went and explored the historical center of town. It is lovely. After walking for 2 hours we decided to have an early dinner because we had no lunch and also we were afraid that if we stay till dark, we’ll never find our way back to Los Colibris. We ate at Café Santa Fe, which was highly recommended by our hotel and had very good reviews on line. Best meal we have had in a long time. We both had fish – yellowtail and a fish called snook, which we’d never had before. Both were outstanding. Then back to the hotel to enjoy the sunset from the rooftop until mosquitoes forced us to go inside. Pictures are our casita.

Preamble

This is our 50th trip together. Todos Santos is one of the most appealing towns in all of Baja, maybe even all of Mexico. A quirky mix of locals, fishers, surfers and New Age spiritualists, the town of ‘All Saints’ has thus far escaped the rampant tourism. We expect to have a good time.