Day 10 started with us all bustling around the campground preparing to leave this lovely campground with its rose garden, fountain, floral hedges, almond and citrus trees.
Oranges, lemons and grapefruits were ripe for picking. Darcy walked around with a bag of grapefruits, sharing them with the group and some of us rescued a few lemons from the ground.
The area south of Loreto is slated for development to promote tourism. Such development has been happening over the last several years and is slow to take off. Damage from the latest tropical storm did not help this area.
Leaving the Sea of Cortez for now, we traveled inland to the farming belt of Baja. A short drive today took us through Ciudad Insurgentes where we stopped for fuel and noticed the fruit trees just south of town. There were still some oranges on trees but this crop is likely out there in the markets. Apparently, In one season they get two crops of oranges. Just before our camping stop for today we stopped in Ciudad Constitucion for grocery shopping. This small city is home to the first large super market south of Ensenada; here at Super Ley we all stocked up on supplies for the next few days. By early afternoon we reached Palapa 206, home to Mike and Bertha and their 2 sons Nigel and Paklo. The RV park is set between a distribution centre for asparagus and on the other side a potato centre.
We all prepared ourselves to soak up sun in a leisurely way. There is not too much to do here but Mike came to greet us and sat and chatted with the group. Nigel took Darcy and Jim for a ride in his Baja Buggy. We made our fun and landed ourselves in front of Peters RV until supper time. Nigel introduced us to a litter of puppies which kept the ladies ooh-ing and aah-ing until bedtime.
The next morning, Day 11– the puppies were toddling about as we prepared to leave. Not wanting them to get under moving RV’s Elaine tucked them away safely out of site so we could leave.
A fairly long driving day kept us inland where small villages dotted the highway. Our first glimpses of the Sea of Cortez told us we were nearing Baja’s capital city La Paz which is the largest city on the Baja. We didn’t stop in La Paz this time but traversed the truck route around the city and the Bay to our beach destination which is about 24 kms north of La Paz.
Swimming and kayaking in Paradise
We arrived just after lunch to Playa Tecolote a public beach popular to RVers and Mexican families. Like the tap of a magicians wand the group was sitting on the beach. We are all so practiced at setting camp that it takes no time at all especially when dry camping, there are no hoses and cords to deal with.
The weather was perfect and the water was clear and cool. We filled up 2 days with swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, walking the beach, star gazing, bird watching, buying gifts from the vendors, and eating.
On our last evening we organized a potluck which started with a happy hour and games. Bola Ball aka desert golf kept us amused for hours. Peter, Jim and Allan had a style or just luck and won the most games. Once again the group out did themselves with food creations.
