Vacation in Baja Sur, Mexico

We went on a vacation to Buena Vista, Baja California Sur, Mexico. We rented a house with Auntie Woo and Uncle Miles that was right on the beach of the Gulf of California ~ known as the Sea of Cortez to Mexicans.

view of the house from the beach

We had access to a hotel ~ with pool and spa fed by a natural hot spring ~ that was just a few steps from our house. So our days were spent hopping from sea to pool to spa and back again, depending on the wind (the first couple of days) and on the intensity of the sun.

lounging under the umbrella, fishing pole poised at the ready.

at the pool ~ Anjali with a straw, hoping for some pina colada!

Papi got to do some fishing ~ taking a sea kayak out in the morning, or just throwing a line out as we sat on the beach. Anjali (and we!) acclimated to the siesta culture easily, taking long naps in the afternoon, and staying up late to enjoy the millions of stars visible in the sky at night from the back patio.

For the first few days Anjali was tentative about the water and insisted on staying dry, regardless of who she saw enjoying themselves in it. She grew quite confident and was content to roam the grounds of the spa, and learned what you do with buckets and shovels in the sand.

tooling around the grounds.

playing in the sand

As much as Mommy has always loved being in water, I was over-zealous in my attempts to introduce her to it. But she made a few small friends along the way, and one day two of them ~ and a baby doll! ~ were all in the baby pool all at the same time. She could barely get in the water fast enough!

With friend Ana Paula's sweet encouragement, Anjali's first pleasant foray into the pool!

Satisfied at the end of a day full of water fun.

Soon she felt comfortable in the sea as well, finding that soft spot in the sand right at knee-level where she knew she needed to turn back. As the waves gently splashed up, she would say, "Weee!" (And today when we walked by a body of water, she said, "Weee! Weee!")

On the last day, Papi, Anjali, and Mommy even went for a short kayak ride on the sea.

We made a lot of meals at home.

But we always made it over to the Hotel for chips and guacamole in the midday! Anjali also learned very quickly that she had a taste for pina colada! So finally I decided to get her a non-alcoholic one all of her own. At first she dipped the straw in, as she had the couple times before when she sampled mine. But when she figured out she had free-reign over it, she turned the cup up and guzzled the whole thing! Too late, I realized I might have let her have too much ~ Anjali got her first-ever sugar rush! For an hour, it was all Papi could do to keep up with her as she buzzed, restless and unfocused, from one activity to the next! Boy, were we relieved when that wore off! :-D A learning experience, for sure.

One evening we all took a trip to La Ribera, where Uncle Miles co-owns property with a few other people (and which Papi and Mommy are investigating buying into, too!). We saw some fruit trees that Miles planted a few years ago ~ banana trees and papaya ~ loaded with fruit!

Miles and the banana tree he planted.

It's not apparent from this photo, but those are full-sized bananas ~ not miniatures!

We hiked through the spiky desert plants to the top of the property where we had a view all the way to the water.

We saw the layout for buildings, and the "earth-bag" shed Miles helped build to house tools. The plan is to cultivate it to become a lush, self-sustaining garden using permaculture principles. It was thrilling to be on the property and share in that vision.

A detail of the week that Papi and I were pleased about was Anjali's sun-gear in the intense Baja sun ~ we found a "longie" swimsuit so that we only had to apply sunscreen to her hands, wrist, feet and face. A lucky thing, because Anjali did *not* enjoy the sunscreen-application process! But she loved that swimsuit so much that she even slept in it more than once.

She did get a minor sunburn on her hands and wrists that turned into a little tan. This was a relief ~ knowing that her fair skin can actually tan, as opposed to only burning.

By the end of the week, the group of us realized we were just getting started in the relaxation process ~ we could have used *weeks* more of this lounging, basking, and soaking! Anjali, too, was really just getting her stride ~ learning what you do at the beach, and loving the water. On the last day, she even spoke her first word en espanol: si!

We love the beach!