Map of World - Click a place Brad's been

November 2022 - Living in La Paz of Sunsets, Balandra, Tecolote, Espiritu Santo

A month in La Paz to get to know it, explore it and figure out if I want to make it more permanent.  And what better way than to have my mom and friend's approve it too.  Lots of things to see and do in a well established Mexican city. Tonnes of beach options, a little volley ball, nice surrounding towns, sailboats everywhere and of course places to eat and drink with the occasional lovely sunset...

Let's get this month started! Have at it Mom!


The beginning of the month I had some time before visitors arrived to get my bearings.

Found the boats!
Found sunset



Golf course sunset up at Cardon restaurant.


Not a bad steak at Rancho Viejo

Oh, there is Volley...at night

Jealous of the neighbour's roof

But hey the view from my roof is ok

Some moments at my favourite beach Caimancito which is located about 10 minutes by car from the Malecon. For half the month or more I didn't even realise there was a reef to the left...yeah.




"Star Fish floating in the sky"...doh doh da

Happy to have found the reef!

Caimancito sunset



A few times at Balandra Beach which is about as touristic as it gets.  The government only allows entry to the beach at 8am and 1pm to control the amount of people and to create a fun line up, yeah!

The touristy Balandra, nice to look at but not my beach.

Shot with
Monster action camera


The Balandra Mushroom Rock


Crab running away from me in the shallow water of Balandra

See the crab

Since Balandra doesn't allow people to stay past 5pm I decided to check out Tecolote for the afternoon wondering if I would find a good sunset out there.

Long beach

but again not a great swim beach

Some choppy snorkeling at the left end of Tecolote

Foreshadowing January


Puffer fish reaction to death, thank god
their reaction to life is nicer

Blu enjoying the sand

RV parking at the far right of the beach

Brad!  Come back!




Some moments from another favourite beach, Pichilingue which is near the Baja Ferries terminal and about 15 minutes out of town.

This is a interesting rock face on the way out of
town before the beaches.


My off road beast

Another's off road beast


Finally I changed my rear tire after making a lot of extra kilometers.  Probably 16,000 km on it and the last 8000km with a big hole in the middle.  Jorge allowed me to take the tire off in order to half the price to $5 usd.  No problem.

Always easier to take it off

This little worm held on a long time.
Highly recommend those.
Sooo sweet.
Metezeler Tourance



More...

weekend juniors volley ball tournament

Nice

McFisher fish of the day
Ready to play a little night Vball

Bienvenidas Mama a La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. She had to fly from Calgary to San Jose del Cabo then take a very curvy 3 hour bus to arrive.

Welcome

tasty
take away ceviche, spicy!
was that the ceviche?
Good start to the week


On the second occasion we used the "mom is with me and can't stay in this afternoon heat" to get to the front of the line.  They let me drop her off and told me to come back.  I returned once the line was done and they asked what I was doing...I said I came back like you told me.  Government, hahaha.

yes, the line to get in to Balandra
Pretty good passenger

Premium parking spot
Mom investigating the shallows for crabs

Up up for some views
Big boats can't get to close
Balandra up high

We made it!


Stop at the lovely Cardon restaurant to catch a view with mom and her love of golf. El Cortes is beautifully designed by Gary Player and not so cheap as you would expect.  A round $168 USD including cart.

Golf course with Mom pointing out the highlights.







A busy week.  Got to make sure mom is having a good time and eating enough.

Patio Marisquero off the path


Incredible vulcanised snake


This grocery store dresses up
their cow monthly


A big display of dance from the Baja region and a special guest group from Colombia.

The Cathedral


The Colombian dance troop
Mom loved it, thanks for visiting


Rocking my fav dive bar "El Parnazo" in my new red adidas. 


No cider, no problem
Tequila and soda, $3usd

Live music, yes!


La Ventana. A home away from home for canadian expats who love the beach, RVs, volley ball and kite surfing.  Hey, that's almost me... 

Nice long beach

I want a place set up like that

Good snorkeling

Drifted along

Parked beside Wendy and Al
Cecil and Randy with liveabroad in Vancouver.

Quick video to capture a little of the live kite surfing action

Earlier played vball with
all these kite addicts

End of the road

Electricity generating plant for BCS



Near the end of the month the wild and crazy couple of Claudia and Eduardo paid me a visit to join the La Paz show... Hot days and Cold nights...

chilly smiles
Roof at Parnazo watching Mexico vs Argentina
a less than good steak this night at Rancho Viejo

Espiritu Santo island tour with a stop at a Sea Lion Marina Reserve.  Apparently the pups are safe, but stay back from the adults. $75 usd for a long boat ride out to the sea lions along the coast of the Espiritu Santo with a ceviche stop on the beach by Punta Baja Tours (excellent).

Ready for fun



That's what we need!


Tourist, hahaha

That line was caused by volcanic activity
in two different times (1000s of years apart)

Scary mask in the wall

Incredible to see the same super yacht that was
sitting in the harbour near Duncan, BC.





 Sea Lion pup up close

Parents looking on

Sea Lion at the bottom down below us


Sea lion adult swim by


A lot of fish at the Sea Lions, don't they eat fish???  Not where I would hang if I was a fish.



Fish-nado




Great spot to stop

Lunch was very good!
The Balandra mushroom rock

Just a few pricy yachts

This guy saved on the paint job, haha


Other Stuff
Temporary Import Permit (TIP) - $51 USD, $400 USD (deposit to be returned in pesos...scam!)
yep...

Shower buddy Hernan who unfortunately didn't
survive the month.  Am I that dirty?
Ugliest Honda I have ever seen


My Air Canada complaint with
CTA. Probably a few years...
That's how I store my ATVs
Renewed Moccasins