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Well I finally got to La Paz even if it was 3 weeks later than planned. Better late than never. So La Paz is also a touristy destination, but no where near on the scale of the resort towns. Its much quieter and has a laid back feel to it which I like. Again there's another really nice malecon to stroll along, and this is where I spent most of my time, by the water. La Paz is a big place but I concentrated on the ocean- the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific- and of course, the animals.
I arrived late on Monday 3rd March and left very early on Sunday 9th March 2008. I got a room to myself at Pension California, a true budget place for travellers. No palace but fantastic value for money. My room cost me 18 US Dollars a night. There was a shower curtain instead of a door on the bathroom, one of the taps on the sink was apparently purely decorative and there was an interesting smell from the drain... For the first time in my trip I had to use my own towel. It was great! I really loved feeling like a proper traveller. As long as I'm healthy I'm not that fussed. Was a bit shocked at the size of the cockroach that ran across the room the second night and did do the girly jumping on the beds thing (there were 3 beds in my room) but after a very poor attempt to put a plastic cup on him and put him outside, I decided he could stay and hoped he'd find his own way out under the door. He was still there the next day though, so I named him Henry although I think our friendship may have been damaged when he bought a friend round and I clipped said friend with my flip flop. Thankfully I don't think I did much damage as he scurried off and was I believe back this morning before I left. I'm proud that I can now stand in the same room as a cockroach and not scream. An achievement I think.
Anyway Tuesday was filled with my cockroach studies and having a wander generally around La Paz trying to organise the rest of my days there. After a frustrating day talking to numerous tour companies and being asked again and again if it was only me as they could not run a tour for just me I had a phone call that night at the hotel from an extremely helpful lady that managed to get me onto a whale watching tour the next day. Yes more whales, but California Grey Whales this time, and for me, whale watching never gets old. We unfortunately didn't get any of the whales come over to the boat and lift their heads out to be stroked as they are famous for... but there's no certainty with wild animals and its a privilege to see them regardless. They were huge and all over the place and the two hours on the boat flew by. We'd gone to Puerto Lopez Mateos for the whale watching, and it was over a 3 hour drive each way. Think Reading to Manchester but no traffic. Long day but worth it.
Then on Thursday I had a very important day. It was snorkelling with the sealions day. For anybody that doesn't know, the sea kind of scares me a bit, as do the creatures within it, so for me today was about combating my fear. I actually was not as scared as I thought I would be. There were plenty of distractions, people to chat to, mocking Michaels waterproof camera (we'd been on the same tours 2 days in a row by coincidence so i was entitled to mock). He literally put a normal, non waterproof camera into a ziplock bag- there is of course a photo. I was shocked when he actually took it into the water, I had thought he was kidding. I wonder if its working again yet? Anyway, it was a very windy day which meant our little boat was thrown around a little by the waves and most of the group spent the journey soaked in very cold salt water. The journey i believe was meant to take an hour and a half, but it took over 3. We eventually made it to the sealion colony we'd been aiming for, at the northern tip of Isla Espiritu Santo. Once I was looking like an idiot in my snorkel gear I grabbed my waterproof camera and pushed myself ungracefully off the side of the boat. The water was freezing cold and when I first looked under the water I did feel my heart racing. The first time one of the huge male sealions went past me I also had a heart attack but gradually I got used to it, probably thanks to the shallow water near the colony. The sealions are great, I thankfully got a few good pics with my underwater camera (sorry can't get those online) and I was very surprised and a little nervous when one playful sealion swam right at me and then proceeded to bite my right forearm several times, but not that hard though. I was pretty weary of that sealion after that but figured if it was really agression they would've bitten harder and more. I really felt like I accomplished something today.
Friday I had another quiet day, as the two consecutive long days had drained me a bit. On Saturday I went to Cabo San Lucas at the Southern tip of Baja California. I went on the local bus, so it took 2 and a half hours or so each way. A very inexpensive way to travel though. Cabo San Lucas is another party town for the tourists and I just went to check out Land's End. I had a walk around the town and some lunch and then joined a boat tour with a couple. They were just going snorkelling so we dropped them off and the guide took me on my own to see Lands End. Its natural formations in the rocks that you go there to see, theres the famous arch thats photographed a lot. The actual lands end rock is incredibly small and covered in birds. Theres another sealion colony there, and the smell hits you way before you see them. There were a large number of boats here and so many crazy jet skiers I did cringe a lot at the ignorance of some of the tourists. After checking out lands end I got off the boat at lovers beach for an hour of relaxation. Its ironically linked to divorce beach, a much larger beach on the other side on the peninsula. Here I got quite irate over a particularly stupid woman that was letting her bratty children throw sand at the birds who were expecting food. I was not impressed. After the tour I headed back to La Paz on the bus to get ready for moving on the next morning.
I made an extra effort this time to try and put the photos in order with some kind of explanation of what you're looking at. I hope it helps!
Take care everybody, Sarah xxxxxxxxxx
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