By Ashley
After a long day of driving around the port city of La Paz attempting to find a Fed Ex (and failing, just missing their open business hours by about 15 minutes), we decided to get the hell out of there and move on to Todos Santos. Located on the southwest side of the Baja peninsula, Todos Santos is about an hour’s drive north of Cabo San Lucas. We were tired. We were frustrated. We were hungry. Time to go… and wait in rush hour for 60 minutes… and then go.
Pretty much as soon as we arrived, there was a Fed Ex shining its beautiful beacon at us. This was a great reminder that Mexico works in mysterious ways and not necessarily according to our timeline – going with the flow is mandatory. Richard parked the truck and I stayed put in the passenger’s seat, perusing the local map. A shirtless, sweaty bicycle-riding Mexican ruffian approached the driver’s window, which was rolled down (first mistake).
“Ola.”
“Ola!”
He proceeded in very fast Spanish (frankly all Spanish seems fast to me at this point) but clearly emphasized “bella” (points to eyes). The shirtless bicycle-riding ruffian then did several Italian-inspired kisses of the fingertips.
“No entiendo espanol.” I smile and shrug.
The Shirtless Mexican ruffian looked sad. He points to me, points to eyes, “bella!”
I shrug. He looks frustrated. He asks me to write something down (my number?). We banter back and forth in extremely confused Spanglish.
I attempt to explain to him that we drove from Canada. I make driving motions with my hands and say “from Canada.” This seemed to surprise him, and he said in Spanish (I’m assuming) “Really?! Are you sure!?”
“Si!”
Mr. Shirtless proceeds to put his backpack into the cab of the truck and onto the driver’s seat.
Oh, he thinks we’re driving to Canada together. Shit.
“No! No! No!!!” I attempted to push his backpack out of the cab and cried, “Esposa!!!!” while pointing at the Fed Ex. Thankfully Richard then came strolling around the corner and with a big smile said, “Buenas tardes!”
Mr. Shirtless says, “Ohhhhh close one!”
That qualifies as embarassing gringo/local moment #2. I’m sure he had a great time telling his buddies that he almost drove to Canada with a green-eyed bella gringo, if only her husband hadn’t shown up.
Todos Santos was a very hip and happening little town, with many ex-pats and hippies. We found health food stores, juice bars, $6 yoga classes, an amazing reggae night at a free-spirited local outdoor restaurant, cute cafes, farmer’s markets, art galleries, and beautiful boutique hotels. We also found delicious street tacos, ice cream, and lattes. We bought mango empenadas, dates (datils), and organic eggs and mint. Todos Santos is definitely had an interesting mix of the local/gringo/ex-pat lifestyle, and there were many things to see and do. And apparently, very interesting locals to meet as well.
Here are links to some of the places we visited.
Pura Vida Health Foods Store had a great selection of organic veggies/herbs and some pricey items from back home, such as organic peanut butter, eco-friendly soaps, etc. They also had fresh smoothies and juices and coconut water.
La Esquina – We went to an amazing reggae night with our fellow British overlanding pals Alan and Julea. The venue was sweet and there was quite the mix of locals, hippies, hipsters, kids, and travelers. During the day the space converts into a restaurant/café serving healthy and organically grown items.
We just walked through the Hotel California, but it is stunning with a really amazing open-planned dining room with white billowy sheets hanging from the ceiling. Muy romantico!
Cafelix was a great place to be as it had free wifi, delicious horchata, and the owner was very helpful in directing us to live music and told us about the in-town events. Their lattes were yummy (and massive!).
A typical backstreet in Todos Santos… not unlike the one where Ash found a backup husband.
Taco time in Todos Santos!
The main streets of Todos Santos!
Sweets, dates and pastries. Please senorita can I have some more?
Sweet date empanada!
Woven textiles and Richard preparing to win at yoga.
The rasta band at La Esquina
Hahahahahahaha!!! Annnnnnd, now I want to go there…
…not for the back up husband. Just to be clear.