Today was a driving day. We crossed the border into Mexico at midday. Amazing how easy and relaxed this all seemed compared to February 2008 when Alain and I were a touch anxious about our first ever crossing into Mexico. Practice makes perfect I guess. The Mexican authorities responded well to our attempts at speaking Spanish and helped us in perfect English.
We had arranged to meet José, our guide on the Isla Cedros tour last year, for a snack outside Ensenada. It was great to meet him again and catch up on this and that.
In 2008, Alain and I had planned to spend the night at the Desert Inn at San Quintín. We had been surprised by the earlier than anticipated sunset and in the dark had managed to get the car stuck in wet sand. We had failed to find the Desert Inn but had succeeded in finding very acceptable accommodation at Hotel Marie Celeste.
Due to chatting with José for longer than planned, we again arrived in San Quintín in the dark. This time we popped into every petrol station along Mex 1 and each time the instructions were to go on to the next station. We passed the ill faithed turning that we took in 2008, but stuck to the instructions to carry on to the the next petrol station. Here we were told that we were very close and should turn off Mex 1. The track came to a cross roads and a sign to the Hotel Mision Santa Maria – yet another change from the Desert Hotel / Hotel Pinta that was in force in 2008. Finally we found our target – a very nice hotel but where internet connectivity was limited to the reception area and restaurant. This is where I discovered that an adapter for the small laptop is still in Amesbury (hopefully) or lost. The battery died while chatting with Angie, so ‘hunting for a Dell cable with US/Mex plug’ has been added to the itinerary.
No photo stops today.
The Cactus Trip Diaries 
Leave a Reply