Back to Baja.

Our second San Diego city trip went reasonably well, but not without a few glitches. It started with a 3-hour delayed flight from Loreto to Tijuana. This caused the Avis rental car office to be closed on arrival, which led to a first telephone call and a 75-dollar taxi trip to the Avis desk at the International Airport of San Diego which stays open 24/7 and where another car was available. On arrival, a very sympathetic Avis employee explained to us that although he had a car available, he couldn’t release it until the third party thru which we had booked the reservation – being rentalcars.com – had agreed to it. Followed a 30-minute international telephone negotiation with the rentalcars.com call center in Ireland to be finally told that by “great exemption” they could agree to change the car pick up place to where we were now but that it would take 3 hours to get it processed through their system. By then it was already past midnight. Please don’t ask how it went from there. 

So, the trip started with serious car rental aches, and it ended with me and my body aches in a cold hotel bed sleeping off the booster-induced immunity response. But for the latter we couldn’t be more grateful, and we sincerely thank the USA for their generosity. As Belgians living in Mexico, we not only received our free Pfizer booster jab but also the annual flu shot for only 25 dollars since we were there anyway. All went very smoothly indeed and we are ready to keep on rambling.

What also went well was the use of CBX. This time we entered and left The States on foot, using the Cross Border Xpress aka CBX. This 120-meter-long enclosed pedestrian bridge allows you to walk across the US-Mexican border from or to Tijuana International Airport for 37dollars return ticket. With very welcoming and friendly officials waiting for you on either side. This bridge opened as recently as 2015. The initial idea was to give North Americans access to cheaper flights into all of Mexico and beyond by flying out of Tijuana rather than flying out from The States. And now it has become a very popular 2-way street with huge outlet stores on the US side lying right next to The Wall. In Tijuana, there are other ways to cross the border, but this must be the most practical one. What you need is an international passport, a boarding pass and a CBX ticket. And proof of vaccination which nobody bothered to ask for. We were once again humbled by our privilege.

But now we are glad to be back in Baja California where the majesty and the quiet of the Sierra Giganta is even more enthralling after our 5-day big city shopping spree. Whenever we got overwhelmed by the car-oriented busy-ness of San Diego- which is a pleasant city to visit, but not when you have several shopping lists and only a limited amount of time to go hunt/gather the specialty items on those lists – we turned to the ocean for some relief. And the Pacific always delivered. So did the steamed mussels & clams with french fries and craft beer.

We have now left Marina Puerto Escondido, but not without bidding a final farewell to our good friends Russ & Harriet on SV Catweazle. (How we also love that name!!!) We first met in June 2020 while in lockdown in Bonny Bonaire and we kept organizing numerous get-togethers while on our way up into the Sea of Cortez. In March, they plan to depart for Polynesia, while we are planning our passage to Hawaii. Should they hang around long enough, we might catch up once more. But now, Baja is beckoning again.