A Shitty Day in Mexico, Part III

After two hours of car-sickness, we finally arrive in Ensenada, which has a harbor and a HUGE Mexican flag which, according to "C," takes eight people to raise.

"C" knows some people with a little restaurant in Ensenada (and I mean little), which is right next to the fish market.

There are also four other little restaurants, all serving the same menu, right next to the fish market, and any time someone walks by, they are simultaneously accosted by five waitresses begging them to come to their little restaurant for some fish tacos (instead of any of the other four.) I was accosted at least eight times even after I'd eaten.

We went to the fifth restaurant, which had a unique selling proposition the others didn't: They were friends of "C." But the fried fish, the holy grail we were seaking, was awesome. Very tasty. And so was the shrimp a la diablo. And the siete mares ("seven seas") soup Alba ordered. Arguably, it was worth the trouble, but I wonder if we couldn't have gotten the same thing in Tijuana, or any of the coastal towns close by.

We (Alba and I) bought lunch for everyone (the least we could do for "C," who we felt kind of sorry for, him taking the day off work, spending his day driving around people he doesn't know--except "M").

While we were in Ensenada, we took a 45 minute boat ride into the harbor (which we also paid for.) It was fun, though. We fed the seals (and a few crafty seagulls). We looked around at the fish market. I can't believe how cheap the seafood was. But it's illegal to take uncooked seafood back in the states, and we didn't come prepared with an ice chest, anyway. We did get some smoked marlin, though.

Next, we went to a place called La Bufadora, which was supposedly just half an hour away. At this point, I'm getting concerned, because I didn't expect to be traipsing all over Mexico. I was just planning on a quick trip into Tijuana. I didn't bring a lot of cash, and neither did Alba...and it's not like there are ATM machines on every corner. But "M" says she will lend us cash if we need it, and since La Bufadora was just half an hour away, I figured what the hell. Might as well, since we're already down here.

But La Bufadora isn't a half hour away.

Try an hour and a half further south. Through curving, winding roads. Meanwhile, getting even more carsick, with a headache creeping on.

La Bufadora is beautiful. It's on a cliff on the edge of the ocean in the middle of nowhere. There is a crevice in the rocks where a cave blows out air at high pressure. When the water rises into the cave and starts to plug the hole, it acts like a crimped water hose, shooting the water high up into the air several dozen feet, sounding like some giant blowhole of the largest whale you could imagine. It's thunderous.

The observation platform is right above the cave, so a particularly high "geyser" will saturate the platform and anyone on it.

This moment and the time in Ensenada were the highlights of an otherwise shitty trip. But both the time here, and the time in Ensenada were short-lived. It was mostly a lot of driving for just a few minutes of fun. After La Bufadora, we started heading back to Tijuana.

And this is where the trip starts getting shitty again.

To be continued...