Second Trip to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, Day 3

Sunday (January 22) was another rolly morning. First thing in the morning, we coordinated with the other families to go for the big hike. We encouraged everyone to meet onshore ASAP so we could all get a reprieve from the rocking.

We met on the main beach at 1030. It felt good to be on dry land! The older kids took off hiking right away. The adults and younger kids didn’t get moving until after 1100. We’d mentioned that on the day we’d arrived, there was a fourth boat in the anchorage that we didn’t know. It turned out the fourth boat was also a family, and that family joined us on the hike, too. 

Probably around 1120, the kids and adults passed one another as the kids were on their way down. Keith reported that they hadn’t gotten as far as we’d gotten last time before they decided they were hot and turned around.

It wasn’t nearly as green now as it had been last time we’d hiked the trail, but there was still plenty of plant life. The first photo was looking back at the beach, and the second photo was taken at the same spot, but looking up the trail.

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Second Trip to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, Day 2

Here was the sunrise on Saturday, January 21

The wind picked up overnight and was screaming by the morning. The wind caused a lot of noise — the wind itself was loud, the anchor chain/bridle moved a lot, waves slapped against the boat instead of gently lapping the boat, the wind generator sounded like a motor, and there were just a lot of thumps and rattles when the boat moved a lot. In addition to the sound, it was also rocky and uncomfortable. None of us slept well and we were all up early. As soon as there was enough light outside, we put both flopper stoppers down. That helped dampen the roll, but we were still moving a lot.

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Playa Pichilingue to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida

On Thursday, January 19, the little sliver of the moon was again in the east as the sun rose underneath it.

We left for shore at noon. Our plan was to walk over to the ferry terminal to catch the 1230 bus. As we pulled up to the beach, a man walked up to us and asked how we liked the Torquedo electric motor. He and Eric chatted for a few minutes. Then Christi said “We don’t want to be rude, but we have to leave. We’re going to the ferry terminal to catch a bus into town.”

And the man said “Would you like me to give you a ride into town?” We took him up on his offer. His wife was waiting in their van. It turned out they were former cruisers. And they also went cruising with son, who was a teenager at the time. They eventually switched from traveling via boats to traveling via a camping van.

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Keith’s Perspective on Ensenada de Gallo, Playa Bonanza and Playa Pichilingue/Le point de vue de Keith sur Ensenada de Gallo, Playa Bonanza et Playa PichilingueKeith’s Perspective on Ensenada de Gallo, Playa Bonanza and Playa Pichilingue

I liked Ensenada de Gallo. We went to the beach there, and went on a dinghy ride to a beach in another anchorage that you cannot anchor near. I played D&D with the kid group. 

J’ai aimé Ensenada de Gallo. Nous sommes allés à la plage, et nous avons pris le canot pour aller sur une autre plage où ne peut pas aller en bateau. J’ai joué à D&D avec un groupe d’enfant. 

I had a good time Playa Bonanza. We played another round of D&D. We also went on a hike.

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Third Trip to Playa Pichilingue, Days 3 – 4

Sunrise on Tuesday, January 17. The crescent moon looks fuzzy in this photo because it was blurred by a cloud.

The waves built through the night, and it was another uncomfortably rocky morning. After we finished our morning chores, we went to the Cantamar for Elevensies (late breakfast/early lunch. Eric ordered chili rellenos stuffed with seafood in a cream sauce. They may have been the biggest rellenos we’ve ever seen, and they were great.

After we ordered, Christi walked over to the reception desk to ask if we could leave our dinghy on their beach while we went to La Paz. The reception staff told us that we could for a $10 per person fee, so $30. When Christi said that were spending more than $30 at the restaurant, they made it clear that the fee was to have the dinghy on their property, and that the fee was on top of anything we purchased at the hotel. Christi said that we’d leave right away to avoid the fee.

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