Here are some of the pictures of Wave Sweeper on the hard in the boat yard and the views from the deck.
Here are pictures of parts of the fish market, and what you see when you walk down the streets.
I tried to get a picture of a woman carrying her child the way they use to many years ago, but it is a little hard to make out. What you are looking at is a woman dressed in old style clothes and a blanket wrapped around her, tied over her shoulder, holding the baby to her back as the baby looks over her shoulder. She also had a little girl in tow.
You see kids and men riding in back of pick-up trucks. Reminds me of when I was a kid and that was legal in the in the states.
Dave and I were told about a really good Mexican restaurant to visit where everything is prepared fresh and when you order it. We thought we would check it out since the prices were very cheap. It is called MaMalenas. What a gem!!!! The place is owned and operated by a young women and her husband.
He speaks a little English and she doesn’t speak any, but we manage to communicate. Her brother takes care of their 1-1/2 year old son, Amilio while they are working at the restaurant. They have friends and family that help cook and serve and don’t speak English. It is a challenge sometimes when you want to order something like orange juice. I got orange soda instead. That was o.k. Their orange juice is fresh squeezed when you order it. It takes a while, but the wait is worth it. They kept their restaurant open for 7 of us about a week ago to have their special stew. WOW!!!! It was absolutely wonderful. Yesterday, October 31, was my Dave and another cruiser named Dave’s birthday.
We got a group of people together and went to MaMalena’s for dinner. We made reservations with them a couple days before and they told us they would make us something special. There were 11 of us, and the only ones there.
It was fun to watch the kids go by in costume and their bags full of goodies. Some kids came in to trick or treat us looking for money. In honor of Halloween, I wore Daves flamingo hat, and brought candy for the family. I wore the hat to the restaurant but Dave really didn’t want to be seen with me. I don’t understand? Everyone got a kick out of and I received comments like “nice flamingo”. Amilio was dressed as Dracula and his Uncle took him to do a little trick or treating.
This is the flamingo hat on a little girl named Lauren, and her brother, Dorian, is wearing one of our Mexican Fiesta hats from Christmas at Los Cabos last year.
The meal we had was amazing. We started with guacamole, salsa and chips and Margaritas. Then an appetizer shaped like little pizzas with 3 different toppings on them.
The main course we had a choice of Chicken Mole (chicken served in a thick chocolate color sauce) rice and refried beans, or their wonderful stew served with rice and beans, or Chili Reano, (large green pepper stuffed with shredded meat) with rice and refried beans. Dave chose the chicken and I the chili. Unbelievable!!!! After we finished, they brought out a dessert which are like puffed pastry shaped like tortilla chips, with a sauce of honey and raisins poured on top. Ummmmm. It was really good. THEN on top of that we had chocolate cake which I baked and brought with us. Everyone had a wonderful time and it was a wonderful way to spend a birthday.
We have had such a good time in Ensenada. We have toasted to cruisers going on before us,
and met a lot of neat people with the same goal in life as ours.
I have found the Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Carribean, and enjoyed beautiful sunsets.
I have learned more Spanish with the help of some of the locals,and have cooked using some of their foods. I tried Napole Cactus. That is the cactus that is flat and pear shaped. The needles are removed and the outside is scraped so it is smooth. It gets cut up and cooked like a vegetable. It is something to get use to. Next time I prepare it I will either mix it into a recipe or add garlic, onion and tomatoes to it. Their zucchini is sweeter and crispier than what I am use to, but it is good. The weather has been nice with fog sometimes and the evenings cool off quite a bit and are damp. I am looking forward to more experiences, learning more Spanish, and warmer weather.
We leave Ensenada on November 5th and head down the Baja Coast. We have to wait and see who our new President is going to be before we take off.
Our first destination is Turtle Bay, but depending on weather and sea conditions, we have an anchorage picked out that would give us a break if we need one. We are hoping for wind to blow us down the coast so we don’t have to motor. A lot of the Baja ha ha group had to motor due to no wind. Hope we are luckier than that. We can motor all the way to Cabo San Lucas, but would rather not. We want to sail!!! I need lots of practice. The wind was so flakey at home we didn’t sail much.
We miss you all at home and wish you all well. Hope you had a fun Halloween. Because we will be cruising on Thanksgiving, we hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving with friends and family. We are definitely thankful for all of you and your support, friendship, and love. Keep reading the blog. I’m sure as time goes on we will have some really interesting stories to share.
