For many of you, the image of a mouse in Mexico conjures up images of Speedy Gonzales. No, I did not say “ariba ariba andele andele” while I was there. And no, I didn't wear a silly hat, even though everyone wanted me to. And I wasn't really even in proper Mexico, I was in Baja California, and I loved it! William decided that he wanted to do something special for new years and Kate's mom found cheap tickets, and invited us along. Having never been to Mexico, I was really excited. They do, after all, put cheese on almost everything in Mexico, or so I thought. And it would be exciting to do something for new years. Kate's brother, Ian was going to be coming too.
Flying into San Diego (it's five hours from North Carolina, who knew the US was so big) we boarded a train to the border, and then walked across. It was like no other border I had ever seen. This one was scary looking. I knew that many people from Mexico and South America hope to sneak across and find work in the US, but sneaking across seemed a much scarier possibility once at the border. There was a big fence, and lots of men in machine guns, and lots more security I'm sure I couldn't see. It made me very glad to have a passport from the UK, so that I could travel everywhere easily. If I had been born in Mexico, it would be much more difficult to be a traveling mouse.
On the Mexican side, in Tijuana, we took a Taxi to the car rental place, and from there jumped into our white car for the week, and headed south to Ensenada. Ensenada, like Morocco, is one of the places that William rhapsodizes about when asked about travel. But after seeing and loving Morocco, I completely trusted his judgment. And he was right. Although, none of us were right about the weather. Even though it was the end of December, we all thought that Mexico would be hot. Not so. We all had to buy jumpers (or sweaters for you Americans) the first day.
We stayed at the Plaza Hotel right in the center of the town. It wasn't a fancy tourist hotel, in fact, it was a little cold inside. But it was nice and homelike. And the outside was very pink. The first thing we did, of course, was to walk around the town. Everywhere there were stores selling lots of different souvenirs– shirts, woven blankets, panchos, big silly hats, little cactus thing, and more. We walked down to the harbor. There were lots of fishing boats there, because Ensenada is one of the homes of the Mexican tuna fleet. I was excited – this meant that there would be lots of fish! I love fish!
When we walked down to the docks we saw that there were lots of sea lions and pelicans. I'd seen pelicans before, but never sea lions. They are so big and beautiful. I wanted to talk to them, but they were too far away, swimming in the water. People were feeding the pelicans, and they were going crazy. Sometimes a seagull would fly up for some food too.
Then we went to the fish market. It was crazy, with lots of different kinds of fish and lots of stands. But the best thing was outside the fish market. It was a row of stalls selling fish tacos. As you walked past all the vendors, some of them grandmothers, would yell “fish taco amigo?” Amigo means friend in Spanish.
Kate and her mom wouldn't believe William when he told them they were going to eat fish tacos. Kate was born in Kansas, which is over 2,000 kilometers in any direction from the ocean. The only tacos she had ever eaten had meat or chicken in them. They kept telling William it sounded so weird. But William generally knows what he is talking about, so we went into a grandmother's booth to experience the magical fish tacos. On the table were fancy cocktail glasses filled with salsas, guacamole, and lime wedges. “Cuanto?” we were asked – how many? We each ordered one. When it came it was a piece of fried fish in a corn tortilla. Following William's lead we piled them high with all the condiments, and had a bite. It was like heaven. Right up there with the most exciting things I've eaten in my travels. And at this point I've eaten a lot of exciting things. We soon ordered more, and then more again. By the end of our stay, we visited almost all the booths, eating fish tacos three meals a day.
The next day William took us to a place that was called La Bufadora. But he wouldn't tell us what it was. We got in the car, and drove along the sea. It was beautiful, although more gray than blue because it was cloudy. I think I could sit and watch water for hours. We got to the place, but we didn't see anything church or monument or anything. We passed some souvenir stands, and saw a few people gathered on a platform. I guess in the summer there would be more, but because it was the middle of winter it wasn't very crowded. We were at the edge of the sea, up on the cliffs. We got closer to the edge, and then jumped back in shock as water shot out of the rocks with a huge amount of force. It sprayed all of us. William laughed. It's a blowhole he explained. There's a cave below, and when conditions are right air and water are drawn into the cave, and when pressure builds up, water shoots out the top. It's the second largest blowhole in the world. The water shooting out amazed me, but what was even more incredible was the sound. It was thunderous. We stayed to watch for ages. The water wasn't the same every time, but changed with the waves and other things, so every time the water burst out, even though it was almost every minute, it was a surprise. Kate's brother Ian wanted to climb around on the rocks, but Kate's mom flatly told him no. Eventually though, with the spray and the wind, we were all freezing, and headed back to the car.
On the way back, William had another surprise in store for us. We pulled off the road about halfway back at a few roadside stands. They advertised they were selling tamales. Old ladies were stirring enormous boiling pots, and filling bags for customers. William ordered 12, and we got back in the car. They smelled so good Kate and I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel. We started eating them in the car. A tamale is wrapped in a corn husk. Inside the corn husk is meat and other magical filling things, sometimes including olives that is surrounded by a cornmeal sort of dough. The whole thing is boiled in the huge pots and supervised by old ladies. The result is amazing. We devoured a few before realizing that we should save some for the others. Old ladies really do make the most amazing food! I hope that when I'm an old lady mouse I can be an amazing cook too.
One day we drove over the peninsula to the other side. Ensenada is on the Pacific Ocean, and we drove all the way to the Sea of Cortez. On the other side of the Sea of Cortez is mainland Mexico. The peninsula is super dry – dessert really, with lots of cactus. In the middle is a chain of mountains. It was about a four hour drive to the other side. We drove to a town on the other side – San Filipe. We weren't really impressed with it compared to Ensenada – it seemed way too touristy and a bit tacky. And the fish tacos weren't as good. But then we went to the beach. The water was crystal clear blue and looked so inviting. Until I stuck my paw in it – the water was freezing!! I guess it was December, so it makes sense that it was cold. But in my mind I couldn't get over the fact that Mexico wasn't warm all year round. We were the only ones on the beach. Ian decided that he was going in, and ran in and out so fast, he should have gotten the title of Speedy Gonzales. We made sand castles, and buried our feet in the sand, before getting in the car to drive peninsula again
And then came new years eve. William had brought along his tuxedo for the occasion. Everyone flooded out into the streets. William gave us new years crackers. We got them for Christmas when I was little. You pull them apart with a friend and they go bang and inside are little toys and jokes and things. I didn't know they made them for new years, but it was really exciting, because I hadn't seen a cracker since I'd been traveling. Guys started setting off rockets and fireworks in the streets, and we all gathered in front of the stage where they were going to have the count down. I'm sure that places like London and New York City are more crowded and chaotic and maybe more exciting for new years, but for me, Ensenada was the biggest new years celebration I had been too. I wished that I could set off some fireworks too. Ian, who is almost two meters tall, let me sit up on his shoulder so I had an amazing view of the crowd. And then it started. Cuarenta, treinta y nueve, treinta y ocho, treinta y siete, treinta y seis, treinta y cinco, treinta y quatro......veinte y uno, diez y nueve....nueve, ocho, siete, seis, cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno, FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!! And then everyone kissed each other. Kate's mom was so proud. She didn't know any Spanish, yet she had just counted down from forty.