Day 11 Ensenada day tour

Day 11  Ensenada

Today we took a bus tour of Ensenada.  Our guide on the bus was excellent.  She gave us a lot of history and was amusing too. 

  The first stop was the convention center.  It was once a military base, then a casino (where Al Capone gambled!) and now it is a convention center. At the entrance was a sign with a quote from John F. Kennedy on the back.

  It has amazing hand painted ceilings and beautiful murals. 

I can't show the painted murals as they are mostly naked women!!

Mexican people believe that nothing is perfect except God.  Therefore they put a little imperfection in very thing they do.  Here our guide pointed out the imperfection placed into the tiled floor.

When this building was a hotel, the Margarita was created for the first time.  Here is a sign commemorating the occasion.  It tells how the bar tender created the drink for his girlfriend Margarita.

The grounds surrounding the convention center were beautifully landscaped.

There was also a geo-cache hidden in the garden!  It was inside this little hole in the light post.

Next we took a short trip into the city to do a little shopping.  We were all quite impressed with the bus driver paralleled parked the bus into a very small spot

There was plenty of shopping stops available.  

Including one pharmacist who had a distinctive way to attract shoppers

We were then back on the road to our next stop the famous La Bufadora (The Blowhole).  The views of the coast along the way were amazing.

According to our guide, there are three of these in the world, and this is supposed to be the largest.  There is a large cave in the side of the cliff.  When the wave comes in, it changes the air pressure in the cave causing it to billow out a spray of water.  It was interesting, but it was low tide, and would be so much more spectacular at high tide.  

The scenery in that same area was beautiful

The best part of this was the open market.  All the merchants were trying to convince us to visit their stalls - it reminded us of the Mexican ride in EPCOT at Disney world.  We were told never to pay the first price given, so we had a great time haggling and shopping.   Also in the open market were a lot of food and bakery stands.  They were all handing out samples!  They were pretty insistent in giving out the samples.   I ate and drank so much  - cheese cake, candied nuts, sweet breads, and even non-   alcoholic pina coladas!  I could barely eat the lunch that came with the tour!

We heard this all up and down the street:  "Come into my store - I have special price just for you!!"

Samples yum!!

A wonderful lunch, and then it was the trip back.  On the way, we passed a tuna farm.

It seems that many Americans have decided to live here in Ensanda.  They cannot buy the land, as only the Mexican government can own the land.  So they lease it for 30 - 90 years.  Here is a rather large community with a great ocean view

We got back to the campground at 3pm and at 5pm we are gathering for Margaritas and snacks - our last Margarita party in Mexico.  We have had margaritas every day - it seems like it is the national drink for Mexico!  

John looks like a two fisted drinker, but he is really holding my drink so I can take his picture (that is his story and he is sticking to it)

After a very pleasant evening we all retired early.  Early call tomorrow.  It is back to the USA and we have to be at the border by noon