Feliz Navidad indeed! Julie and I woke up to a beautiful warm Christmas morning in Mulege, Baja Mexico

Julie and I have always treated Christmas in a very traditional manner – family and friends, the tree, decorations, presents, too much food, bad music.  Christmas is always a lot of work but its also a lot of fun, especially when the kids are young and the festivities span from the school to the office to the backyard barbie.  So what’s happened this year?  We’re in central Baja Mexico in the quaint seaside town of Mulege, no family, no friends and the music is all in Spanish.  Well, we’re bravely trying something different, Christmas in a new setting, new experiences, knowing our kids are doing their own thing, and we’re loving it!  As the locals say, Feliz Navidad!

We drove into Mulege, a sleepy fishing village of about 3,000 people featuring an old historic mission, and made our way to the only campground in town.  Situated amongst palm trees on the passive river, this was the temporary home for numerous long distance travellers like ourselves as well as some ‘snowbirds’, the term used for people of North America who move south for the winter to avoid their harsh winters.

Christmas under the palm trees – our campsite near the river in Mulege

Before we left Australia I promised Julie margaritas on Christmas – mission accomplished!

We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the shade as the sun warmed us up, then went into town for a delightful seafood Christmas Eve dinner, complete with margaritas, shrimp, scallops and sea fish.  It was a fabulous celebration night for ourselves while our family back in Australia celebrated Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve dinner – all seafood and great fun

We later joined some fellow campers for a couple of late night drinks, each with their own story for why they are so far away from home and enjoying the festive season in Mulege.  We were surprised to hear that in addition to some traditional snowbirds who were here for five months we also met Americans who had moved permanently to Mulege and at least one who was applying for Mexican citizenship as well.  There you go, it takes all kinds.

The next day, a warm Christmas morning, we drove up to the 18^th century mission to marvel at the original volcanic rock walls and simple but powerful interior.  The Spanish missionaries who built the string of missions running up the peninsula had mixed success – while they successfully introduced Christianity to the local natives they also introduced a number of deadly diseases the locals had no defences for.  Many villages, including Mulege, were almost wiped out before the population settled and regrew in later centuries.

The 18th century mission perched on a hill overlooking Mulege

Mulege was founded because of the fresh water oasis in the hot desert and little has changed since then

We headed down the beautiful coastline and on a recommendation from a fellow traveller ducked down a rough track to the small secluded beach of Playa Escondida, a protected strip of crushed shells and sand that was lined with fellow hardy travellers enjoying the warm sun and holiday spirit.  We backed down to the water’s edge and were in the crystal clear blue waters within seconds, spending the whole afternoon with sand between our toes and sunscreen on our shoulders.  It was the Christmas bliss we were looking for.

OMG – what a great place for Tramp to spend Christmas afternoon

Playa Escondida – our holiday home for a few days – and all for about $6 per day

Such was the magnificence of the setting with the day ending in a brilliant sunset and after meeting so many interesting people who were also camped on the beach we decided to spend another full day on the beach doing as little as possible.  As it turns out, paradise comes at a cost.  The next day the sun was hot and we had to swim frequently to cool down.  Our fellow campers were a friendly lot and we were constantly talking to them, hearing their stories, comparing travel notes and of course talking about Tramp.  The scenery was stunning and we walked into the little village over the hill to find brightly coloured homes on a broad beach, sleeping sailboats quietly bobbing in the bay. Paradise is hard work.

The view of our beach from the hill behind us

Julie taking in a bit of shade on a hot day – and wearing her favourite hat

Christmas in paradise – our first festive season without family but we suffered through it

We bought banana bread and a huge bag of fresh shrimp from a local woman passing by so survived the day on local supplies.  That night we invited some of our new friends around our fire and had a delightful evening telling tales and enjoying like-minded people.

We walked into a little village near the beach and found this perfect wall painting for our Follow the Sun journey

I borrowed a kayak and paddled around some of the nearby islands – great fun

The toilet facilities at the beach weren’t fancy but they were colourful

Alas, the next morning it was time to move on.  After buying hot tamales for breakfast, some fruit and vegies plus filling up our water tank courtesy of another local vendor and saying goodbye to all our neighbours we slowly – and reluctantly – packed up and moved south. We followed the coast towards the larger town of Loreto, marvelling at all the beautiful beaches available for camping and admiring the sharp and dramatic mountain range to our right, eventually pulling into this smart and clean town for a look at their historic late 17^th century mission – the first in Baja – and doing some resupply shopping.

This is the view from our back window as we woke up each morning – someone has to do it

Each morning various vendors come down to sell food and supplies to campers. From this guy we bought fruit, vegies and 20 gallons of water which he pumped into Tramp

Loreto was the most touristy town we had visited so far with a few little souvenir shops selling Mexican blankets, embroidered blouses, ceramics, silver jewellery and T-shirts in their historic centre around the graceful old mission.  We checked out their stately old mission, first commissioned in 1697, had lunch at a local cafeteria, caught up on emails, did some blogging and eventually moved on down the coast to find a place to camp.

This guy might be a bit optimistic on the payload of his truck

The mission in Loreto was the first in Baja and has been maintained to a high standard

We followed a little side track near the beachside village of Ligui and ended up on a secluded beach with dramatic rocky islands just offshore.  The sun was setting, the breeze was up and a nearby sign indicated we were in the Bahia de Loreto National Park.  We were joined by a steady string of local vehicles, all pulling their little runabout fishing boat, backing into the surf to launch, piling in and then heading out to sea for some night time fishing.  They returned, packed up and disappeared long after our raging fire had died and we had gone to bed.

Our campsite on Ligui Beach in the national park

We were visited by a number of trucks pulling their fishing boats. They launched the boats from the beach and disappear into the fading light for a night of fishing.

One last thing…in all the rush and bad Internet connections I somehow managed to forget to mention or add photos of the beautiful old mission in the mountain village of San Ignacio.  This has been our favourite mission so far and it deserves a photo or two…

The beautiful old mission in San Ignacio from the early 18th century – a real gem

The doorway to the San Ignacio mission – I’m sure it could tell some tales