Playa Norte RV Haven, Los Barriles

So far today has been as good as yesterday was bad, thankfully. We awoke early, and decided to skip our run and get out of La Paz, despite having much enjoyed the city until yesterday. We made a stop to buy drinking water, wine, veggies and hopefully a new wallet for Bob, but had no luck finding a wallet. The next 2 hours we (that is, Cathryn) drove south through desert country, gaining 1600 feet elevation, then dropping down again, with no views of the water. Only a couple of tiny towns to break up the drive. Coming into Los Barriles, we sighted the Sea of Cortez again, with lovely almost-white beaches and sparkling aquamarine water. We’d had an email earlier from Jan and Jim (the Penticton, B.C. couple we keeping seeing) saying they were happily situated at the Playa Norte RV Haven, so we decided to check whether they were still in residence. We found them almost immediately, and they were taking off for a hike that sounds great, and we think we’ll give it a try tomorrow. This campground seems to be the nicest yet in Baja, though we keep thinking that. It’s right on the beach, though the location is a prime wind-surfing and kite-surfing spot, and is very windy from late morning until late afternoon, so most of the campsites are a bit back from the water. There are many more trees, bushes and flowering plants than in other campsites, so more shade, which is very important to Cathryn, and privacy. We found an empty spot with full hook-ups and a 15-foot by 25-foot palapa (12-foot tall posts made of stripped tree trunks, with a palm frond covering for shade), so we parked the Chalet right next to the palapa and settled in. The beach is actually more attractive than the one where we spent 6 nights at Bahia Concepcion, other than there are few mountains in sight. The campsites are much less crowded, and there are rustic but lovely tiled bathrooms with real flush toilets and hot showers. There is even a rustic laundry room outfitted with modern washing machines and lines set up out back to hang clothes to dry. This will be an easy place to stay. We took a walk on the beach to watch the kite-surfers, took some video which Bob will attempt to post later today, and felt like we had front row center seats at some sort of ESPN filming of the kite surfers! Wow – it looks extremely exciting and fun. We’re told this is not a good place for beginners to try kite-surfing as the winds are too high. We’re enjoying watching and so far are not tempted to try it.