Saturday morning we drove to La Ventana, a small fishing village an hour south of La Paz with 1,000 year-round Mexican residents. The population swells to about 2,500 in winter months when the wind blows, and Canadians and Americans come to wind-surf and kite-sail. The bay is gorgeous with aquamarine water, mountains covered densely with cardon cactus and other green desert vegetation to the west across the road, and a large island a few miles off-shore offering interesting vistas. We were charmed by the place.
While back in La Paz, Mady was a student at the school with us. She’s a French woman married to a British man, and they live in Hood River, Oregon half the year and in La Ventana half the year. They invited us to park our RV in their yard and spend the night. We did and had a wonderful time. They built their home 5 years ago after spending previous winters camping on the beach in an RV and falling in love with the area. Larry is a serious kite-sailor (and scuba diver, mountain biker, etc) and Mady plays piano, bikes, teaches a yoga and pilates class 3 times each week, and they have an active social life with many friends in town. Larry designed their gorgeous home with many artistic and architectural touches, and it has a drop-dead-gorgeous view of both the bay and the mountains. Mady and Larry scheduled a dinner party including 3 other part-time La Ventana residents we’d previously met on the beach at Playa Juncalito a few weeks back. Potluck dinner on the upstairs terrace and lively conversation followed, and as usual, “Baja Midnight” had everyone heading for bed by 8:30.
Sunday morning Larry and Mady led us on an hour-long walk through the hills and trails toward the mountains behind their home, followed by breakfast at their favorite local hang-out -- which cost all of 200 pesos or about $16 for all 4 of us, for a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet with fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes, fresh-squeezed papaya juice, coffee, etc. Mady and Larry are friendly, generous, entertaining
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