Just so you guys don’t think it’s all work and no play down here on Baja, I thought I’d share with you what we do most evenings.
In our tiny, tiny town (40 families) of El Chorro (Google Map it, yo!), there is a naturally occurring hot spring. The Mexican government made it a public space as part of development project in the 1940s, and it has been heavily used by locals and adventurous tourists for the past 70 years.
There is a large concrete dam which creates two nearly olympic sized pools for swimming. There are also three hot tubs, fed directly from the hot springs. One is super-hot and big enough for only one person. One is a two person tub, slightly less hot. The third we still haven’t seen (the rainy season has raised the water level so high it is now covered) but we’re told it is the best – just right in terms of temperature and big enough for five or six people. This one is also allegedly made out of stone, rather than concrete, like the others.
On Sundays the place is packed with families and groups of teenaged friends but most nights during the week it is just us and one or two other folks. The occasional camping gringo, who never stay more than one night. Oh, and the view. The mountain range is right there, usually with the sun just beginning to set behind it. It is insanely beautiful. We’ll get pictures up someday, I promise.
So each night around 5 or 6, we head with our dinner over to the hot springs. First we splash around in the pool (and sometimes bathe – it can be more pleasant than the cold shower on the ranch) and then move to one of the tubs to soak, reflect on the day, and, more often than not, talk about the millions of things we plan on doing the next day.
Once we eat dinner, we’re usually done for. Hot water, clean bodies, and full stomachs make a strong argument for sleep. And without electricity on our land, 9 pm seems like a reasonable bedtime, hahaha.
On an entirely unrelated note, I find that I am struggling with the computer these days. I was such a computer (specifically, internet) addict prior to this experience – I checked facebook multiple times a day and wrote blog posts from my iphone – but the longer I am here, the less inclined I am to use it. Not because I know this is the only time in my life when I won’t have to (although that is true), but because it is literally the only thing here that causes me stress. Nothing like a slow internet connection and not being able to express what I mean in an email to frustrate me! So sorry if emails are delayed and blog posts have slowed. I am alive – just taking a small break from the pressures of the screen.
go with your love to the fields 