Our Last Week In Baja: Todos Santos With Family

*Spending quality time with Chip’s parents in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur*

Our last full week in Baja was one of our most relaxing. As you've seen from our previous posts, there are no shortage of incredible campsites and we stumbled upon another surrounded by towering cacti and vibrant flowers where we spent a couple days decompressing after our time in the city of La Paz. Following this alone time, we raced towards the beautiful town of Todos Santos where Chip's parents met up with us at a vacation rental near the beach. I ended up having to work some this week but that didn't stop us. We visited more beaches, ate A LOT of local Mexican food, participated in a baby turtle release, and caught up one last time with Chip's med school friends.

Camping somewhere outside Los BarRiles, Baja

*You could hardly drag us from this campsite - it is one I still dream about in Baja, outside Los Barriles.*

*These colorful flowers were everywhere, along with the cacti…*

This was our entertainment one evening. And it went on for quite awhile!

Turtle Hatchling Release - Todos Santos, Baja

If you ever find yourself in Todos Santos, you must look up Tortugueros Las Playitas, where they have a sea turtle population recovery program. One of their main goals is help restore the critically endangered Pacific Leatherback population which is on the verge of extinction and we were lucky enough to witness a leatherback hatchling release one evening. The two other species that nest on the beaches of Todos Santos are Olive Ridley and Black so your chances could be pretty good to see some baby sea turtles. Here, and very regularly, they plan release events for the public (check that website) and you definitely don’t want to miss one of these inspiring (and totally cute!) events.

Watch as we cheer these little turtles on as they make their first venture out to sea!

*Here goes the baby turtle - instinctively making his way towards the crashing waves*

*Everyone gathering around to cheer on the little turtles.*

*Jump shot after the sea turtle release with Chip’s med school pals who came down to Baja to meet up with us, and also enjoy some vacation time!*

You maybe thought the turtle release was the highlight of the week (it was adorable, don’t get me wrong), but I’d argue that the Mexican food was really the icing on the torta. We ate out just about every meal (I’m not kidding you, when the food is cheap and delicious, you just eat out as much as possible. Especially when it dawns on you that only have a few days left in Mexico). This was our favorite spot, Cleo’s, that we could walk to from our house.

If we weren’t out eating then we were out exploring with Goppee and Grandpa. Biking to the beach, spending quality time with each other at the house, scoping out the town (which is as cute as you’d want a Mexican town to be), counting M&Ms, playing at the in-town playground. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, and it felt so good not to. It was the most amazing and relaxing way to end our time in Baja.

*The local in-town playground, Todos Santos*

Chip and his dad lounging on the upper deck

Adios Baja, We Will Never Forget You!

Summing up Baja in one short paragraph seems like a painfully impossible task right now. Of the five blog posts I wrote about our time in Baja, each of them encompasses a different view, perspective, story, and something magical that we experienced. Baja is simply captivating. Everything about it intriguing. While we are sad this chapter of our year has come to a close, I know we are ready to let our guards down again and accept back some of the conveniences the US has to offer (like clean drinking water). So onward to southern New Mexico we go…where we explore a massive cave system, discover a hot spring campsite, hike along ancient cliff dwellings, and meet the most genuine and kind-hearted soul around! You don’t want to miss it!

Give Me All The Baja...