Christmas in Baja

I was there last year at Christmas time. I caught the last two yellowfin tuna off the year fishing with Juan.
Best Christmas present ever!

One thing that you can bet on, it'll be one heck-uv-a-lot warmer anywhere in Baja than in Canada. Might be some bad driving conditions on the way south at that time of year.

Congratulations! I can feel your excitement. It's never to early to start planning your next trip, be it Christmas or any other holiday.

I hope your first Christmas in your Asuncion home will lead to many more.

We too will be in Baja for Christmas/New Year, I can't remember when we haven't. Our traditions have changed over the years according to my children's ages and beliefs.

Since you asked about traditions, let me go on to bore you wtih ours;

On our way through Ensenada we'd stop a tree lot and try to find the tree with the most needles left on it's branches to take home.

If we're lucky enough to be in Punta Banda at the right time we help pack the boxes for Sr. Pabloff's distribution to the needy people in the community.

(At this point in my post I would suggest that you cover the eyes of any child reading over your shoulder who still believes...)

It was a difficult task to hide Santa's gifts in the back of the truck, then sneak out to the garage to wrap them, then hide the gifts in various empty ice chests, tool/tackle boxes until Christmas eve.

I would also steal away to the mini market to buy Penguinos, Manazana Sol, Mexican candies and seasonal local fruits for Santa to leave in her stocking.

She would invite the local little girl who lives down the way to come over and bake Christmas cookies for her family, for Santa and make packages for the different workers that we knew.



She and I would visit the fruiteria for reindeer supplies ie apples, carrots to add to Santa's table.



Decorating the house for Baja Christmas was fun.





We would add tamales to our dinner menu and our friends would come over Christmas Eve, a tradition that they shared with us. It never failed that I would think that we had enjoyed our last visitor, put on my jammies and we'd get another knock on the door.

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Another tradition I USED to have was to go Christmas tree shopping with Herman in Bahia de Los Angeles. He and I would pack two bananas and bottled water and head out for K 29, give or take, to find the perfect Century plants to cut down and take back to town.



There would be one for him and one for me, then maybe a couple more depending on how many "orders" we had from others in town.

After we secured our trees in the bed of his truck we would sit on the tailgate, eat our snack as we over looked his Green Valley.

Back in town I would help Herman set his tree up and decorate it on his roof, then I would take mine out to our place where my son would decorate our tree with seashells and sand dollars.



That's one tradition that I really miss.

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On New Year's Eve we head to town for the children's pinata and the dance. Sometimes we'll take a late nap in our truck on the launch ramp first to help with the challenge of staying up till 2 am.

Last year we accepted Bedman's invitation to his traditional prime rib dinner so no nap for us, but boy was it worth it!

At midnight at Casa Diaz the handshakes, hugs and many a "Feliz Ano!" are shared with friends.

Here's a flashback photo of my first New Years Eve celebration in Bahia in 1984. Some of you may recognize a few of the faces. Some friends are still with us, some are not.



Then there is Menudo in the morning with a bit of the hair of the dog to bring in the new year.

One year we thought we would start a new tradition, but realized it wasn't a good idea. We had thorns in the shell of the truck and around camp forever afterwards.



We used to decorate Hector and Sunshine for the holiday, One year we had a little help from friends. I'd have to take quite a few Santa hats along each year as it seemed that almost every time into or out of town we would find one or both of the hats would be missing.





We are currently hunting for a new Sunshine for Hector. Since the Diaz ranch closed down, nice donkeys are hard to come by.

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So there in a very large nutshell you have it.

I wouldn't too concerned about all the other issues that have been mentioned in reply to your post. If you're worried about the ability of fuel, take along an extra jerry can to two that will help you make it to the next Pemex if you find one out of fuel.

Be prepared for the weather so you won't be caught off guard. There have been years when it was bathing suit/swimming weather and those when we had to hunker down inside. No matter the weather it's better than being stateside anytime.

Kids + long border waits can be done if you have something onboard for when the "I have to go Potty!" issue comes up. A large coffee container for each kid, with a seal tight lid works wonders. (thanks Barb for that suggestion)

You'll have a fabulous time.

Saludos and Feliz Navidad in advance,

P<*)))>{

Need help in pulling your Xmas sleigh?

Purebred reindog for rent......and she comes with gifts.


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Easy to feed.



[Edited on 8-23-2009 by Pompano]

Pompano,

Thank you for offering up the services of your purebred reindog as ours isn't quite up to snuff. The Gypsy family would be in a world of hurt if they had to use ours.



He doesn't come with gifts - he attacks yours.




The biggest problem is that he often falls asleep at the job. Not very safe for sleigh operation.



P<*)))>{