First off, the vacation was fabulous. The first night on the ship I had food poisoning, which was not so fabulous. A nurse had to stab me with a needle to give me something to make me stop throwing up, and that was not particularly enjoyable. But the sun always comes up after the dark, and we had a beautiful day in Mexico!
Mexico itself was cool. It was interesting to see as our tour bus drove through town in Ensenada, it was interesting to see and hear about the people there. The economy isn't very good, and most of the people rely on government aid to get housing, and they live in government housing rather than buying from a third party, because they simply can't afford the interest rates. The government housing is "very, very nice and clean" according to our tour guide. Most of the houses are 200-300 square feet. This is considered good. Less well-off families live in campers, trailers, small one-room homes, etc, in fields or in large "subdivision" areas - essentially a large plot of dirt with a lot of shacks built on it.
We passed several blocks of really trashy looking condominiums/apartments. Our guide insisted that "we don't live like this. Mexicans don't all live like this." These condos were built by the government in the 90s, an attempt to provide even cheaper housing options for the working class. However, land was still available for affordable prices, and the apartment-style housing ended up attracting the very lower classes rather than the working class they were intended for. They have since turned into essentially an Ensenada ghetto.
We passed fields of asparagus, tomatoes, and I think melons. (I forget exactly what - most of the plants were still just tiny). Our guide told us that in the central and southern areas of Mexico, the economy is terrible, and many people travel to the northern areas, particularly in Baja, as seasonal migrant workers. The government will provide them with free transportation north, then they have to pay for their trip back.
The main road through all of Baja is called Road Number One. This highway stretches throughout the entire peninsula, connecting the major cities in the peninsula. We drove a little way on this road on our way to La Bufadora.
La Bufadora is a naturally occuring "blowhole" on the coast south of Ensenada. There is a cave along the edge of the cliffs, and as the tide comes in, the air pressure in the cave causes the water to spray up into the air like a geyser. It's similar to Old Faithful, only every 15 seconds or so instead of having to wait around. Our guide referred to it as the 'Natural Phenomenon." It was pretty funny the way she said it.
Near La Bufadora is a small community or settlement. There are no services available, but probably 50-100 people live their. Most of them have wells, but there is still no electricity (I think... I'm struggling to remember exactly what essential utility they were missing). I'm not sure if they have generators or they just do without. More likely the latter.
We only spent a day in Mexico, and granted, Ensenada is pretty close to the border - you almost can't consider it "real" Mexico. However, the little bit of time we were there really made me appreciate what I have! My house is pretty small according to our standards, but it's three times the size of most of the houses in Ensenada. I have a great, air-conditioned office job that I complain about all the time, but I make three or four times the amount most of the workers there do. It really makes you count your blessings sometimes.
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