March 2023

March Overview –

March was a busy month for us, which was spent helping family with their income taxes and attending meetings in our complex to initiate our HOA.  But of course, there was still time for some fun and this month that fun was a road trip to La Paz.

We had decided the perfect time to go would be around mid-month, so Lorne booked Thursday/Friday (March 16/17) off work, which combined with Monday (a national holiday in Mexico), made for a very nice five day long weekend for us.

The roads were a little rough in places and the whole way there were only two lanes, one in each direction.

We arrived in La Paz around 4:30pm and checked into the Hyatt Hotel.  The Hyatt was located on the edge of town, and it was a nice new hotel that was very comfortable.  We settled into our room, rested a bit, and then headed out to explore the town.  We had researched ahead of time for some great restaurants to try and at the top of our list was a place that apparently had THE best fish tacos anywhere.  When we were ready to grab some dinner, we googled it for directions, but we found it was closed.  They were apparently open from 8am to 2pm only.  We tried another option we saw for other great fish tacos, but they apparently closed at 5:30pm.  It was now after 7pm and we were getting quite hungry.  We drove around for a while more, while googling some other options for dinner when we drove past Pizza Hut.  We looked at each other and both said, “let’s do pizza”! 

To most people this might seem a bit weird to pick Pizza Hut over some amazing fish tacos, but we live in the land of tacos and can pretty much get them on every street corner in every town.  What we don’t have in Cabo is Pizza Hut and it has been over three years since we have had Pizza Hut, so we just had to do it.  And on that night, it was the perfect thing for us to have. 

The next morning, we enjoyed an amazing brunch at a local place called Maria California, which is a tiny restaurant in a tiny little residential area.  The food was amazing!  Lorne had the beef enchiladas, and I had the breakfast burrito.  We will for sure return the next time we are in La Paz.  After brunch, we drove through some of the different neighbourhoods and stopped in at the new shopping centre located on the far side of town.  The anchor store for this shopping centre is Liverpool, which is very much like The Bay, and just as expensive.  Wandering through there, we felt like we were either back in Canada, or in the US walking through Macy’s!

La Paz is less touristy than Cabo but still a very busy town as it’s the capital city of our state, so people are rushing around everywhere.  Also, everyone was dressed very nicely, like in business casual clothes, not just in shorts and tee shirts like they do around here.  La Paz is also a lot greener than Cabo.  It’s a very pretty city.

We left La Paz around 2pm and took the other way back, through Todos Santos.  This direction is much faster as it has a nicely maintained four lane highway.  We made a quick stop in Todos Santos for a cold drink and then arrived home around 4:30pm. 

We really liked La Paz and plan to visit more often.  We were so happy we did the trip on Thursday and Friday, which meant we had a nice long weekend still ahead of us.  On Saturday we ended up rearranging our patio, as it’s perfect weather now to sit outside more, and for the rest of the weekend we did a bit of that fun spring cleaning and relaxing on the patio.  It was a good mini vacation / long weekend combo!

Be sure to check out our Snippets for a video of Lorne cleaning our patio screens, and for all our La Paz photos.    

And now, here’s what’s been happening around here in March….

Spring Break

March is a very busy month in Mexico as approximately 270,000 North American students visit Mexico during the spring break season.  Most schools typically schedule their spring break somewhere between the end of February through the beginning of April.  Of these 270,000 spring breakers, approximately 32,000 students came to Cabo this year, which is a 35% increase compared to 2021.  These students contribute approximately USD $30 million to our local economy, as on average, a spring break vacationer spends between $200 – $500 per day.

This is only a small portion of the total number of international tourists expected to arrive in Mexico this year as it is predicted that Mexico will receive approximately 40 million foreign visitors during 2023.  This number is 2.7% higher than the number of tourists received last year.  These tourists will contribute approximately USD $30 billion to the Mexican economy which equates to about $750 per visitor.

Daylight Savings Time

In October 2022, Mexico’s Senate approved a bill to eliminate daylight savings time, putting an end to the practice of changing clocks twice a year.  So on October 30, 2022 at 2am we moved our clocks back one final time and Baja California Sur changed to Mexican Pacific Standard Time (GMT -7) and will remain there going forward.

This meant that on March 12, when Canada and the US sprung forward to observe Daylight Savings Time, we did not.  Our sunrise was at 6:31am, instead of 7:31am which it would have been had we moved our clocks ahead.  It was so nice to continue waking up to natural light, instead of having to wake up in the dark.

Even though there was no time change for us this year, we still felt the effects of it, as most of our electronic devices did not seem to understand.  Prior to the time change on March 12, bizarre things started happening like the time on my tablet was suddenly an hour ahead.  Then even though my computer had the correct time, all my messages in Messenger had the time showing as an hour later than it was.  Lorne’s alarm even moved an hour ahead one day and woke us up at 6am instead of 7am.  For the first two weeks in March, we were never sure what the time really was.

Now that we no longer observe Daylight Savings Time, the sun here currently sets at 6:36pm, which will eventually increase to setting at the maximum 7:09pm at the summer solstice.  I am sure we will miss having the sun set later in the evening, but on the plus side, by not moving our clocks ahead, we are not extending the hotter hours later in the day.  Once the sun sets, the temperatures start to go down, which will make it easier to sleep in the hotter months.

Mask Update

In mid-October 2022, our state lifted the mask mandate after 2.5 years, which meant we no longer were required to wear masks to go shopping, or to a restaurant or walk on the street.  This lasted only until mid-December 2022.  Between a busy travel season starting, as well as Christmas approaching, hospitals were reporting a rise in COVID-19 cases as well as cases of the current strain of influenza, which prompted the government to bring back the mandatory mask mandate.

Three months later (March 9), the Los Cabos International Airport announced that the use of masks was no longer mandatory in the airport.  The use of masks at the airport would always come as a shock to all North American travelers when they arrived in Los Cabos since the use of masks is no longer mandatory in Canada and the US and has not been for a while.  Enforcing this mandate at the airport was becoming next to impossible, so the decision was made to end the mask mandate at the airport.

Then on March 16, the government finally announced that the use of masks would now be optional in all of Baja California Sur.  However, they are still mandatory when entering all medical buildings/hospitals and for all food handlers.

La Paz

La Paz is the state capital and most populated city in the state of Baja California Sur.  It is located on the coast of the Sea of Cortez and lies about 1470 km (913 miles) south of Tijuana, and 150 km (93 miles) north of Cabo San Lucas.  It has very little feel of a big city and more of a port town with old world charm.

La Paz is the only commercial port on the eastern side of the Baja, supplying most of the goods transported from mainland Mexico and all petroleum products used in the state.

This area of Baja is very hot in the summer (May through October) with slightly cooler nights, and during the winter, warm days, and very cool nights.  

You won’t find any of the huge all-inclusive resorts in La Paz.  However, you will find some of the best swimmable beaches in all of Baja California Sur.  They also have a 5 km Malecon (waterfront boardwalk) which is lined with palm trees and is one of the longest and prettiest promenades in all of Baja.  And of course, some of the most delicious food, which focuses on fresh seafood with authentic Mexican flavours.

(Side note: in the photo above, most people refer to the sculpture behind “La Paz” as a whales tale, but in fact it is actually two doves, and the way they are placed makes it look like a whales tale. The doves of course represent Peace, and La Paz means the City of Peace)

Benito Juarez Memorial Day

El Día de Benito Juárez (Benito Juárez Day), is celebrated on the third Monday in March as a Mexican public holiday to honour Benito Juarez, Mexico’s former president and national hero.  Schools, government offices, banks and most businesses are closed on this day.

Benito Juárez was born on March 21, 1806.  He became a lawyer and politician who held various offices, including Governor of Oaxaca, President of the Supreme Court, as well as President of Mexico.   He served five presidential terms between 1858 and 1872, when he died of a heart attack July 18, 1872 at the age of 66.

As well as having a national holiday named in his honour, almost every Mexican city has a street named after him and he is pictured on the 500-peso note.

ps…  Don’t forget to check out the latest Snippets!