Monthly Archives: August 2014

Passports, Tourist Visas, Flying, Electricity, and Mechanics, Todos Santos Info

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Been here in Todos Santos Baja Sur Mexico for 6 months, happy dance. I have some info that you will want to know. 🙂
Volaris

Here is the short list!

> Need to get a new tourist visa for another 180 days stay in MX? This can be done at the Tijuana Airport at the INM office.
Costs $25 USD, Flying into TJ from anywhere else in Mexico can be done with a simple ID. We used Volaris and they were great. Dan and I drove into Mexico with only our passport cards, which does not allow us to fly back across the US border. So this was a handy way to go.  We were able to fly up to TJ one day and fly back down the next day.

>  Electricity… it gets hot and humid in the Summer down here, you must like it hot. We arrived in March. Our first bill (the bill is for two months) was $60 USD. We began to use the AC a bit here and there and the next bill was $200. Then it got really hot and we did not take into account the billing rate/ scale they use here, we ran the ac non stop and got a bill today for $17K pesos, equaling around $1300 USD. Yeah. No more ac for us, time to see just how hot we like it lol.

> Mechanics. They are awesome here. I can recommend a couple to you if you are in the area and need some work done.
So far we have had an oil change with an oil plug replaced and trans fluid replaced and spark plugs (we were quoted $500 by a mechanic in the States for just the oil plug) for $170 usd. V8 5.7 liter with synthetic oil. We also had differential serviced as it was leaking, new fluid and seal, for $70. We were quoted $1000 in the US by Les Schwab for a brake job, here? $200, including new rotors and all four brakes. Friendly fast good service, very happy and so is our car 🙂

La Garita, an oasis, er um restaurant, to love

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La Garita Restaurant

La Garita Restaurant Todos Santos BCS

https://foursquare.com/v/la-garita/4bf15b7529692d7f02438a77
La Garita….. so Dan and I find ourselves taking a road trip from Todos Santos to La Paz, (the capitol of Baja Sur that sits on the other side of the peninsula from us, along the Sea of Cortez) a couple times a month. Todos Santos is quaint and serene, lacking the bustle of wally world and sams club, but sometimes we need those kind of amenities, so we drive. It is a beautiful stretch of road, blue hills and mountains in the distance, hedging you in on a plain of desert cactus and shrubbery. Free range goats, cows, horses, vultures, lizards, multi fingered cacti tall as trees, they rule, and beautiful high blue desert skies. A four way highway, never much traffic to speak of, desolate and peaceful.
When we first arrived here the desert was brown, dry, and you could see for miles along the terrain. Right now in the midst of summer it is lush and green, the cacti are flowering, and the desert looks more like a cacti forest, thick with bushes, flowers, grass.
> At Km. 29, heading across this highway is a restaurant, La Garita. They have a matching restaurant on both sides of the highway actually, great idea right? We always stop on the way to La Paz, so have only tried the one on the right hand side of the road. The place is really an oasis. Welcoming and clean, and the family who run it are super friendly and accommodating. The prices are amazing, Dan and I both eat to our hearts content (and they offer an awesome array of salsas, guac, chips and fried cheese on the house as appetizers!) for the equivalent of $10-$15 USD including tip. The food is fresh and delicious. They have their own chicken coop out back, happy goats, and offer goat cheese and other handmade goodies for sale as well.Try their Mango juice, no kidding, get the grande.
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Recommended : Machaca, Huevos Titanic (Egg soup like you have never tasted before), Huevos scrambled with papas (potatoes) and your choice of Chorizo, Machaca, Steak, etc, all of their burritos and tacos of course. Dan loves the Carne Asada, and we both recommend the Mango juice.
Next time you are driving from Todos Santos (or Cabo) to La Paz, this is a treat you will want to stop in for. The restaurant is under a cool palapa, there is always festive music, and friendly smiles. Plus every once in a while I see their cute little tabby cat come around to say hi. =^.^=
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