The exhibit of photographs included one of Mr. To the right are exhibits with old photographs and other artifacts (bones, adobe bricks, an old clock, etc.) that relate to the history of this area. The classrooms still being used are on the left as you enter. Today some specialty classes, like art or music, are taught here, mostly to children. It used to be a school – first it was a normal (teacher training) school, then it became an elementary school. Our bus’s first stop in Todos Santos was at a cultural center. I think if we were truly going to retire in Mexico, we’d choose a more accessible area “on the mainland.” (Although I do love the desert!) Even so, Dale picked up a real estate brochure we found in Todos Santos. and Canada, and of course, within Mexico. (There may be car ferries over the Sea of Cortés I just don’t know.) Cabo San Lucas has an international airport with direct flights to many cities in the U.S. That also goes for traveling – driving would require going all the way north to the border, then going south to see other parts of Mexico, or flying. On the beach, however, you need to add another zero to that figure! The main problem here is that things cost more due to the peninsula’s relative isolation. if you are looking for a nice 3-bedroom, 2 bath house away from the beach, in this area you can find one for $45-75,000. It used to be that foreigners could not own land outright in Mexico, but now they can. Mexico has open borders and accepts anyone who wants to live here as long as they come in peace, he said. So I asked Memo whether it is feasible for Americans to retire here. I’d seen a lot of Mexico during my life, but had never been to Baja California before. The protrusions I saw at the top were apparently the beginning of its blooms. It grows many more arms in its lifetime than the saguaro. The cardón cactus can live up to 300 years and weigh up to 25 tons. It grows in northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora. In appearance, they are slightly thinner than saguaros, have many more arms and some have little protrusions sticking out near their tops.ĭoing an online search for the cardón cactus, I learned that its technical name is Pachycereus pringlei, also known as Mexican giant cardon or elephant cactus. They belong to one of six species of cardón cacti, which grow so many arms that they can weigh up to five tons! I could see birds’ nest holes in them and wonder if they occupy a similar role in the ecosystem as saguaros do. I didn’t think saguaros grew this far south, even though technically Baja California Sur is part of the Sonoran Desert. Memo said these cacti were in fact NOT saguaros. I couldn’t decide whether they were or were not saguaros. I noticed a very cactus very much like the saguaro dotting the desert landscape outside. Memo told us a lot of information about the town and the region. Because Dale and I were sitting in front (for once!), it was easier to ask him questions. The bus ride to Todos Santos took about an hour. bills and credit cards are accepted everywhere.
dollars, but some vendors carry a few small U.S. It’s the one place that doesn’t usually trade in U.S. It’s already been “discovered” in that there are about 70 art galleries and shopping areas in this town of 14,000 people, it is the location of Hotel California, made famous by the Eagles, and that most of the people I saw in town (besides those from our ship) spoke English. I’m glad we’re seeing it now! Our first view of Cabo San Lucas Our guide, Memo, said that Todos Santos now is what Cabo was 30 years ago, and that in another few decades, Todos Santos will have become like Cabo San Lucas. Since I had no interest in spending time in the tourist trap of Cabo San Lucas, we opted for an excursion to the small city of Todos Santos, about 50 miles up the coast from Cabo.