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The Photo Gallery


Hola! Bienvenidos mis casa... at least while I'm here on the East Cape of the Baja Peninsula at the lovely Villa Del Faro boutique hotel. Hotel? Well, it's actually a collection of individual and quite unique casitas in a lightly developed private beach and hillside property, anchored by an amazing beautiful main house. Here's a collection of pictures of the place, starting with the Stone Beach Cottage where I spent two wonderful nights and three glorious days.





The Stone Beach Cottage is exactly what the title implies: a little cottage built of thick stones, on the beach. You can see that high tide is barely 50 ft. from the cottage, and it's partly sheltered by a rocky outcrop and the sand dunes that have built up nearby. The thatched (palapa) roof keeps out the rain when it does make its infrequent appearances and the shutters (no windows) open up for ventilation and to enjoy the amazing view of the Sea of Cortez.





The view from the backside of the cottage shows the outdoor shower that's open on one side not terribly private. However, there's virtually no one on the beach so that's not really a concern. The water is heated by solar panels on the roof and I found out - in a real hurry the first morning - that it doesn't keep the water hot overnight. On the other hand, it's very warm by mid-afternoon.





I told you the beach was deserted, and despite a few houses spread along the shore, I never did encounter anyone in the three days of my stay. Was able to walk for miles in either direction with nothing but the wind, the waves, and the occasional pelican to keep me company.





See the cottage on the beach, see the little square reed-walled bano (look it up if you can't guess it's purpose) up the hill a few long strides from the cottage (thankfully the path was lit with little solar lamps at night). Did I mention that the cottage itself has no heat, no running water, no electricity, no phone, TV, or internet access, and has just the bare rudiments necessary for comfortable living down in Mexico: a small two-burner gas stove, a little charcoal barbecue, a solar-powered reading lamp, a cooler with ice, jug of water and not much else.





Just up the hill from the cottage is the , an open air gazebo like structure made of concrete and masonry. Open on three sides, it was shady and cool in the afternoon and a great spot to look out at the stars and the sea in the evenings.






































































The next stop on the trip was just south of Todos Santos at a very picturesque bed and breakfast named Los Colibris. With just four compact casitas, but an absolutely stunning view, the increased creature comforts were a welcome change after a few days of "roughing it" on the beach.






















With my time on the Baja drawing to a close, I made a quick daytrip north to La Paz and explored the beaches and desert north of the city.







The final stop on my mini-tour of the Baja was in the little touristy - artsy town of Todos Santos on the west side of the peninsula. Of course I had to stay at the iconic Hotel California for my final night and booked one of the best rooms in the hotel. The patio outside even had enough privacy for some unencumbered sunbathing, guarded by the ever-faithful scrap steel Mariachi band.



















Despite the refrains of the Eagle's song reverberating around the room, I was able to actually leave the Hotel California, and bid adieu to all the kitsch as I passed through the lobby.