La Paz - Week 3

Date: 4/23/2009

Location: La Paz, Marina de La Paz

Weather: sunny and hot,  98° yesterday, breezy at night which cools the place off

We have been busy for the last 3 weeks in La Paz getting the boat ship-shape and exploring around town. We are starting to acclimate to the hot desert climate, at least we're trying. During the hot afternoon we stay inside and slow down and try to be one with the heat, kinda a zen thing. If you fight it it just makes it worse. I like the heat, it's nice not to be cold and wet. Linda is getting there, she try's to enjoy the heat but mother nature sometimes makes that difficult. 

The water maker high pressure pump started to show signs of old age so we had it rebuilt by a gringo here who is a water maker expert. Cruising in Baja requires a good working water maker as water is hard to come by so it was important to get it repaired in La Paz when we had the chance.  The refrigerator started to run continuously about a month ago and not getting below 40° so we had another gringo take a look at it but it's still not working right. It's either  running all the time to get below 40 or if we turn it down so it cycles on and off it's too warm. We're having another person, a local named Hector who has a good reputation, look at it today. Other than that the boat is in good shape. 

I went to a doctor a few days ago because I've not been able to completely shake the cold that I had last January. I still have a cough, congestion, and funny feeling ears. The doctor says that I have some liquid in my left lung and an infection in my ears and gave me a list of 4 drugs I needed to take. They don't do  prescriptions here, they give you a list, looks like a prescription but it's not, and you take it to the Farmacia and they fill it for you. Anyone can walk into a Farmacia and get any kind of drugs except for narcotics which require a prescription. The doctor's office was as modern and well equipped as any doctor's office I've been to in the States, in fact better than most. The doctor spoke English and was very professional. Charge for the office visit, $37 US. Medical care here in La Paz, and we're told it's the same in all large Mexican cities, is very good and costs a fraction of what it does in the US. 

Life here is very relaxed and easy going. The locals are very friendly, if you run into a rude person it's a gringo but that's the rare exception.  Goods and services are inexpensive, not all things are cheap but local items normally are, things imported from the States cost 20% to 50% more here. Local produce, breads, etc are very inexpensive and very good. La Paz is large enough that you can find most services from excellent health care to mechanics. We're leaving next week to head north into the Sea. It will be good to get out and start exploring more, the islands north of here are supposed to be magnificent with abundant sea life.