LIFE'S ROSY IN ROSARITO
Laid-back in Baja Norte: Create your own affordable and fun Mexican adventure

Sunday, February 29, 2004
Section: Travel
Byline: Lorne Mallin
Dateline: ROSARITO, Mexico
Source: The Province (Canada)

Balmy mornings in the villa, warm afternoons in the pool and stunning sunsets from one of the 2 clubhouses overlooking the wide-open Pacific Ocean. This is the rosy life in the beach town of Rosarito, just 33 kilometres south of the U.S.-Mexico border in Baja Norte, Baja California, and a world away from the usual packaged trips to sun destinations.

It was an ideal independent vacation and an affordable one, too, thanks to Aeroplan points, scouting the Internet for the deals that are there to be found, and some off-season bargaining. The object was to spend some time somewhere warm without spending a lot of money and have some adventures. Mission accomplished.

I shared expenses with a friend and we flew Air Canada from Vancouver on points to Los Angeles. (Use up those Aeroplan points while you can. Who knows Air Canada's destiny?) Palm trees and shirtsleeves with the magic of air travel. Off came the shoes and on went the sandals. What a delicious feeling.

We stayed in the well-appointed Radisson near L.A. Airport for a $73 US Internet rate, ending up in a swank $249 junior suite after a room the front desk sent us to already had people in it. Oops. In the morning we splurged on a $12.95 breakfast buffet.

The vacation car came from Fox Rent a Car, a regional discount rental agency that had both the best rates -- $137 for 11 days --and the best price for compulsory Mexican insurance -- $147 for nine days. The slightly battered 2002 Daewoo Lanos two-door hatchback looked a little suspect but provided excellent transportation and gas mileage. And in Mexico, where many real wrecks are still on the road, it looked positively sharp.

Yes, Mexico is a very different country. Our North American Free Trade Agreement partner feels Third World as soon as you cross into Tijuana, the world's busiest border-crossing point. The first taste of culture shock was searching for the tourist-card place amid a jumble of private and government offices at the border. Unmarked and barren save for one official at a desk with
various stamps and forms, it could have been anywhere in the developing world.

You could save a few bucks taking the free road south to
Rosarito but it is often crowded. I recommend the spiffy and scenic Tijuana-Ensenada toll road, which costs 23 pesos or $2.25. Within half an hour we turned off at the fifth exit to Rosarito and arrived at the gate of La Paloma Beach and Tennis Club, home for the next 10 days.

Gate? Previous to this vacation, I would have huffed at the idea of staying in a gated resort. I'm a more adventurous traveller than that. But after reading about the brutal beating of a B.C. couple in their RV by a Baja roadside, I changed my focus from a funky hotel to something more secure.

I found La Paloma among many resort properties in the area by mining the Google search engine, the most precious resource on the Internet. I sent out several e-mail queries and swiftly heard back from Mario Frosio, who owns a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom at La Paloma. Frosio is very hospitable and we negotiated a deal for $78 a night. The summer season runs from March 1 and prices are higher $119.00 to $249.00 .

La Paloma was more than I expected. White-walled,
red-tile-roofed buildings are spread across six hectares (15 acres) amid four pools and spas, clubhouses, three tennis courts and very well-kept grounds. I enjoyed swimming in the heated pool steps away from the villa, taking a cold, Baja-brewed Tecate beer down to a beachfront clubhouse to see the sun go down and walking the long, broad beach washed by big waves that attract thousands of surfers to the Baja. Horses and ATVs are available for rent on the beach.

The villa is spacious and fully equipped with a well-stocked kitchen, CD player, patio with barbecue and a comfy living room with cable television. There are books to read and videos to play on the VCR/DVD.

In the corner of the living room is a fireplace but I couldn't find any wood. So we picked up some at a local store and I proceeded to make a fire. I got very brief flames despite repeatedly blowing on the glowing coals. The next day, I bought more wood with the same results -- no real fire but the place smelled like a barbecue pit. Then a light went on. This was treated wood for grilling food, not for flames. Duh. We bought real firewood and made some lovely fires.

The fireplace helped when it cooled off at night. A light jacket or sweater is useful for strolling the pathways after dark. Each morning, the thermometer on the patio registered 60 degreesF (15.5 degreesC) and reached about 70 degreesF (21 degreesC) by midday. Skies were mostly blue with a few wispy clouds.

We often cooked in the villa but also enjoyed eating at food stands in Rosarito. At the south end of the main street, Benito Juarez, weate fat, delicious tacos for a little more than $1 at Ruben's Fish and Shrimp Stand and bought some fresh snapper at the fish market next door to take home.

A block off Juarez is Yaqui Tacos, which serves carne asada tacos for about $1.70. They marinate flank steak for a day, grill it over mesquite, chop it up and fill large tortillas with meat, salsa, guacamole, onions and frijoles (beans). Another yummy find is Mexico Lindo II, a street-side grill with rabbit, quail and chicken further north on Juarez.

Rosarito is a popular weekend party destination for the
college-age crowd from San Diego. Several bars cater to them, including Macho Taco Bar & Grill, which advertises "Eat, Dance & Get Drunk." La Paloma is well away from that scene, although there were some noisy fireworks on the public beach in front.

Having the car made it easy to explore beyond Rosarito for food and fun. Fifteen minutes south, past a huge roadside statue of Jesus, is Puerto Nuevo, a four-block-square village jammed with about 30 restaurants, all of them serving lobster split in half and deep-fried. At Nachos, my friend tucked into a dinner with two half-lobsters and I savoured chicken with rich, chocolatey
mole sauce made by the owner's mother.

Down the road, we dined on filet mignon and quail at La Fonda Hotel and Cantina, run by Orest Dmitry, a charming
Ukrainian-Canadian who grew up in Hudson Bay, Sask.

Ninety km south of Rosarito is the busy seaport of Ensanada, where we visited the fish market, shopped for finer goods than found in Rosarito and sampled the excellent products at Bodegas De Santo Tomas, Baja's oldest winery with daily tours and wine tastings. Baja seems like such a desert landscape and it was a surprise to learn from tastemaster Cesar about its wine industry
in valleys with micro-climates that support growing grapes.

The climate is also good for olives. Another day trip took us to one of the valleys, Valle de Guadalupe, in search of an olive orchard. On the way on Highway 3, just north of San Antonio de las Minas, we lunched on Moroccan-style lamb at an oasis called Restaurant Mustafa. We stopped at the L.A. Cetto winery and looked no further. Cetto rings its vineyards with olive trees and we were able to sample juicy green olives, available by the
gallon. That was more than I could stuff in a suitcase but I did come away with a prized bottle of cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil.

lmallin@png.canwest.com

- - -

IF YOU GO TO ROSARITO

- Getting there: Cash in 25,000 points at www.aeroplan.ca or call 1-800-361-5373. Short on points? Try for flight deals online with Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia or Destina.
- Getting around: Fox Rent a Car at www.foxrentacar.com or 1-800-225-4369. Be sure to print out and bring the coupon on Fox's site that entitles you to either a free upgrade or another 10 per cent off the price.

Mexican auto insurance cannot be avoided. If you're bringing your own vehicle, you can get a better deal online or near the border. AdaVisaglobal.com
- Where to stay: Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport,
www.radisson.com/losangelesca_airport or 1-800-333-3333. On the way back we used a coupon from a hotel/motel coupon book found at tourist spots. The Comfort Inn with a pretty dreadful continental breakfast was $49.95 US. Also see www.roomsaver.com.
For La Paloma Beach and Tennis Club, go to www.LaPalomaRental.com Rate is $139 US a night but negotiable. Call Alexandra or Mario Frosio at 760-318-9652 or e-mail altoma@altoma.com.
- Money: You can use U.S. dollars most everywhere but you'll often save with pesos. I tried to change Canadian dollars into pesos at a Scotiabank in Rosarito but was refused. Go figure.