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ENSENADA |
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ENSENADA , just ninety minutes on from Tijuana by the toll road and
sitting on Bahia de Todos Santos, is favoured by Californians "in the
know", and at weekends it's packed with partying groups of southern
Californians. Yet it remains far calmer, cheaper and smaller than
Tijuana - though still with a pretty clear idea of the value of the US
dollar - and has a growing reputation as an ecotourism spot. With some
life and culture of its own as a major port and fish-processing centre,
it's also home to one of the nations largest wineries, although the
distinctly average quality of the stuff produced here makes this a
somewhat dubious badge of distinction.
Today home to nearly 200,000 people, when the first explorers sailed
into Ensenada's waters almost 400 years ago, the lack of fresh water
made permanent settlement difficult, but over the next two hundred years
Bahia de Todos Santos became a popular port-of-call for whaling ships,
fur traders, Spanish treasure fleets and the pirate ships who sought
them, and by around 1870 it had developed into a supply point for
missionaries working along the northern Mexican frontier. When gold
reserves were discovered that year nearby in Real de Castillo, miners
rushed in but at the beginning of the twentieth century the mines closed
and the population dwindled, leaving Ensenada to revert to little more
than a small fishing village. Salvation came in the late 1930s with the
rise of agriculture in the Mexicali Valle, and the port became a point
of export for the produce, and when the paved highway from Tijuana was
opened some forty years later and American tourist dollars began to pour
in. Today it is a popular stop for cruise ships.
Almost all the action is squeezed into a few streets around the harbour
: seafront Boulevard Costero (aka Lázaro Cárdenas), Avenida Mateos (or C
1), which runs parallel to and as far inland as Avenida Juárez (C 5).
Here you'll find scores of souvenir shops and outfits offering sport-fishing
trips, as well as the bulk of the bars, hotels and restaurants - most
visitors come here to eat, drink, shop and little else. If you do want
to explore further, you could check out the view from the Chapultepec
Hills, overlooking town from the west, or visit the Bodegas de Santo
Tomás winery , one of Baja's largest, which offers tours and regular
tastings at Miramar 666 between C 6-A and 7-A (tours daily 11am, 1pm &
3pm; US$2; tel 6/178-3333). Most of the wines are only passable; if it
isn't offered, ask to try the white sherry. From December through to
March, the California grey whale migration from the Arctic to the Baja's
Pacific coast can be seen on daily whale-watching tours from Ensenada,
which go to Todos Santos Bay, although what you'll see is as nothing
compared to what's further south: Caracol Museo de Ciencias (tel
6/178-7192), Obregon 1463 and also on one of the piers, can arrange
trips for you.
Ensenada also attracts its share of surfers, of course, though as you'll
find throughout Baja it really pays to have your own transport. The best
beaches are at Estero , some 10km to the south, 2km off the main road.
Occasional local buses run past these to perhaps the most startling
attraction in the area, La Bufadora , a natural blowhole or geyser,
where the combined action of wind, waves and an incoming tide
periodically forces a huge jet of sea water up through a small vent in
the roof of an undersea cavern, in ideal conditions attaining 25-30m.
Even though it's more than 20km off the main road, it's worth a visit,
despite the annoying number of souvenir stands that rather spoil the
atmosphere. To get there take a micro from the Tres Cabezas park on
Costero at the bottom of Riveroll to Maneadero and another from there.
Ensenada itself hosts numerous events aimed squarely at the large US
encampment in town, from sporting contests to food and wine festivals.
The Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race , in April, is one of the largest
international regattas in the world, with yachts leaving Newport on a
Friday afternoon and finishing in Ensenada a day later, when the
partying commences and the town gets packed out. April is also when the
Rosarito-Ensenada Bike Ride draws thousands of cyclists here for the
scenic eighty-kilometre "fun ride" from Playa de Rosarito to Ensenada,
while off-road racing is the theme du jour during the Baja 100 (June)
and the Baja 2000 (Nov). Culinary events kick off in August, when some
of Baja's better wineries and vineyards host the ten-day Fiestas de la
Vendimia , where wine-tastings and wine-themed competitions and parties
are held at the wineries and in town; for information about tickets for
the ten-day festival ask at the tourist office. The town celebrates
Independence Day with a week of festivities.
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