Evenings always commenced with “happy hour” — Alvaro never, ever ran out of margaritas or piña coladas — before the sun set around six, then we’d settle down to dinner and chat. In fact, we talked so much about everything imaginable Oprah would have been proud of us. After all, it’s not every beach in Mexico that contains two non-Finnish Finnish speakers, a lesbian mother of four, a former Broadway child star, a gay couple about to adopt a daughter, a woman who happily talks about both her husband and boyfriend, and a dotcom founder with two children born 13 days apart.

Midway through the week we swam with a colony of California sea lions, which we all agreed was quite magical as dozens of them darted by our heads, somersaulted beneath us and came and playfully nipped us to see if we merited further chomping.

This is not a trip for those who want to go clubbing every night or whose essential holiday packing includes a hairdryer. The shower for the week was the ocean. Piddling was done as subtly as possible in the sea. For anything else there was “Paco”, the portable lavatory, which, after a stern lecture on proper use from Bernado on day one, stayed remarkably fragrant all week.

If that sounds a bit grim, it wasn’t at all. It was easy to forget Paco when lying on the sand at night watching shooting stars, eating Alvaro’s delicious antojitos, looking at brightly coloured fish watching us watching them watching us, or kayaking inside dark sea caves.

By the end of our seven days I was very happily exhausted. I was glad to get back to the mainland and freshen up but as soon as I’d scrubbed off the layers of salt and dirt and insect repellent, I wanted to go back and get out on the water again. No chance, though. The guides were already getting ready for the next group. “There are five single girls from Ventura, California,” remarked Francisco over tequilas and beers, in wide-eyed wonderment, as if Ventura was the mythical home of a tribe of Amazonian superwomen. If only I had been a week later it could have been a whole different trip — but with the experiences I’d had and friends I had made, I would not have swapped.

Staying there: Journey Latin America (020-8747 8315, http://www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk/) offers a ten-day kayaking trip in Baja California from £1,132 per person including all flights, two nights’ hotel accommodation in La Paz, six nights’ full-board camping, guiding, kayaking and camping equipment. Reading: Cabo: La Paz to Cabo San Lucas (Moon Handbooks, £11.99); Adventure Kayaking Baja (Wilderness Press, £8.90); Baja California (Lonely Planet, £10.99); The Log from the Sea of Cortez, by John Steinbeck (Penguin £10.99).