Ojo De Liebre and Bahia Concepcion Trip Report

I’m back from an eleven day trip to Baja with my girlfriend Lori. Here are the highlights and lowlights:

Day one: 3/14 Looong day with a 14 hour drive from LA to Ojo De Liebre. It went smooth as planned. We stopped and did the TJ shuffle to get our tourist cards before sunrise and headed south. With the exception of hearty breakfast at the Jalisco Cafe in Maneadero, we pretty much motored straight through – only stopping for gas with ice cream/Red Bull supplements. Arrived at the campground at the lagoon before sundown.

Day two: Went out on a panga to see the whales at 10:00. It was perfect timing – the morning was cool and overcast, but the sun broke as we were preparing to leave the dock. We initially had the boat to ourselves, but a late arrival by a Mexican family spanning 3 generations – grandma, mom, dad and 4 year old son – rounded out our group. Grandma was the most excited by our adventure, with the little guy being somewhat afraid of our close encounters. It was amazing! With the later departure, our panguero was able to get info on the location of some friendly whales from an earlier boat. We all had an opportunity to touch these guys – they were like 30 ton puppies wanting to be petted. We encountered two pairs of mother and baby. Per the panguero, the youngsters were probably one year olds.
We spent the rest of the day hiking around and exploring the area. Except for the Mexican family and a Canadian couple staying at the palapas near the Visitor’s Center, we had the campground to ourselves.

Day three: We packed up the tent early and headed out. When we stopped at the gate to sign out with the security guy, he handed us a piece of coral covered in salt crystals – an unexpected and kind gesture. Uneventful drive to Bahia Concepcion with lingering signs if last fall’s hurricane – road detours and bridge construction. We weren’t sure where to camp at BC. We did some research and there are plenty of places, so we weren’t concerned about finding something. We ended up staying at the first place we stopped – Los Naranjos at the upper part of the bay near Punt Arena. We got a “palapa” there for $10/night. Palapa is a pretty weak description for our plush accommodations. It was actually a new 20’x 25’ cabin with concrete floor, front and back door, stucco and wood sides with screened windows, plus a bathroom with a sink and flush toilet. Right on the water. Nice!

Day four – nine. Hung out, explored the area, and kayak fished. One of the highlights was delivering much needed school supplies to one of the elementary schools in Mulege that’s near the river and subsequently was flooded by the hurricane.
The kayak fishing was not great, but we had fish for dinner each day I went out – bay bass fish tacos, trigger fish ceviche and fried catfish(!!) My first day out, I found a hot spot for catfish. I’ve never caught saltwater cats before, so I didn’t keep any – not sure if they were good to eat or not. I asked some of the resident gringos living at the camp and was met with puzzled looks – they hadn’t heard of any catfish in the area. A day later, one of the local gringos said he had just caught one, cooked it up and it was delicious. Armed with this new knowledge, I headed out and fished in a new area with little success. I then went back to the catfish hole and had fun catching a couple dozen before paddling away from the still hot bite. I kept 3 for dinner and they were fantastic – sweet, white, mild flesh that tasted great with the improvised tartar sauce that Lori made.

We went for walks up and down the beach and into the cactus forest (is that the right term?). To the north we went past Bob and Susan’s Playa Frambes project. Lots of other construction in the area with additional lots marked off for future development. Our timing was good because the day after we were there, another couple was walking on the beach in the area and the guy needed stitches and shots after being bitten on the leg by a dog.
Our hikes into the cactus forest behind the camp were amazing. I could not believe how green it was. In addition to the cardon cactus, there were flowering shrubs and vines, plus an incredible variety of birds, bugs and a few rabbits. It was great to see a pristine area without trash and with the staghorn-like cores of the dead cholla (?) cactus remaining intact and untouched. I love it when it feels like you’re the only one who’s been there. Springtime in the desert is so beautiful.

We were living in close proximity with other beach dwellers. The good news is the long-timers use solar to power their rigs. The bad news is the short timers did not get the memo and some ran their generators past 10 pm. Loud music caused a disturbance one night with the Mexican polka music (that’s what I call it) playing REALLY LOUD until almost midnight. It’s hard to complain to the owners of the camp about the loud music when they’re the ones responsible for it!! Per the long-timers, Armando does this on a semi-regular basis and there not much you can do about it.

Day ten: Headed out early for the first leg of the long drive home. Stopped in Santa Rosalia to see the Eiffel designed church and go to the bakery. The church was open, but it was 7:30 and the bakery didn’t open until 8:00. Lots of miles to do, so we hit the road instead of waiting. Original plan was to stay in San Quintin, but we were ahead of schedule, so we kept going and got to a hotel in Punta Banda before sundown.

Day eleven: Again, headed out early for the final leg of the journey. As is our normal route, we took Mex 3 to Tecate. Taking highway 3 is a prettier, but slightly longer drive. . I hate to going back through TJ. I would rather drive through the countryside than hassle with the stop and go bottleneck at the border in TJ. The Tecate border crossing was a piece of cake this time – the last couple of times we crossed on Saturday late in the day and we waited for 1 to 2 hours. This time at 11 in the morning, the line was shorter than an In-N-Out Burger drive thru. We were flagged for secondary inspection, but the inspectors must have gotten the same training as the Mexican military - a two minute non-invasive peak and poke at our camping gear and we were off.

Now I’m back at work and fully engaged with all my real world responsibilities. There is still some of the post-trip maintenance work to do on the gear, but I’m already planning our next trip in Sept. Thanks to all the Nomads who helped make this trip a success with all the info on the boards.

Joe O.

Underwater shot

"Palapa"

Bahia Concepcion Catfish

Bugs

hey!!! we saw you joe!!!!

we eat alot at norm and tonis...
they keep susan alive

you fished every evening on that kayak...
almost til dark
you were a GREAT show...

the poor guy that got bit by the dog was named joe too
he was walking over by punta arena

3 stiches

it was his first trip there
he was norm and tonis daughter betsy's boyfriend

he had BAD luck
he also got sick from the shot
was sore from hiking and...
got a flat tire on the way to the airport

he finally made it home safe!!!
the owners of the dog paid the hospital bill ...

you should have stopped by
next time

september is HOT!!!!

baja catfishes

Or you could use a slingshot and marbles...more fun!


Cool report!sounds like fun..

IthrowthejigwhenI'mnotmakingnastyperrosyelp

Yakfishing, Thanks for the pics and the report. Super!