Marie-Rose - 3-12-2004 at 12:27 PM
This is a ?better late than never? trip report! Basically, everything went so smoothly (thanks to previous trip reports!) I feel like I will be
repeating stuff previously posted so I?m just going to mention some highlights and stuff we weren?t totally clear about.
We hit TJ about 6:15 am(Feb 4)?really handy to have our visa and car insurance taken care of ahead of time (Discover Baja travel Club) Friend
traveling with us had to do a little looking around to find the right offices but everything was open and we hit the first toll booth at 7am. Within
the first km of border crossing we only saw one sign indicating the lane to be in for the toll booth. STAY in that lane even though the rest of the
signs are confusing! At one point we ended up at playa de tijuanna?no problem turning around. We were surprised at how long it took to drive
through Ensenada...lots of traffic!
The weather was not great?still some rain and cool so we did not make many stops. Panaderia Carmen(km 124) was just as Family Guy described it! The
elderly baker saw us coming, opened his tiny shop and everything had obviously been freshly baked. Our first experience with the strong smell of
mesquite in the baking. Cookies were great but the bread was even better. Will get more on the way home!! It was the perfect start to a Mexican
holiday, although we could have done without the mud?still raining!!
We arrived at San Quentin around noon and decided that it was too early to stop as planned, at Rancho Cielito Lindo. In hind sight, for anyone
traveling Jan-April, we wished we would have stayed. Ended up driving the last part to Guererro Negro much faster than we would have liked. It was
beautiful scenery, the road was good and the weather started to clear but we were slowed down by massive caravans of huge motor homes. It was about
5:30-6pm by the time we got to Villa Jesus Maria so we missed Carmalita?s tomales and got into GN about ? hr after sundown. Camped at Malarrimo
(Laurie got a room there which was really cute?she liked it so much we stayed an extra night!),clean bathrooms and shower and good food at the
restautant. Found internet run by a lovely young family, 2 streets before the Malarrimo, coming into town, turn right and it?s about 3 blocks down.
We drove to Scammons Lagoon, no problems with the road. It was interesting to drive through the ?salt beds.? Saw lots of whales from shore and in
hind sight should have hopped a panga there to get closer. Ended up not being able to drive the road from San Ignacio to the coast due to many
reports of shredded tires etc, and it was also very windy. We also tried at Puerto San Carlos and weather did not co-operate. We were told there
only about 80 whales at San Carlos this year.
Stayed overnight at San Ignacio (hoping the wind would die down to see whales in am).Town is very pretty and worth driving down to see. Camping at
Rice and Beans was deserted and the wind was howling through the camping area which is basically a parking lot between the restaurant and motel rooms.
Any area we tried to camp at was incredibly dusty due to the wind. We ended up at the Ignacio Springs B&B where Laurie rented the cutest ?Yurt?.
The couple who run the place are wonderful, Terry and Glen. They let us camp beside Laurie?s Yurt and charged us $10.00 which included an incredible
breakfast of bacon and eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit and homemade bread toasted with many kinds of local homemade jam. Still incredibly windy so off
to Santa Rosalia.
We did some shopping, did not find many locals who spoke English so had our first experience of really trying out our very limited Spanish?needed
things like bank and ground coffee so it was quite amusing! It was getting towards 2pm so we tried to find the baker that everyone has been raving
about (previously from el bolero) I had copied someones directions previously posted?they turned out to be quite accurate except that we did not
realize the entrance of the street was off the highway.(across from Pollo Carbon Restaurant)?we were trying to find it off of the main street.
Anyway, two young locals hopped in their car and drove us through MANY side streets, I think Laurie was starting to get a little nervous, and we
arrived to a very non-descript house which houses the bakery. We were too early for the pastries but the bread was worth every bit of effort!!! Baker
showed us his wood ovens, we took pictures while stuffing ourselves. Whoever suggested bringing the butter with them was right on!
We left Laurie at her destination in Mulege and continued on to camp at El Requeson. Stayed 2 nights but it was still so windy that it was difficult
to enjoy the beauty. We will stop on the way home in April.
Our next stop was in San Carlos, dry camping on the ocean front by the ecological college. Policia had shown the spot to a couple who arrive after us
and were trying to collect payment! Otherwise did not find any other camping.
Enjoyed walking around Ciudad C. Good shopping with Mexican prices for anyone so inclined.
Then we hit the market in La Paz for great seafood and fruits and veggies and then on to our new digs in Todos.
Will do another posting of all the cool places we?ve seen, food enjoyed, and people we are meeting in this area soon.
Bob H - 3-12-2004 at 02:07 PM
Marie-Rose, thanks for the great trip report. For those of us waiting for our next trip down, these reports can't be beat!
Gracias!
Bob H 
David K - 3-12-2004 at 03:08 PM
I had the pleasure of meeting Marie-Rose and her husband Fred when I invited them to join me for breakfast at Sunrise Cafe, in Vista... Makes a nice
break between British Columbia and Baja California! Marie-Rose is posting photos of their trip right now from Internet cafes in Baja... Have a look:
http://www.diarybase.com/members/hagensinbaja
[Edited on 3-12-2004 by David K]
Marie-Rose - 3-15-2004 at 02:31 PM
David...the pleasure was ours. Just want to let you know that the books you suggested were RIGHT ON!! We loved both of them...Baja Legends and Into
the Dessert.
GeoRock - 3-16-2004 at 01:51 PM
Another book I recommend can be purchased at www.bajaemergencyguide.com. It's really informative!
I enjoyed your trip report. You obviously gathered a lot of trip info before you left. How about posting it ?
Thanks