Janice
Junior Nomad
Posts: 78
Registered: 10-19-2003
Location: Owens Valley/Alpine - California
Member Is Offline
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Really long Baja trip report
Hey Amigos,
My Husband and I recently returned from a month in Baja. We drove the whole length of the peninsula in our Toyota mini van with our two dogs. I am
doing a cut and paste into this message that contains all four email messages we sent from various places on the trip. We picked up an ancient laptop
computer for $16 before we left so I wrote a lot more into our email than normal. It is a huge post and I won?t be surprised if it gets removed but it
has some interesting stuff in it. Enjoy!
Message #1
Hola from Mexico! We are both doing fine and having a wonderful time. It is siesta time here, so we are taking time to write as we said we would. We
started our trip with a night at Carlsbad state beach on Monday. We had a late start so we didn?t do much except for get a good nights sleep. In the
morning we packed up and headed for the border to get insurance and tourist cards. The plan was to get to San Quintin the first day but we had to hole
up in a convenient RV park in Santo Thomas, El Palomar, to replace a bad radiator hose (we had a spare of course). There is a nice restaurant there so
we had dinner and made the best of our unscheduled stop. The park had cages full of animals: goats, chickens and rabbits that the dogs found quite
entertaining. There was supposedly a monkey too, but we never saw one. Apparently locals flock here from Ensenada in the summer to enjoy the swimming
pools (they have three), but we had the place to ourselves.
The next morning we made it to San Quintin with a stop for lunch at our favorite fish taco stand, La Pasadita (in case anyone makes it down here, its
the one in front of the city park). We then headed for the Old Mill campground. We heard a lot about this place but did not make it here last time. It
was a very clean park on the shore of Bahia San Quintin. The restaurant was very highly recommended, so we gave it a try. Rich had lobster and fillet
mignon while I had very spicy chicken enchiladas. It was very good and reasonably priced. The margaritas were fabulous. We were serenaded by Carlos
and Domingo a mariachi duo from the local area. Rich had left his guitar at home and was hoping to buy an inexpensive one to play on the trip so he
asked if they knew where he could buy a guitar. They told him where, then asked if he played, he said yes, and Carlos handed Rich his guitar and asked
him to play something. He broke into a spirited rendition of Counting Crows ?Mr. Jones and Me?, which the mariachis and the gringos at the next table
loved.
The next morning we headed into town to see about the guitars. We found the place Carlos had mentioned and searched to no avail. We finally asked
someone and they took us to the toy section, we never would have thought to look there! So Rich bought a 200 peso (about $20) guitar that sounds
really good! But of course it?s because Rich is good, not that it is a great guitar (it is not bad though). On the way out of town we noticed that La
Pasadita was open, so we had fish tacos for breakfast.
We then headed for Bahia de Los Angeles, traveling through the most unique desert ever, the boulder fields. There are Ciros (Boojum trees), Cardon
Cactus, Ocotillo, Elephant trees, and numerous other cactus. It is such a beautiful area. We stopped to let the dogs out for a minute and within 30
seconds, both managed to get themselves right in the middle of some jumping Chola. (Which is a very aptly named).
Once in Bay of LA, we got supplies and headed for the place we stayed at last time with cabanas on the beach. We had to do in a couple of the desert
critters (ants & spiders) before the place was habitable. Once that was done we were able to settle in for a nice evening. We made chicken tacos and
had a few cervezas while sitting on the front porch. Rich played his $20 guitar with the lapping waters of the bay and the nearly full moon as our
backdrop. What a beautiful evening. We slept very peacefully that night.
The next morning we had breakfast on the porch with the most beautiful view imaginable. Blue and turquoise waters of the bay with numerous islands in
the distance to add contrast. There were whale sharks swimming just offshore, and tropical birds like the Blue-footed Booby and Magnificent Frigate
birds diving for their breakfast. It?s hard to believe that we are only 3 days into this journey and we are already in a tropical paradise. After
breakfast, the bay was like glass and the air temperature was getting warmer, so we went out for a snorkel from the beach in front of our cabana. We
didn?t dive here last time because the winds had stirred up the water, so we were surprised by the variety and numbers of colorful tropical fish.
There were huge schools of Sgt. Majors, Puffers, Trigger fish, Wrasse, Groupers, Multi -colored stingrays, and the most exciting was the Cortez Angel
fish. It was bright blue with yellow stripes. We were in the water for a long time. Very satisfied with our snorkeling we spent the rest of the day
and evening relaxing and turned in early after a simple dinner.
This morning dawned clear and warm and we watched the sun rise over the Bay while sipping our coffee on the porch. We managed to get all our stuff
back in the van and we are off to check out the north end of Bahia de Los Angeles. This afternoon we will be heading for the Pacific side to a little
fishing village called Santa Rosalillita. There is supposed to be the longest right point break in Baja there so we will see if the surf is happening.
We found an internet cafe in Bahia de Los Angeles (of all places) so are sending this first email from there.
Message #2
Hola! We have made it to Baja Sur. We are writing this as we are traveling along the Transpenninsular Hwy. 1 on our way to the East Cape and Cabo
Pulmo where there is a coral reef. We are hoping for good diving conditions since we did not get to dive here last time due to bad conditions.
To catch you up on what has happened since the Bay of LA...we left there on Saturday the 8th and drove to Santa Rosalillita, a very quiet, very tiny
fishing village 10 miles from the main hwy. It starts out on what is the widest best paved road in all of Baja, then very abruptly the pavement ends
and turns into the typical rough, washboard Baja dirt road. The pavement is part of the Mexican Tourism Board?s Escalara Nautica project. The plan was
supposed to be for large yachts to be able to pull out of the water at Santa Rosalillita then be trucked on semi?s to the Sea of Cortez. It was an
ambitious plan that seems to have ended as abruptly as the pavement on the new road.
When we arrived at the beach, we were very pleased to find what Rich describes as the best point/cove break that he has ever seen or surfed...period.
There were camp spots right on the beach so we picked one on the hard pack soil after finding out that our front hubs would not lock, so that we did
not have 4 wheel drive! The van was stuck in the sand for as long as it took to let some air out of the tires so it could pull itself out. We set up
camp and settled in. We met our neighbors, Beth and Brian a young couple in their twenties from British Columbia. They are also traveling Baja in an
old van, so we had something in common. We visited with them after dinner and found out that they are going to be on the road until June (or until
their money runs out) and going as far as Panama. We enjoyed their company while watching the total lunar eclipse.
In the morning the surf was not happening because the tide was too high, so Rich went fishing instead and caught 3 nice size fish. Brian asked if
Rich could teach him to fish, so he loaned him a pole showed him how to set it up, and what to do. He caught one fish that was a keeper and lots of
small ones and pretty much got the hang of it. When the tide went out the fish stopped biting but the waves came up so we went surfing. The waves were
small but perfectly shaped and Rich got some of the longest rides in recent memory. After a good long day of fun, we had our fish dinner with the
neighbors.
The next morning we decided to head south even though we could have stayed longer, the waves were starting to pick up and this seems to be a jewel of
a spot, however we know we can hit it on the way back and the road to our next adventure beckons. After packing up and a quick breakfast of peach and
banana burritos (don?t, knock it ?till you?ve tried it) we headed south to Guerrero Negro. We picked up supplies had carne asada tacos at our other
favorite taco stand ?Taco Gordo? (best on the peninsula in our opinion) then headed for San Lucas cove, a place we had heard about while in San
Quintin. It turned out to not be what we were looking for so we decided to bend the rules about not driving at night and headed for Bahia Conception.
We made it there without incident after only driving in the dark for 30 minutes or so. We stayed up long enough to watch the moon rise over the bay
then hit the sack.
The next morning we woke up early and were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise on one of Baja?s prettiest white sand beaches. Seriously, the place
looks like any post card you?ve seen from the South Pacific or Caribbean. Rich decided to take a snorkel out to the rocky point to see if the pretty
fish were still there. They were, in abundance. Queen Triggers, hubcap size Cortez Angels, the largest Porcupine Puffer that he had ever seen, among
other things. I missed out by not going because the wind came up and the water got murky. That afternoon, to our surprise, our Canadian friends showed
up saying that they had looked at the other beaches in the area, but came back to this one because it was the best.
I bought a 1/2 kilo of shrimp from the vendor who showed up that afternoon, and a necklace from another. We sat around with the neighbors eating chips
and salsa and comparing notes on our adventures since we saw them last. We built a campfire and sat around while Brian and Rich serenaded us. Brian
had brought his guitar, and Rich played his $20 Mexican/Chinese guitar. A fun time was had by all.
We awoke the next morning to find that although we were well protected from the mosquitoes (because of the Dengue fever outbreak), there seemed to be
no defense from the no-see-ums and we were both eaten up. Locally know as ?je jene? these critters are small enough to fit through screened windows
and will bite you under the covers. They are thickest around the waters edge and DEET does not slow them down much. According to the advice of other
Baja travelers we know it is best to leave the beach to the no-seeums when it is this bad and so we decided to move on. We took one more snorkel out
to the point, and Rich wanted to swim out to a rock that he once saw in a post card years ago. I went out but then turned back to head in. Rich tried
to call me back when he discovered that 50 ft. from where I turned around there was an underwater rock reef that harbored an abundance of fish that
rivaled anything seen on the Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau. We were both stung a few times by tiny Jellyfish called Malas (felt like a nettle),
despite the fact that we both had full wetsuits on. We agreed that it was a minor inconvenience considering. We then packed up and said goodbye once
again to Beth and Brian.
We headed south for Loreto where we stocked up on cerveza and agua and continued on to Cuidad Constitucion. We opted for Manfred?s RV park on the edge
of town, mainly because they offered hot showers. The park was nice, we had it all to ourselves. Manfred has taken the park back and he is a great
host. The next day we did laundry and banking in town, ate at Gran Pollo (Mexico?s version of El Pollo Loco). We don?t usually go in for the chain
type restaurants but we had dined here on our last trip and found that the flautas were worth going back for. We ate them before going into the Super
Ley for supplies because we just couldn?t wait. We did manage to save the chicken for later.
We had read in one of our guide books that there was a popular surf break on the Pacific side about 100 miles down the road and decided to check it
out. The access road was 10 miles from hwy 1 on a fair dirt road. We found a good campsite tucked into the low shrubs and set up for the night. We had
the rest of our Gran Pollo for dinner and then built a campfire. As we were getting comfortable, we were surprised to see Brian and Beth walk up. They
said they were so excited to find this place that they had planned to email us about it, but decided that since we had beat them here that it would
not be necessary. We spent the evening playing guitars around the campfire once again.
The next morning the surf was pretty flat so we decided to head for the East Cape since we were in easy striking distance. We looked up our Canadian
friends on the way out and this time instead of saying goodbye, we say ?see you later?, as we are not so sure that this is the last we will see of
them. We made a stop in La Paz for gasoline and fish tacos, made a quick call home, and then tried to get out of town without getting any more lost
than we were already (it happens every time). Our destination was La Ribera, a campground that we enjoyed last time that offers good water, hot
showers, and is located in a grove of ancient fig trees near the beach. They only charge $5 for this beautiful campground. On the way we could see
signs of considerable damage done from hurricane Marty in September. Upon arriving at the campground, we found that Marty had been unkind. The place
was pretty torn up. There was about 2 feet of sand in some places, and the water system was shut down. While we were looking around, one of the dogs
rolled in something nasty. Reluctant to put her back in the van after a quick bath, we decided to make the best of it and stay the night anyway. As I
write this Rich is digging a fire pit in the sand, I will later heat water on the stove for our hot shower, and the guitar may come out again. With
any luck I will again be serenaded by my favorite mariachi. We will send this message in the morning from La Ribera, providing the Internet Cafe is
still intact.
Message #3
La Ribera
We awoke to the brilliant magenta glow of another Baja sunrise. The light from
the rising sun filtered through the ancient grove of fig trees that are in
themselves one of the most attractive features of the RV park in La Ribera. The
park was in far from ideal condition though. All in all we did have a nice
restful night, with hot water for our showers that we had heated on the stove.
We used the shower stalls for our ?showers? and dipped water from a
bucket to wash ourselves with. Not what we had in mind originally but it was refreshing none the less. Our campfire turned out to be easy enough, as
Marty had deposited
plenty of debris throughout the park. The debris consisted of plenty of
burn-able wood. It was a very quiet evening and we found that we were actually more
tired than we thought, so we turned in early, after Rich closed the gate, which
is normally done by the Patron (owner) who had not been around yet.
As the day dawned we noticed unmistakable signs of a storm moving in to the east
cape. We began to suspect that we would again have unfavorable weather
conditions for diving at Cabo Pulmo. Our suspicions were confirmed as we began
to see a light rainfall as we were having our morning coffee. There is a very
good reason for wind surfing being much more popular than diving on the East
Cape. As we would find out later in town, the wind had been blowing steadily
for the past ten days and was expected to blow for perhaps another week. Rain was expected. We packed up and sent our previous email message from
town, where we ran into Guierrmo the Patron of the campground we had stayed at. We told him we would
like to pay for our campsite, which he tried to decline, saying that there was
nothing worth paying for, but we insisted and got him to accept 20 pesos ($2).
We drove south towards San Jose and Cabo San Lucas managing not to stop at
either one. No offense to those who love Cabo, but it?s not the Mexico we come
to see. As our friends in Pescadero say, it?s a big gringo joke. But hey, to each their own (we don?t shop at Costco in the States either). We did
snap a picture of Lands End from the road just to mark the end of our southward travel and then happily turned north on hwy 19 towards Todos Santos, a
place we love very much. The 40 mile dive up the coastline offered some beautiful views of the Pacific beaches of the West Cape. It was comforting to
see that no large resorts have been built on this stretch yet.
Upon arriving at Pescadero, we checked in with our friend Jaime and were surprised to find that there was a regional surfing competition being held at
Los Cerritos. We had hoped to get in a day early, but when Jaime said ?You aren?t supposed to be here TODAY are you?? We realized that we would not be
able to check in early. He did graciously offer to let us park on the premises and use the facilities, but we figured he had a full house and since
his wife was in the states for back surgery, he would have his hands full.
We drove into Todos Santos to look for other accommodations and decided on a small RV park in town. El Litro was a clean campground with nice palapas
and hot
showers. The price was a bargain. But the price we paid for staying there was
having to put up with a flock of roosters with no sense of time among other noises. The neighbors, it turns out have a farm with all of the
accompanying barnyard noises. Cows, turkeys, and the aforementioned roosters that seemed to go off every other hour. They also had a dog that barked
all night, so we didn?t feel so bad when Katie and Bravo decided it was their turn to bark. We also came to realize that it was Saturday night (we?ve
lost track of days) so there were also the usual noises of a Saturday night in any Mexican town including the music from the local cantina and on this
particular evening, a baseball game at the local stadium. We enjoyed a nice ?American? dinner that evening (steak, potatoes and broccoli) while
watching with amazement the moths swarming the lights at the stadium. We had seen a few of these moths before. They are big. They have about a six
inch wing span, so they looked like flocks of birds in the flood lights at the ball game. A quiet night it was not, but we did manage to get some
sleep. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast then slowly packed up, enjoying the shade of the palapa until noon. We went into town for a few
supplies then headed for Pescadero.
We set up our huge tent (since we have been sleeping in the van most of the
time, it will be nice to have the extra room that the tent provides) and set up
our ?kitchen? and ?living room?, as this will be our home for the next week. We met our neighbors in the campground. Meg from Great Britain, came here
to photograph the surf competition and is staying behind to do a little r & r on her own. We admire her moxie, as she is only 18. I made Mexican Pizza
for dinner, sent some up to Jaime and his youngest son, Pepe, then turn in for the night after several cervesa with our friends.
Monday Nov. 17th - We realized that we are in the middle of our vacation, and are not even close to being ready to come home. Sorry guys, but this
place is just so much fun, so relaxing, that a month is just not enough. We feel alive at a level that can only be found when the influence of living
on Mexican time has a chance to really set in. We spend a lot of time at fun activities. But we also find ourselves spending time just looking and
feeling the moment for what would seem inappropriately long periods were we anywhere else. We miss
everyone, of course, but wish that you all could join us down here, rather than
us coming home. I know that its not realistic, but it would be fun. When ever
we see a bird we don?t recognize, we think of our birder friend Kelli, and know she would love it down here. When we go snorkeling I think how much my
sister Sally, and friends Marty and Diane would enjoy this. When we get to take a siesta in the middle of the day, I think, our supervisors back home
should try this. When we got to camp and there are all these young kids here, we think how much our two teenagers, Will and Tracy would love this
place. (Too bad this is our honeymoon, so they were not invited!).
We begin the day with coffee and breakfast burritos, with Jaime getting 2 for the road as he is busy shuttling surfers to the beach this morning.
After breakfast we decide to forgo the beach due to windy conditions and head into Todos Santos to do a little shopping and to call home. We find no
one at home, so we leave a couple of messages, then hit the shops. We find numerous bargains, as the two most frequent phrases we hear are ?Almost
free today? and ?Special for you, today only?. We heard a new one this trip, ?Better prices
than Kmart?. We walk around town looking for the Santa Fe restaurant and find it after trying almost every street in town. I had read about this place
in several of our books. One of them describes it as a ?once in a lifetime find?. It is a gourmet Italian restaurant, in the heart of Baja Sur. The
prices were higher than the AAA book had listed, but we decided to splurge on ourselves one more time. I ordered the spinach and ricotta ravioli with
gorgonzola cream sauce with parmesan, Rich opted for the fettucine with shrimp in a cream cognac
sauce. The pasta was excellent, surpassing our expectations.
After lunch, we did a little more bargain hunting, tried to call home again, then
headed back to camp. We have a new neighbor, Lawrence from San Francisco.
We sit around while Rich and Lawrence pass the guitar back and forth.
Meg joins in with a tune as well. Since we had such a late lunch, we only had
snacks, chips & salsa and quesadillas. We seem to be eating a lot of Mexican
food, imagine that. We ended up staying up until 11:30, a record for this
trip.
The next morning we decided it was a beach day, but didn?t get up and around
very early, so we went down for 3 hours in the middle of the day. The surf was
the biggest we had seen on the trip. The waves were about 5-6 ft. and breaking
really fast. You don?t get much time to set up for a wave that is breaking like
theses were. You paddle a couple of strokes and then get up as fast as you can
and go like hell to the right. If you can avoid the lip of the wave during that
critical first few seconds you can get a lot of speed built up and have a good
long ride. If not the lip smacks you down and the white water pummels you.
Rich went out and had several rides he was proud of and enough others to prove that he wasn?t too old to still surf decent sized waves. I lounged on
the beach reading
the 2nd book of my trip, ?Into the Wild?. I thought I would have more time to
read, but there always seems to be something else going on. I read until it got
too hot to stay out of the water, then took the boogie board out. The waves were coming in so fast and so close together that I didn?t catch any
rides, I had left my fins in the van, so that it was hard to keep up. I got ?washing machined? pretty good a couple of times. The trick to surviving
the wipe out is to not fight while the water is churning. I have found that if you relax and wait for the commotion to stop instead of fighting, it?s
a lot easier to find your way to the surface. All in all we had a fun day at the beach. The air temperature was about 85 and the water temperature was
about the same. I think Katie and Bravo had the best time of all, swimming, chasing birds and playing with the other dogs on the beach.
When we got back to camp, we cleaned up then went in search of fish tacos. We
heard from our neighbors that ?Felipe?s?, a road-side stand just down the hwy. was good so we tried it out. The tacos were made from grilled filet?s
and served with 3 different types of salsa, including one that tasted like mango, they were quite good. It was outdoor seating and the flies and bees
were buzzing us, so Felipe brought us our own fan to keep them away. Great service. A good cook and a gracious host. After lunch, Rich took a siesta
while I worked on this email message. We enjoyed another beautiful sunset, then barbecued a couple of steaks we had picked up in Todos Santos. The
party was happening at camp but we both decided to turn in at about 9. Both dogs were tired too so we slept well.
Message #4
November 19th - Pescadero BCS, Mexico
We began our day at Cerritos Beach. The waves were not much to write home about but Rich managed to get a few big waves anyway. I had left the boogie
board back at camp and took a book and chair instead. We had a couple of young surfer guys move into the camp, Sean and Adam from British Columbia.
They were at the beach also, along with Meg and Mike. The surf was very rough, and Sean got caught on the inside once and broke about a foot and a
half off the tip of his board. We stayed about 3 hours then went back to camp to clean up and head into town. We paid some bills online, shopped for
groceries and had fish tacos for lunch.
Back to camp for siesta, then spent the rest of the evening socializing with the folks back at camp. I made Mexican pizzas with flour tortillas,
cheese, onion, tomato, olive, avocado and on some added grilled chicken, which we shared with the group, and was well received. It was an early night
for the both of us, as were we were again tired from a day at the beach.
Today is a holiday. A BIG Mexican holiday. Its the celebration of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. According to the English language
newspaper, the Gringo Gazette, ?The holiday commemorates how in 1910, Francisco Madero denounced President Diaz who kept re-electing himself, and
called for a national insurrection. He then declared himself president of Mexico. Other Mexican leaders emerged at this time, including the famous
Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Each would eventually gain control of their region. Zapata fell in an ambush and was assassinated by the Army. Diaz
could not control the insurrection and fled to France. Madero became president but had lots of opponents, and the country broke in to different
factions with insurrection factions rampaging across the country. Venustiano Carranza rose to the presidency and ordered Madera taken prisoner and
executed while Pancho Villa continued to run amok through the North. Villa was later taken prisoner and...? This is where my well worn copy of the
Gazette has been torn away, but if you know your Mexican history, it doesn?t matter, and if you don?t, well you can probably guess the rest.
It is a day of Fiesta. Parades, dancing, and a whole lot of people taking the day off work to go to the beach and to parties. If the Mexicans end up
having to work they get paid double time according to the article. At a rate of about $4.50 an hour, its not too much to ask. We find that a lot of
families are taking the day off, as the beach is crowded. Not only with the temporary local gringos that are camping in the area and the gringos that
have obviously rented a car in Cabo for the day, but large groups of the actual locals, including tons of kids as there is no school today.
It is another ho-hum day as far as the waves go, but nonetheless, we both end up catching a few rides. Another rough day in paradise. Back at camp its
siesta time. Too much sun and physical activity in the past two days have lead us to just give in to the idea of napping in the daytime.
Another new family has moved in. Jim and Claire, their two kids, Nicholas & Nina from British Columbia. They had spent a week Kayaking the islands off
of Bahia Conception. They too had a problem with the bugs. They said it got to the point where the kids were running up and down on the beach
screaming. When it gets to that point it?s time to move on.
We decided to go to Felipe?s for dinner, but he was closed so we headed in for Todos Santos. Driving very slowly because it is night and a holiday
where people have been drinking. We end up going to Baraja?s, another street side taco stand that we had tried last time we were down, for carnitas
and carne asada tacos. Our rule of thumb for eating at these roadside stands, is to choose one that is popular with the locals as evidenced by the
crowd. This place was very popular. It was hopping. There is still a lot happening in town, and there seems to be a large police presence, so we don?t
linger in town. We make a couple of quick calls home, then head back to camp, to turn in early for the night.
The day dawns bright and beautiful so we head for the beach The surf is even smaller than yesterday, but every once in awhile a good set comes in,
making it worth our while to stay and play. I caught three good rides in a row, then got caught on the inside and washing machined, so decide to delve
into my next book, Michael Palin?s ?Around the World in 80 Days?. Rich is mainly just enjoying being in the water, being comfortable on his board,
being in the moment. After three and a half hours at the beach, we pack and head back to camp. We had intended to go to town to do a little more
shopping, but the sun has taken its toll, and we succumb to siesta once again. We spent a quiet evening around camp, then went to bed early.
We had planned to go to the beach early, then head in town again. As it turned out, Jaime had been down earlier, and told us not to bother. When he?s
not surfing, there must not be a reason to go. The locals know and he?s as local as it gets. So we had a leisurely morning before heading in to town
to finish Christmas shopping. On the way into town we stopped at San Pedrito RV park. We had heard the place got hit pretty hard by the hurricane.
When we arrived we saw that the reports were right. The place was nearly destroyed. We could see where 5 to 6 feet of water had come through the back
door of the restaurant and we saw a pretty new Chevy 1 ton pick up wrapped around a tree by the force of the water. We talked to someone who was in
the restaurant when the water burst through the back doors. He said that he and his dog had nearly died there. It did not look like he was
exagerating. We had heard that the owners were calling it quits since the place had been trashed and rebuilt after Julliette in 2001 but it looked
like there was an effot under way to clean up and start over again. We took a few pictures of the damage and headed into town. We found a lot of
bargains and tacos, then went to the mercado for supplies.
Back at camp,we did some preliminary packing during which we were reminded of the fact that we leave in the morning. It is a sad fact, but one that we
are accepting, mainly because we still have a week to get home, and one of the places we will be spending a couple of days at is the surf break on the
beach at Santa Rosalillita. We plan on being at Cielito Lindo near San Quintin for Thanksgiving, then back to the states for a visit with family in
San Diego. As we told relatives in an email earlier, it?s hard to make plans that far in advance when we have been on Mexican Time for the past three
weeks and we are focused on the moment. Sean and Adam stopped by this evening to deliver presents. Rich got a handmade key-chain and I, a bracelet.
What a wonderful gesture. What great kids. Makes me homesick for our kids. We spent the rest of the evening socializing with the rest of the folks in
camp and turned in early enough to get a good night?s sleep.
November 23
We awoke the next morning and had coffee in an attempt to create ambition for our final packing. We broke down our tent and the rest of our gear and
managed once again to get everything back into the van. Considering that we had acquired numerous souvenirs and Christmas gifts in Todos Santos, we
found that space was at a premium. The Toyota mini-van we are traveling in really is mini. We set about the difficult task of saying good-bye to all
our friends, new and old, then headed north. We made it as far as the outskirts of Pescadero when we noticed that Felipe was open for breakfast. We
decided to save our granola bars for later and indulge in one more fabulous meal and Felipe?s hospitality once again. The other gringos at the next
table were perplexed to find that Felipe did not have maple syrup for their French toast, as it is evidently an uncommon thing to see here. Rich
retrieved our bottle of syrup from the van, and we shared it with the other table, much to the surprise of gringos, Felipe and his staff.
With heavy hearts and full stomachs, we hit the road once again. Our goal for the evening was Bahia Concepcion, a full eight hours by our
calculations. As the day wore on it became apparent that we would lose the sun about an hour before reaching our destination. Having become accustomed
to the quirks involved in driving the roads in Baja, we decided to press our luck one more time and proceed in darkness for the extra hour or so that
it would take to reach our beach. We added ourselves to the tail end of a convoy of Mexican semi trucks and trusted the considerable skills of the
truck drivers to get us through. Our plan was a success, and the drive proved uneventful. We arrived and found that the caretakers of the beach had
been hard at work repairing the palapas that had been torn apart by hurricane Marty. This was the same palapa that we had stayed in less than two
weeks before. It was now complete and included fresh palm thatching throughout. This was a welcome development as there was a stiff and surprisingly
cold north wind blowing when we arrived. Having just come from the tropics just hours before, we were not prepared for the cooler temperatures.
The next morning we awoke in time to watch another breathtaking Bahia Concepcion sunrise through the windshield of the van. We enjoyed our morning
coffee while savoring another chance to experience the beauty of that place. The cooler temperatures seemed to have reduced the bug population so we
could have lingered there. Surprisingly quickly though, we made preparation for the days travel and headed north once again. During the drive we
marveled at the way many of the people in Mexico can live so simply, yet be just as happy or happier than people of other cultures that seemingly have
it all. This was not something that we just noticed, as we have seen this throughout our experiences on the peninsula, however I have just now
realized that it has not been mentioned before. Some of the homes we see are very simple, many having earthen floors. Yet the people always seem to be
smiling and never fail to return our wave as we pass by, in our van laden with the trappings of modern gringo campers. Our own culturally mandated
addiction to devoting ourselves to the accumulation of wealth and ?stuff? may not be all its cracked up to be. I can picture us living like these
folks. Do dirt floors get dirty?
I have also realized that I have failed to mention the numerous checkpoints that have been set up by the Mexican military as a deterrent to drug and
weapons traffickers. As Americans we are unaccustomed to being stopped and subject to search, so this can take some getting used to. It should be
noted that we have gotten used to coming upon these inspection points and that the young men in their olive drab uniforms (all around 18 to 19 years
of age) tend to be serious but polite. We have never been detained for more than ten minutes and since we are obviously not the people they are
looking for they let us pass with only a cursory look into a few bags. Anyone considering a trip south of the border should be prepared for this minor
inconvenience but should not be put off by it. If you are not doing anything wrong, you won?t have reason to worry. Katie, who already distrusts
teenage boys finds that they are much more scary when they are carrying assault rifles, but most of the kids down here are afraid of dogs, especially
large ones like ours, so they give each other a wide berth. Bravo?s name has proven to be confusing a time or two because ?Bravo? in Spanish
translates roughly to ?a vicious, aggressive, biting dog?. He is actually a pretty friendly pooch but the young soldiers give him plenty of space.
I have also failed to mention our experiences with speaking Spanish. It is interesting because while we are getting the hang of it, we still have a
long way to go. It also seems to come and go. One day you congratulate yourself on discussing philosophy with a native speaker in his language, the
next you end up staring like an idiot at someone who has just answered your simple question but you have no idea what was said. I do know that the
more you habla, the more Baja opens up to you. Rich and I have committed to studying hard and becoming fluent by the time of our next trip.
When we stopped for lunch in Gurrero Negro, Jesus the owner of Taco Gordo warmly welcomed us, as he remembered us from our previous visit. When
leaving, he came out to the van to give us gifts, a keychain and pen with Taco Gordo logos. He invited us to return ASAP and parted by saying ?Mi casa
es su casa?. We had our tourist cards recorded by the official at the Baja Sur border , filled up at the Pemex there and headed into Baja Norte.
Gasoline has been running an average of $2.70 per gallon. Higher than we are used to but since we seldom drive over 55 MPH we get much better mileage
than normal so it sort of evens out.
We made our way through the rolling hills of the northern Viscaino desert and found the turn off once again to the now de-funct Escalera nautica and
the road to Santa Rosallita. The town seemed as sleepy as ever and I do not know if the fact that we showed up just an hour into siesta time had
anything to do with it. We drove to the same spot we camped at on the way down and set up camp. We spent the afternoon poking around the tide pools
and managed to see some interesting creatures. We saw some neon blue and red nudibranchs and even managed to spot an octopus who flatly refused to
come out of his hole in the rock. We got him to stick out a tentacle or two and decided not to irritate him further.
We waited expectantly for the tide to produce waves but unfortunately there just wasn?t enough of a swell to make the place go. So we drowned our
sorrows with a few cervezas and very tasty dinner. The cervezas and the treat of another truly awesome Baja sunset served to console us quite nicely.
We turned in at what would be considered a ridiculously early hour stateside and enjoyed a peaceful nights rest.
We awoke as has become our custom in time to watch the beautiful sunrise over the Pacific. We were also awake in time to watch the fishermen from the
village setting out in their pangas for another hard day at the office. It became apparent that their workday ends when they have enough fish. This
usually takes no more than a couple of hours and by noon we had seen most of the boats return. Those of us who work by the clock, i.e. 8-5, could
conceivably see this as a good job. We will not speculate on the difficulty of gaining the skills to live this way but we suspect there are some of
you reading this who would be willing to try.
We walked into ?town?, no more than 1/4 of a mile from our campsite to shop for a few minor necessities but more to see what there was to see and to
get a flavor for what in our experience is a very charming place. We walked by the small contingent of neatly uniformed military personnel who are
stationed there because evidently, someone thinks it?s important for them to be there. I suppose its possible that something could happen, but its
hard to imagine what. As we walked by the small military post we could hear the unmistakable sounds of an American heavy metal band playing from an
unseen stereo. We greeted the lone sentry, a young man of no more that 18, who carried an H & K MP40 slung loosely over his shoulder. He smiled and
returned our greeting of ?Buenos Diaz?. We then proceeded to walk a few steps to what served as the local Kmart. This was no more than a tarped over
stall, which contained various sundry items from hair curlers to clothes bearing unmistakably western sayings, to Nintendo 64 consoles and games. To
find all of this displayed neatly in such a small place and in such a remote place was a little surprising. But given how far it is to anywhere else
to shop we imagine the locals provide a living for the shop keeper. We did browse but found nothing we had to have and proceeded on to the local
?grocery store?. This consisted of a tiny one room store that contained the basic necessities for living in such a place. Two domestic refrigerators
dominated one side of the room, and it was necessary to open each to discover what was inside. Not surprisingly we found meat, milk, yogurt,
lunchmeat. All the things one would expect to find in a glass fronted cold case, except there was no glass. We picked up some produce, which they had
in small amounts, four eggs and some pastries from we are sure a very local baker.
After our adventure in town, we decide to walk over the hill, where we have seen many locals going. On our way, we noticed that there was the carcass
of a dead whale, who for unknown reasons had succumbed and found himself deposited unceremoniously on the north end of the cove. The carcass was
proving to be a boon for all sorts of carrion eating birds, most noticeably the turkey vultures, who we are used to seeing in the Owens Valley during
the spring and summer. It was sad to see such a large animal in such an undignified condition, but it was obvious that none of the carcass would go to
waste. We proceeded over the hill and out onto the point and were treated to a view of the cove and Santa Rosalillita. We investigated the tide pools
and saw that the abundant life contained in each would be recognizable to those familiar with Southern California tidepools. We expected a much more
tropical selection of plants and animals, but on consideration we realized we are now on the boundary of tropical and subtropical. This is Baja Norte.
We saw large green sea anemones, two spotted damsel fish, rock pool blenny and numerous stripped shore crabs. We could also see the vast sand bottom
of the cove which combined with the shallow water explained the perfect shape of the waves, when there were any. We have determined that we must
return to this place in the future to surf because under the right conditions, it will be more than worth the effort.
Back at camp we enjoyed a traditional siesta and had a simple dinner of canned soup which proved satisfying all things considered. We again watched
the sunset and pulled out the binoculars to do some star gazing. I suppose we are spoiled by the fact that home for us is at 4000 ft and far from any
large sources of light pollution. The stars are quite viewable on any given clear night, but on this night with only a new moon setting even with the
planet Venus, we were rewarded with an unparalleled celestial show. We sat and leisurely browsed the heavens for hours. After a mug of delicious
Mexican hot chocolate, we turned in for the night. We were only roused from sleep briefly when a large bushy tailed coyote came to inspect our camp
and found the dog?s water bowl quite satisfying. No one, including the dogs paid him much mind, and we settled back in to sleep.
We awoke again to the rising of the sun and the sound of the fishermen setting out on their mornings errand. It is safe to say that the rhythm of life
here is easy to get the hang of and we love it. Unfortunately we know that we must soon leave it. Today is the 26th of November the day before a
significant holiday in the U.S. yet here it is only another the day, just like the one before and the one to come.
We find ourselves in a dilemma in that the 27th is Thanksgiving. We are faced with a plethora of choices on how to spend the day, all of which have
considerable merit. We can stay put, seek out the makings of a simple feast and hope for waves, we can bomb for San Diego, a full days drive from
where we are, inviting ourselves to a relatives dinner, or simply head north as planned toward San Quintin for fish tacos and figure it out from
there. Still being under the influence of Mexican time, we leisurely pack up and set out to see where we will end up.
Once again, we are treated to the sight of the boulder fields just north of Catavina in full bloom from recent rains. We stop in El Rosario to refill
our nearly depleted gas tank and decide to also try the ?legendary? lobster burritos at Mama Espinoza?s. We take one order to go and enjoy it on the
road. While Rich is not ready to abandon the traditional lobster tail dinner, this proves to be a treat nonetheless. The drive to San Quintin is
uneventful, but we do enjoy the drive through the desert with its Cardon Cactus and otherworldly looking Boojum trees.
We see the turnoff for El Pabellon beach a few miles south of town, and according to our camping book, this spot has considerable potential for a one
night layover. However with our favorite fish tacos waiting for us in San Quintin we naturally decide to revisit the question of where to spend the
night after lunch. While at the taco stand we briefly encounter a group of gringos who are spending the holiday at ?their house? somewhere in the
vicinity. We are unsure if they meant that they had rented a vacation home for the holiday, or were among the growing number of Americans who are
?buying? land in Mexico. The latter is an interesting proposition to say the least since by Mexican law non-nationals cannot actually own property
here. We know that ?sales? are made to the willing (actually a Mexican bank buys the land with your money and holds a deed in trust in these
transactions) but you actually do not own anything. Apparently your deed is good as long as there is no reason for the property to be nationalized
(say building a big fancy house for instance). I guess it is fun to pretend you own property here.
It is interesting to note the obvious separateness this group feels and exhibits as they order tacos from the same stand as us. Rich is mistaken for a
Mexican since he greets them in Spanish and then switches to English with an American accent. They seem uncomfortable and suspicious. We listen to
them from our table as they attempt to convince each other how comfortable they are in Mexico, all the while keeping a close eye on their toy laden
SUV?s and trying to teach their kids the wrong way to say things in Spanish. As they put the provided garnish and sauce on their tacos one points out
two of the sauces to his buddy ?That green stuff is really spicy. You want to use this red one.? Actually we are familiar with both sauces they are
talking about and the green is the mild one. The red can burn your face off.
We find the prospect that we may have resembled these folks on our original arrival in Mexico several years ago to be frankly, ghastly. Yet we recall
a time when we probably exhibited the same amount of paranoia mixed with false confidence. We can picture ourselves looking warily around with one
hand on our wallets. We wonder what has changed in our case, and it is safe to say that it is not Mexico. At home prior to our first trip we heard the
warning ?For God?s sake don?t go. They kill everyone they see!? In all our adventures so far the only person that really creeped us out was a drunk
American. Go figure.
We do some window shopping at the local department store then replenish our beer and ice supply before heading back to check out El Pabellon. Some
years ago the government deeded sections of land to the locals for the purpose of creating tourist facilities like campgrounds and RV parks. The
Spanish term is Ejido. Ejido?s for the most part tended not to be the sorts of places that appealed to gringo tourists and many have fallen into
disrepair. We had heard that El Pabellon was an exception and were pleased to find that this was true. For $5 U.S. we had a very nice campsite nestled
between two sand dunes on a beautiful beach, hot showers and nice clean tiled restrooms. One of the best bargains of the trip. We bought a bundle of
wood and spent the evening relaxing around the campfire with the sounds of waves crashing on the beach. It should be noted at this point that we have
spent an entire month sleeping either on the ground or in our tiny pillbox of a van. With the addition of the unusually cold weather this far north,
it was the least comfortable night we have had. Face it folks, despite the fact that both of us are seasoned campers, it was obvious that more
substantial accommodations for the next night would be welcome to say the least.
In spite of a restless night, we awoke in good spirits and probably because of that night we determined that we would check out the familiar Ceilito
Lindo, which has actual hotel rooms, to see if there were any rooms available. Our concern was understandable as Thanksgiving, along with numerous
other holidays, is celebrated with a big fiesta which attracts a lot of people. Before we left the beach I decided to shower while Rich packed up.
While packing he noticed an old man, easily in his 70s, hobbling along through the campground with some difficulty. He was surrounded by three dogs,
which Rich assumed were his, and our dogs as they are want to do, went out to greet the newcomers. Rich greeted the elderly gentleman in Spanish and
on further conversation discovered the man?s name was Pedro Camacho, and he produced a Mexican ID card to prove his point. He pulled the card from an
otherwise empty wallet. Rich could see that the poor fellow seemed to be down on his luck but it was also clear that this man was no beggar. The
question was how to offer to help without offending him. Rich commented on the fact that wallet contained no dinero, to which the man replied that he
was injured and was unable to work and therefore had no money. It was obvious that despite his age and injured leg, he maintained his dignity. Rich
asked if it would be okay if he gave him a gift of a small amount of money so that his wallet would no longer be empty. The gift was gratefully
accepted and the exchange remained very dignified.
Upon returning from my shower, I heard about Rich?s encounter with the elderly man and decided to add the gift of a sack lunch. I was making breakfast
burritos with egg, cheese, fresh ortegas, olives and avocado, so I included two of these along with fruit and some other snacks, which Rich delivered
to the slow moving Pedro. The meal was gratefully accepted. As Americans we are unused to, and so usually unsure of what to do in the face of this
kind of poverty, and there is a lot in Mexico. But no matter what at least this man saw a little kindness that day.
After finishing packing up we moved on, deciding to see if the fiesta was happening at Cielito Lindo, a mere four miles to the north. On our first
trip to Baja Cielito Lindo was the first place that we saw a glimpse of what we were hoping to find on that trip, the Baja that you don?t find above
Ensenada or in Los Cabos or La Paz. A very friendly and fun place. Heck, they allow dogs in the bar. This place was the jumping off point for what had
turned out to be an epic adventure. It seemed like a fitting place to spend our last full day and night of this trip too. When we arrived at the camp
there seemed to be no one around but there was a huge banner proclaiming that the next party was on November 27th. How fortunate we felt. Another
sign, which stated the hours of the restaurant and bar also proclaimed ?Free pig in holiday?. We took this to mean that the fiesta was indeed on for
the evening. We finally saw one of the workers, Carmen, who said that there were indeed rooms available and offered to show us one. She took us to
room number 2, a very large room with two double beds, a single bed and table and chairs for four, hot shower and private bath. She said the price was
$45 American. Considering that it was a holiday and we would be getting a free pig, we took her up on the deal.
While waiting for the appointed time of fiesta, we enjoyed the comforts of the great indoors, kicking back in our room. As stated living in the van
was getting old so this was a welcome thing. At around 2 in the afternoon, we wandered out to see what if anything was taking place. There indeed was
our pig being readied for dinner, and a turkey on as well. We met a few of the other gringos that were beginning to arrive, including Bill and Frank,
a couple of ex-patriots who were to be part of the evening?s entertainment. When Rich saw the bass, he admired it as being like one he used to play
years ago. Frank asked if he played and when Rich admitted that he did, immediately recruited him for the festivities. Rich was excited about the
prospect of playing in a band once again. It had been a couple of years.
The crowd began to arrive at around 3:30. There was an even mix of gringos on holiday and Mexican families there to enjoy the feast. While the band
was doing their sound check, the mariachi?s showed up. The accordionist joined in for a number, much to the delight of the crowd. After a song or two,
they turned it over to the mariachis, then took turns with them throughout the night. After one of the gringo band?s breaks Rich grabbed a guitar and
did several well received solo acoustic alternative rock songs from bands like Counting Crows, Pearl Jam, and Fuel. After a good reception to his
first songs he played a couple of older songs, one by the Beatles and a Tom Petty. The crowd was very appreciative. Rich was happy. He was a rock star
for the evening. The dinner was quite good. Roast pork, turkey, stuffing, beans, rice, cranberries, salsa, tortillas, fruit and pumpkin pie. Even
though we missed out on the pumpkin pie, the dinner was really good. I promised to make Rich a pumpkin pie when we returned home. We decided that it
was a perfect end to a perfect vacation and considered making this an annual event, a new tradition. Seems like a good idea.
As we turn in for the evening with the sounds of the fiesta still filtering in to our room, we are faced with the inescapable fact that tomorrow we
must leave Baja behind and return home. We will re-enter the U.S. at Tecate and head for San Diego for an evening before finally heading for home. It
will be difficult to leave because we have never felt more at home anywhere in the world. Baja has been very good to us. It is a very special place.
This trip has been to say the least, epic. We have seen it written that travelers and tourists are different because of the nature of each pursuit.
Travelers are active. They go in search of interesting persons and adventure. Tourists are passive. They go sight seeing. When we pull up in our
driveway a scant few days from now we will have traveled over 2000 miles of roads in Mexico, met many interesting persons, swam with colorful fish,
surfed head high waves in a tropical sea. We have eaten countless tacos and other delicacies (the fresh tamales we bought from the mobile vendor at
Bahia Concepcion come to mind, mmmm...), experienced sights, sounds, feelings, places and people that will for the rest of our lives reverberate with
the special memory of each amazing moment. God willing we will return soon. In the meantime we look forward to being with our friends, family and
co-workers again. We have commitments to keep and responsibilities to tend to. The holidays are here. We know we should get back to work. The pursuit
of earning enough time and money to do this again next year is something we don?t see so much as a chore. It is a reason to look forward to another
adventure in Baja California.
Have a great Holiday Season!
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Anonymous
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That was long.
Thanks!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thanks! You can never have TOO MUCH BAJA! (IMHO)
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Anonymous
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Great travelogue, just curious, what beach did you stay at on Bahia Concepcion?
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Sonora Wind
Nomad
Posts: 228
Registered: 9-25-2003
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Made my morning
Thanks for taking us along. Sounds like the perfect vacation. 
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Juan
Junior Nomad
Posts: 76
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Olympic Peninsula and Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Life is good.
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Janice
Great report, I hope you get to repeat the trip every year.
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Keri
Super Nomad
Posts: 1393
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: La Mision, Baja Norte
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy contento
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Great Report
I was there with you all the way. Thanks I had a great time. k 
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