CasaMaximus
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Trip report Part 1 San Francisco to Los Cabos and North Todos Santos
It has been two years this week since my wife and I closed on a home the builder dubbed Casa Maximus in the enclave of La Cachora in Todos, one of the
older, well established parts of town.
Baja has been teaching me patience since 1982 when my 16 year old self wandered down to BC for beer and waves. Back then patience involved mechanical
breakdown or waiting to cross the border. It’s funny how little has changed in my nearly 4 decades in between.
Flying out of SFO is its own special kind of joy but with flights out of Sacramento and Oakland limited these days it is what it is, it was cheap and
direct, the less I say about it the better, flying early on Sunday helped but... We were wheels up on United 1189 after being cleared to fly by
maintenance, something about a fuel pump issue.
Our 737 was completely full with every seat occupied. United claims to charge for any bag that doesn’t fit under the seat on the a basic economy
ticket. I paid the fee to preselect my seats but was definitely in steerage back in the 25th row but was never challenged when I tossed my full size
carry on in the bin above our seats. I asked the gate agent about full size carry ons when we checked it and he seemed to not understand my question.
Maybe they aren’t gouging us for bin space. I dunno, in any case it was not an issue.
On approach to SJD I was struck by the number of private jets parked in the cool kids parking area. They were business jets mostly but a good number
of mid size charters. I will guess three dozen in all. We were about the sixth arrival between 1200 and 1300 hours and the customs area was
completely full, no social distancing here. Everyone had a mask on but it was a houseful. It is moments like these a I thank my younger self for a
life of well made choices as I walked up to the diplomatic agent who greeted me in her usual way. Another packed house greeted us at the COVID
screening / immigration line. Another friendly face saw to it we were quickly outside in the South Baja Sun.
For about $2.00 a day (paid yearly) you can keep your car in private storage 5 minutes from SJD and the facility will pick you up and drop you
curbside. My F250 is housed there normally but it is presently in The North so off to my rental car guy we went. Renting cars in BCS is a circus
with the big firms. The rate they quote you seldom includes insurance which can more than double the cost of your rental. I prefer a bit more
transparency so I like a local firm like BBB or Cactus Car Rentals. The price you are quoted is the price you will pay. Your insurance from the
North does not convey here. Your credit card may cover collision and if it does you may forgo collision but buyer beware. I opted for a proper AWD
SUV with a low range function and all in it was just over $100 USD per day. The owner of BBB shared they were shuttered for 5 months between March
and July.
The 65 mile drive from SJD to Todos Santos was uneventful. I prefer the toll road over the route through Cabo San Lucas but if you have time or need
to stop at Costco or Walmart you might prefer the long way. Driving into Todos Santos it felt like nothing has changed. Sunday in my village is
about family, church then gathering and both were in full effect. Few if any were wearing masks and there was no sense of uneasiness I feel almost
everywhere in Northern California. Stopping at our local market it was about half and half, equally split among those wearing masks and those not.
More to follow later.
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CasaMaximus
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Our first day in Todos Santos began 12 hours after ended. In part due to the grounding effect this place has on you and in part due to the previous
day starting so early, 0400 for an 0500 departure to SFO.
Arriving in my village is as always like coming home. Leaning a place of 7.5 million for a place of fewer than 7500 during a peak season and more
like 6,000 presently is transformative. My house is visible coming in to town and despite the foliage from recent rains it was as it is always there.
My biggest curiosity was of the old sugar mill property on the south end of what is El Centro, South of Hotel California. It is a curiosity to me
because the property spans the oasis that defines Todos Santos and goes from the old sugar mill across the oasis to Calle La Cachora, making it a
neighbor. My first impression of the new property is expressed elsewhere in the forum, I’ll not repeat my first impression here.
My second impression of Todos Santos was it was cleaner and more buttoned up than I remember it in the 5 years since I had wandered in to it in 2005.
Arriving home I was relieved to see it was mostly as I had left it aside from a missing door handle which disappeared in July when a crime wave led by
an itinerant farmer and his friends swept through the neighborhood (doom on you Jesus Louis I will one day kill you in your sleep). Forgive me gentle
people fool me once shame on me, fool me twice doom on you.
Aside from a missing door handle and a vacant organic garden it was home. A brief stop to drop bags and evaluate the condition of the house which was
last inhabited in March completed it was off to town. I chose the place it started for me, Hotel Casa Tota. An ambitiously priced hotel waiting for
“it” to happen here. It was an expensive lunch but sentimental and closed a loop for me.
More to come...
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CasaMaximus
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Monday 0500 dateline La Cachora, Todos Santos. The roosters that appeared in 2018 are gone. The barking dogs might be a key to their disappearance.
There are more stray dogs here now than in the 5 years I have been coming here. They look at me like I could be next.
Monday in Todos Santos brought with it three tasks. 1) verify my last several payments to CFE the national electric conglomerate were in fact
recorded. I had paid several payments from the North which did not show on the CFE app, not a ton of money but enough to pay CFE forward for a year
or more (my preference). Indeed they were all in my account.
My visit to the SAPA office was less productive. The SAPA office in Todos Santos is abandoned for the duration. I went to the Banorte in el centro
and put $2000 pesos on my account which should do me for a year. My water bill in the north is twice that per month. Semi gratis as they say in my
country....
I had lunch in El Pescadero the village just South of Todos Santos. It is a map dot of locals and expats. The haves and have nots and while I fit in
with one, I more closely identify with the other. Lunch for two was fish and shrimp tacos, a small quesadilla and two aqua minerale $7.40 and a $3.00
tip to the 11 year old server.
The balance of Sunday was seeing the many new homes and developments that are happening here. I was fortunate to have bought at $100 per sf, today
asking is $200-$230 per sf.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) brings us to the Sea of Cortez and the East Cape. Have I told you how much I am enjoying our AWD German SUV?
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advrider
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Good read, keep it coming.
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AKgringo
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Good to hear that things are mostly working out for you! Before you take that German SUV back, you should drive the dirt road over the mountains that
runs from north of the airport, to south of Pescadero.
It's an interesting drive! It runs through a ranch area (Los Naranjos) and that is what I have heard it referred to, although the name is not on any
maps I found.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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steekers
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CasaMaximus:
Just curious how you hold "ownership" to your casa? Leased land? Fideocomiso? Corporate?
The saying in Baja..."don't invest more that your willing to walk away" seems to be the prevailing attitude, but personally I don't ascribe to. There
are MANY stories on Gringos (and Mexican Nationals) losing property with a bogus "ownership" set of documents. I had also heard somewhere of many bad
deals in your region. Maybe you know who they are.
Appreciate your story.
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CasaMaximus
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Steekers,
All of BCS is covered by the restrictions imposed by the Mexican Constitution. Embrace it love it, these impositions afford us a remarkable degree of
protection under the fedicomiso process not afforded you under a simple title process we practice up North.
Think living trust, think Taft-Hartley trust (union pension) like the way OJ protected his pension from his debtors. Not to get political but what is
held in trust in a Mexican bank stays in trust in a Mexican bank. Theoretically I can lose everything in the North and this will always be mine.
This presupposes no major political upheaval or socialization of property by the people’s republic of Mexico.
Am I worried? No. Doing well by doing good pays dividends which are yet unrealized. This means treating every single person here more important
than yourself. Start with the eldest and work your way down. Be respected by respecting others. I call this rule #1, make your friends before you
need them.
Fit in, smile greet the eldest most enthusiastically, support the bomberos and palapa society, pay your housekeeper and groundskeeper like you are
arriving tomorrow. Above all honor the traditions and customs of this land and the people will protect you. Reach out to me privately for other
ways to blend in but mostly know love is love. Love this place and it will love you right back.
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CasaMaximus
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Today Tuesday 10/13 started later than normal. My wife slept late even by PDT standards and we were on the road around 11:30. My goal was an old
mining village on Mexico 1 called El Triumfo. It was founded in the 1720s as a formal Christian settlement turned gold and silver claim in the 1860s.
The veins were short lived and by the 1930s the most populace town in a Baja California Sur was nearly abandoned.
Another hour brought us to the fishing village of Los Barillas and the Sea if Cortez, beyond there San Jose del Cabo and the toll road North to Todos
Santos. We stopped several times for water and sustenance and in every case masks were unknown.
In all we covered 200 +/- miles of Bajas toughest roads. Success.
[Edited on 10-14-2020 by CasaMaximus]
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CasaMaximus
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Not much to report, today was spent catching up on those little things that needed to be done when we left in early March and replacing a door handle
destroyed by someone trying to break in a month or so ago. I did get to meet my new groundskeeper today. He came highly recommend by Cathy S from
the Baja Western Onion and does an amazing job after taking over for my previous guy who disappeared mid pandemic 
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David K
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El Triunfo (was a Jesuit cattle ranch first, then a silver mine beginning in 1862. Was the largest population center in Baja
California Sur, for a time.
Los Barriles was a fishing village with a store in the 1950s.
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CasaMaximus
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Thx David K it is a fascinating history more should know.
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David K
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Oh man, there is so much history in Baja... Thanks amigo for sharing here in Nomad!
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