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BajaTed
Senior Nomad
Posts: 859
Registered: 5-2-2010
Location: Bajamar
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Quote: Originally posted by JZ  | | Quote: Originally posted by shari | In February of 1988 I vacationed in Barra de Navidad but took the ferry over to Baja to drive home to Tofino BC using another route. A friend had
told me to do a quick stop to Laguna Ojo de Liebre to check out the lagoon where Gray Whales birthed and raised their calves. I planned a 2 hour lunch
break to just have a look at it.
I found the dirt road and much to my delight, as I drove up to the edge of the lagoon, I saw dozens of whale spouts right in front of me....I mean
many dozens! I was in whale heaven!!!
There was a very handsome fisherman leaning on his pickup truck parked beside his panga and he motioned to me asking if I wanted to go see the
whales....the rest is history!
I stayed weeks and ended up conceiving my daughter Sirena in teh lagoon on that first Baja visit! thats the short version! |
Wowwww. That is awesome. I don't think anyone is gonna top that one.
[Edited on 5-25-2021 by JZ] |
A sweet snapshot in time, He's looking into the future and your ready to go with him.
"Haven't had that spirit since 1969"
Es Todo Bueno
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Don Jorge
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Posts: 638
Registered: 8-29-2003
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1968
was my first visit to Baja. As a high school freshman was invited to spend a weekend at a campo south of Rosarito at a friends parents place.
Our friends dad dropped us off in Rosarito to buy firewoks and cruise town to later pick us up.
He dropped us off in town on Saturday, grinned and said, "Boys, keep one hand on your wallet and the other hand on your zipper. Have fun!" We did.
After high school we spent every weekend we could, and that was just about everyone of them, tripping to the usual surf places and eventually ventured
to Cabo in 1974 with my little brother in tow, who was only 16 then, in a Chevy Luv. Lots of great memories of that trip and no pictures.
Surfed and free dived everywhere we could on that month long trip. I was hooked forever on Baja. Moved to Valle de Guadalupe in 1986 and lived there
for 13 years The valley was a completely different place back then.
First picture is 1987 at Don Hector Fuentes place, John Deere 4020, before the wine boom. Rented a house and land from Don Hector, he was a good
man. Lived there for a long time and we raised chickens, turkeys, hogs for food and grew hundreds of hectares of produce throughout the valley. It was
a much simpler time indeed. Still have many friends and extended family in the valley and visit often.
[Edited on 8-4-2021 by Don Jorge]
�And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry
years. It was always that way.�― John Steinbeck
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." George E.P. Box
"Nature bats last." Doug "Hayduke" Peac-ck
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David K
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Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Fun times, Jorge! Aren't we lucky to have seen Baja before so much change! Sounds like your brother and I are the same age? My first time driving down
Baja (Mission San Fernando, El Mármol, Gonzaga Bay, etc.) was in Spring Break 1974, at 16.
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Don Jorge
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Fun times, Jorge! Aren't we lucky to have seen Baja before so much change! Sounds like your brother and I are the same age? My first time driving down
Baja (Mission San Fernando, El Mármol, Gonzaga Bay, etc.) was in Spring Break 1974, at 16. |
Yes it was nice "before" all the change. But it is still nice, one just needs to drive way long. It is especially fruitful exploring for new places
from a boat. The Pacific side is loaded with beautiful, hard to reach places. If you like to fish, as I do, the Pacific side is still a great
fishery at times.
Speaking of change, not all is bad in the change. The biggest and to me the also the nicest change I have noticed in my 50 years of visiting and
living in Baja is the emergence of a solid middle class in Baja. That combined with an education emphasis by the locals for their children is another
welcome change.
But I do miss the old border crossing. It is quite the different place nowadays the border crossing and long gone are the days of driving across with
ten chickens and a goat in the back of your car. 
�And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry
years. It was always that way.�― John Steinbeck
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." George E.P. Box
"Nature bats last." Doug "Hayduke" Peac-ck
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JZ
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Registered: 10-3-2003
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| Quote: Originally posted by Don Jorge |
Speaking of change, not all is bad in the change. The biggest and to me the also the nicest change I have noticed in my 50 years of visiting and
living in Baja is the emergence of a solid middle class in Baja. That combined with an education emphasis by the locals for their children is another
welcome change.
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I've spent more time in Sonora than Baja in the early 00's. There is definitely a solid middle class there. I had a lots of friends who have college
degrees.
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Ateo
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1982 Ensenada...........I have my parents to thank for those trips........When I get a second I'll explain the REAL trip that got me hooked to Baja
and started the love affair. It involves MDMA, surfing, cigarettes, beer and of course - tacos.
[Edited on 8-4-2021 by Ateo]
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JZ
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| Quote: Originally posted by Ateo | 1982 Ensenada...........I have my parents to thank for those trips........When I get a second I'll explain the REAL trip that got me hooked to Baja
and started the love affair. It involves MDMA, surfing, cigarettes, beer and of course - tacos.
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Was expecting you to say, "..and of course... a girl."
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Ateo
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| Quote: Originally posted by JZ | | Quote: Originally posted by Ateo | 1982 Ensenada...........I have my parents to thank for those trips........When I get a second I'll explain the REAL trip that got me hooked to Baja
and started the love affair. It involves MDMA, surfing, cigarettes, beer and of course - tacos.
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Was expecting you to say, "..and of course... a girl."
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I wish!!! I could never seem to find a girl down south. Never tried too hard though....
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Barry A.
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Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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My Mom told me she took me to TJ and the Jai lai Palace many times during the late '40's, but I don't really remember much other than it was
exciting!! My first solo trip with a buddy into Baja was in 1954 (16 yrs old) in my first car, and we went down to Ensenada and had a blast. I was
hooked!!! For the next 55 years I took countless camping trips into the Baja wilderness and beaches and canyons, and had a blast. My Mom owned a
casa at Punta Bunda a little north of Rosarita Beach and right on the seaside cliff for years, and I used it pretty often.
I quit going down in about 2015 when I turned 77, and slowly became spooked by too many "crazy" people camping in my favorite spots, and all my
friends quit going down with me because they were spooked too.
I, and much of my Family, were truly in love with Baja for a very long time and we only lived 9 miles from the Border in Coronado which made it a
no-brainer jumping-off place for visits South!!! (-:
[Edited on 8-4-2021 by Barry A.]
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David K
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Thanks for sharing, Barry.
While I hope to never stop going to Baja, it will happen but I hope to put it off as long as possible!
The place is just so amazing!
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Barry A.
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Location: Redding, Northern CA
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K | Thanks for sharing, Barry.
While I hope to never stop going to Baja, it will happen but I hope to put it off as long as possible!
The place is just so amazing! |
Thanks, David------I know how you feel. The tipping-point for me and mine was when we realized that it was not wise to camp out alone on the
Beaches of "Bahia de los Animas", Gonzaga, or BOLA and go out boating all day and leaving our camps totally unprotected. For many decades we never
gave it a thought, then "other's " started appearing that were not really friendly. Never once had any problems in Animas with the local friendly
Rancher/Fisherman living just down the beach, but then he and his Family abandoned his home and moved away. Suddenly we felt vulnerable-----a
feeling seldom (if ever?) experienced up until then. My Old Age was part of it, but reality with what was slowly happening was the larger part. We
do still do a lot of extreme boonie camping in the USA in really out of the way places. (-:
We never once in all those decades have had any problems, in either Baja or the USA, but I did become a little paranoid about what I was hearing and
seeing around me in Baja. It's probably just me.
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David K
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Posts: 64490
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Location: San Diego County
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We will always have those great memories!
When we are young, we feel invincible and take risks, can afford to lose stuff and start over.
When we are old, we feel vulnerable and are cautious, can't afford to lose anything because we have run out of time to start over!
I have always felt safe on deserted beaches, when I was the only vehicle in sight. Hearing pangas go by (without running lights) at night, makes you
wonder if they are drug runners or just fishermen.
Nothing stays the same other than my fascination with the first few years I was exposed to Baja (in the 60s and 70s). I feel blessed to have been on
the road between Ensenada and La Paz before any new Transpeninsular highway work began... also to have personally driven the 'Gonzaga Grades' before
they were tamed with a dozer in 1986.
As time goes by, a whole new generation of Baja travelers are having great times but this time by getting to La Paz in two days instead of two weeks!
They really don't care where the old road was that you and I had to use before 1973! It was so classic, epic, and the birth of off-road racing: the
unpaved road to la Paz!
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AKgringo
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Posts: 5819
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Barry, I drove into Bahia Las Animas just before Thanksgiving last winter. Aside from a guy from a fishing boat that was left to guard some
equipment, the place was deserted!
Over the last ten years or so, it is one of the few places I go that seems to get less traffic, instead of more! I don't know if
that is a good thing, or if it means that more people feel uneasy there.
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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Skipjack Joe
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Location: Bahia Asuncion
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| Quote: Originally posted by shari | In February of 1988 I vacationed in Barra de Navidad but took the ferry over to Baja to drive home to Tofino BC using another route. A friend had
told me to do a quick stop to Laguna Ojo de Liebre to check out the lagoon where Gray Whales birthed and raised their calves. I planned a 2 hour lunch
break to just have a look at it.
I found the dirt road and much to my delight, as I drove up to the edge of the lagoon, I saw dozens of whale spouts right in front of me....I mean
many dozens! I was in whale heaven!!!
There was a very handsome fisherman leaning on his pickup truck parked beside his panga and he motioned to me asking if I wanted to go see the
whales....the rest is history!
I stayed weeks and ended up conceiving my daughter Sirena in teh lagoon on that first Baja visit! thats the short version! |
Lol. You didn't play hard to get with this guy.
Hmmmm... Come to think of it Sirena does look like him a big.
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | Barry, I drove into Bahia Las Animas just before Thanksgiving last winter. Aside from a guy from a fishing boat that was left to guard some
equipment, the place was deserted!
Over the last ten years or so, it is one of the few places I go that seems to get less traffic, instead of more! I don't know if
that is a good thing, or if it means that more people feel uneasy there. |
Thanks, AK. Animas was my absolute favorite place, and spent weeks there fishing the coast south and north, and crabbing in the estuary over 50 +
years. Glad to hear it is still somewhat pristine (no fresh water helps). Paranoia in my late '70's + is probably my problem, but I have great
memories. (-:
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Marty Mateo
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Registered: 12-7-2019
Location: Vanisle Sur
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Great to read more Baja travel stories and interesting to read of different comfort levels around travel in Baja . For me the transit through the
U.S. has ,more recently ,become the least safe feeling part of the drive.
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JDCanuck
Super Nomad
Posts: 1162
Registered: 2-22-2020
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It's the People!
We went to Baja, specifically La Paz, to meet our new family. What struck us the most was the warm welcome we received by the locals. No resentment,
no rejection by anybody we asked for directions or help, just a sincere desire to share what they had with visitors. As long as the locals display
this same hospitality, we will be drawn back over and over.
It wasn't the place, it was the people
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