Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Exploring Baja Sur
Exploring Baja Sur
I was afraid something like this might happen. Graham Macintosh has given me the ?Baja Bug.? That is to say I?m going exploring. I just got back
from my first training expedition and I?m feeling pretty good about the whole experience.
I haven?t read all of Graham?s books but I read Into a Desert Place, his first book and was struck by the lunacy of the man and the plan. I was also
struck by the fact that Graham sure can explore but he?s lousy at book titles. Into a Desert Place first made me think it was about a guy who goes to
Vegas, blows all his dough, gets in trouble with the law and dies in jail. Journey With A Baja Burro conjures up a picture of a hobo walking the
tracks carrying a bag which contains the bottom part of a burro. Nearer My Dog To Thee has just got to be about a dog or it?s a religious tract with
a play on words about a popular hymn.
I digress. I have a few years on Graham but I can still get around. I?ve traveled all over Baja California in every kind of conveyance but I have
not walked or hitched rides. Lived off the sea. I once stayed nine days at Bahia Concepcion eating only the things I took from the sea. I did go to
Mulege several times during that trip for beer and ice. (I fudged a little here because we all know beer is food)
Now I live in Baja Sur so my first expedition was short, close to home. Here?s my thumbnail account (this may one day be a part of a larger work, a
book perhaps).
Planning: Like Graham (he lets me call him by his first name now) I planned to stay along the shore. For convenience sake my jumping off point
would be from my house which is right on the beach. I would travel east and southeast staying close to the water. My destination: a resort called
Punta Colorado. On the map there are two roads to the resort. One is a good dirt road about six kilometers. The other is twelve kilometers of paved
road and 3 kilometers of graded dirt. I estimate the distance along the shore to be about 4.2 kilometers.
The trip was to have two stages: walking to the resort and then, somehow, getting back to my house.
Equipment, supplies and preparation: In a net bag I carefully placed a pair of Croc shoes, my snorkel mask, a small baggie of fishing lures, in
another small baggie some pesos (careful to have every denomination from coins to 200 peso notes). Preparation consisted of a thorough coating of SP
40 sunblock, my usual morning sitdown and coffee, checked the clock, grabbed my Shakepeare ultralight rod and reel with new 8 pound test mono and 4
pound flouro leader, kissed my wife goodbye. (I don?t carry water. I don?t drink water. I drank water once when I was 12 years old. It was
tasteless.)
Stage one: The first leg of the trip from my house to the shore was relatively easy and uneventful. I did see and wave to Raul, a nice guy, a
cementero and Bey, a very bad guy on a bicycle (I did not wave or smile). I also saw a western coachwhip snake and the tracks of 2 seasnakes which
make their nests along these shores. It was a quiet, calm morning with high thin clouds. The sea was like glass, a few mullet jumping. I headed
east. At a place called La Boca, where a pond is held inshore by the berm of the beach, I could see some surface action on the sea side so I threw a
small Castmaster lure for jacks or ladyfish. Got only one bump in 30 casts so I moved on.
Another 400 meters eastward on the beach brought me to a little development of expensive seaside homes. I marveled at the newest one under
construction which is dangerously close to the water. I?ve heard the main house will be 10,000 square feet with 3 auxiliary buildings which total
another 10,000. Further down the beach at La Salina, another inshore pool, I stopped to snorkel over a large rock slab which sometimes holds huge
schools of Mexican goatfish, triggers, parrots and more. The water was pretty murky and last winter?s winds had covered most of the huge rock slab.
Just before the resort property I threw some small to medium Crocodile lures above the rocks for cabrilla or pargo. Lost 2 lures so I moved on.
I climbed the stairs to the outside patio of the resort looking all the while for Fidel, my favorite bartender. I was gravely disappointed to see
that the owner?s grandson, Cuco, 12 years old, was playing bartender at this early hour. All the hotel charter boats were already out so the patio
area was deserted.
Just when I was in the mood to celebrate I was drowning is despair. I wanted one of Fidel?s splendid Bloody Marys. I needed it, I deserved it. Now
I was going to have to choke down one of Cuco?s noxious elixirs. He is infamous. The poor fishermen try to show good will, good humor as they watch
him experiment with his ever-changing recipes, his hit or miss chemistry lab approach to the delicate art of mixology. In a weak and shaky voice I
ordered a drink.
I could not watch. I turned seaward on my barstool but in my mind?s eye I could almost see the globs of horseradish, the great lumps of pepper, the
extra-heavy squirts of Tabasco. Some movement on the far edge of the patio caught my eye. Fidel? Was that Fidel? It was, I was saved. I waved and
got up from my perch as he came forward.
?Fidel, Fidel, you?re a sight for sore eyes. I just finished a long walk on the beach from my house and I need one of your special Bloody Marys.?
Cuco scowled and poured his mistake down the drain.
While Fidel made my frosty libation I inquired about a ride back to the house. Fidel said Alejandro would be going home about ten and he would
arrange a ride for me.
Now all that preparation was paying off. I gave Cuco some coins, paid for the drink with a bill large enough for a handsome propina for Fidel and had
the exactly appropriate bills left in the little baggie to say thank you to Alejandro for the ride home.
So, Graham, I guess we can all learn from others. When you see my first book be looking for Into A Bloody Mary Place or A Brush with Death by Poison
in Baja Sur.
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eetdrt88
Senior Nomad
Posts: 986
Registered: 2-20-2005
Location: Az/Ca/Baja
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great stuff!!!
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
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Now THAT's the kind of exploration that is really FUN! Great read. Thanks.
Bob H
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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PRICELESS....................
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Nicole
Junior Nomad
Posts: 34
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Kitimat, BC, Canada
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Mood: Dreaming of sun!
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Outstanding! I would buy your book in a heartbeat!
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
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Damn lucky you didn't get marooned. 
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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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You are off to a good start!
Graham is in Michigan this summer working on the new book... I think he will get a kick out of your post Osprey!
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