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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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3 Weeks Exploring Baja...
Hey there... just got back from my first trip to the peninsula... it was incredible. I figure that I owe you guys the trip report being as most of
my info came from this very site  Anyways... ENJOY!!!
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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OK here goes.... official trip report :5SHOTS:
Day 1-3
I finished a 48 hour shift and headed straight home at 8am to finish packing the Jeep with our goodies, say our goodbye's, and hit the road to
Calexico... (with a brief stop in AZ to camp)
We met up with our travel companions in Calexico and picked up some last minute things at Walmart... we were hitting the border early the next
morning at the main Mexicali crossing.
The border area is quite the shady place... some form of loud alarm was blaring when we got there and many broken down vehicles sat around... as I
would imagine they had been for some time...
After bouncing around between various offices, paying some money, and getting some stamps... we got the green light and were across the border in 5
minutes or so. Onward to San Felipe!! We didn't spend any more time than we had to in Mexicali.
Seems safe...
We made it!!
We decided to stay at Pete's camp and almost had the place to ourselves...
San Felipe is quite the beach-combers paradise....
But I had more important fish to fry... and put into tacos.... and eat
And the other essentials...
Everyone called it a night early... we had big plans for the next day...
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 4
So we're in Baja now... time to get down to business.... we headed south on Mex 5 out of San Felipe. Our destination for the day was Papa Fernandez
in Gonzaga. We had heard that the road was bad... haha
Fueling up in San Felipe...
And south we go... into the unknown 
The new highway was gorgeous and smooth... complete with one of the 3 pull offs we saw the whole trip.
...then came the first of my troubles for the trip... Nicole told me we lost something off of the trailer and I looked in the mirror just in time to
see my 20# propane cylinder about 8 feet off the ground tumbling down the road. I pulled over to see exactly what had happened and saw this slight
trail behind me.... uh oh...
The ratchet strap had somehow loosened and the propane cylinder jumped out while crossing one particularly steep "vado". Once that happened, the
straps went slack and the diesel cans dragged on the highway. I was spilling diesel out of 2 holes worn into the bottom of the containers.
I decided to dump out our 2 water cans and pour the diesel into the water containers... I'll go without spare water before I let 10 gallons of diesel
go into the ground. I don't need that kind of juju hanging over me this early in the trip... a quick inspection of the propane cylinder showed no
dents, no leaks... those things are stout!
Back on the road... our first wild burros...
We drove through Puertocitos and the road instantly took a turn for the worse...
We aired down and headed off into the rocks and washboard... pictures cannot convey how washboarded this road was...
I also lost a Yakima tower on the road... they weren't up to the task of holding the rooftop tent... sadly, this quick fix held better than the rest
of the towers.
Problems with my trailer persisted and we soon ran out of daylight... you need a FULL day to run that road... then things took another turn...
someone posing as police tried to stop us on the road. Three vehicles: one mid 90's Chevy PU, one S10 Blazer, and an older Toyota PU blocked the
road and turned on red flashing lights on their dashes. I promptly went off the road and drove around them... they chose not to follow us and I
don't know what they wanted...
We finally arrived at Papa Fernandez and set our camp in the dark... I was eager to see just where we were when the sun came up
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Days 5 and 6- Gonzaga Bay
After a great dinner and good night's sleep... I woke up to see exactly where I was. Wow...
In contrast to the tidal flats of San Felipe, Gonzaga is full of rocky tide pools to explore. All of them are full of hermit crabs, starfish, and sea
slugs. This guy was grouchy:
This was the only time on the entire trip that we were somewhere COMPLETELY silent. I only heard the pangas go out at around 0500 and come back
around 2000. Someone said they got into a school of tuna somewhere off of one the islands in Gonzaga Bay.
I was more interested in some chorizo eggs to get my day started though.
The family that runs this campground and community are some great people... they will open the kitchen for you whenever you like and make some of the
best homemade food we had the entire time. I didn't cook once while we were there... the food was too good.
I had to stay there for 2 days in order to make some trailer repairs on the beach... hmmmm.... doesn't look so good.... one hub got replaced and
several broken bolts and brackets got repaired. An Icelandic couple (travelling with their 10 dogs!) who shared the beach with us saved the day when
they let me use their generator to run a sawzall and electric drill. One of the residents of Papa Fernandez also offered his power tools and welder
if needed... people here are some of the most generous I've met.
FYI: the threads that make up duct tape work wonderfully as loctite!
The trailer got fixed... time to kick back...
My dinner on the second night...
...and this is Foxie... the friendliest of the Icelandic Dogs she came to visit us a lot...
Time to get some sleep and hit the road!!
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 7- Coco's Corner and Mex 1 to Guerrero Negro
We left Papa Fernandez early in the morning and took off into the dirt down Mex 5.
Stopped by the Alfonsina's area to check things out.
On the way to Coco's Corner I finally got to do something I've always wanted to do.... drive the Baja 1000 race course....
We spent about an hour talking with Coco and having a Coke... then he had to get back to getting his can decorations ready for the race. This AMC
Eagle of his is awesome...
The lounge...
Speaks for itself...
Then we signed the guestbook and hit the road...
Some nice scenery on the way to Chapala from Coco's...
We finally arrived at Guerrero Negro after a long day of driving and arrived at Mario's Campground... it was packed...
The food there costs a little more... but is delicious... I gave the seafood soup a go... and tried a margarita or two
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 8- Whales
Our second day at Mario's... had to stay in order to go see the whales...
Woke up to a new sight... condensation... and lots of it... not too fun for a canvas tent
Early that morning we loaded onto a bus with another couple from California and headed out to the bay to see the calving whales...
Sea Lions on the way out...
Guerrero Negro is the only place I've seen where sand dunes come straight out of the ocean.
Baby whale coming to check things out...
...and there were plenty of them... everywhere!
After a long day on the water we headed back to Mario's for some dinner... they were already preparing the meat for the evening...
The awesome people at Mario's...
Things also took an unexpected turn this day... the group disbanded and our companions decided to head back north to the U.S. That changed things
quite a bit for us... couldn't quite take the same chances off road anymore... but the journey went on...
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 9- Flying Solo to Bahia Concepcion
After breakfast at Mario's... we hit the road for Bahia Concepcion... we had run into a caravan from Vagubundos Del Mar and they were really helpful
with recommending places to camp and what to expect...
On the road again...
A giant bag of dates seemed like a good thing to have... about $2 per bag...
The road to Mulege (Moo-le-hay)
Entrance to the town of Mulege...
The guard chicken of Santispac Lagoon... awesome place to stay...
Some views from camp...
Little did we know, the restaurant at Santispac "Ana's" gets quite crazy on Saturday nights. I'm pretty sure we were the only people there not
eligible for AARP but it was a rocking little party.
This is Bob, the DJ.... awesome guy
So after far too much Tequila, I stumbled back to the campsite and proceeded to fall off of the tent ladder... twice... eventually I made it
though...
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 10- Stopover in Ciudad Constitucion... and the first hot shower
On the southbound road again... had to stop and check out the coast before we headed inland
Oops... this is what happens when a Pemex employee tries to "top off" the Jeep. I get a nice scare...
Our destination for the day was Palapa 206 in Ciudad Consticucion. The town isn't really anything special, but they have a big grocery store and lots
of places to restock. The couple that owns Palapa 206 are great and their son (8 or so) is very eager to help with anything you need. They also have
a propane water heater!!!
Only downside are the roosters... they seem to think it's always morning...
This is their dog, Archie... he was hilarious... and tiny...
Didn't feel like going anywhere.. ham and cheese for dinner...
The owners had this very cool diesel mitsubishi truck... he said it uses the same engine as the Pajero...
After an awesome supply of unlimited hot water I was useless and laid in the tent... down here a hot shower becomes somethign to reflect on
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 11- Cabo or bust...
Off we went... we had a long day ahead of us and had to navigate through La Paz and Los Cabos...
This is reason #1 why you don't drive here at night...
North of La Paz... stands like this are the places to eat... the best food comes from the little guys here...
My $2 lunch...
On through La Paz... no pics from in town... we were too busy trying to figure out how traffic works
CABO SAN LUCAS!!! a.k.a Gringoville.... it was an amazing culture shock after being in so many small towns. After walking through Cabo for an hour
we had been offered Marijuana, Cocaine, Ecstacy, and various prescription drugs... it didn't take us long to get tired of the area....
How to not fit in: bring your RTT and Jeep to the Vagubundos Del Mar RV Park
The Vagubundos do have an awesome taco tray though!
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 18356
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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So you found some road-block-fake-cop bandits south of san felipe? or was it north of san felipe?
kind of scary to see that road block bandits are back in action.
looks like your offroad trailer had trouble off road -- what brand was it?
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
Senior Nomad
Posts: 980
Registered: 11-5-2009
Location: BAJA SUR
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durangotang, looks like you had a great, safe trip ! wow ! thanks for the pics.
glad you could make it around the fake cops.
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Hey Durango- That was a wonderful post. Thoroughly enjoyed it, although It just seems hard to believe that it was your first time. If that part is
true, then you really must have done your homework.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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Great trip report, Durango. Thanks a lot.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64829
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thanks for the great trip report and welcome to Nomad!
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mtgoat666
So you found some road-block-fake-cop bandits south of san felipe? or was it north of san felipe?
kind of scary to see that road block bandits are back in action.
looks like your offroad trailer had trouble off road -- what brand was it? |
The fake police were between Puertocitos and Gonzaga...
Trailer is of the homebrew variety...
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by durangotang
Trailer is of the homebrew variety... |
I was going to ask. Can you think of any production models? I've seen one on the road but can't seem to find it on the net.
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
Member Is Offline
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Day 12- Cabo Pulmo
Started the day out with some espresso... after almost 2 weeks it was nice to not have camp coffee.
Then we had some unfinished business in Cabo San Lucas...
That's right... parasailing... booya
Can't beat the view from 600ft...
After that... we were out of there... after we stopped for burritos...
Destination: Cabo Pulmo. We wanted to do come snorkeling and people told us that Cabo Pulmo is the place to do it... we chose to go the long way
down a very rough coastal road.
One downside was that the wind went crazy when we showed up... we had to park the Jeep back in an arroyo to get out of the wind.
Investigating some snorkeling spots... look at the big palm tree as a wind gauge...
This is the trail to an awesome snorkeling area... unfortunately the wind created some nasty conditions and we couldn't go.
Dinner for the evening... a seafood salad... not really sure if everything was cooked or not... oh well
With no snorkeling to be done and sand blowing everywhere, we decided to leave our south-facing beach for a north-facing one tomorrow.... back up to
La Paz.
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
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Day 13- Back to La Paz
We were supposed to spend this day snorkeling but we were off on the road again... off to Tecolote Beach, just north of La Paz.
Mission at Santa Rosalia on the way...
Stopped to check out some seafood... then felt too lazy to prepare anything...
Off to the beach...
Looks like a good enough spot...
Then I spent the rest of the day trying to catch grouper off of a rocky point... no luck...
So I resorted to eating fried octopus...
Playa Tecolote
Not bad for a free place to stay...
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BajaRat
Super Nomad
Posts: 1303
Registered: 3-2-2010
Location: SW Four Corners / Bahia Asuncion BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Ready for some salt water with my Tecate
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Thanks for the report!! The photos are great! Looking forward to posting ours soon! Welcome to Nomad!
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durangotang
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-8-2010
Location: Durango, CO
Member Is Offline
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Day 14- Back to Santispac
After some discussion, we decided that we liked Bahia Concepcion and wanted to go back there for a few days... it was a decent day on the road but
it's a gorgeous drive north from La Paz.
Lunch at another small stand... awesome Carne Asada
A ways from where we started...
Some areas look like Arizona Desert
Back to Bahia Concepcion...
Many people kept telling us that we should camp at this beach... only a Jeep (or something similar) can make it across the sand to the other side.
The sand bridge is underwater at high tide and your camp is isolated across the water until the tide goes back out.
Our camp back at Santispac... there's a remote corner that the big RV's can't get to.
Only in Baja
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