kevin_in_idaho
Nomad
Posts: 143
Registered: 12-13-2016
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The smoker checkpoint (aka "fruit fly")?
When we were travelling south, at one of the inspection checkpoints, we were asked to pay for a fruit fly spray. I misunderstood the man and said, no
thanks. He looked at me funny and said it was mandatory. I thought he wanted to come around with a wand and spray my camper and truck. Nope. He
turned on some fogger that you drove over. Not sure it did anything but I didn't know that "inspection" place existed and not sure that it wasn't
just some 'fog machine'.
Anyone know if it's real?
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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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Been there for years and been discussed about a zillion times. Have no clue what type of liquid they are spraying, but it's worth 20 pesos for the
show
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kevin_in_idaho
Nomad
Posts: 143
Registered: 12-13-2016
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Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy  | | Been there for years and been discussed about a zillion times. Have no clue what type of liquid they are spraying, but it's worth 20 pesos for the
show |
Thanks. I never saw any postings about it but it was even funnier because I thought it was optional and insisted I didn't want it....
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
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Mood: Easy Does It
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spray
If you have small children or pets sometimes they let you opt out.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5805
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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That must be the one at the Baja Sur border by Guerrero Negro. To save that twenty pesos, I drive down through B.O.L.A and do the hundred or so miles
of dirt road and bypass them!
Edit; LOL and  added for those who might think I would drive a hundred miles of
dirt to save twenty pesos! I like dirt roads!
[Edited on 2-26-2017 by AKgringo]
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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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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because, apparently, bad germs only travel south.
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 17289
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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| Quote: Originally posted by kevin_in_idaho | When we were travelling south, at one of the inspection checkpoints, we were asked to pay for a fruit fly spray. I misunderstood the man and said, no
thanks. He looked at me funny and said it was mandatory. I thought he wanted to come around with a wand and spray my camper and truck. Nope. He
turned on some fogger that you drove over. Not sure it did anything but I didn't know that "inspection" place existed and not sure that it wasn't
just some 'fog machine'.
Anyone know if it's real? |
Is it real?
Every time I drive thru I see/experience an inspection/spray station. In not real, then I have been having the same hallucination at the same
location, for many years now.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64478
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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First time I saw the spray guy was in 2001 (it had been 15 years since my last trip to Baja Sur, so don't know when it began). It was a dollar or a
beer back then (what he asked for)... He sprayed with a hand wand.
It is just south of the Eagle Monument (state border) on Hwy. 1.
AK, there is a shorter dirt road (that the locals use) to avoid the mist strip drive-over... now 20 pesos... or still a dollar. Just turn right at the
airport sign a mile or so north of the border and go around the runway then head south next to the lagoon beach. I don't do that as you then need to
drive through Guerrero Negro town and the spray of water + anything under my truck else doesn't annoy me.
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bajabuddha
Banned
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Location: Baja New Mexico
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Mood: Always cranky unless medicated
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Going around the sprayer through GN is ludicrous. The drive makes a very large "L" to do the loop.... and with my gas guzzler burning 8mpg hauling a
5th wheel I figured it cost more in fuel to bypass it than to just pay the stupid buck for the sprayer.
Far's the bug issue, coming south you have already gone through a few large agricultural areas to get there... from GN south, not so much until you
reach Cd. Constitution plains.
Give 'em a dollar... it ain't like funding begging. Nor is it going to affect your wallet or your budget.
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
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Mood: 
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I've driven through it several times when there was no one around to charge the 20 pesos. I know I've gotten a receipt the last couple of times when
I've had to pay.
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CJ
Nomad
Posts: 204
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: Loreto, B.C.S. y Lopez Mateos
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Mood: It's cool with me
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I always pay.....and ask them not to spray because I have skin cancer. They say ok and on we go for the last ten years or so 
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kevin_in_idaho
Nomad
Posts: 143
Registered: 12-13-2016
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I didn't mind paying it was just that I didn't understand what they were saying or really doing.... now that I know, next time I'll pay and ask them
not to do it because of the dog. My truck is so high, I doubt the mist even made it.
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Nashville Frank
Junior Nomad
Posts: 95
Registered: 12-5-2016
Location: Nashville, TN
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Mood: Baja happy
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Good to know about this for my future trips south of El Rosario!
As a former licensed PCO (Pest Control Operator) I find this practice a little over the top! Modern fruit fly control typically consists of the use
of:
1. Good cultural practices, for example, by gathering all fallen and infected host fruits and destroying them. For travelers, like
us Nomads, that means confiscating fruits from our vehicles and destroying them (the fruit not the vehicle). This has been done for decades in
California. This is the most natural location of any sneaky little flies.
2. Insecticidal protection is possible by using a cover spray or a bait spray. Done at the orchard/ranch. Malathion is the usual
choice of insecticide cover spray for fruit fly control. Also, Pyrethrum and Pyrethrins are used. These are often combined with protein hydrolysate
to form a bait spray (fruit or pheromone attractants) and sprayed on tree trunks or other things near the orchard.
So, our Mexican friends may be using one of these three chemicals in their under-the-car spray. Hopefully, not DDT!
3. Biological controls (natural enemies). These have not had great success with the Mexican fruit fly.
For us, the important thing to know is the spray may get into the passenger area of the vehicle and adversely affect occupants.
To reduce exposure to the chemicals sprayed on the car one should:
1. Roll up all windows.
2. Turn your vents to "Recirculate" before they spray. And leave it on this setting, until you've bathed your car that clean Baja
air for about a mile.
3. Then open back up and breathe!!!!!
Happy trails to you!
[Edited on 2-28-2017 by Nashville Frank]
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DavidT
Nomad
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Registered: 4-9-2005
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We've been through where the bug man is standing alongside the road with a Hudson sprayer, spraying the passenger side of the vehicle as we drive by.
Flew into Loreto where everyone getting off the plane had to step, both feet, into a large plastic dishpan with liquid just covering an astroturf
doormat in the pan.
David
Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
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Nashville Frank
Junior Nomad
Posts: 95
Registered: 12-5-2016
Location: Nashville, TN
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja happy
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| Quote: Originally posted by DavidT | We've been through where the bug man is standing alongside the road with a Hudson sprayer, spraying the passenger side of the vehicle as we drive by.
Flew into Loreto where everyone getting off the plane had to step, both feet, into a large plastic dishpan with liquid just covering an astroturf
doormat in the pan.
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Spraying side of car: Medieval! Confiscating your fruits and veggies: best practice
Nuclear doormat: Great idea! Could be eggs in the soil on your tennies. Just rinse them off soon.
[Edited on 2-28-2017 by Nashville Frank]
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BajaNomad
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Thread Moved
2-27-2017 at 07:59 PM |
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