BajaNomad

Trip report Nov. 16 - Dec. 5 (part 2) Long

Janice - 12-16-2005 at 09:57 PM

Thursday- Thanksgiving

We woke up to a calm warm but overcast dawn. The contrast of color and subdued light against the backdrop of the awesome scenery of Bahia de Los Angeles with its surreal desert vistas made for a good morning of kicking back on the porch of the cabana. We sipped our coffee and watched the creatures that thrive there go about their daily business of living. Dolphins had come in that morning and it was a very cool addition to the already familiar community of sea and bird life that make up the food chain (and much of the entertainment) of the bay.

In the Sea of Cortez everything is busy trying to eat something else so there is constant action. Baitfishes are herded into swirling "bait balls" at the surface, which are sometimes many yards across, by schooling predators like tuna and Bonita. The herded fish are simultaneously attacked from the air by flocks of birds consisting of Frigate birds, Booby?s, Terns, Cormorants, Pelicans, and gulls. The activity gets pretty furious. We never seem to tire of watching all the life going on out there. It is common for intense conversations to be interrupted by a shout from down the beach of something like "hey the sea lions are chasing the tuna!". Everyone stops and goes to see what is happening.

Despite the clouds the air was warm and so Janice decided to go for a paddle in the rented kayak again. As she was preparing to go the shout of "hey the dolphins are coming by" came up from the beach. Despite hurrying the speedy marine mammals had moved down the shore before she could get out. Since she was in the water anyway she figured she might as well go for a paddle in the same direction as the dolphins had gone. The water was like glass and the day was gorgeous even with the thickening clouds so she went on her way.

Some ways down the shore she spotted the dolphins about a hundred yards straight out to sea from where she was near shore. She decided she could not pass up the opportunity of seeing them up close and paddled out to where they were. She got to within a few feet of them and got a really close look at these amazing creatures. It was an amazing moment. She was close enough to not only hear their exhalations as they surfaced but she could actually smell their "fishy" breath. That's pretty close. At some point she did realize that she was some distance from shore and she became concerned that she should head back in so she turned and paddled toward the beach. She made it safely back into a safe distance from shore and began paddling back to camp to report her "close encounter".

On the way back she noticed another commotion in the water and thinking that maybe the dolphins had returned, she went to investigate. It turned out to be several sea lions that were making their way along the shore. They acted much less trusting than the dolphins had but she still got to within about twenty feet of them. Rich had decided to take the windsurfer out for a sail even thought the wind was pretty low just for practice and because he is getting to like it a lot. We met up out in the water and both stopped and talked about the dolphin encounter. As we were talking a front came over the mountains to the south and we could see the rain it was bringing.

We heard thunder and could see the down strikes of lightning moving our way. We were only a hundred feet or so from shore but being in the water with a thunderstorm coming our way we decided to head in. Janice quickly paddled to shore but while we had been talking the wind had suddenly gone quite still. Rich decided that the quickest way to get to shore would be to disconnect the mast from the board and paddle in towing the sail rig. This also made sense since standing in salt water holding up a twelve-foot aluminum mast did not seem like a good idea with a lightning storm bearing down.

We both made it in and got to the cabana as the rain started falling. We noticed that the boat belonging to one of the other groups of campers was being towed in from far out on the bay. They had left early for a day of fishing out near the islands. Apparently their engine had seized out beyond the inner islands and they were lucky to have been able to flag down another boat and get a tow. They docked just as the main bulk of the storm front arrived. It could have been very unpleasant for them otherwise. Bahia De Los Angeles is a well known boating and kayaking spot but the winds and weather can be very tricky. It is not unusual to have unexpected shifts in wind direction or even for gale force offshore winds to come up suddenly. People who are unprepared and/or uninformed end up in big trouble every year and some do not survive.

Pleased with our morning adventures we invited the neighbors, Bob and Becky (who were camping in a tent) over for breakfast. Janice made the most awesome egg, cheese, potato burritos (with fresh homemade salsa) that anyone could remember tasting. It could be that everything just tastes better cooked in a cabana in Baja but these were really great burritos. The clouds had opened outside and we watched from the cabana as the rain fell outside and talked about what a nice thanksgiving day we were having.

The rain let up a bit and we were considering venturing out again when one of the people from the recently towed in boat came by. He was carrying a very large and very fresh looking Bonita. He told us that he and his family did not like Bonita and that they would like us to have it if we wanted it. Without hesitation the fish was accepted with many thanks. Some people do not care for this particular fish because it is very oily for a tuna. Prepared and cooked properly the flavor is exceptional and Rich set about cleaning the fish. It quickly became clear that we had not considered dealing with a fish this large because none of our kitchen knives were really up to the task. However using a combination of what we had brought and calling into service Rich's blade from his leatherman tool the fish was butchered.

As the rain began to fall again in earnest we returned to the cabana carrying four hunks of very fresh fish that if not impressively filleted were at least pan ready. On the way back to the cabana we offered a quarter of the fish to Terrance and he gratefully accepted it. We put the rest of the fish on ice and got ready to go to town for our highly anticipated thanksgiving dinner.

We decided to go to Guillermo's since we had heard good things about it from locals and our now well-worn copy of the AAA guide to Baja. We agreed to meet up with Bob and Becky to share our holiday meal. Prior to leaving camp we agreed to meet at the Isla Mercado where Rich sent off his answers to his test for the week. Taking a college course online is extremely flexible and here was the proof. Rich had downloaded the entire course onto a CD before we left so that he could continue his studies while enjoying our Baja adventure. We highly recommend this method of study.

Once at the resturant we found that they were offering an actual Gringo style turkey dinner along with a menu of other delicacies. Janice opted for the traditional meal while the others ordered more exotic fare. Becky had the Pescado "Vera Cruz" and both Rich and Bob went for the Guillermo?s special scallops. The scallops were breaded and wrapped in bacon, fried and served in a garlic and cheese sauce. Absolutely awesome tasting. The turkey dinner was as advertised except that the stuffing contained, among other things, hot dogs. Apparently hot dogs are known to be a Gringo staple so there you go. All in all it was a truly memorable and delicious meal shared with good company on an American holiday far from home. The Margaritas were tasty and we enjoyed our holiday meal very much. The conversation turned to family and on retrospect we realize that thanksgiving is a family holiday so that should be expected. Afterwards we headed back to camp and had a few beers around the campfire. We turned in well satisfied and grateful for another amazing day.

Friday dawned clear calm and warm. The bay looked like glass from the window of the cabana and we sipped our coffee on the porch as we had become accustomed to doing. We planned to pack up and head over to the Pacific side but getting moving proved to be a bit of an effort. We realized we had really gotten into the Baja mode which if you have not experienced it, consists of being very relaxed and that makes for a slower pace than we are accustomed to in the states. Despite our newfound lethargy we did once more get everything into the van and said our goodbyes to all the great folks we had met.

We topped off the gas tank at the Pemex (one pump pumping) and headed back toward Mex. 1 and north to the Santa Rosalillta turn off . As we have mentioned in past descriptions the first part of the road to S.R. is the widest, smoothest road in all of Baja. This is due to the continuing effort of the Mexican Government's "Escalara Nautica" or nautical stairway. For some reason someone in the Mexican tourism promotion department is convinced that "hundreds of thousands" of wealthy Americans with large yachts are chomping at the bit to sail their expensive boats to Santa Rosalillita where they will be loaded onto very large trucks and hauled over land to Bahia De Los Angeles where they will be put back into the water.

As of our last trip the improved portion of the road goes for about 3 miles toward S.R. and ends rather abruptly where it turns into a typical Baja dirt road. One improvement we did find on this trip is that a particularly deep wash is being outfitted to be poured with cement to create a culvert, which will be needed to allow the anticipated fleet of yachts on trucks to negotiate this part of the route. Among the leftovers from the construction of the concrete forms we found a bonanza of cutoff 4X4 lumber. We stopped and loaded up enough of the discarded wood to fuel several nights campfires. On our way again we congratulated ourselves on having joined the relative handful of people who have actually benefited from the Escalara project.

The road led into the tiny fishing village and we drove slowly through the sleepy "downtown". Santa Rosalillita has one small restaurant, two small stores and several dozen modest homes of varying size and shape. Other than that there is not much else unless you count the new "marina", a semi-circle of rocks that on our last visit was going pretty much ignored by all. The one exception was a lone soldier who was guarding the marina for reasons that are still not clear to us. That was last time. This time there was machinery working, sand being dredged and cement being poured. Apparently the plan for the Escalera has been modified and scaled back but it is proceeding, which we found surprising.

There are a number of people who do not believe the Escalara is a good idea because of the environmental impact it will have. Bringing large numbers of people into the arid environment of Baja creates a whole can of
worms when the impacts of the need for water (this is a desert) and waste (this is a 3rd world country) are considered. There are also those who feel that this entire project is just another way of helping drug lords launder their ill-gotten cash. We as visitors do not believe it our place to say anything but it is proven that when you take a tiny fishing village and pump a bunch of stuff and people into it the place becomes something we would not want to visit.

For now the camp area in the dunes west of town is still lightly visited and we found our way back to our favorite spot after a short stop at the home of the gentleman who owns the property adjoining the beach. He charges only 50 pesos ($5 U.S.) per night and it is a bargain. There was only one other couple camped anywhere near us and we have yet to find a crowd here. We set up our camp and determined that we would sleep in the van since the wind had been increasing as we neared the pacific side and it was now blowing pretty steady. Santa Rosalillita has one of the best surf breaks I have ever seen but in this day there was no swell in evidence so we just settled in to have a nice evening watching the sunset and then a campfire courtesy of the spoils of the Escalara.

While we were getting our dinner together two vehicles came down the entrance road, a jeep and Toyota Tundra. Both vehicles contained what from our vantage point were rowdy American kids. The Jeep proceeded down the beach to a camp spot some distance from us. The kids in the Toyota however did a few circles around our two camps then began driving up and down the beach, doing doughnuts and splashing through the surf. It was clear that they did not have much concern for their truck since there would be nowhere to wash the salt water off and the resulting corrosion would spell an early death for the vehicle. The couple in the camp next door joined us in a cheer when the Toyota driver miscalculated his traction, and proceed to bury the truck up to frame in some loose sand. That would take care of them for a while. We enjoyed our teriyaki Bonita and rice dinner while we watched the kids in the jeep bail their friends out of their predicament.

Bravo had gone over to the remains of the whale that had washed ashore two years ago. After two years on the beach only the skeleton and some mummified bits of hide remained. Bravo has taken a dim and suspicious view of this carcass on our previous visits so it was no surprise that he sniffed a few times, then proceeded to bark at it like it was something that we all needed to be watchful of. The rest of the evening he kept close tabs on the inert form on the beach, his answer to "whale watching".

Saturday morning we arose to find the wind still blowing and the surf not worth staying for, so we packed up early and headed out to Highway 1 and south to Gurrero Negro. The first stop was to be the ATM at the bank to replenish our depleted funds since there was no other bank between San Quintin and there. We had stopped in Villa Jesus Maria to see if the "tamale lady" was open for business. We had heard so much about these legendary tamales, but had yet to either find her open or find that she still had tamales left by the time we arrived. She was indeed open and serving breakfast at her one table to an American man and his two sons, who vouched for the wonderful tamales.

The "diner" consists of an old green and white van with the kitchen set up inside and a makeshift structure to provide shelter from the elements, not something you would even notice as an eating establishment. Carmelita sold us two chicken tamales for the road, which we devoured before entering the highway. We did an abrupt u-turn, scraped together our remaining pesos and US coin to buy six more for later down the road. They were really the best tamales ever.

When we were stopped at the immigration checkpoint, we showed our passports and tourist cards, surrendered our apple, two oranges and potato that we had not consumed, and proceeded to Gurrero Negro. When we arrived at the bank, Rich went inside to the ATM, where he returned all too quickly. The ATM was "temporarily" out of service. This was not something that we had anticipated. Baja is a land of paradox. On the one hand it is possible to find Internet cafes and satellite TV in the remotest of places, places you would not expect such modern services. On the other hand services we take for granted in the states can be very undependable south of the border. We knew this but we chose to run our funds down to the point that we were now stuck simply because it had never happened to us before.

As the reality of the situation became clear Janice was wondering where we could camp for free, while Rich was wondering if the hotel Malirmo took credit cards. We figured it would be Monday before we could access our cash. We were stuck. While we were contemplating our options, a military vehicle pulled up beside us. Janice asked the driver if he spoke English, to which he replied "a little". So she asked in Spanish if there was only one bank in G.N. Just then, the passenger came around to the side of the van and in flawless English said, "Yes, how may I be of service?" We told him of our predicament, and he said, "So, you have no plan B?" ... Well, pretty much, except for the ones we had discussed. He then went inside and spoke with his partner and a bank employee who was just posting a sign on the ATM machine. He returned to say that the phone lines were down, and yes it could be until Monday until it was working again. We were then offered 400 pesos (about $40 US) so that we could fill our gas tank to get us the 89 miles down the road to the next bank. It was the most generous offer, coming from this man whom we learned was a general in the Mexican Army. We were speechless but managed to stutter a thank you, and asked how we could repay him. He gave us his card with his account number written on it so that we could make a deposit when we received our cash.

Without this man's generosity, we would have survived, we would have been fine, but our trip would have been delayed by at least two days in Guerrero Negro. We will write a letter of thanks and a letter of commendation to the Mexican government, as this man went far above and beyond the call of duty. Naturally we will pay him back too.

With a full tank of gas and no money to spare for tacos at "Taco Gordo" one of our favorite taco stands, we headed south for Santa Rosalia. When we arrived our first stop was the bank where we received our pesos, but because there were no deposit envelopes, were unable to make a deposit into the general's account. We then searched for a Pharmacia to buy a phone card and a taco stand for lunch. It was a Saturday around siesta, so we found that most stores were not open. We went to the local market and to the French bakery to buy some bolleos before hitting the road again. Once again we were left with sort of a bad feeling about this town, it seems that the locals are never really very friendly, and some are downright rude. Did we mention that this town was established by the French?

With no luck finding an open fish taco stand, we left and headed south. We arrived in Mulege at around 4 pm and re-supplied the few items that we could not find in Santa Rosalia. We made a few phone calls home, then headed for the campground. We had stayed at Maria Isabella's RV park before, mainly because it was clean, had good showers and a coin laundry on the premises. We set up camp, made a simple taco dinner and turned in for the evening fairly early.

Sunday we set about taking care of the mundane chores of laundry, dishes and repacking the van. We then headed back into town to find an Internet cafe so that Rich could send off his next quiz. The one that we knew of was closed so we asked at a local curio shop if there was another in town. We were able to both ask the question and understand the answer, including directions, in Spanish, a big step for us since our first trip.

Internet chores done, we headed south to Los Coco's beach on Bahia Conception. The wind was blowing a bit, but we decided to set the tent up anyway. The van gets a little cramped with two people and two dogs, even though the dogs sleep in the front seats, it's still a little tight. That evening we sat around the fire sipping tequila for a few hours before hitting the sack, literally. The wind blew so ferociously that night, that no one got much sleep. Katie is nervous when there are loud noises or say, the tent moves for no apparent reason, so she was pacing most of the night. Rich even got up in the middle of the night to move the van into a more strategic place. We were wishing for some earplugs, it was that loud. None of us got much sleep.

Monday morning we had to decide if we should wait it out or move out. We decided to stay put, so Rich went about the task of trying to secure the tent better. The bay was so choppy that snorkeling was out of the question, and the wind was offshore, so windsurfing was also out of the question. The van needed a few minor repairs that had been put off for later. This was a good opportunity since all the repairs needed were inside the van, out of the wind. We kicked back on the beach and waited to see if we would get a break from the wind. We spent another semi-miserable night with the wind howling, but the modifications to the tent set-up seemed to help and we all managed to get some sleep. We later heard a tale of a woman that was killed on Sunday when she was kayaking and blown out to sea, drowning south of Loreto near Juncalito. She was apparently a triathalete, but even that made her no match for the high winds.

Skipjack Joe - 12-17-2005 at 04:59 PM

Janice,

I enjoyed reading about you trip very much.

I liked your description about the desert rain. A rain in the desert is one of my favorite things (yes, I know that sounds like some Julie Andrews song).

A turkey stuffed with hot dogs? Unreal. You never know what they're going to serve you in baja. I once ordered a carne y arroz entree and they opened a can of Libby's beef, warmed it up and served it with steamed rice. I felt like I had camp food in a restaurant.

Money problems. I had problems like that last year in GN. I had decided that getting cash from the ATM was the way to go. Well, BofA had decided that it was unusual for me to draw money from Mexico and had put a freeze on my account. The ATM machine just said that the money was unavailable. So I was stuck without cash for the weekend and had to call the states to release my own cash!!! Everything ended up fine. Just my stress level rose a couple of notches and I was stuck in town for 2 extra days.

bajajudy - 12-17-2005 at 05:25 PM

Terrific travel log.
Sounds like you did a little bit of eveything.
The Mexican general story is one of those classic "neighbor helping neighbor" Baja tales. However, most of us have never run into anyone anywhere that would lend you $40.
Gracias

Natalie Ann - 12-17-2005 at 05:34 PM

I'm sure enjoying your trip, Janice. You've brought memories of similar trips where we've all run to see the sea lions chasing the bait fish, trips when minor miracles occur. Thanks alot for sharing this adventure - next best thing to bein' there!

Fatboy - 12-17-2005 at 09:02 PM

It doesn't end there does it? How about a part 3 to wrap it up? I agree with the others-Hot Dogs? Generals? Cash? Rain? What I did not find surprising was Santa Rosalia though...it just seems 'different' there...again 'THANKS!'

Janice - 12-17-2005 at 10:06 PM

To all: Thanks for reading...I know it's long, but we were trying to reassure family members back home that we were fine and having a great time (not a stretch at all) but also to preserve memories for when we are sitting here with temperatures in the teens, like it is right now!

Janice - 12-17-2005 at 10:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Janice,

I enjoyed reading about you trip very much.

I liked your description about the desert rain. A rain in the desert is one of my favorite things (yes, I know that sounds like some Julie Andrews song).

A turkey stuffed with hot dogs? Unreal. You never know what they're going to serve you in baja. I once ordered a carne y arroz entree and they opened a can of Libby's beef, warmed it up and served it with steamed rice. I felt like I had camp food in a restaurant.

Money problems. I had problems like that last year in GN. I had decided that getting cash from the ATM was the way to go. Well, BofA had decided that it was unusual for me to draw money from Mexico and had put a freeze on my account. The ATM machine just said that the money was unavailable. So I was stuck without cash for the weekend and had to call the states to release my own cash!!! Everything ended up fine. Just my stress level rose a couple of notches and I was stuck in town for 2 extra days.


Thanks for reading. I think the idea behind the hot dog stuffing can be explained by the previous trip when pizza was ordered with sausage and it came with hot dogs on top. (sausage/hot dogs, same thing, right?) Sausage in stuffing is not that unusual, hey some people like oysters in their stuffing!

I've heard of people having been denied access to their ATM cash when the card is used outside of their "normal" use area. Good lesson for folks to check with their banks before they go, if they are going to depend on ATM's for their cash.

[Edited on 12-18-2005 by Janice]

parts 3 & 4

Janice - 12-17-2005 at 10:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fatboy
It doesn't end there does it? How about a part 3 to wrap it up? I agree with the others-Hot Dogs? Generals? Cash? Rain? What I did not find surprising was Santa Rosalia though...it just seems 'different' there...again 'THANKS!'


Just posted parts 3 and 4. Thanks for reading.

David K - 12-18-2005 at 08:43 AM

Great stuff Janice!

In the days before ATMs in Baja, we went into a bank with a credit card and simply requested cash... this was in Loreto in '85, other places too... Don't they do that anymore? (cash from your line of credit)

Sallysouth - 12-19-2005 at 10:40 AM

Wonderful story Janice! I feel like I just took a quick trip to Baja!! Thanks for taking the time to write about this and for sharing it all with us! Sally