vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 10:21 AM
If you love San Nicolas or ever thought you'd like to visit, I recommend planning more for the near term. Although the property is in the bottom of
the arroyo, and the homes will be regularly swept out to sea, it will still unalterably effect the nature of the community.
For us, it was very nice while it lasted.
http://www.theoasisatsannicolas.com/
DonBaja - 8-23-2007 at 10:49 AM
Excuse my ignorance. I've been to Loreto before but am not famliar with San Nicolas. I did a search and followed your link and it looks very nice and
still remote. Are you saying now would be a good time to look into a place in San Nicolas ? Any more info would be appreciated.
[Edited on 8-23-2007 by DonBaja]
Minnow - 8-23-2007 at 10:54 AM
That is Sad. Will not happen though. All these grand plans are/were tied to the secondary housing market boom. That has faded. This will too. The
developers, as with most in baja, are hoping for a fancy web site to generate presales. Without water, no flower will grow. I think you are safe,
for now, Vag.
elgatoloco - 8-23-2007 at 11:10 AM
Bummer.
DonBaja
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 11:43 AM
I would NOT recommend putting money in the floor of the arroyo. My place is made from mostly recycled materials and sits much higher up; though still
in the arroyo. Even IT has had 12 inches of Hurrican Marty over every square inch of the lot. We try to remain in the position of having more heart
invested in the community than money.
That said, there are lots for rent, and everything that helps the locals keep their land helps to prevent more development.
And THAT said, with few exceptions the people in the village would probably still like to see new trucks in the driveway, and their kids going to good
schools.
DonBaja - 8-23-2007 at 12:09 PM
Putting money into an area that is more subject to flooding seems very risky. Vgabndo you are on higher ground, how often do you worry about getting
flooded out ? Every hurricane season?
Skeet/Loreto - 8-23-2007 at 01:22 PM
My Heart is Breaking!!
As the Tears fill my eyes,I Choke with Emotions of the Good People on San Nicolas, the Fantastic times had from my first visit with Alvaro when we
went into there to have his brother Enrique help Filet 30 Big Pinto Cabrilla,caught at the Isla.
Later landing my little Cessna 170 B on the short Strip,greeted by Enrique and the Villagers after bringing a load of Beer and Tequila for an all nite
Party.
Fishing off shore catching 30 Lb. Yellowtail, Diving around the Isla with Hammerhead, catching 180 lb. Grouper, 80 Lb. Amberjack .
Fishing with Pappa Murillo catching Large Parguette, Fishing Sharks, bring in 2,000 Lbs. of Filets Dryed and sent to Mexico City. Catching an 800 Lb.
Shark-His Teeth adorn my office wall on this Sad Day.
Oh! How my Heart Cries for the Good People, I the only Americano for 4 good years, Terry, Chewy, Alfreado, Chico, Gloria. Having a Heat Stoke, dumped
in a Tub of Cold Water, then driven over the only Road out at that time to Loreto_where they saved my Life. Heat Stroke from trying to help Pappa
Murillo cut Palm Leaves to build my Little Papala next to the Well at the Arroyo.
Watching the Net Boats come in and Net all the Sierra in 24 Hours. Having "Lupe" dive to 105 Ft. with 2 Rocks as Weights, bring up Black Coral given
to me just because he Liked me. I still have 5 Lbs. in a Sack in my Office.
Helping Yuyi and Roselva who would run out and fetch the Dove, having it skined on the way back to me- Their Mother Rachael frying it in on the Grill.
Milking the Goats with Martin, making the Great Cheese.
Oh! so many Memories- The Greatess time of my Life. My Heart and Pryers to all those Good People, their Caring, Kindness, Respect.
May God Bless them All as He Blessed me in Those Experiences at San Nicolas.
"Mosco Con Mucha Mujeres are better know as Skeeter"
DonBaja
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 01:56 PM
I rent my little piece from someone who claims to own it. It has always been thus. Sure I have risks, but the rewards though different from Skeet's
are very similar.
Yes I worry after every passing hurricane. There was once a big orange grove near where I've built and it and most of the top soil in the arroyo was
taken to sea in the 1950's.
Lately, the high waters have dug the arroyo deeper and cleaned a lot of the Mesquite out of the bottom. Things could easily be OK "naturally" for the
rest of my span. Quien Sabes
The picture is Don Alfredo Bastida embarrassing his granddaughter Cinthia at her quincinera. He's the guy who saved Skeet.
Frank - 8-23-2007 at 02:12 PM
Wow Skeet that was a great post. Vags, your pic didnt show up for me, how about sharing some more of your rewards? Some day Ill retire and hope to
find even a little of what you guys have had.
DonBaja - 8-23-2007 at 03:22 PM
WoW, I could read stories like these for days..even just sitting here at the desktop one can really get a feel for such a place
Skeet/Loreto - 8-23-2007 at 06:30 PM
Thanks for the Picture!
Alfredo: Terry got busted for killing someones Cattle, selling the Carne in Loreto. I arrived one day shortly thereafter and Alfredo ask me to "Pay
Him out of Jail" I did so for $400. Alfredo told me I could have the Lote next to him to live on for the rest of my Life. I would bet that if I went
back he would still keep his Word!
Sitting in my little Palapa one day, heard some yelling, looked up and there goes Chico's boy Jose being drug up the Arroyo behind his Truck. He had
triped on a rope, fallin off . They finally stopped and brought him to me for First Aid treatment. Just skinned up.
A Hippie and his Girlfriend came to San Nicolas in their Volks,squatted for several Days. One night the guy stayed on the Beach and she caught him
bouncing in the Sand with a Local. She took off with the VW, his clothes and went back to the States, He lived several years on the Streets of Mulege,
name was MontyNegro.
Lupe, who would Dive for the Black Coral would work for 2 or 3 months, take his pay go to Mulege spent it all on Beer and have a Party for all of his
Friends, then come back and work to do it again. He ended up as Baja Patties Pistolero, she had picked him up off the Streets of Mulege taken him to
her Ranch on the East side of Conception.
One day he gave me His "Spirit" The Brain Bone of the Osprey- in a small Leather Sack. I still carry that Spirit!
Arrived one day- That night one of the Women gave birth to her Thirteenth Child- We all sat around drinking Beer until the Arrival. The Father left
the next day on a Burro and a 5th of Tequilla, not to return for nearly a year.
Oh! those were the Days!!
Skeet/Loreto - 8-23-2007 at 06:45 PM
Vag: Is there anyway you could send me a copy of the Photo. I would like to put it on Paper and Frame it> Let me Know via email and I will send my
address.
They were having problems with Rattlesnakes coming into the living areas. Children could not play very safely. I purchased a Dozen Weeder Geese which
took care of Warning the Children when a Rattler came down the Hill. Lasted until the Geese grew up then they started eating all the Garden Plants, I
guess, thinking they were Weeds!!
Skeet
Skeet
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 07:46 PM
I have several. U2U me with your e-mail and I'll send them out to you.
Perry
Here's Terry as a grown man and a grandfather as of a few days before the picture was taken. Cattle rustlin' is far in his past there days. He and
wife Lupe are GOOD people.
Chico Murillo
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 07:56 PM
Last year around Christmas, Chico's son-in-law Benjamin killed and dressed a calf the Don Chico had been fattening on dates. We were invited to the
feast with all their family.
It is near impossible to get a picture of Chico smiling, but here he is with his sweet wife Francesca.
Sweet young beef cooked over Palo Fiero
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 08:00 PM
Looks almost good enough to eat huh?
Alfredo's son Chuey
vgabndo - 8-23-2007 at 08:15 PM
When he showed up at Cinthia's quinsinera, I thought WOW Jusus cleans up real well, then I realized he'd had grey hair when I'd seen him in the
morning. Both he and Terry had been deep into the Grecian Formula bottle (among others) before the party started!
Skeet/Loreto - 8-24-2007 at 06:45 AM
Have a Photo of Chewy when he was about 13 years old. Holding a 5 Ft. Long Needle Fish I had caught.
Have you been there when Alfredo cooks a Goat in the Ground for 24 Hours? Yum! Yum!
We also had Turtle on occasion, Fileted out woth the Meat made into a Stew, Shells cooked over the open fire then the Stew is poured into the Shells,
scooped out with the Cooked Fat from the Back of the Turtle.
Everybody would bring a six Pack and What a Party!
Thanks again for the Thread, brings out a lot of Emotion for me. Am thinking about making one last trip to visit this Fall. Will be a Kick, seeing all
those good People grown up with Kids.
Same ole Question for the Developers: Where will they get the Water?????
Skeeter
Minnow - 8-24-2007 at 08:10 AM
Great stuff guys. Skeet, you need to write a book. Good to see some have experienced the "Real" Baja. Lucky~!
Skeet, you need an avitar. Maybe someone out there can help you out. Doug set me up with mine.
[Edited on 24-8-2007 by Minnow]
tripledigitken - 8-24-2007 at 10:05 AM
Vag,
Nice portraits! Hope to get by on one of my trips, never have been to your little piece of Baja.
Ken
Skeet/Loreto - 8-24-2007 at 10:05 AM
Minnow: Good Idea and I will need all the Help I can Get!
Any Ideas out there for an Avitar for me?
I am sure someone could come up with a few Ideas, maybe the Teeth from that 800 Lb. Shark I caught. We will see.
Thanks for the Help Minnow.
Skeet
Hook - 8-24-2007 at 12:06 PM
I will accept the stoning I am about to receive but on the developers website, the land on the bluffs north of the arroyo sure looks like a nice spot
for a house. Build a nice L-shaped house with the back towards the NNW and have blockage from the north winds on your front porch and perfect breezes
from the SE in the summer.
Are all the lots in the arroyo, Perry?
Skeet/Loreto - 8-24-2007 at 04:25 PM
Hook: No stoning. I would buy up on the Bluff at either end of the Airstrip.
There is very little water-At about 7 or 8 feet there is and underground stream near the South Side of the Arroyo- Good water when there are Rains in
the Mountains to the West.
If you do buy and build take some Geese with you and keep them close to the House to warn you when the Rattlers come visiting!
South on the Beach toward Punta Pulpito there is several small but nice beaches.
Of the 38 years I fished and plyed the Waters, that is my very Favorite Place-The People-The Surroundings. The Isla- The Fantastic Fishing and Diving.
Skeet/Loreto
vgabndo - 8-24-2007 at 06:35 PM
Hook, I can't say for sure how much Daniel Murillo owned. It may include land on the mesa. That would be my choice. There is also a little flat spot
about mid way up, with an old trace of a road from Fernando's place. You could pump water up from the arroyo. Nice views, but as you say, you'd have
to design around the wind. It is on the bluff at the left center of the attached photo with another road coming in from 2 o'clock. I've always
thought I could live there, but the land wasn't for sale.
Aldo Espino has a little place on the south rim. He's got a low volume high pressure pump that runs off our pila.
Hook - 8-24-2007 at 08:06 PM
ASsuming a major rain incident, Perry, would you be cut off from access to Hwy 1 if you were on the bluffs south of the arroyo? On the bluffs north of
the arroyo?
Or are there other major washes that would cut you off on the route in from Hwy 1?
vgabndo - 8-25-2007 at 11:06 AM
Hook
In answer to your question...Yes...
South side you have to wait for the water to go down. Otherwise, if you fly the road on Google Earth, you'll see that it crosses or runs in several
smaller arroyos. After Marti, I got in with an F 250 2WD pulling a boat trailer, but there were some places that were a bit sketchy. There hadn't
been any work other than what the locals had done.
I'm pretty sure that there is no land available on the south mesa; at least not from the developer with the website.
Skeet/Loreto - 8-25-2007 at 03:00 PM
Hook: What you have to consider if you do get out of San Nicolas is Hwy 1.
Going North, when you get to the Arroyos near San Carlos it might take a couple of days unless someone has Equipt. to pull you thru. Same at the
Arroyo just South of Sta. Rosalilla.
South if you can get past "Bomdero"{ Which feeds San Nicolas} you can be held up a couple of days getting across the Arroyo just North of Loreto. As
well as Kilometer 28 near San Juan.
Skeet/Loreto
comitan - 8-25-2007 at 03:18 PM
Skeet before you give advise on driving HWY 1 you'd better drive it, many changes.
[Edited on 8-25-2007 by comitan]
Skeet/Loreto - 8-26-2007 at 01:43 PM
Cpmitan: Did I miss somethin on my recent Trip?
A bridge over the Deep Arroyo north of Loreto?
Kilometer 28 also North.?
Bombero?
The Dips Near San Carlos?
The Arroyo before Sta Roasillia?
Please let me know as I know I am getting old and my Memory is sometimes Dim.
Vag. Got the Photos.
I do not know much about the old Pool Hall, only that it was there.
When I made my 2nd trip to San Nicolas and started staying there, Enrique Murrillo had several pieces of Fishing and Diving Gear left there by an
Americano. I located the owner who was from Wyoming, Montana area. He was Miner who later wrote a very good book about the Conditions of the Mines
where he had worked.
Is the "Old Road : drivable in a 4 Wheel Jeep?
Skeet/Loreto
comitan - 8-26-2007 at 02:30 PM
Many chages but the most notable would be the arroyo south of Santa Rosalia a large curved bridge must be getting close about now.
vgabndo - 8-26-2007 at 04:51 PM
Skeet...the arroyo is MOSTLY drivable, but the big "S" curves just up stream from the "secret" pictographs have a lot of very deep "dune like" sand
hills that could be impossible. A quad might be a better way to make the trip. I've walked it to the point where it climbs out of the arroyo and
neads NW up to where the new road goes through.
Glad you got the photos.
I had a chat with the developer...
vgabndo - 10-4-2007 at 08:29 PM
I e-mailed some questions to the address on the developer's fancy web site. Got a call back after a couple of weeks. In my judgement the web site is
the fanciest part of the whole idea. It is, at this point, just dreams in search of financing. They DO have some land, and they DO have some plans,
but if you had a hundred grand in your hand they couldn't sell you any land.
Sheesh I love illiteration.
I'm a lot less worried after getting the word from the horses mouth. Can you invision a dung salesman with a mouth full of samples? 
He couldn't pronounce San Nicolas'.
Here's the control tower staff up on the runway at San Nicolas' International Airport.
[Edited on 10-5-2007 by vgabndo]
Sharksbaja - 10-4-2007 at 09:15 PM
Wow, what a legacy. Gee, now you're part of it.
Thanks for the language primer. "illiteration" I had no clue coming from you why those few continue to mew.
How many people live there Perry. How many non-Mexicans? Which one is the aduana in that airport photo?
[Edited on 10-5-2007 by Sharksbaja]
Skeet/Loreto - 10-5-2007 at 06:37 AM
Perry: Looks like the same Donkeys that Alfreda would scare off before I could land my little Cessna 170 B on that "Very Short} 1200 Ft. Strip.!!
I think it will be many years before there will be any Development, due to the lack of Water, a better Road, and the result of Lorteo Bay Villages
failing will cause a slow down.
San Nicolas is for the Adventuer type of Person, not the Groupies of Todays Culture.
Skeet/Loreto
vgabndo - 10-6-2007 at 05:04 PM
Sharks:
No lesson THERE. Illiterate starts with an "I", ALLITERATION begins with an "A". I'm going to claim I have always known that, or that it was a
senior moment, or something.
I do love alliteration, I'm thinking that perhaps illiteration means the crafting of a stupid statement using the wrong words which begin with the
same letter or similar sound!!!
Sheesh...