Trip Report

I've had enough squabling for now and, since I just came back from a wonderful 9 day trip to Loreto and back with my family, I thought I would post some highlights and observations that may be of help or amusement to other travelers... Rather than bore you with all the details, I'll just share "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

The Good:

Enjoying cofee and machaca while watching my wife and daughter recieve an impromptu lesson on making fresh flour tortillas by hand from Lupe, the "Reina de las Tortillas" in San Javier...

Watching some local children screaming in delighted excitement while catching crabs with their father at Juncalito...

Enjoying fresh ceviche with some new friends in Loreto...

Having the entire beach and the crystal clear warm water to ourselves at Playa Armenta on Bahia Concepcion...

The Hotel Terrazas in Mulege. Less than $25 a night for a double room with rock solid soundproof walls and the most efficiently cool Air Conditioner/Fan setup we experienced all week... Oh, and the wonderfully sweet, nearly deaf woman who ran the front desk...

Catching a giant squid with my bare hands at a beach near Mulege and the subsequent calamari feast in Bahia de Los Angeles! There was so much we could only eat half and had to share the rest with our neighbors...

Heavenly Bolillos from El Bachicha in Santa Rosalia (Thanks Tom/Me No for the tip!)...

Pollos Tercio in Santa Rosalia and the French influence. The only pollero in Baja that I'm aware of that serves mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and delicious garlic bread with their pollo rostizado...

The post card beautiful sunrise at San Francisquito waking us up as we slept in the sand under the stars on the beach...

The staff of the Observatory at San Pedro Martir, for giving us an impromptu personalized tour of the facilities and telescope. (They even gave us a ride up and down the hill.)

The Motel Los Cirios in San Quintin (excellent advice Skeet)...

Breakfast at Viejo San Quintin restaurant in San Quintin. Just like back home, if the cops eat there, you know it's good (sorry Bernie)...

Also at San Pedro Martir - Taking shelter from a sudden thunder storm and camping in a building under construction (New Park Headquarters?) with a nice young couple from Tijuana and a family from San Luis, Sonora. My daughter speaks virtually no spanish, my wife speaks "un poquito" and I speak enough to get myself in trouble. Our fellow travellers spoke little to no english but it was one of the most enjoyable nights around a campfire that any of us could remember (and we didn't even have any beer)...

Tacos, Quesatacos and Huaraches at Tacos el Recreo in Maneadero...

Fish Tacos in Ensenada at El Chopipo...

Fresh ranch cheese anywhere you see a sign that says, "Hay Queso"...

And finally, all of the wonderful people and places of Baja!

The Bad!

Well, I don't really like the word bad beacuse I belive in Baja Lou's tag line that there are "No Bad days" in Baja. So I'll just call this disappointments because they are not all bad things, just letdowns:

The Motel Gris in Ensenada trying to charge $55 a night for a room on a holiday weekend and then trying to convince me that this was their normal rate when I've stayed there several times in the past. I passed. :moon:

Carmelitas Tamales in Villa Jesus Maria. They were good but, IMHO, not anything special. It was a letdown based on all that I had heard. I have a feeling that the distance from other food establishments embellishes the flavor to most (unless I just had a bad batch). If you have the time to actaully stop and sit down to eat, I think that the restaurant Maruicio in Rosarito is a better culinary choice. Just my 2 cents...

The service at Taqueria Doney's in Mulege. The food was good, as always, but Dad wasn't there and we were being served by the teenage boy with attitude. In fairness, I had one of those in my household (He's 24 now and is a human again) so I know the challenge. It was dissapointing, though, that we didn't get all the food that we ordered and he hid from us when we tried to request the missing food...

Hotel Salvatierra in Loreto. I've heard that it was a "better" low budget choice than the Brenda. However, I saw no difference in the rooms (Sorry Doug), and the room we got had a barely functioning air conditioner that was so loud it could easily wake the dead!...

The family-unfriendly pricing at San Francisquito. Because they charge per person, the same hut with cots and nothing else that would cost me $20 to sleep in alone, would have cost me $60 to share with my family. I'm sure there is an incremental cost to the extra toilet paper and clean up of additional persons, but full price is ridiculous...

The Hotel Colon in Ensenada trying to charge $55 for a room on a non-holiday weekend. No way! Not for a dive hotel. I like dive hotels, but I like them because they are cheap (normally). Ironically, I returned to the Gris, because they changed their prices back to normal ($36 double) this past weekend...

And I save this one for last because it will probably offend some folks...Bahia de Los Angeles/Camp Gecko. I'm hesitant to list it here but it was a dissapointment. Don't get me wrong. Doc is a great guy, and a gracious host and this is not an attempt to badmouth him or his establishment. It's just that my family and I were disappointed because it used to be a unique "getaway" place for us. Now, with all the buildings/trailers and all the people (nearly all Americans) and all the Quads, it felt more like a weekend at the Colorado River than a remote foreign destination. Even though everyone there was freindly, it just wasn't what we were looking for. I did notice an apparent change in the demeanor of the town folks, though. It appeared to be more of the, "I will (fake)smile and tolerate you because it is good for the economy, but please spend your money and go away." attitude that I normally see in the border towns. On the plus side, there seemed to be an internet cafe every 100 yards or so thus making it very easy to look up how to clean my squid and find a good recipe. Oh, well!

Herb, i agree with a lot of your comments...

That became very clear to me about this place and, after visiting their neigbors to the north, that is probably a good thing. We did camp on the beach, by the way.

I do understand the expense of maintaining facilities out there, but the incremental cost of extra people would really have not been significantly different if we were camping or in the hut once it was occupied which was my point. I have no problem with a charge based on the number of people, but as a long time businessman myself, I know that the incremental cost to provide services to "extra" people is never as great as the initial cost to provide services. Alfonsinas is someplace that comes to mind that can survive and thrive in a similar situation without that kind of pricing structure.

With that said, though, it was a very nice and very clean facility. The camping price was a pretty good deal. The fact that the cabana pricing discourages families was probably a plus in adding to our enjoyment.

My daughter turned 13 this past week and does not cause more damage or noise because I am an "Old School" Dad and we raised her that way. But the thought of turning most people's kids loose on any property that I owned nowadays, would scare the you-know-what out of me because of how they behave.

And finally, I don't have any gripe with Doc for making the business decision that he made because he is giving the consumer what they want, and I know that after 9/11 a lot of tourist related businesses in Mexico (and elsewhere) really suffered and it exposed the precariousness of waiting for someone to decide to travel (or not) to determine your income. Creating a "grngo enclave" creates a more secure future for his family. I can appreciate that. At least he is doing it in a way that is less environmentally and culturally disruptive than in other resort areas.

Herb

doc hasnt done any think more then the daggets or dias have done for years and thats lease out property to gringos as well as mexicans. he has done this because he wants to go to all year and month leases and get away from haveing to babysit the campers and spend more time with his familly. we as leasers down there have all the privlages of the campers wich includes trash removal and water to our property. but we do not use those privlages as we have our water trucked in (so theres more water for campers like you) to fill our tanks and any water left we have them dump it into docs tank for the rest of you to use. and we do all our own trash removal so docs help can tend to the other campers and there chores. we are allso there in case anybody needs there car worked on or towed as most of the other campers are usually to busy or gone for the day on there boat.as for the quads well they are invaluble for us launching our boats and going to town for grocerys and construction material. we use the very same dirt roads as you and allways try going the speed limit in and out of gecko. they use a hell of a lot less gas then any other vehical and put out less smog as they are all new. and they wont get stuck at camp gecko like the trucks and end up digging those big holes and spuing dirt in the air trying to get out. if you need a tool then come over and borrow it as we will useualy have it as the other campers wont and that includes some car and boat parts. doc has a steady income from us wether we're there or not were most campers may use his camp once or twice a year and spend 1/10 of what we spend per year. its to bad that you felt that way herb as i think that the bay of la is the best place on earth and still a great place for a familly to have fun. next time come by for a beer and cigar and enjoy the veiw from my deck with all us good friends that call this place home.

Steve, i must admit that BOLA is a

beautiful setting and i need to visit it from the perspective of people like you who have made a place for themselves. i just haven't had good experiences yet with the natives. the deck and cold beers sounds good when it cools off.

I for one am glad that everybody doesn't like that experience. It's kind of like living at the beach, I love it. Half the guys I work w/couldn't stand it, though. They like the inland experience. There are benefits to having a few neighbors(unless they light you off like at Tripui). Our home away from home enters our thoughts everyday and we always can't wait to get back there. As the bay gets more developed I will still love it and probably have a presence there my entire life. It's kind of like the beach here, it's crowded and built up but I love it nonetheless.
Steve, next time we're there at the same time how about offering me one of my cold beers? Breakfast just isn't the same w/o the sound of my icechest creaking open.

Thanks for the offer 4 baja

Quote:

Originally posted by Herb Breakfast at Viejo San Quintin restaurant in San Quintin. Just like back home, if the cops eat there, you know it's good (sorry Bernie)... The last time that we went by the "Viejo San Quintin" the sign was covered and it was closed. Glad to hear that it has re-opened.