BajaNomad - The smoker checkpoint (aka "fruit fly")?

The smoker checkpoint (aka "fruit fly")?

kevin_in_idaho - 2-26-2017 at 10:55 AM

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?

bajaguy - 2-26-2017 at 10:57 AM

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

kevin_in_idaho - 2-26-2017 at 11:00 AM

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....

spray

J.P. - 2-26-2017 at 11:14 AM

If you have small children or pets sometimes they let you opt out. :yes:

AKgringo - 2-26-2017 at 11:53 AM

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 :lol:

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]

woody with a view - 2-26-2017 at 12:00 PM

because, apparently, bad germs only travel south.

mtgoat666 - 2-26-2017 at 12:03 PM

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.

David K - 2-26-2017 at 12:49 PM

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.

bajabuddha - 2-26-2017 at 02:20 PM

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.

BigBearRider - 2-26-2017 at 02:45 PM

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.

CJ - 2-26-2017 at 04:00 PM

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 :biggrin:

kevin_in_idaho - 2-26-2017 at 04:22 PM

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.

Nashville Frank - 2-27-2017 at 06:31 PM

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!

fruitfly.jpg - 33kB

[Edited on 2-28-2017 by Nashville Frank]

DavidT - 2-27-2017 at 06:43 PM

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.

Nashville Frank - 2-27-2017 at 07:26 PM

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.

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.

Slide1.bmp - 197kB

[Edited on 2-28-2017 by Nashville Frank]