Yakfishing
Junior Nomad
Posts: 72
Registered: 3-2-2007
Location: N. Hollywood, CA
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Mood: Onshore wishing I was offshore
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BOLA Trip Report 9/21 – 9/29
Busy with work, so this is a little late...
Finished packing up the truck on Thursday night and left the house Friday before 5 AM to get to the border at daybreak. In spite of my own experience
with the infamous TJ border road, plus all I’ve read here, I was pulled over for speeding on the hill! ARGH, not a good start for my kids’ first trip
to Baja. The cop told me to pull over into the Playas neighborhood. I made sure when I handed him my drivers license he saw the Sindicatura phone
numbers I have pasted to the back of it. He started the mordida negotiations at 1,500 pesos and I politely asked if he could just give me a warning.
The price kept dropping and my answer was always no, gracias. I finally said if you can’t let me go with a warning, write the ticket and I will pay it
by mail. Surprisingly, after he noticed my 10 and 12 year old in the back seat, he let me off with just a warning stating it was “for the ninos”. I
think he was slightly embarrassed with the young audience he had for his financial requests. In any case, we were glad to be back on the road and
headed south. The rest of the trip down was uneventful with very light traffic on Mex 1 south of Santo Tomas.
When we arrived in BOLA at 5 pm, it was hot and humid, probably from the Hurricane Ivo to the south. The next day the humidity dropped and we had
great weather for the week we were there.
Highlights for me:
1) Seeing the kids enjoy themselves with hours and hours of exploration in the tide pools. They used a bucket to create their own mini tide pool
filled with crabs and other temporary friends.
2) Kayak fishing. Although I did not get outside to the reefs, I fished near Smith and caught some nice trigger (made great ceviche), bass and
jawfish. I went out in the bay under windy conditions and ran into Steve, aka 4Baja on the water and then again a few days later in town.
3) Going out on Marco’s panga to see the whale sharks. He asked if it was OK to take along a couple of guys that were collecting data. No problem, it
will be interesting to see what they’re doing. It turned out to be Shari and Juan’s cousin Ricardo and Doc from Camp Gecko.
4) Great meals –cabrilla fillets cooked with butter, garlic, capers and kalamata olives and lots of fish tacos.
5) ZERO wait time at border crossing in Tecate on Sat morning at 11:00. This is a first for me. We drove straight up to the kiosk and were through in
about 15 seconds.
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Yakfishing
Junior Nomad
Posts: 72
Registered: 3-2-2007
Location: N. Hollywood, CA
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Mood: Onshore wishing I was offshore
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cabrilla fillets cooked with butter, garlic, capers and kalamata olives
[Edited on 10-5-2007 by Yakfishing]
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Yakfishing
Junior Nomad
Posts: 72
Registered: 3-2-2007
Location: N. Hollywood, CA
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Mood: Onshore wishing I was offshore
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Ricardo and Doc
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Yakfishing
Junior Nomad
Posts: 72
Registered: 3-2-2007
Location: N. Hollywood, CA
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Mood: Onshore wishing I was offshore
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My Daughter Feeding fish carcasses to the pelicans
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
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happy for ya! good times!!!!
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
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Location: on the bayou
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Yakfishing. Thanks for the pictures and the report.
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Bajagato
Nomad
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Registered: 4-19-2004
Location: Laguna Hills
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Good times!
I am happy for you that the cop was maybe a bit embarrassed for asking for money. We head out in 2 weeks, I hope we do not encounter the TJ cops!
Thanks for the report and pics, love BOLA, and haven't been there in awhile.
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Glad you got to see the whale sharks as planned. I remember that you asked how to keep the children motivated. Looks like that wasn't a problem at
all.
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Yakfishing
Junior Nomad
Posts: 72
Registered: 3-2-2007
Location: N. Hollywood, CA
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Mood: Onshore wishing I was offshore
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Skipjack,
They had a great time and I never heard the dreaded "I'm bored". Suprisingly, it wasn't too tough to get them to sit down and work on the homework
assignment they brought with them.
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
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Thanks for taking the time to post a report. It looks like you and the kids had a great time. Did you end up staying at Daggets? Doc is a wealth of
info on the whale sharks. I would have loved to have been on the same boat with him. He's a great guy.
Got any more photos?
P<*)))><
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Even then won't tell you this, most kids like some structure in their lives.
When I was a kid growing up in LA we had a choice of attending two summer camps each year. One was very structured and at the other the kids were
pretty much let loose all day. Suprisingly we all liked the one with all the pledging, marching, competitions, and morning inspections much more.
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Bajagypsy
Super Nomad
Posts: 1416
Registered: 8-31-2006
Location: BahÃa Asuncion BCS
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Mood: Living the dream
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Oh it sounds like you and your kids had a wonderful time. I'm so happy for you. We spent time in BOLA on our last trip, and the whale sharks are
amazing aren't they!!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64719
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Perfect experience for the kids... Well done !!!
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