mrfatboy
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Gonzaga Bay Trip Report 7-4-13
We had a great time at Gonzaga Bay this Fourth of July. Weather was hot but not unbearable. Camped at Beluga. Fun was had by all with day trips to
Punta Final and Alfonsia's sand bar.
Here are my notes and some pics.
Crossed at 7am Calexico West. Arrive in San Felipe 9:15am. Had a couple of beers at Bar Miramar. Yes, they are open that early for thirsty
travelers 
I guess fireworks are "legal' now and can be sold in town as well as the trailer outside of town.
Got some pesos at the Banamex with my Charles Schwab ATM card, gassed up and headed to Gonzaga. We stopped at the Cow Patty but it was closed. Also
closed on Sunday. There was a new road side restaurant next to the Cow Patty but didn't go in.
There is exactly 3 miles left of dirt road between Rancho Grande and the new freeway.
We camped at Campo Beluga. $20/day +$5 per extra car. Rafael and Santos built and installed a new wash tub sink behind one of the showers for dish
washing and such.
Next day was the Punta Final picnic and snorkeling. They have a new sign at their gate. $6 per day or $16 per night. Paying here was new to me.
Our friends got stung by "invisible" jelly fish. Painful but went away in 30-60 minutes. They left about 1" sting marks all over my friend's chest.
I asked some other campers about it and they were stung also and could not see them until one clung on to his dive watch.
While snorkeling we saw what looked like a human leg bone. It still had sinew and was connected at the knee. No foot tho. Sort of creepy. We
couldn't think of anything else that would fit the size and length other than human. We joked that it was probably left overs from "El Sacraficio".
Next day was hanging out on the sand bar by Alfonsia's. Some of us had breakfast there. Food was good but I'm still disappointed in the crappy
tortilla chips they give you. Low end costco stuff.
As we floated off the sand bar we all started getting "micro" stung by something in the water. Very tiny pin point stings. They didn't leave any
marks on the body and we saw nothing. Any ideas?
We had to go to Rancho Grande to get more ice for the day where my "non baja' friends who are always hungry wanted to try Rancho Grande's tacos. I
warned them that it's hit or miss and 2 years ago a bunch of locals got sick. I told them my wife and I will be eating at Alfonsia's. They took one
bite of the Rancho Grande tacos and turned green. My wife told them not to embarrass the cook and take the rest to go  Luckily, there were no 'side effects' the rest of the day.
Sunday, we headed back to San Felipe to stay at the El Cortez. The reception staff was 'unfriendly' as usual. They were charging $80 per room for
everybody but I knew their website said $70. She called somebody to get approval. They did the same thing to me 2 years ago. Tried to get $80 but it
said $60 on their website. Tricky! Tricky!
Pool was disgusting with all the bodies in it and the beach smelled like a toilet. I didn't go into either.
We had lunch at Taco Factory which we all enjoyed and later that evening I finally tried a Fatboy's pizza after all these years. It was good.
There was minor construction by La Ventana. We never left the highway. Backho's were loading/moving rock. It didn't effect us at all.
Sentri Border wait was 21 minutes at Mexicali West. Lane Traffic was about 100 yards east of the water tower. This was about 11am.
My iphone 5 with telcel sim was usable from the border all the way down to north of Percebu. 3G data was good until Rio Hardy, then went to Edge. 3G
was spotty from the military check point and came back on north of El Dorado.
While on 'edge' network in the boonies. Texting and Voxer worked well enough. If you guys ever need free voice communication that requires little
bandwidth, get the Voxer app. I use it all over the world. Text, Voice, and Pictures. It's a push to talk app just like a walky talky. Works
across, iphone, android, windows phone.
My google voice app work fantastic in San Felipe. Crystal clear calls to the states. When people called my US number, my phone rang in San Felipe.
Of course this is all free calls. You just need a cheapy data plan.
Punta Final
Sunrise at Beluga
Alfonsia's sand bar
Taco Factory lunch
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Ateo
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Wow. Sounds like a blast! Thanks for posting.
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Frank
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Mood: Is it time to leave yet?
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Ive never been to Gonzaga, its on the list. Thanks for the great report and the App info at the end! The dinner shot is killing me.
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Bob H
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Wow, the paved road is up to THREE MILES from Rancho Grande? Unbelievable!!
Enjoyed your trip report!
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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Skipjack Joe
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So they're charging $16 per night at Pt Final now? That's new. But perhaps not so bad as it may reduce the number of visitors a bit.
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paranewbi
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Stingy water....
Had similar experience on mainland some years ago while snorkeling in remote (boat access area) location. Panga guy called it "Mal agua" and explained
it as either the reaching stinging elements of a man-o-war or the remains of ones presence. They are the ones that leave marks on your body.
Another experience while snorkeling in Belize was swimming through several hundred 4-5 inch in size clear/see through jelly fish...stinging was more
of a nuisance and not all that painful once you got use to it. Was a pretty cool experience actually in about 5 feet of water depth off a reef.
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David K
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Had the same agua mala experience near Loreto years ago. Long spaghetti jellies that were clear except for a spot at the top. Food at Alfonsina's is
always great for us too. Leg bone from Erik sinking just a few miles north July, 2011 maybe??? Thanks for the report. Were they working on the bridge
or any of the road south?
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mrfatboy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Had the same agua mala experience near Loreto years ago. Long spaghetti jellies that were clear except for a spot at the top. Food at Alfonsina's is
always great for us too. Leg bone from Erik sinking just a few miles north July, 2011 maybe??? Thanks for the report. Were they working on the bridge
or any of the road south? |
Yes. All the construction is focused on the bridge. Going south, you come up just before the bridge span. They detour you down to the right and you
cross under the bridge and come up the left side.
We were talking about the Erik but we didn't make that connection. That would be a long way to travel. I wish I had a cheapy underwater camera at the
time.
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David K
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From what I figured, the Erik sank between Isla San Luis and Punta Willard (Papa Fernandez'), so currents or drifting easily moved it to Punta Final,
don't you think?. Maybe a u2u to Dale is in order?
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redhilltown
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I've made a similar mistake fishing near Gonzaga once...as you reel in your line there is often kelp or whatever on your line and you simply reach up
and grab it and fling it off. One time it was something clear and I grabbed it and...OUCH!!!!!!!!!
Great report. Try the restaurant at Papa Fernadez if you get the chance again...just don't be in a hurry (which goes for all of Baja!).
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TMW
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Love the sunrise pixs and the food pix made me hungry.
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