For brunch or lunch, a great place to eat is Restaurante Misión Santa Isabel...
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Oyster, Abalone, and Limpet Farms by Baja Gringo (Ron)
If you are as lucky as my group was in 2016, you will get a lecture on how then oysters, abalone, and limpets are raised and why Ron's operation
succeeds while the La Lobera project failed. It was very interesting!
NOTE: The oysters come from the farm on Bahía Falsa (the inner part of Bahía San Quintín). These photos are from the Limpet and Abalone farm at La
Chorera, on the Pacific coast, opposite Isla San Martin.
One of my guests was a Four Seasons Hotel executive chef, so this was very interesting for him to see where the product comes from that he buys.
Now, the yummy part!
Raw....
... and cooked.
The short video made by one of the guests of our Baja Extreme 2016 tour:
It was a great trip and so much fun! Did you see the video with "Can't Get Enough" music? Look for Shari of Bahía Asunción in there.
I always schedule a couple of days at the Mision Santa Maria on the way back home after a 10 day visit as a chilled out time to beach walk and enjoy
Baja before crossing the border.
Jardines gets my over night on the way down. Just don't stay there on a Monday as I did this past March, if you want to enjoy their great restaurant.
Live and learn.
Next time, whenever that is deemed appropriate again, I will make better use of these two days in San Quintin and check out the oyster farm.
La Mision de Santa Maria has a good restaurant with a view west to the sand dunes on the beach. Breakfast and dinner has never disappointed any of my
friends.
Parcela 13? needs to be checked out, maybe for breakfast as we head south.
We can all hope that this current malaise will abate. Considering some of the behavior and denial of how contagious this virus is, my hope will have
to rely upon a vaccine, not upon perspectives that have no scientific basis.
Denial is not a river in Egypt. We all have to everything we can to flatten the curve so we can all enjoy and support our Baja friends again.
Best wishes to all of our Baja friends. May you all continue to stay safe and healthy.
When tourism is open, I would recommend a nice little drive to La Lobera - 4 wheel may be necessary. Heading south out of San Quintin area, you'll
drive along the coast. When the hwy turns into the hills, you'll see signage for the La Lobera road on right just a mile or two up the road. It is a
dirt road, subject to rearrangement and drive-ability from rain. There is a viewing area where you will see lots of sea lions and pups in the late
spring. Walk around to enjoy gorgeous shore-line views. I don't remember what the deserted building was intended for, but David K will. When done,
head further south and have lunch at Mama Espinoza's in El Rosario. If you really want to spend the entire day, continue about 56 miles to the El
Marmol exit on the left. Drive out, if I remember right, about 9 miles on a pretty rocky dirt road to the old onyx mine. There is a graveyard and
school house made from onyx. You can collect onyx outside the fenced areas. I have heard others talking about springs further down the road but I
have never been. Sometimes the curio shop at Hwy 1 and the El Marmol exit is open - they (used to anyhow) have the absolute best prices for onyx
carved items.
When tourism is open, I would recommend a nice little drive to La Lobera - 4 wheel may be necessary. Heading south out of San Quintin area, you'll
drive along the coast. When the hwy turns into the hills, you'll see signage for the La Lobera road on right just a mile or two up the road. It is a
dirt road, subject to rearrangement and drive-ability from rain. There is a viewing area where you will see lots of sea lions and pups in the late
spring. Walk around to enjoy gorgeous shore-line views. I don't remember what the deserted building was intended for, but David K will. When done,
head further south and have lunch at Mama Espinoza's in El Rosario. If you really want to spend the entire day, continue about 56 miles to the El
Marmol exit on the left. Drive out, if I remember right, about 9 miles on a pretty rocky dirt road to the old onyx mine. There is a graveyard and
school house made from onyx. You can collect onyx outside the fenced areas. I have heard others talking about springs further down the road but I
have never been. Sometimes the curio shop at Hwy 1 and the El Marmol exit is open - they (used to anyhow) have the absolute best prices for onyx
carved items.
La Lobera is at Km. 47.5 and 3.0 dusty miles in. There is one deep gully crossing so 4x4 may be best. There was a sea-culture farm there dating back
to the early 2000s and a restaurant was built to serve the seafood raised onsite... Never happened. By 2016, the project failed from issues with
pumping the sea water into the tanks. La Lobera sea lion crater is pretty interesting and the wild coastline is a joy to view.
2005
2006
La Lobera's owner, Adrian Santana shows us how abalone is raised. All kinds of sea food is being produced in the tanks, for the (future) restaurant.
Mama Espinoza's Restaurant is at Km. 57.5, on the left, after the gas station and just before the highway makes a 90° turn in the town of El Rosario.
July 2009
Mama (Anita) Espinoza (101) autographs her book for me.
Born on Oct. 16, 1910 per her 2002 published biography.
However, her 1994 autobiography says the year was really 1908.
We talk about the old days and of my first trip through El Rosario in 1966.
Her memory is so strong that she recalls visitors that long ago.
El Mármol and El Volcán are reached from Km. 149. El Mármol (9.3 miles in) was abandoned in 1958 after some 50+ years of extracting the finest
quality Mexican onyx in the world. Home of the world's only school made from onyx and hundreds of people at one time.
In 2005
In 1955, teacher and her students.
The road continues northeast from the schoolhouse for 4.0 miles to a deep arroyo crossing. Hike a short distance to the right, up the arroyo to find
the bubbling soda springs and Baja's famous cold-water geyser, El Volcán. It is reported to erupt monthly, shooting water 60 feet into the sky. This
is how onyx is made at the rate of a few inches every thousand years.
On top of the geyser dome. I have been here many times, even camped nearby... have yet to see an eruption. However, seeing all the bubbling springs
and the location is fascinating!
David, on the map, is that the famous La Bocana (I know there are several) of the people on the board here? If so, it's worth checking out! I
thought they were way further south? I'd stay there if it is those folks.
Hi Ted,
On the above map, La Bocana is a beach, a lagoon, and little else. Nomad 'Baja Blanca' lives in a fishing town called La Bocana, which in near Punta
Abreojos, southwest of San Ignacio.
'La Bocana' is typically the name of the place where a river reaches the sea, exits a mountain, or the 'mouth' of a lagoon where it connects to the
ocean.
Here is my map with Blanca's La Bocana (and the road to it is now paved)...
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
Thankyou to Baja Bound
Mexico InsuranceServices for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.
Emergency Baja Contacts Include:
Desert Hawks;
El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262
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