BFS
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Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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One Way quickie trip Todos Santos to SD
Finally managed to squeeze in a trip with wife and son during the whale season and will attempt my first trip report here. After selfishly receiving
so much from this site including entertainment, serious logistical help, and general tips, I hope this small rant will serve even in the tiniest of
ways somehow.
Sorry for lack of detailed road conditions, gps coordinates, etc but will make this first attempt more on the "light" side.
Having flown up from Patagonia after a long and busy season and the very early arrival of cold, wintery conditions in the far south we were ready for
some Baja sunshine. Managed to find a cheap one way fare from LAX to La Paz on Delta and the times and service were not bad at all. the plane was one
of those cool 50 seater thingies so the views were spectacular and you could look out both sides of the plane. Hmmmm the wife and kid definetely
preferred looking out the "left" window down at the gorgeous bays and tranquil lagoons of the sea of Cortez while I found myself pinned to the "right"
window hoping for a glimpse of a) Juan sitting in his panga waiting for the abalone to surface, b) Woody trimming across the face of a secret screamer
in total isolation somewhere on his winged newbes special, or c)some crack addict ransacking our little casita in Todos Santos.
Arrived into that glorious Baja Sur air already refreshed and ready for adventure. First stop was the storage place near the airport that suffered all
that flood damage last year to get our old beater Baja rig we store there. This place is great, I cannot speak highly enough of the service and
convenience of this well run outfit and it is economical too. I did make the mistake of not contacting them to come collect us at the airport so
suffered the indignity of paying 150 pesos (and had to bargain hard to get it down that low) for the 1 mile drive. They whisked us in a golf cart to
our old "Beast" which amazingly fired up on the first turn of the key. For the record the owner of the storage place said that Fords do this regularly
and Chevys require the battery charger to be hauled out every time. As we couldnt see out of the 3/4 inch layer of dirt on the windscreen we headed
straight to the malecon and knocked out 3 essentials in one stop. Lunch at that great semi outdoor restaurant on the malecon with the epic taco bar, a
margarita, and getting the car washed while we ate with the guys right out front. I really love La Paz! Watered, fed and gassed up we headed over to
Todos Santos where we have a casita that gets rented every now and then. We heard that they were paving and adding lanes from la Paz all the way to
Cabo and this is no rumor! Since our last visit in October they have made serious progress and wide swaths of desert have been floored and ready for
pavement more than half way to Todos Santos. We tried to spot a nice Cardon under the destruction to plant in our garden but then felt guilty for
thinking such thoughts and drove on sans cacti.
Its always nice to arrive into Todos Santos. Something about all those palm trees, the beautiful light and cool Pacific breeze, the peacefulness.
Unfortunately building has changed this a bit as traffic the last 2 years has consisted of a steady flow of construction related trucks going in every
direction.
But still its always fun to arrive and see what new things have popped up. Most of the fancy new buildings on the main drag have been finished and
spruced up the appearance of town, however we didnt see anything worth stopping for in any of these beautiful buildings. Lots of real estate related
businesses. There is a new produce shop located on the corner of Militar and Obregon. Great stuff and incredibly well presented. Lots of fresh
veggies, fruit and a good selection of legumes. Unfortunately we arrived one day after the "Jammin for the animals" event so missed what I heard was
a great time. But spent 6 days enjoying the sights and doing some gardening. We didnt find any new restaurants worth mentioning but did have great
meals at cafe D'Alicia, El Giardino, and of course Miguels. Tacos Georges still rocks (my sons favorite ) and they now have a "legal" spot on
Militar near to Maria Bonita hotel and Howard Elkmans studio, and of course Barajas Tacos is always contributing to the magic.
Whenever we travel as a family my son writes down in his journal each one of our goals to be hopefully fulfilled during the trip. I had two on this
trip. One, for my son to catch his first fish from a kayak in the Sea of Cortez, and the second meant a trip to Cerritos.
We spent a few sunsets at Cerritos Beach and and there were very few people around. The restaurant had live music on friday night and there could not
have been 10 people watching the sun go down. Who pays for this stuff? I mean 60 foot palm trees, huge flat screen tvs, a rock faced retaining wall
that is probably 200 feet long,propane heaters on the beach and blankets just in case! The guy singing was great fun though  and kept the family entertained as i ticked off my first goal in the form of head
high relatively empty surf. The sand is not too bad for spring and the combo swells had some nice little lefts into the point. Campers here now have
been relegated to a patch of sand about 100 yards south of the restaurant. Not as nice as it used to be but still not too bad and now there is always
cold beer on hand.
My son managed to tick off one of his goals here which was filming an iguana up close. He managed to do that so we headed norte. We stopped in La Paz
for supplies and started experiencing a little stalling in our truck. Without even breaking a sweat we found an Auto Zone (!!) and picked up an
ignition control module and a fuel filter and kept driving. Having lost some time we made it to the Playa Escondido area, which we wanted to explore
and camp at, in the dark so opted to push on to Loreto and check into a hotel. Not planning on a hotel night we didnt check for reviews on hotels in
this forum but ended up in the Oasis hotel. They gave us a room with 2 queen beds with no view for $95 usd. The A/C didnt work so I whined my way into
an ocean front room for the same price. The bar was fun, nice grounds, quiet location and safe parking. Had a midnight swim in the big pool, brrrrr,
and another swim after breakfast. The food was good and overall a nice hotel, but the rooms are a bit dreary despite the beautiful view. Dark brown
wood and orange bed covers are not exactly uplifting. A little paint and decorating could make a huuge difference here.
Driving north the family couldnt resist the clear estero at El Requezon so we made it a quick drive and set up camp at one of the premiere palapas an
the little spit of sand sandwiched in the estero. Nice! 60 pesos per night and we had a shady kitchen and porch with a milion peso view. Ahhhhh! The
wifes goals were quickly ticked off here, with sunshine, beautiful campsight on the water, and no people all included in the price. We spent 4 days
here kayaking, snorkelling, hiking, and fishing. Had a hard time coaxing fish into the bbq but on the backside of the little island we drifted cut
bait just off the bottom from our kayaks and bingo! Bass and cabrillita couldnt resist and I ticked off my 1st goal when my son reeled in a nice 15
inch Cabrillita.
What a great campsight. Classic baja and there were only 2 other campers around. we had planned on exploring other campsights but it was too nice here
and when a local fisherman gave us fresh scallops, fish and chocolate clams in exchange for watching his panga overnight, it was hard to go anywhere.
We stayed put and bbqd every meal except the ceviche!
Continuing north we stopped for fuel and lunch in Mulege. Had a very nice lunch in town at a very gringo-ey restaurant that I cannot recall the name.
Nice courtyard and ok food.
We pushed on to Guerrero Negro aiming for last goal on the checklist, and checked into Los Caracoles. Met Sirenita!! Great service here and looking
forward to the restaurant when it opens. This place is great value and the vehicle feels very safe in the parking lot. The rooms are not very exciting
however. Had a great dinner at Las Cazuelas. We decided to book the whale watching trip for the next morning with the hotel instead of driving out the
Ojo de Liebre. The decision was made by a) Sirenitas charm, b) the fact that we had done Ojo de Liebre before and wanted to see a different section of
the lagoon, c) our truck would still stall every now and then so going in the hotel van over that seriously bumpy road would be easier. Working it out
going with the hotel tour wasnt that much more money and we had the panga to ourselves! It was great fun on a very windy April morning, and we saw
many whales and were even sprayed by one passerbys heart shaped blow. Tick!
After the whales we headed up through Catavina squeezing in a short hike into the beautiful cactus fields. What a beautiful place and after many many
visits to this area it remains incredibly magical.
We then checked into Baja Cactus and all agreed that this was the best hotel on our trip. Great service, secure parking, authentic architecture, and
pretty spectacular rooms. Very economical too! Enjoyed a nice dinner and drinks at Mama espinozas and slept soundly. The drive north was suprisingly
beautiful. My son commented that it looked more "civilized" than the raw beauty in the south, but the winter rains made for a very green and pretty
drive. Deciding to skip the customary epic tacos in Ensenada we found cafe Bohemia and recommend it highly. Great stuff in here and really nice
proprieters. Good coffee to go too!
Finishing up we tried to take that "shortcut" drive near Rosarito to Otay but somehow missed it and ran tha now famous gauntlet without any hassles.
Border wait was 45 minutes, i bag of churros and a ceramic donkey souvenir. Not too bad.
Thats it, I hope this helps and I will try and post piccies below.
Abrazos
aq
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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1st stop
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
Member Is Offline
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welcome to Baja
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
Member Is Offline
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gotto love those TS beaches
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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Our baja casita
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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oops
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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Eliot ticking the boxes
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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tick
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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cafe D'Alicia host
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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tick
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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mixed ceviche
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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coyote
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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irresistable
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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any guesses?
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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until next time
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
Posts: 731
Registered: 10-14-2006
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Very Nice Trip Report........Thank You..How do you like your inflatable kayak? ++C++
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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Great photos and an interesting trip report. But next time you might consider breaking the text into paragraphs more often, so we're not faced with
big solid blocks of type.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
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Ouch! Im really sorry about that text.
Its very difficult to read that way.
For some reason I thought it would space it out automatically for me.
Ill be more carefull next time. I noticed a ton of spelling errors too!
Crusoe, thats actually not an inflatable kayak, its a hard plastic sit on top. Must be my quality photography skills!!
Its great for fishing with my son. Very stable and easy to jump onto when you are swimming and has tons of room in the hatches for storing stuff.
Its pretty slow though and my wife is always sunning herself up ahead while we play catch up.
Aq
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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aqbluegreen, Thanks for the report and the pictures.
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Marie-Rose
Senior Nomad
Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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Mood: Worried...
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Thank you for taking time to share the great report and pics!!! Really appreciated.
Remember, when in Mexico, yes may be no and no may be
maybe!
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