boe4fun
Super Nomad
Posts: 1040
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Margaritaville
Member Is Offline
Mood: Circling the drain........
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Our Latest Baja Adventure
Hola Nomads, We recently returned from a trip down the Baja
peninsula which lasted just 2 days shy of 7 weeks. On the first night on our
way south, we camped at a beach campground just south of Coronado Island in San
Diego and had a BBQ on the beach with daughter Courtney and her husband
Jonathan. The next morning we left to cross at Otay Mesa, since we had a ton of
donations for the La Paz clinic that we had to declare, and also because our
Visas (purchased through the Vagabundos del Mar) had to be stamped at this port
of entry. What a HASSLE!! We were there for a solid 5 hours, going from the
Aduana (customs) department, then to the Department of Health (Salud), back to
Aduana, back to Salud, back to Aduana, only to be told that they couldn't figure
out how to properly tax these donations. So after all this, we were turned back
at the border and had to re-enter the USA! So as Shelley and I were driving
back to the campground we had stayed at the night before, we decided that the
Mexican Government's system wasn't high tech enough to monitor our particular
situation, so we took a chance and tried to cross (again) at the San Ysidro
border crossing, some 7 miles west of the Otay Mesa. We got the "green light"
upon crossing, but because I was pulling the 5th wheel we were waved over into
the secondary area for inspection anyway. The Aduana officer was a young man in
his mid 20's, nicely dressed in a new uniform and very professional. He
immediately saw the boxes and boxes of supplies I had brought in the truck bed.
So I showed him the letter that the Rotarians had written for us, explaining
that we were visiting Mexico for humanitarian purposes and all of the supplies
we brought with us were given free of charge to the less fortunate in Baja Sur.
The officer said; "Next time go to Otay Mesa to declare this stuff properly" and
then he let us go on our merry way! So we were only able to drive as far as
Ensenada that afternoon, and spent the night at the campground at Corona Beach,
where Shelley had spent many a summer when she was growing up.
The next day we drove as far as San Quintin and my contact there, Alfredo,
set up an impromptu clinic at the Flying Samaritans facility at the Los Pinos
Ranch where we saw and adjusted prostheses for 2 below knee amputees. Then we
were off to Bahia de los Angeles, where we camped for a couple of nights at
Daggett's Campground. It's on the Cortez side of the Baja and it was about 102
degrees F, with way high humidity. No electrical hookups available there, so
both nights we had to depend on 2 little 12 volt fans to circulate the air. One
of the days was spent driving back north for about 2 hours to "Coco's Corner" to
visit Coco, whom I had delivered bilateral below knee prostheses this past
spring. Coco had developed an adherent scar on his left residual limb,
preventing him from using his prostheses. Our plan is to try to arrange a
revision surgery for him in La Paz with Dr. Alejandro Aguirre, our Rotarian
contact down there. We then made our way down the Baja, stopping at Santa
Rosalia and Mulege to try (unsuccessfully) to find some patients there. Maybe
next trip. We got as far as Loreto where we held a clinic for 5 of the patients
that had previously been seen and fit at the La Paz clinic. We had planned on
spending one night, but a "tropical depression" came through and washed out half
of the Mex. 1 Highway, so we had to spend an extra 3 nights there and finally
made it into La Paz on Tuesday afternoon, which was the first day of the clinic.
The clinic volunteers consisted of myself and Shelley, Brad and Louise
Farrow, Dr. Bob Haining, Jim Thompson, and Marvin (a prosthetist/orthotist from
Guatemala). The next 2 weeks were spent at breakneck speed making legs and
braces, adjusting appliances for patient's previously seen, etc. Some of the
volunteers had to leave about half way through the clinic, but Brad and Louise
and Dr. Bob stayed until the last Saturday. Shelley and I saw the remaining
patients on Sunday and spent Monday and Tuesday cleaning up the rooms and taking
an inventory for the next clinic. We headed north on Wednesday morning, which
gave us a chance to attend the weekly Rotarian meeting on Tuesday night and say
good-bye to our friends. I have got to say that the La Balandra Rotarian group
is among the nicest, most caring group of men (and their wives) that I have ever
had the pleasure to know and work with. The give back more to their community
than can be imagined, and take such good care of us while we're there, putting
us up in the hotel and providing excellent lunches during the week.
After leaving La Paz, we drove to Loreto to spend one night, then on to
Bahia Asuncion on the Pacific side. I wanted Shelley to spend a few days to
unwind from what had been a hot and extremely busy four weeks driving down and
working every day, sometimes until 9 PM or so. We arrived in BA on Thursday
afternoon and set up camp at Shari and Juan's Campo Sirena. Our 5th wheel was
perched on a bluff overlooking a huge bay on the Pacific Ocean. We relaxed for
a couple of days, then I unloaded the inflatable boat that my buddy Dennis
Linders loaned me. I put on the 7 HP outboard and the next morning headed out
to the edge of the island, about 2 miles from our camp. One of the locals,
Kevin, went out at the same time in his Hobie Mirage drive kayak. Anyways, the
outboard must have gotten jossled around on some of the rough dirt roads we had
been on, and by the time I got to the island the motor kept popping out of gear.
Finally, it stopped going into gear completely, so I took it apart as much as I
could to see if I could get it to work, but no go. So there I was, stuck and
waiting for Kevin to return (he was farther off shore fishing). I decided to
drop a line in and try for Calico bass, but to no avail. After about 30 minutes
a pangero and his buddy came by in their panga and they gave me a tow back to
the camp. While they were pulling me, the one guy drops out a line and starts
trolling, so I motioned to the skipper if I could do the same and he shook his
head yes. Within about 2 minutes I had an 8 lb (or so) yellowfin tuna, so we
circled back 2 more times over the same area to try again. I ended up getting
hit once more, but the fish "bit and spit" and we returned to the camp. I
didn't have my wallet with me, so I gave the guys 2 new Rapala and 1 new Mirro
lures. They were pretty stoked.
The next day I ended up going out with 2 guys who were renting the beach
house next to us. They were from New Mexico and great company. We ended up
with several yellowfin, yellowtail, calico bass, and 1 dorado (mahi-mahi). The
pangero we went out with had a 22' Boston Whaler, a great boat for fishing. He
cleaned all of our fish and put them in his freezer to deep freeze until we
left. Some of the other guys staying at another beach house were doing some
shore fishing, so Shelley and I joined them for several bouts of surf fishing
for Corbina. Shelley got hooked! She didn't want to go out on a boat due to
her recent back surgery, but she sure got into catching these fish. They make
great fish tacos as well as ceviche, and we caught a ton of them.
After about a week, Woody and his wife Bia arrived in camp. I went fishing
with them and Shari's husband, Juan. He's a abalone diver with the local Co-op
and a pangero as well. We had a great time and caught a ton of yellowfin,
yellowtail, and calico. Woody and I stayed up until late that night vacuum
sealing the fillets, then put them in the freezer that Shari has at the
campground. Shari ended up talking Shelley into adopting a bob tail manx,
siamese type, with jack rabbit back legs. We named it "Paz"ifico as Shelley was
enjoying one of the more popular Mexican beers at the time of adoption. We
continued living the easy life on the beach for 15 nights before I finally
convinced Shelley that we had to get home. We had a margarita party one night
with others from the campground and rental houses and my "PB Margies" were a
hit, at least judging by the hangovers I saw the next morning.
We headed out in the morning, hoping to get as far as San Quintin. As we
were passing through the middle of the desert near the Laguna Chapala cutoff, I
see no other than "Coco" coming out onto Mex. 1 in his white pickup, towing a
car with a chain. I hung a "U" turn and stopped to talk to him and deliver some
ointment (Dr. Bob calls it "snake oil") that Bob had given me to drop off at the
Desert Inn in Catavina for Coco. He is going to try it to see if he can detach
the adherent scar on his residual limb, although he's convinced, as am I, that
surgical intervention in necessary. We arrived in San Quintin early that
evening, and I dropped of some parts and a prosthesis at the Flying Sams clinic.
We ate dinner at the Cielito Lindo that night, Shelley opting for their famous
cracked crab dinner. I had jumbo shrimp stuffed with crabmeat and wrapped in
bacon, so much for my watching my cholesterol.
The next day we crossed back into the US at Otay Mesa and were going to
visit Courtney and Jonathan, but they had an appointment with the real estate
finance folks for their upcoming purchase of a house in Poway. We continued on
up the coast and camped at San Clemente, then on to our home in Margaritaville
the next day. That's about it, I know I've left out a lot, but after almost 7
weeks on the road things just seem to all blend together and become somewhat
blurry, (like a good Margarita should do). Vaya con Dios muchachos, Paul and
Shelley
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by boe4fun
I know I've left out a lot, |
Great trip report. Thanks.
Anxiously awaiting the next chapter after it all comes back to you. 
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
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hey Paul, great meeting/fishing with you and Shelley. keep us updated on your travels and we'll try to meet up out there again!!!
don't know if you saw these or you were on the road....
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42187
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=42294#pid4624...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64722
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thanks Paul... Good on you for all you do!
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2353
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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Hello Paul and Shelly
This is Howard and Gringo the Dingo reporting in. After we left you people in Bahia Ascension, we made it comfortably in one day to Loreto where we
stayed until last Sunday.
We are now home safe and sound; well make the safe, in California, after our 3-week adventure. I just wanted to thank you and Shelly for all the
appetizers each night, especially the calamari! Lots of Yellowtail and Roosters in Loreto but very small.
Look forward to seeing you once again,
Howard and Gringo (my trusty ball slobbering Labrador)
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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boe4fun
Super Nomad
Posts: 1040
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Margaritaville
Member Is Offline
Mood: Circling the drain........
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Thanks for all the kind words amigos. I can't wait to get back, even my wife is excited! By the by for Howard, check your U2U. Paul and Shelley
[Edited on 11-12-2009 by boe4fun]
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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boe4fun
Super Nomad
Posts: 1040
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Margaritaville
Member Is Offline
Mood: Circling the drain........
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Woody and Bia, check your U2U. Pablito
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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