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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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WHY?????
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??
My Reason; In 1967 I read Ray Cannons's Book the Sea of Cortez.
I could not beleive it, so I took my little Cessna 170 and went to Baja!!! Fell in love with the Sea and the people of Baja.
Bought a Panga in 1972 as well as Property out North of Loreto.
It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! Sure do miss it as I set here in the Texas Panhandle living my remaining years!!
God Bless youAll
Skeet/Loreto
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??
It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! |
Not to mention the Rite Of Passage from boy to man.....for a mere three bucks.
Ahhhhh......... Bajaaaaaa in the fifties. 
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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I was attracted to baja for the adventure more than anything else. An opportunity to live out fanatasies that were within.
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24baja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 951
Registered: 2-3-2009
Location: Grants Pass Oregon/Bahia de Los Angeles
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Mood: Wishing we were in BOLA
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For us it was the peace we felt watching the Sea of Cortez, the thrill of what fish you will bring up next along with the fight to wrangle it, the
friendly people and the food. OMG the food is phenominal. The desert is a whole other experience.
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
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I had no choice, my parents took me to Ensenada when I was 7 years old for my first visit. I went back as a teenager in 1967 and I'm still going.
Ken
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3713
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Up to twenty in the 70's
| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??
It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! |
Not to mention the Rite Of Passage from boy to man.....for a mere three bucks.
Ahhhhh......... Bajaaaaaa in the fifties. |
Inflation is a btch, aint it Big D?
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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Here are some of my reasons:
"I think I was a Mexican in another life. I have a strangely powerful attraction for Mexico and all things Latin. The attraction is particularly
strong for that part of Mexico known as BajaCalifornia. Perhaps it was just proximity; I grew up in the Los Angeles area, less than 200 miles from the
Mexican border. I can’t remember exactly how I got interested in Baja (the
other life, maybe?) but I started going to Tijuana shortly after high school.
I am uncomfortable admitting this, but one of the initial attractions I had to Latin culture was bullfighting. I was a huge Hemingway fan and “Death
in the Afternoon” was a strong influence. The Latin pageantry, the whole spectacle of the Tijuana “Bullring by the Sea” grabbed me—but eventually the
brutality and cruelty of the “corrida” outweighed the fun parts of the afternoon and I lost interest. I do remember loving the cultural shock of
crossing the border, the mostly friendly chaos of the Tijuana streets, the drive out Calle Segunda to Playas de Tijuana, the colors, the smells of the
mesquite fires. It was amazing that everything could be that different by just passing a few feet over some imaginary line. It was an attraction for
me that would last a lifetime.
I made my first trip to the southern part of the peninsula in the late 1960s. It was a fishing trip to the classic “east cape” resort Rancho Buena
Vista. On that trip we flew commercially to La Paz, and then took an air taxi flight in a high-wing single (I think it was a Cessna 206 or 207) from
La Paz airport to the dirt strip at Buena Vista. The experience was literally lifechanging for me—flying in a small airplane, landing on a dirt strip,
the first taste of the Sea of Cortez where the desert just became ocean—the whole “Baja experience” back when it was still young, simple, and
pristine. Back then Cabo San Lucas was a dusty little village.
When I got back I started collecting and reading everything I could find on Baja California. I went crazy over Ray Cannon’s classic book “The Sea of
Cortez.” Baja would become a major part of my life and experience for the next 40 years; it remains so today.
I learned to fly in the early 1970s and earned my private pilot’s license in 1973. Within a year I had my instrument and multiengine ratings. Baja
influenced my decision to take flying lessons. I knew flying would open up my access to the peninsula, making everything easier to get to and in much
less time. In 20 years of flying I eventually logged over 1,700 hours,
flying a wide variety of single-engine airplanes (Cessna 150, 152, 172, 177, 182, 210, Beechcraft Bonanzas F33, V35 and A36) and several multiengine
airplanes (Beechcraft Travelair and Duchess, Piper Aztec.) In 1979 I bought a beautiful 1963 Beechcraft Baron, and in the next ten years logged over
1,000 hours in it, more than half of my total time. The Baron was like a family member.
My four kids kind of grew up in Baja. They loved Baja and the Mexicans loved them. The kids all thought they were Mexican…eventually that had to be
explained. There were several places we particularly enjoyed and visited often—Hotel Punta Pescadero on the “east cape” near the southern end of the
peninsula, Meling Ranch in the mountains north of San Quintin, and the cities of Loreto and La Paz."
carpe diem!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by thebajarunner
Inflation is a btch, aint it Big D? |
So true.
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captkw
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3850
Registered: 10-19-2010
Location: el charro b.c.s.
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Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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WOW !! cool theard
as a 8 year kid with my 3 other siblings going down past mexico city in a VW bug in 68 mexico is my life !!! its just part of who/what I am!!! but a a
traveler since 12/13 I always dreamed about Baja and as a Big time reader of steinbeck,gardner ,zane gray...etc,,when I got DL at 17 headed down and
fished and met some of the nicest folk and pretty girls and the fishing was .................I , myself,being this is all I know !! have always
thought in spanish and my life is .................lets just say I'm proud to live here and not a gringo or tourest...pura vida mexico !! K&T ps..and yes,,the bull fights at a young age did not go good with me and since I
was riding my horse to school .. thought of other parts of life !!
[Edited on 10-22-2012 by captkw]
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Bondy
but eventually the brutality and cruelty of the “corrida” outweighed the fun parts of the afternoon and I lost interest. |
Not surprised you had that epiphany, Ken. I went through the same adjustment after my first corrida. I couldn't see around the suffering and it just
made no sense to me.
Can't say the same about the post corrida fiesta at the Foreign Club. I became an ardent afficionado.
.
[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DENNIS]
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DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Gee I wonder why. From age 2 to age 8, we had the Pachecos living on one side of us and the Flores on the other. Sixty years ago it wasn't too cool in
a middle-class neighborhood to flaunt one's ethnicity. But Carrie Flores used to call little Freddie and myself to lunch of made from absolute scratch
tortillas de maize, barbacoa, that wonderful chicken vegetable soup Mexicanos are past masters at cooking. On the other side Mrs Pacheco would prepare
cebiche de abulon, paella, and breaded pork chops to kill for. I'll never forget the day Pino showed up in his 1951 Ford pickup filled to absolutely
overflowing with tunas de pitahaya. Underneath sprang what I now believe to be pottery jugs filled with mescal but at my age, yuck! I wonder how it
got all that through customs.
Coming to México for me was as natural as visiting an adjoining state. At age 17, I was addicted and didn't know it. The days of innocence. LBJ had
been in office 7 months. Everyone was teasing me about having to soon register for Selective Service. San Ysidro had 4 US Customs booths. Getting a
tourist card was a little harder back then. "How much money you bringing?" was a standard question. "You got thing to sell?" And "Where you go for how
long?" "You gotta guns? Bullets?"
Whatever number the highway, through National City was either 2 lane or 4 lane, but undivided. There were no casas de cambios in SanYsidro, and
everyone warned us to not fill up after passing through San Diego "Mexican Gas!" they spouted. B.S. in my opinion.
U.S. Customs Officer "You know you're going into Mexico past here. They beat up a bunch of sailors a few days ago and now TJ's off limits. You've been
warned".
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Online
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Ken, you truly are my hermano! I feel that same affinity for all things mexican...food, fiesta, musica and the milagros that have happened to me here!
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liknbaja127
Nomad
Posts: 463
Registered: 1-17-2012
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The people mainly. The kick back lifstyle, never in a hurry in Baja. After my 1st trip back early 90's racing, I still seem to enjoy but less racing,
more visiting. Oh & let's not forget the food. And all the new things & places to see. It's always a new adventure in the Baja.
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captkw
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3850
Registered: 10-19-2010
Location: el charro b.c.s.
Member Is Offline
Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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Skeet ?? why? can you not return?
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Please everybody think about "Why they went Baja and Fell in Love with it.??
My Reason; In 1967 I read Ray Cannons's Book the Sea of Cortez.
I could not beleive it, so I took my little Cessna 170 and went to Baja!!! Fell in love with the Sea and the people of Baja.
Bought a Panga in 1972 as well as Property out North of Loreto.
It is the Sea! It is the Land! It is the People!! Sure do miss it as I set here in the Texas Panhandle living my remaining years!!
God Bless youAll
Skeet/Loreto |
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
Ken, you truly are my hermano! I feel that same affinity for all things mexican...food, fiesta, musica and the milagros that have happened to me here!
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Igualmente sis. Here's a little bit more:
"But our favorite place was Punta San Francisquito, “PFQ” for short, a small basic Sea of Cortez resort about halfway down the peninsula on what must
be one of the most beautiful
beaches in the world. With a difficult drive on marginal dirt roads it is accessible by land (we have driven in several times in recent years) but it
is known primarily as a “fly-in” place. We made over 100 flying trips there from the mid 70s to the mid 90s. We would make it down to San Francisquito
for long weekends at least once a month in the summers. We could be there in less than 4 hours from Van Nuys airport, where I kept the Baron. Driving
takes two full days. We kept a locker there, with two inflatable boats, scuba tanks, a small compressor, and an ungodly stash of fishing, diving,
snorkeling and other beach, camping, and kid gear."
carpe diem!
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy!
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Flew into Gonzaga in 1975 with Link Grindle, woo-pah---I was hooked! The stars, desert, Mexicanos, plants---I loved it all.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64762
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Summer of '65 by Jeep with mom and dad... I was 7 and what an introduction to both Baja and four wheeling on a trip to Gonzaga Bay! That was the start
of my lifelong love for the peninsula. The next year was the big adventure of driving to the tip from Tijuana south... taking the new ferry out from
La Paz to come home on pavement. In 1966, we had over 700 dirt miles to Cabo San Lucas. Once I had a driver's license I began going without my folks.
It's been a great experience to have lived with Baja so much a part of my life.
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
Member Is Offline
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Landing at the small little strip, taxi to the small Restruant Fuel from a Barrell i San Felipe then.
The People of Loreto Still a best friend after 40 years Alvaro Murrillo Romero, then up to San Nicholas for 4 years with no other Americans around.
Fishing from the Shore taking 25 Lb yellowtail off Shore chasing Sierra.
South to the Isla Sta Catalana, observing the Rattles Rattlesnakes, catching Wahoo, more Lobster than anyone could eat.
Helping Mundo and Rodrigio build my Palapa North of Loreto known as Rancho Sonrisa.
To me it is the Sea and the People .
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: thriving in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
Can't say the same about the post corrida fiesta at the Foreign Club. I became an ardent afficionado.
[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DENNIS] |
Were they serving the bull's balls or the matadore's?
Bob Durrell
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
Member Is Offline
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I had a couple of buddies in third grade, Santa Clara, California, Dewey and Raymond, from Guadalajara. "So your Mexican then Dewey?" "NO!! I am
Spanish!!" His mom made the first tortillas I had ever tasted and they were wonderful. Her pasole was to die for, at the time I just thought it was
soup. Anyway Dewey's insistence that he was Spanish got me interested in learning more about Mexican people and Culture. The realization that there
were other Cultures and ways of being in the world contributed to my interest in Psychology and my eventual career.
I got my first Spanish lessons picking fruit with Braceros, they were faster than lightning and they relegated me to counting buckets of fruit. I
swapped my brown paper bag lunch of bologna and chips for a trip to the Taco Truck and I experienced Chile Verde and have never gone back! It was love
at first bite! My rudimentary language lessons were composed of "hey, go say this word.......to that guy" and I would and I learned how playful and
fun loving these folks were. Such a contrast to my German/Lutheran relatives!! I fell in love with Mexicans. They worked hard and played just as hard.
I identified more with the Mexicans than with my other friends.
At 17 my twin brother and I jumped on his 250 Ducati Diana Road Racer and headed south for Mexico. I will never forget my mother standing on the curb,
crying, waving good bye to her sons and their childhood. We did not ask for permission, we infomed our parents that we were going. We ended up in
Tijuana at the Blue Fox on New Years Eve and beat a hasty retreat when the beer bottles started to fly! We headed south to Ensenada and stayed on the
beach where Estero Resort now stands. We were awaken by a wave washing over us in our sleeping bags and to the sight of two hung over college students
puking their tequila soaked guts out over what was left of the fire.
We returned to Santa Clara and that stared for us now 50 years of travel to Mexico. My brother became an Anthropologist, area of specialty Mexico,
after living with the Mixteca out of Oaxaca and he and I traveled most of the country, taking two and three week trips every year for over 40 years.
After working for 19 years in Queretaro my brother now lives in San Miguel de Allende.
There are many Mexico's. Baja is it's own, a wonderland of nature, of endless vistas and beaches, magic cactus, people and places. I recall nights
spent on the beaches of Conception throwing phosphorescent sand into the air and stomping the shoreline to watch my footprints glow green while
phantom green flashes of fishes scooted away from this intruder. I recall clear nights of stars from horizon to horizon, the Milky Way as thick as
skim milk. I recall the fresh tortillas cooked on a flat piece of steel in the hand made sand oven on the beach. I recall the kilos of fresh shrimp
off the trawlers I cooked on the beach with butter, garlic, roasted almonds and sherry. I recall catching trigger fish off the rocks and their white,
firm flesh fried in butter and garlic! I recall the grand discovery of the Deposito where I could get Pacifico's by the case for 25 cents a bottle!
Heaven on the beach!
We spent one week in our motor home in parking lot of the Bahia in Ensenada ensconced with the revelers from the annual Regata, fishing for White Sea
Bass and joshing with the amateur matadors who frequented the bar. Worst bull fight ever as these guys got their asses kicked by the local bulls, who
won that day.
Speaking of Bull Fights my first was in Tijuana where I saw El Cordobés, one of the greatest matadors of all time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cordob%C3%A9s
This amazing matador moved like Mikhail Baryshnikov and was one of the bravest men I have ever seen. I did not know that I was witnessing bull
fighting at it's zenith, how could I know, it was my first fight! I have since been to a number of bull fights and have always been disappointed,
there simply in my book was never a better matador than El Codobes. I know, I know, it's brutal etc. but I cherish this memory with so many of the
other wonderful sights and sounds of Mexico. If you are interested in what all the fuss is about you might want to see this film of El Cordobes, watch
the whole thing, trust me, it gets better toward the end. I learned my the meaning of Huevos from an aficionado sitting next to us at this first bull
fight of my career.
Over and over I have returned and will return to Baja and the places and people I love.
The magic of Baja is still alive and well. These are the good old days amigos!
Iflyfish
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