bvd
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 1-6-2015
Location: San Diego
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BoLA, San Felipe, Canyon de Guadaloupe hot springs
Just back to San Diego from 12 days in Baja and wanted to share details.
Started off San Diego to Calexico and topped up on Diesel before crossing - 120miles/2 hours.
Diesel in USA is currently much cheaper than Diesel in Baja where it hovered around 14 peso's/L...putting 20gallons at about 80 bucks at current
exchange rates.
Another 120m/2 hours south on highway 5 from Mexicali to the Playas del Sol campground a few miles north of Felipe. A quick check of the van by the
militar checkpoint just south of highway 3 was the only slow-down in getting there.
Camped there for a few nights at $15/night in a decent palapa on a bluff overlooking the sea, nice set of Banos nearby.
Packed up and headed to the Aeropuerto to pick up a friend that flew in on the new SeaPort airlines flight from San Diego, then continued south.
Approx 1hr to Puertocitas then approx 1hr to Gonzaga bay. New pavement takes you another 10 miles or so south of Gonzaga before dirt, then maybe 20
min of dusty road to Coco's Corner.
Picked up a few cold pacifico's and dropped off some food for Coco and his many Gato's and chatted for a few min before getting back on the dirt road
south. This section is slower and rocker as it winds back west to meet up with highway 1 at lake chapala. Approx 40 minutes.
From there it was a smooth sail to Bahia, maybe 1.5 hours away. There's a few spots where large sections of road had been washed away, and farther
downstream where it was covered up but clear and easily passable either way.
stayed with some friends in BoLA for a few days then headed back to San Felipe along the same route. Happened to pick up a screw in the front
passenger tire but mitigated for the remainder of the trip with a quick tire repair kit plug and 20 min of mini-compressor to get back to norm.
Final leg to the hot springs was quite an adventure as I had only previously made it by way of the north entrance off of highway 2. This time it was
turning off of highway 5 north of san felipe at the 87km marker. This fairly improved dirt road heads west past the walls of an old structure for
about 15 minutes before needing to stay right and start heading northwest on poorly maintained dirt road for the better part of the next 4 hours. Lots
of washes and undulations make going slow, especially in a sprinter van. Would be super fun in something lighter/smaller/high travel for sure.
Unimproved dirt eventually breaks way to improved dirt and makes the last 10 or so miles go by fairly quickly to the familiar olive tree ranch where
the turn to go up into Guadaloupe Canyon Hot Springs is marked with a hand painted sign.
Returned the normal way north back to highway 2 on departure, took about 45 minutes back to 2, another hour or so to Tecate and on across. Tecate
border crossing on Monday afternoon around 3pm was no more than 5 minutes.
We got lucky enough for a secondary run and ended up spending the next 2 hours there however, and left with a $300 dollar fine. On the way back the
wife picked a pretty bouquet of desert wildflowers that I failed to declare as "live plants" or "seeds" which got us into the predicament.
Didn't even consider a picked flower to be alive like a plant you would go buy at a nursery or that it would be viable for creating new plants from
via whatever reproductive process but heck, expensive lesson.
Typical baja experience of excellent when down there and demoralized by USA authorities for seemingly meaningless stuff on the way back....So worth it
though 
Cheers,
-Brent
[Edited on 1-6-2015 by bvd]
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bvd
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 1-6-2015
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
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first time post, guess it doesn't like my report?
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24baja
Senior Nomad
Posts: 951
Registered: 2-3-2009
Location: Grants Pass Oregon/Bahia de Los Angeles
Member Is Offline
Mood: Wishing we were in BOLA
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Keep trying you get it and welcome to the board.
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bvd
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 1-6-2015
Location: San Diego
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is there a size restriction? I have it saved on my desktop in a notepad for now, will try again later :/
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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No, that's not it. The forum recently changed server software and it doesn't like accent marks, Spanish letters or degree symbols... So just remove
any of those marks and it should post. Looking forward to seeing it!
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bvd
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 1-6-2015
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
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Hooray! the enye screwed it 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Welcome to Nomad, where for now, no 'snakes' above the n!
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bvd
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: 1-6-2015
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
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Thanks for the welcome David!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64857
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Do you have photos???
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3824
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
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I would certainly challenge that fine if I were you. Cut flowers need only be inspected for pests. They were not live plants, and not "seeds" within
the scope that the regulations intend. What a j e r k of an inspector. Were you charged with a specific code section?
http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/olympic_ag_...
How were the hotsprings and what was the charge for camping?
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
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It's been my experience the Tecate guys, are jerks!
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JohnK
Junior Nomad
Posts: 69
Registered: 3-11-2012
Member Is Offline
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Dude. How was it at the hot springs?
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treuboff
Nomad
Posts: 127
Registered: 8-27-2013
Location: prescott az
Member Is Offline
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Tecate gave us a ration of caca and threatened us for having some dried coral fans because we didn't declare them even though they were in the back of
the PU bed in plain sight. The reason was they were alive at one time. He said we were lucky because the Ag. Dept. was gone for the night.
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3824
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
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"... they were alive at one time" Those guys are idiots. Seashells had a living organism inside at one time too.
From the US Customs and Border Protection site:
Q: Can I bring seashells, sand, driftwood or other beach mementos into the U.S.?
Seashells are generally allowed into the U.S. if they are not taken from endangered or threatened species (CITES protected), and they are completely
sanitized from the creatures that inhabited them, and any other agricultural material such as sand, clay, soil, etc. A traveler may bring in a
reasonable amount of seashells for personal use as a memento of their trip. Large quantities of seashells being brought into the U.S. for the
purposes of using them in crafting, landscaping, or for commercial use are prohibited.
Stones/Pebbles/Sand are generally acceptable in small quantities as long as the item does not present a threat to American agriculture and the
harvesting of the item was not detrimental to the any species and/or the environment.
Driftwood is discouraged as pests may have inhabited the wood. Also some wood is protected. For example, both the Sonora desert and the Sea of
Cortez are protected ecosystems, therefore, it is advised not to pick up mementos from these areas. Be aware that just because the item is sold in a
shop does not make it legal to own - possession of a protected item can subject you to state and/or federal prosecution
All these items must be declared upon arrival to the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, on the arrival declaration form.
Contact the Fish and Wildlife Service on whether the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) requires
an import permit to bring these items into the U.S. See CITES Website. It is recommended that individuals check with the proper foreign government
authorities to determine if there are any restrictions under that country's laws pertaining to the exportation of seashells, etc.
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