I originally planned to spend this Winter in the Baja, in my 99 AWD Safari MICRO MOTORHOME, THE BLACK TORTOISE, that I built up specifically for the trip. After doing the BAJA on a KLR 650, AND half way back up again
( returning my buddy's BMW DAKAR after he broke his leg and flew back )
I kept saying to myself ...
"It would be great to return to the Baja in an off road capable camper and visit some of those remote and almost inaccessible beaches".
So the original plan was to drive from Vancouver Island in my custom built AWD 99 SAFARI Micro Motorhome, with an inflatable boat carried along, park at various beach access points, and explore the inside coast of the BAJA with a combination of AWD and boat.
Much as I have previously enjoyed adventure touring on various motorcycles, these LONG TERM plans are better met by an AWD MICRO MOTORHOME. I am carrying along my 75 lb German Shepherd, a THICK/COMFY foam mattress, food for a month or two, and most critical in the BAJA, SUFFICIENT WATER. All this enclosed in a sturdy, weatherproof, secure, go almost anywhere, hard shell.
But a PLAN is what you have BEFORE the rubber hits the road.
An ADVENTURE is what really happens along the way ...
and as we all know, adventures are full of unexpected surprises and sometimes even SERENDIPITY.
My brother and his wife have spent nearly a decade roaming around Mexico in their old, semi camperized Toyota Previa, looking for the perfect place to retire. Two years ago they decided that perfect place was AJIJIC, JALISCO, on the shore of Mexico's biggest lake, Chapala. And on a visit back to Canada a few months ago, they invited me to visit with them for Xmas.
This whole trip that started out as a SIMPLE Winter in the BAJA, has turned into a pin ball machine type of SERENDIPITOUS ADVENTURE, that defies all plannig. Instead of my usual simple path straight South along the West Coast, I ended up driving through seven different mid-West states getting here to Ajijic. With various stops and various ADVENTURES along the way. But now that I am here in AJIJIC, BAJA is on the back burner. I may ( or may not) ferry over to the Baja on my way back to Canada in the Spring ...
That is, IF I go back!
Most of my wandering has been looking for "adventures", and a new and ?better? place to enjoy life.
Well, I may just have found my final resting place. I have leased a beautuful Casita in Ajijic for minimum 3 months, with an option to extend for 6 months or ...?permanently? The new updated, revised, "plan" is to use Ajijic as the base for further explorations of both the East and West coasts of Mexico, with Belize and Costa Rica as options. I have ex-pat Canuck friends living in a few places on the West coast, so absolutely MUST spend some time visiting them. And I have fond memories of 16 weeks spent wandering around the Yucatan and Beluze with just a backpack, and a big wad of US $$$. I came back from that trip broke, but with the best sun tan and adventure stories ...
EVER!
And I MUST see how much has changed, and if the Yucatan is still as MAGIC.
SO,
any E/P travellers passing through Ajijic, are cordially invited to contact me for a visit.
We can share tall tales about our journeys along the roads less travelled.
LARRY Z
AKA LAZ 1
( returning my buddy's BMW DAKAR after he broke his leg and flew back )
I kept saying to myself ...
"It would be great to return to the Baja in an off road capable camper and visit some of those remote and almost inaccessible beaches".
So the original plan was to drive from Vancouver Island in my custom built AWD 99 SAFARI Micro Motorhome, with an inflatable boat carried along, park at various beach access points, and explore the inside coast of the BAJA with a combination of AWD and boat.
Much as I have previously enjoyed adventure touring on various motorcycles, these LONG TERM plans are better met by an AWD MICRO MOTORHOME. I am carrying along my 75 lb German Shepherd, a THICK/COMFY foam mattress, food for a month or two, and most critical in the BAJA, SUFFICIENT WATER. All this enclosed in a sturdy, weatherproof, secure, go almost anywhere, hard shell.
But a PLAN is what you have BEFORE the rubber hits the road.
An ADVENTURE is what really happens along the way ...
and as we all know, adventures are full of unexpected surprises and sometimes even SERENDIPITY.
My brother and his wife have spent nearly a decade roaming around Mexico in their old, semi camperized Toyota Previa, looking for the perfect place to retire. Two years ago they decided that perfect place was AJIJIC, JALISCO, on the shore of Mexico's biggest lake, Chapala. And on a visit back to Canada a few months ago, they invited me to visit with them for Xmas.
This whole trip that started out as a SIMPLE Winter in the BAJA, has turned into a pin ball machine type of SERENDIPITOUS ADVENTURE, that defies all plannig. Instead of my usual simple path straight South along the West Coast, I ended up driving through seven different mid-West states getting here to Ajijic. With various stops and various ADVENTURES along the way. But now that I am here in AJIJIC, BAJA is on the back burner. I may ( or may not) ferry over to the Baja on my way back to Canada in the Spring ...
That is, IF I go back!
Most of my wandering has been looking for "adventures", and a new and ?better? place to enjoy life.
Well, I may just have found my final resting place. I have leased a beautuful Casita in Ajijic for minimum 3 months, with an option to extend for 6 months or ...?permanently? The new updated, revised, "plan" is to use Ajijic as the base for further explorations of both the East and West coasts of Mexico, with Belize and Costa Rica as options. I have ex-pat Canuck friends living in a few places on the West coast, so absolutely MUST spend some time visiting them. And I have fond memories of 16 weeks spent wandering around the Yucatan and Beluze with just a backpack, and a big wad of US $$$. I came back from that trip broke, but with the best sun tan and adventure stories ...
EVER!
And I MUST see how much has changed, and if the Yucatan is still as MAGIC.
SO,
any E/P travellers passing through Ajijic, are cordially invited to contact me for a visit.
We can share tall tales about our journeys along the roads less travelled.
LARRY Z
AKA LAZ 1