Couple of Months Traveling Through Baja

[Every Miles A Memory]

In the spring of 2008, my wife and I spent over 2 months traveling the Baja Peninsula. We had originally only planned on spending a few weeks down there because we had never been South of the Border before and we were buying into all the hype the news was spewing about how violent it was.

That was till we actually got down there and both fell in love with the culture, the people and the landscape. Since we travel fulltime towing a 25' travel trailer, this trip journal wont be the typical expedition type because we cant spend as much time off-road as we'd like to, but I thought it might offer some vaulable information for other members who might be planning a similar trip, and I'd love to share the fun we had.

Our guide was someone who had contacted us after we had mentioned on our website, Every Miles A Memory numerous times that we wanted to experience Baja, but we were worried that we didnt speak any Spanish, we had never been there before and we didnt really know what to expect.

This guy contacted us saying he had been following along with our travel blogs and thought numerous times how much we were all alike. He said that him, his wife and another couple usually go spend a few weeks down there every year, but this year the other couple had backed out because they were going to vacation somewhere else.

He told us that he had been raised in Southern California and his Father had taken him into Baja hundreds of times over his lifetime. He spoke fluent Spanish and realy knew alot of the area. We ended up spending a few hours on the phone with him and exchanged numerous emails back and fourth to get to know one another better.

We said we'd go as long as we werent tied to his rules. Cindy and I had been on the road for a little over a year by this point and we were used to going our own route. Our biggest worry wasnt the rumors about being kidnapped, mugged or having something stolen, we were more worried that the guy who offered to guide us might get pissed if we either slowed him down or we wanted to go places they didnt want to go.

With the two of us being photographers and being really active, we usually are pretty hard to keep up with. We like to be up early for the early morning sunlight photos and we like to stay out late to get the best sunset light, and then we're usually sitting up late working on photos on the computers and sipping cocktails.

If we find that we didnt get the shot we were looking for, we might hang out for a day or two to make sure we get the right weather, the best backgrounds or what ever might make the photos be that much cooler. Basically we're pretty spoiled and we dont like to be on any specific schedule

Before we left for the Baja Peninsula, we did as much research as possible by reading numerous blogs of others who had already spent time down in Mexico.

We spent lots of time reading trip journals on here, on the RV Net Forum where there is a Mexico Travel Specific section for RV'ers, we spent lots of time on the Baja Nomad Forum which was a huge help in answering a ton of our questions. The Baja Nomad forum has a ton of members who live in Baja and can answer specific questions in real time, not like many other forums who have members who tell you all sorts of stories about a friend of a friend who they've heard of, but they've never been there themselves.

We had plenty of those people trying to talk us out of going with emails being sent to us telling us not to go and teling us how stupid we were. But each time we'd ask if they'd crossed the border themselves, must would say "No, we've never been there because of everything the news reports about how dangerous it is."

Those people who hadnt experienced it first hand, we didnt really want to hear from them. Those who had just returned or those who were down there while we were planning was who we wanted to talk to. Everyone we spoke with recommended Mike &Terri Church's [ame="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0974947180?tag=evmiame-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0974947180&adid=0MSV4PAS7GMBPYCVBWXZ&"]Travelers Guide to Camping Mexico's Baja[/ame]. We got this book a few weeks before we planned on leaving and read it cover to cover making pages of notes. There is a reason they call it the Baja Bible.

We got out Mexican Insurance for the truck and the camper and found that none of the insurance companies would insure our motorcycle we normally carry with us. We could get insurance on it, but it was pretty expensive and we didnt think we'd use it that much.

What we found was the longer you got the insurance for, the less expensive it was. So we ended up getting the insurance for a full year because of the price break. We ended up leaving the motorcycle with friends in San Diego. After we returned, we both agreed that we should have brought it with us because it would have been good to use as a run-around vehicle and the worries of it getting stolen were long gone by this time.

So we wouldnt have to worry about drinking water, we purchased a 35 gallon poly tank that went in the bed of our truck. The campers fresh water tank will hold 40 gallons of fresh water so we figured between the two, we could go for quite some time before we'd have to worry about fresh drinking water.

From what we had heard and read, most of the towns had fresh water stations that could refill our camper and the new poly tank in the bed of the truck.

Before we left, we went to Sams Club and stocked up on meats and frozen foods that we were told we probably couldnt get once we had crossed the border. Luckily for us, we had upgraded our stock refrigerator in our camper with a Norcold 10 cubic foot model that has a huge freezer.

Another thing we did before we left was to make copies of everything we would normally carry in our wallets. We made copies of our insurance papers and vehicle registrations. We made 3 copies of everything. Two we kept with us, 1 going in the truck, 1 going in the fireprof safe we keep in the camper and the last set we put in an envelope and mailed home to my parents.

This way if anything was to happen, we could call home and have our parents fax us copies of our paperwork. We also stopped by a vets office and had the dogs vaccines updated and copies of that paperwork was included in our other paperwork. This was also a mistake as we would have saved money by getting this done once we were in Meixco.

On to the Trip - We all met at a Wal-Mart parking lot within minutes of the border the night before we planned to cross. We made introductions and went over some maps as what to expect the next morning.

We planned on being up frist thing and crossing the border early. We made sure everything was topped off and double checked everything again.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

The four of us were up early this morning ready for a big day of driving. Our plan was to put as many miles between us and the border as we could handle driving. The first few hundred miles of Baja are know as the gauntlet, if anything is going to happen to you, this is where it usually happens.

We all sat in the Wal-Mart parking lot going over our directions and game plan. We were on the road by 8am and since we had stayed only a few miles from the border, within a few minutes, Sandy was asking over the radio if we wanted one last time to back out since we were now in line for the Border Crossing.

The crossing at Tijuana was one of the trickiest parts since Chuck said "One wrong turn would bring you into the downtown area where maneuvering a large truck and camper would not be fun."

A few turns later, we were on Mexico's Transpeninsular Highway, or Mexico 1, and headed South. Passing Tijuana, all I can say is there is nothing I saw that would make me want to visit this city. It honestly looks like video footage you'd see on the news from a bombed out city in Iraq.

It's just amazing to me that we had left Southern California only 10 minutes earlier with it's million dollar homes, and now it looked like we were in the middle of a war zone. All I can say is we Americans take so much for granted when it comes to our freedoms and disposable incomes.

I had expected the worst when it came to the roadways, but I was surprised that they werent as bad as I thought they were going to be. Granted, they were not good by any means, but being from Michigan, which has some of the worst roads in the United States, we had driven on worse roadways.

Within the first few hours of driving, we passed breathtaking scenery along the Pacific coastline. There were quaint villages, run down shacks and million dollar homes. The diverse mix of residents was crazy. One house would look like a movie star lived there and their next door neighbor would be a small house that looked like they had forgot to take out their garbage for the last 5 months.

We noticed that our GPS was useless within a few miles of crossing the border. It only showed the direction we were headed with a blank green screen and no roads listed. So we packed it up and put it away for the rest of our Baja adventure. We talked with others who said Garmin has a Baja Map you can download for some of their GPS models, but our budget Magellan didn't offer any I could find on their website.

The Satellite radio kept working and we wondered how long we were going to keep that signal? I don't know what we'd do without our NPR and comedy stations to keep us entertained while we drive.

The further we got away from the border, the narrower the roads became. Chuck had warned us of the narrow Mexican roads, but I thought he was only exaggerating at first. After our first stop, which was about 150 miles into Baja, we noticed that Chucks rig was having a hard time staying between the narrow lines.

When a semi would come by, there were only a few inches of space between the mirrors and the side of the speeding tractor trailer. Everything everyone had told us about the crazy drivers was 100% true. If there is ONE thing to worry about in Mexico, it's the oncoming drivers.

They don't slow down and they don't have a problem passing you on a hill around a sharp turn. I thought Cindy was going to give birth when the first semi truck came flying past us and I hadn't warned her of its approach. It's one thing when this happens and we have a shoulder to blow us onto. Here in Mexico, there is no such thing as a shoulder.

If your tire was to fall off the lane, you would more than likely be pulled down into the steep embankment that lines each side of the road. Some places we're talking only a foot or two, while others might be off the side of a cliff!

It didn't take long to realize that driving on Mexican highways isn't something to take lightly. I laughed when we were flying through one tight section on the downhill side of a mountain, and Cindy was telling me to look at the wild trees that line the hillside. Without looking, I told her to take a peek at the roadway in front of us and she instantly yelled for me to keep my eyes on the road with both hands on the wheel.

After our first Fuel stop, I realized that filling up in Mexico is a joy! Topping off the tank only costs us 50 something dollars, and my only wish was we had a way to bring a years supply home with us.

We pulled over for the night in Catavina after 10 hours on the road. This is not the norm for Cindy and I, but Chuck stressed that we wanted to be as far from the border as possible. We found a little roadside camp for only $6 a night. The only accommodations they offered was a dump station, but for $6, who's complaining.

We later found out that this isn't the campground you want to stay at while in Catavina. It's noisy and close to the road, so you hear the big engine breaks on the trucks that pass through town all night.

If you head a mile or two past the town of Catavina, there is another campground called Rancho Santa Inez. This campground is a mile off the road, and situated in the middle of these amazing boulder fields. The owners of the campgrounds will direct you to some great hiking in the area and the best part is its away from the road, so you don't hear the trucks all night long.

The last few miles into Catavina was like driving on Mars. Huge boulders lined the roads and crazy trees that resembled something out of a Dr. Seuss novel were sprouting up between every rock.

The cactus around Catavina are like nothing we've ever seen. When Cindy looked them up in our Traveler's Guide to Baja, she found out that they are called Cirio or Boojum Trees, and are unique to the Baja peninsula. No where else in the world can you find these strange looking cactus.

It's hard to call Catavina a town as its really only a few buildings, the Hotel La Pinta and the campground we stayed at. There is an old Pemex station, but it looks like it has been closed for years along with every other dilapidated building that lines the highway.

Once settled in camp, I got out Cindy's new Weber grill. Just like my normal luck, something between the propane tank and the hose wont allow it to feed propane to the grill. This is another reason that you should never bring anything without testing it before you leave home.

This grill, propane tank and hose are all brand new. I only bought them a few days ago, and had yet to use any of them. Sitting in the dark in Mexico wasn't where I wanted to find out that something wasn't working properly. Luckily I had one of those 1 pound propane cylinders which could screw into the grill.

With that on, everything worked fine?

After a beautiful sunset and some nice thick steaks on the grill, we spent the rest of the night getting to know Chuck and Sandy.

Conclusion of Today's Drive = 10 hours on the road, 317 miles of driving, two fuel stops, 5 dead dogs seen on the side of the road, 3 naps for Cindy, much white knuckle driving, 2 Red Bull energy drinks, 3 toll booths (each one a different price?) and one military checkpoint that just waved us through.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

We woke to a beautiful morning with nice warm sunshine. After one of Cindy's awesome breakfasts and a short stroll with the dogs, we were back on the road. Hopefully today wont be as long as yesterday was. I'm not one to just sit in the truck and drive all day long.

I checked the stats on the Scanguage Computer in our truck which told us that our average speed for yesterdays drive was only 27 mph! Maybe the roads were worse than I had remembered?

Today's drive was much like yesterday. The landscape was very diverse and every few miles we would make a 180 degree switch in scenery. At one point we would be in desert like conditions with miles of nothing to look at.

Then all of a sudden you would start seeing the cactus start popping up and next thing you know you would be in a thick cactus forest. At some points you could see the beach while other sections were tucked into the steep mountains.

Who ever knew that Baja was so diverse? We were only 300 some odd miles into the peninsula, and it seemed like we had traveled through multiple eco-systems.

I kept thinking to myself that these roads would be beautiful to travel along on a nice Dual Sport Motorcycle. We had passed a few touring bikes, and I kept thinking to myself that someday I'll come back down here on a bike.

Once the highway passed the turnoff for Bahía de Los Angeles, the road got nasty. It went from somewhat smooth asphalt to pot holed, narrow, bumpy trail like conditions. Luckily for us, Chuck knew that this section was very long with nothing to stop at for supplies. We had stopped and topped everything off yesterday afternoon and I can attest that a good guide can be a lifesaver.

There were a few places you could stop and buy gas from road side vendors, but none were selling diesel. If we hadn't topped off when we did in El Rosario, we would have been stranded on the side of the road.

The stretch between El Rosario and Guerrero Negro is the longest stretch of road without any services we had seen so far on our drive. If we needed it, we could use the multiple fuel cans we carried in the bed of the truck, but hopefully we wouldn't need it.

Coming around one turn, we noticed a Cadillac stopped in the road. Chuck slowed down and passed on by, but Cindy and I pulled up behind and stopped. We asked the older gentleman if he needed any help?

He said that he had run out of gas and didn't speak any Spanish to ask for help from the few locals who had already stopped. I jumped out and said that I had a few gallons of gasoline we kept for our generators. At this point was when we learned that the old man was a bit crazy.

He kept questioning Cindy saying "I cant use Diesel fuel!" Cindy tried to explain that we had regular gasoline for our generators and were happy to give him some.

A Mexican woman stopped, but there was too much of a language barrier for either of us to comprehend what the other was saying. I think she was telling me if I gave her $200 pesos, she would go get fuel for him. But when I would tell her that she needed to talk with him since I wasn't with him, she would just shake her head saying she didn't speak English.

I started putting my fuel into his car when he said "I'll see if it starts up?" When he started it, he dropped it into gear and took off with me jumping out of the way and spilling gas down the side of his car. His trunk was still open and the gas cap was banging against the side of his car? ****** was the old man doing?

I walked back to the truck and Cindy was laughing saying that we needed to get out of here. This whole situation had gotten really weird all of a sudden. You have to remember that this section of road was in the middle of a steep hill that had a lot of turns on it!

We caught back up to Chuck and Sandy who were waiting for us at a military check point a few miles up the road. We pulled up beside the guy in the Cadillac and he wouldn't even make eye contact with us. His gas cap was still hanging out the side of the car, but the trunk had closed? The military personnel was searching his vehicle when I had to go back and let the officer look through our camper.

The military officer searched through the vehicle and sniffed a few of Cindy's panties and we were good to go! Just joking but I told Cindy that and she said "Hey, that might keep us from getting searched if we left them out."

He just looked around the inside, checked a few drawers and gave me a thumbs up. It's times like these that I hate not being able to speak or understand any Spanish. He kept trying to talk with me, but I could only smile and nod since I had no idea anything he was saying?

When I got back into the truck, Cindy was all smiles and flirting with the military personnel who had gathered around our truck to pet the dogs. She asked me if I had noticed the one guy who was sooo good looking? I never knew she had a thing for guys in uniform, but as long as her flirting gets us through the checkpoints with no hassles, then I could care less.

The crazy old dude in the Caddy was gone, and we wrote it off as just another weird memory.

Our next stop was the Agricultural Checkpoint at Baja Sur and the 28th parallel. This is the dividing line between the states of Baja and Baja South or Baja Sur as they call it in Spanish. This checkpoint is where we would normally show our passports and our tourists permits when crossing the border.

We all had our passports, but we hadn't stopped to get our tourist permits at Tijuana like we were supposed to. The border agent let us slide without the $20 per person fine, since we had only been in the country for 24 hours. You have 72 hours before you need to have the permit, and Chuck explained that we were going first thing in the morning to get our permits in downtown Guerrero Negro.

This is a bit confusing, but the only place you can purchase the tourist permits is at a bank, and the banks close at 3pm. So by the time we will head back out of Baja Sur, we will have our permits and everything should be legal.

Within minutes of the check point, we were pulling into Guerrero Negro and the Malarrimo RV Park. We would camp here for the night so we could go to the bank in the morning and get those Tourist Permits taken care of.

Malarrimo Campground is really nice for a Baja Campground. Incase anyone with a large RV is coming down, they only have 15 amp service to hook up to, but they have full sewer hook-ups and water. We chose not to hook up to the city water just to be on the safe side. But to have everything else was nice for only $20 a night, and the campground is walled in with a full restaurant that had Wi-Fi. Bonus!!

It was late in the afternoon by the time we got everything set up, and you know what time that is! Happy Hour! Chuck, Sandy, Cindy and I all sat around talking till the sun got too low and the temperatures got too cold for our taste. It's amazing how far south we are and we all still have jackets on!

After Happy Hour was over, Chuck came knocking on the door telling us that there was an Osprey on the pole right by the office. We grabbed the cameras and headed over to see this beautiful bird.

It was sitting up there with a fresh catch just eating away and allowed me to snap a few dozen images of it before it got bored and flew away.

Conclusion of Today's Drive = 4.4 hours of drive time, 147 miles traveled, 33 mph average, 1 dead cow on the side of the road and another skeleton of a horse or burro, one military check point where we got searched, one agricultural checkpoint where we didn't get searched but had to pay 20 peso's so they could spray insecticide on our tires, one fuel stop and one run in with a crazy old man who had run out of fuel.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

After two days of long drives, today was a day to just lounge around and relax. Cindy and I got the bikes down and rode through the small town of Guerrero Negro. Our only thing we had to do was go to the bank so we could get our Tourists Permits and exchange some travelers checks for Peso's.
Everything after that was just goof around stuff, so we were in no hurry.

If you spend American dollars, not everyone will give you the same exchange rate. Some places charge a little more and then pocket the difference.

Chuck explained that it's just easier if you have Peso's to give the exact amount.

This little village is one of the newest towns on the Baja. It's a company town, and the company is Mitsubishi, its main industry is the Salt Flats where salt water is flooded into large holding fields. They allow the salt to evaporate and use it as Sea Salt for cooking. This is the second largest salt production facility in the world.

Another new industry they're making money off of is the Whale Watching tourists. Almost every building had an advertisement for Whale Watching Tours.

Riding our bikes through these streets is almost like riding along a technical mountain bike trail. Unless you want to ride in the road, which neither of us did, riding on the side walk is pretty crazy. Their curbs can be a foot or two tall, and there are big potholes and obstacles to ride around every where you look. Numerous times would I bunny hop over an open manhole cover which I can only imagine what would happen if you were to fall in at night!

When we got to the bank, Cindy said she'd wait outside by the bikes, and left me to try and comprehend this exchange by myself. Once I got to the teller, the fun started. Since I speak no Spanish what so ever, and she wasn't offering me a beer (Cerveza) or telling me where the bathroom was (El Bano), two of the only words I know, I just sat and looked at her with a dumb look on my face.

I know she was probably saying nasty things about me, because she kept mumbling to the teller beside her in Spanish and they would both laugh, but I just smiled and tried my best to describe what I needed.

When I finally came out, Cindy said "How'd that go?" I said "I have no idea? I know that I have a pocket full of peso's, but the last 20 minutes were so confusing, I could have just signed our lives away!"

From the bank we rode away looking for something to keep us occupied in this small port town.

We rode around the city streets just looking at the various ways they make their homes, which is basically out of anything they can find. The local architecture reminded me of my childhood when we used to build tree forts with scrap wood my dad would have lying around our property. I fully admire their ingenuity and resourcefulness and took some notes incase Cindy and I ever want to build another stick house.

The Mexican dogs that roam the towns are everywhere and are all very short. We keep laughing that they all have the body of a large dog, but look like they have been cross-breed with a short dog.

You'll see a dog that looks like a lab, but has real short legs. Or a Pit Bull body, but with Jack Russell Terrier legs. Some follow along while you ride, others bite at your tires and some just lift their heads as you pass by to see if you have any food for them. All of them are skinny and none have collars. They look like they roam around looking for a meal and any spot they can find to sleep.

After riding for awhile, we stopped at one of the many taco stands for some lunch. Since one of the quotes we always use is "If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home" ~ James Michener

We figured we might as well practice what we preach and sample some of the local food. We found a little road side stand and ordered a few burritos. I walked next store to a beer stand and grabbed a few Corona's in a can. It's very rare to see Corona in a can, and couldn't remember the last time I had seen them.

For $10 we got 2 burritos a piece, some refried beans and 2 beers a piece! I like that! With full bellies, we rode back to Malarrimo Campground and grabbed the dogs. We loaded them into the truck and drove out to an abandon lighthouse on the bay. At one time, this was a little fishing village, but now it was just abandon buildings with a few fisherman's boats on the shore.

We walked around looking at the buildings and the huge piles of shells, before the wind drove us back to the warmth of the truck. Even though the temperature was in the 80's, being out on the point with the strong winds was quite chilly. From the lighthouse, we drove over towards the salt mines where there are big sand dunes along the sandy road.

We stopped where the dunes came right to the edge of the roadway and let the dogs out without their leashes on. This is a rare occurrence for them, so you know they were using it to its fullest potential. Luca was running so fast that he would stumble in the soft sand and tumble along the drifts. The sand dunes werent really normal sand.

The sand had the consistency of Flour and walking along it you would hit sections where you would sink up to your shin with no warning. The sand was also bone white and very dry. Normally sand gets damp when you bury you foot in it, but this sand was still dry no matter how deep I plunged my foot in.

It reminded me of when we were back in White Sands National Park, because Luca just couldn't seem to get it through his thick head that the white sand is NOT snow.

Every few minutes, he'll take a mouth full of the sand before the shock of the grittiness would remind him that it's not the soft, wet snow he was thinking it was.

I laughed and said to Cindy, "I can only imagine what his poop is going to be like tomorrow! He's going to crap out a little sandy log!"

With the dogs thoroughly worn out, we headed back to Malarrimo campground just in time for Happy Hour. On our way out of the sand dunes, we spotted a Osprey sitting on the side of the road with a Needle Fish in its talons. The beautiful, big bird allowed us to sit and watch as it tore apart this little fish that was still very much alive. It was quite the site to witness.

Once back at the campground, Chuck, Sandy, Cindy and I sat out till the sun set before we said our goodnights.

Cindy and I watched one of our new DVD's from our friend back in San Diego tonight. "American Gangster" with Densel Washington and Russell Crow. This is a great movie and even though Cindy swore she was going to fall asleep, she stayed awake the whole time and never even nodded off. That has to say something for the girl that can fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

One of my only requirements for visiting Baja was to go out on a whale watching tour. Guerrero Negro is one of the mating grounds for the beautiful California gray whales and we were told Guerrero Negro's Ojo de Liebre, or Scammon's Lagoon would be our best bet to see them up close while visiting the Baja peninsula.

Google Earth Image of Scammon's Lagoon - You can see the salt mines where all the white stuff is in the upper right of the image

These giant creatures hole up in the big blue lagoon where they give birth to their young in the thick, salty water before heading back up to the rich waters of Alaska. We were told that the water's salinity is very high here, and this helps the calves with their buoyancy in their first few months of learning how to swim.

Cindy and I were up early and very excited for today's activities. We almost missed the bus because of our clocks being an hour off? I guess when we crossed the border for Baja Sur, we switched back into Mountain Time which is an hour behind what all our clocks were set for? We also very rarely go by a clock's strict schedule, and normally just go by the sun or how we feel that morning, so this was very confusing for us to be back on a time schedule.

Once on the water, we had our cameras ready for the day ahead of us. The small Panga took us (there were 10 of us in the boat) out into the bay and once we got a ways off the shore, we instantly started seeing the whales breaching and releasing their air into the ocean breeze.

Every whale we could see was way off in the distance, and I thought maybe this wasn't going to be as cool as I had imagined. But the captain never slowed down and kept speeding out into deeper water. At one point I saw a gray whale come shooting out of the ocean with half of its body out of the water. Almost everyone on the boat saw this beautiful sight, but none of us were ready to take the picture because it happened so fast.

Thinking about all the times I've seen fantastic images of whales doing this, it just makes me realize how random it is to capture with a camera. To catch a whale jumping out of the water is one of those things that is just being in the right place at the right time. After seeing it a few times today, I hold much more respect for any photographer who has been able to capture this magnificent feat.

Capturing an image like this was my main goal for the day, and multiple times I would see a whale do it and just sit and watch. Every time it would happen, I would just sit with my jaw open not thinking to pick my camera up in time to snap the image. Which is rare for me because I'm usually ready for the moment, but I'm usually shooting sports or something I'm used to. This was a first for me so I was amazed at what was happening

I'll tell you right now that when you see a 50 foot whale come screaming out of the water, to have your mind comprehend the fact that you are supposed to be taking pictures is more than I could register. So like I said, to see these pictures I wanted so bad to copy, I instantly put them up on a pedestal.

As we were motoring farther out into the bay, we spotted a few whales getting closer. The captain slowed down and before you knew it, two giant mammals were only 20 feet from the bow of the boat.

Looking through the lens, my jaw dropped for a second time when I thought I saw a bright pink penis on one of the whales. Could we possible be seeing two whales in the middle of a mating session?

I asked if anyone else had seen it, and only Chuck who was standing beside me said "I'm not sure, but I think that's what I saw?"

I could type about this experience for days, but I'll try and keep it short by saying the next few hours were spent with more whales than I could count breaching and frolicking in the surf all around us. It was way more than I had expected to see, and something that I'll never forget. I also like that after we got home, Sport Fishing Magazine published the photo of the Whale Penis!!

To get soaked with salt water from a whales blowhole and hear the sound of this giant beast scratching the barnacles off it's back against the bottom of our small boat was more than I could have asked for.

Some of the lucky people on the boat were able to reach right over and pet the giant whales. Two of the whales sat right beside the boat for the next few hours courting each other and rolling over and over in the water. It was almost like the boat was part of their courtship. They were so close that the eyes of these majestic beasts were larger than my head.

With out getting too graphic, I'll say that when a male whale rolls on it's back and exposes his manhood, there is no way not to feel inadequate. The man tool was larger than the front section of the boat, and the female who kept putting her tail in the face of the aroused stud wasn't looking like she was afraid.

Everyone on the boat was making jokes that we were intruding on a very special moment between two whales, but no matter which way the boat drifted, the whales seemed to be attracted to the bottom of the small vessel.

For the record, I went through two batteries in my Canon 1D, two 2 gig Compact Flash cards in another camera (that's 300 pictures) and more "Ohh's" and "Ahh's" then I can remember in the past few years.

When our time was up and we had to head back in to the docks, Cindy looked at me and said "This would have cost a few hundred dollars in America! We just witnessed so many unforgettable memories for only $50, that I could do this every day and not get bored!"

We got back to the campground and packed things up. All four of us took showers to get the salt spray off of us before getting on the road. Today's drive would only be a few hours or right around 100 miles.

The southern half of Baja is much different than the northern half. All the deep greens and blooming flowers were gone, and replaced by the dry cactus fields of a true desert. From talking to a bunch of people who had visited Baja for multiple years in a row, everyone of them said something about the landscape right now and how green and lush it was.

I guess the deep blanket of green that covered the mountains and all the blooming flowers that we saw running down the roadways on our drive south is not the norm. So I guess we should have been stopping and taking pictures way more than we did. Actually we didn't stop at all, and now I'm kicking myself in the butt! This is the problem when we're traveling with other people, and not running by ourselves

When we pulled over tonight in the small village of San Ignacio, we werent ready for the amazing sight we were in store for. For the last few hours, we had driven through dry, arid desert, but when we pulled into San Ignacio, it looked like we had pulled into an Oasis in the middle of the desert.

This small village is surrounded with large Date Palms and looks like something out of a jungle movie set. There are a few different campgrounds to choose from, but we found one right on the lagoon. It had no amenities, but a million dollar view. Chuck and I were both able to pull right up to the waters edge where we spent the rest of the afternoon just sitting around chewing the cud.

Oh, I should mention that when we pulled into San Ignacio, we all jumped into Chucks Jeep to drive around and check out the campgrounds and decide which one we wanted to stay in for the night. While driving through the very small town, we heard a loud bang on the roof while bumping down the rough road.

We pulled over to find that one of the support arms on Chuck's kayak holder had broken and fell off. We stopped and picked up the broken arm and just as we were pulling back up to the RV's, which we had left in a Pemex Station parking lot, the second arm broke off.

We both joked that "If you want to test any piece of equipment, just bring it on a trip through Baja!" If it can make it down here on these roads, then it can make it anywhere.

So we took the kayaks off the top of Chuck's Jeep and loaded them onto the top of our truck and headed down to Lakeside Campground for the night.

Conclusion of Today's Drive = 2.4 hours of drive time, 90.5 miles driven, one dead cow along the road, 36 mph average, 10.4 Miles Per Gallon averaged, one military checkpoint that just waved us through, a beautiful campground straight out of a movie set and a broken roof rack on Chuck's jeep that added two more kayaks onto our roof top.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Saturday

Cindy and I were up early and decided to take the dogs for a jog before we would go visit the San Ignacio Mission. While jogging down the road, I heard Cindy yell loudly and turned to see her tumbling along the asphalt.

At first I thought this was one of her jokes, but when I saw her grab her knee which was already bleeding, I knew she wasn't joking. By the time I got back to her, her ankle was already swollen pretty bad and she had a nice gash on her kneecap.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Cindy is one of the clumsiest people I know.

After sitting on the side of the road for a few minutes, we got her up and limped back to the campground. She iced her ankle down and I cleaned up the knee with some peroxide and Neosporin. We wrapped the ankle with an ACE bandage, and limped her into Chuck's jeep.

Rather than unhook our truck and trailer, Chuck said we could take his classic little CJ-5 into town so we could see the Mission Church of San Ignacio. This is one of the nicest Mission's in Baja, and was built in the 1700's with local lava rock. The walls are four feet thick and the church was surprisingly still in very good shape.

After wandering around the beautiful Mission, we had some breakfast at a little cafe that sits right in the town square. The small village of San Ignacio is just what you would imagine the small villages of Mexico to be like.

A small town square lined with monstrous trees and surrounded by small brick buildings that look like they have been here for hundreds of years. Breakfast was very good and even though we had no idea what Cindy ordered, it was excellent along with the service from what looked like a nice family that ran the place. Again, I wish we could speak Spanish so we could communicate with these very nice people.

They go out of their way to make you feel comfortable, but I wish we could speak to them and learn some of the local culture without so much of a language barrier.

After breakfast, we drove back to our campground, which by the way was advertised on the side of a truck door at the entrance...LOL We packed up camp, and got back on the road headed towards Mulegé.

Make sure to check out our Misión San Ignacio - Baja California Sur, Mexico Gallery where we have put together a collection of pictures from the beautiful Mission.

Chuck had warned us that this stretch of road would be some of the tightest we have seen yet. We needed to come up over a mountain pass and down the other side where Mexican HWY 1 would reach the Gulf of California for the first time on our adventure.

The tight turns can be a bit dangerous if a semi is headed up the hill at the same time. The roads are so narrow, that the approaching trucks have to come across the lane into oncoming trafic. We only passed two and both times we just came to a complete stop way before the turn to give them as much room as possible.

Even with us stopping, one truck almost hit the side of Chuck's rig and all of us were holding our breath for a few seconds. Once into Mulegé, we just rolled on through only stopping for fuel. The town of Mulegé itself is too small and the roads are too tight to pull into with our RV's, so this is why we didn't stop except for fuel. $43 to top of my tank put a huge smile on my face. I'm loving these Mexican fuel prices. Remember we had just left California with diesel prices right around $6 per gallon

We plan on camping just outside of town along the beach at Playa Santispac for the next few days. This beach is beautiful, and only $7 per night for drycamping. The back of our camper is only 10 feet from the crystal clear, turquoise water of Bahía Concepción.

Google Earth image of Bahía Concepción

We parked right beside a palapa and got out the beach chairs. Cindy and Sandy were in their bathing suits and applying the oil within minutes while Chuck and I set up camp.

A local Mexican guy was walking down the beach selling some handmade crafts, and I bought a woven hammock from him. Cindy and I had been talking about getting one for some time now, and I'd rather give my money to a local merchant than a corporation any day.

With a warm salty breeze blowing off the water, we all lounged under the shade of the palapa sipping on some cold beverages. This is as close to perfection as you can get. This tropical paradise is what I had envisioned when I thought of Baja, and we were finally there.

After a few hours of just lying around on the beach, the dogs had calmed down after a few dips in the water and a good sunbath, Cindy and I walked down to Ana's, which is a small bar on the Playa.

They were having a pig roast tonight with the theme being Senior Prom. Senior being the keyword...LOL Most of the women camped along the beach had used this as an excuse to break out their jewelry and fancy dresses, where most of the men were in shorts, flip flops and tuxedo shirts.

We bellied up to the bar and started mingling with the locals. One woman, Suzanne, who has lived here for the last 15 years sat down beside us and started chatting with us. She knew all the local gossip and was hilarious to talk with. Another woman who owns a local Bed & Breakfast came up and asked if we could help pin her dress in the back?

I got up from my stool at the bar and she climbed up so Cindy could pin the bottom of her dress so it wouldn't drag in the sand. We met another couple that was from Michigan and lived only a few towns away from where we used to live. The world is a small place, and the more you travel the more you realize how small it is.

Our cute little Mexican bartender was serving the drinks like a champ, and before long, I could tell the tequila was getting the best of Cindy and I. We excused ourselves and headed home. By this point, I'm not sure who was helping who, Cindy with her gimpy ankle, or me with my tequila buzz.

The sun had set and the afterglow was just beautiful on the water. After our long day, Cindy and I were in bed by 8:30! I'm not sure if we were just really tired, or if the bottle of Tequila had anything to do with it, but we were snoring soundly for the rest of the night.

Conclusion of Today's Drive = 3.2 hours drive time, 97.8 miles, 30 mph Average, 11.8 MPG average, filled the tank up for $43, saw one dead cow on the side of the road, made it to the Gulf of California!

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Sunday

There is nothing better for a hangover than a good paddle in the Ocean. Even though we slept for 9 hours last night my head felt like those little Mexicans that made all that Tequila were still pounding away on their tambourines.

We got up and unloaded the Kayaks from the roof of the truck. Cindy's ankle is just gross today and looks like a plum sitting on the side of her foot. We joked that she looks like she has a bad case of Kankle, but she was a trooper and was up and at em' bright and early.

Early in the morning, the bay is as calm as a pane of glass. There was no wind to speak of and the crystal clear water was just calling for us.

The first few hundred feet the water is only knee deep, but then it drops off fast. There were so many fish in the crystal clear water and more stingrays than I had ever seen.

There are little islands just across the bay, and they're filled with cactus and thousands of birds. Big pelicans were on every rock barking and calling to their mates. These pelicans have different colors than any I've ever seen. Yellow heads with red fur down their neck.

Paddling in and out of the lava rocks that lined the shore, we were all pointing out the dozens of starfish, stingrays, and large schools of colorful fish in and around the underwater caves.

Cindy said her ankle was throbbing, so we paddled back across the bay so she could take some Advil and get it up in the air. The rest of the day was spent with me on the computer trying to edit some of the thousands of pictures we've taken in the last week, and Cindy lying on the beach with her feet in and out of the cool turquoise water.

Chuck and Sandy drove into town to get some supplies and do some exploring on their own and most of the campers on the beach had packed up to head to some other destination. So for most of the day, we had the whole beach to ourselves.

A group of 4 RV's all from Canada pulled in beside us late in the afternoon. Their large black female German Shepard was full of energy, and within minutes her and Luca were running up and down the beach playing with each other.

The owner Dave, said that she is so full of energy, she usually wears out any dog she tries to play with. That was just what Luca needed. For about a half hour straight, these two young pups sprinted up and down the beach jumping and playing and running through the shallow surf.

After Luca was good and worn out, he came inside the camper and snuggled up in bed with Cindy. He's now sprawled out across the bed lying on his back and snoring so loud, you'd think it's a diesel truck idling. The funny thing is he's sleeping so soundly that his mouth is open and he's showing all of his teeth. Cindy and I are laughing at him and taking pictures, and he doesn't have a care in the world.

Ah, a dog's life, wouldn't it be great if we could all live one.
​

After going into town yesterday to upload our blogs to the website and check our emails, I wanted to let everyone know that I can receive emails just fine, but for some reason, I can not reply to any of them. My outbox is filling up fast, and every time I try to send anything, I just get an error message?

So I apologize to everyone who is sending us emails, keep them coming and we'll be in touch as soon as we return to the States.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Monday

Cindy woke up early this morning all freaked out because she remembered our Credit Card bill was due today. We try and never carry that much cash with us and use the credit card for almost everything.

If we're late, they tack on a huge percentage and a stiff late fee, so she was all worried that we were going to miss the cut off time. The company is on the East Coast of the United States, so we were way behind their schedule.

We jumped in the truck and headed back into Mulegé so we could go to the restaurant where I had uploaded everything yesterday. They only charge $2 an hour, so it's not like it's a hassle or anything, it's just a reason for Cindy to create some excitement in our lives.

The little restaurant that I had found yesterday is like a little resort. Being as yesterday was Sunday, when I had gone into town to try and find a Wi-Fi signal, everything was closed and I thought I was out of luck. But on my way back towards Playa Santispac, I saw a sign for a campground/hotel/restaurant and it said Internet Available.

I pulled in and asked if I could pay to use their wireless connection and the American owner said "I wont let you use the wireless connection, but you're more than welcome to go sit in the bar and plug into a Ethernet cable that we have sitting on the tables."

That was even better! So I ordered an ice cold Corona, sat my butt down and while everything was uploading, I had a nice conversation with the Mexican man who runs the restaurant.

When he saw Cindy and I walk in as his first customers this morning, he smiled and said "Senior, you back so soon?" I told him "I liked the place so much, I thought I'd bring the wife to show her."

While Cindy did her thing and paid the bills, we ordered some breakfast and had a great conversation with the older gentleman. He speaks great English and was filled with information on the Baja Peninsula.

When he saw Cindy gimping around, he asked "What happened to your wife's foot?" I told him the story and said that it was healing up, but now just looked real ugly. He laughed and said "As long as it doesn't smell, then who cares what it looks like!"

He brought her over an empty beer bottle and laid a newspaper on the ground. He told her to stand up and roll the bottom of her foot over the bottle to stretch out the sprain. Cindy did it a few times and said that it hurt like hell.

He said "Well I wont charge you $200 like them sons-a-bitches in the states would!" He told her a few more tricks she could do with the last tip being "When you in the shower, pee on yo' foot!" He said "Pee-pee helps everything!"

We thanked him for all the info and headed back to the beach front campground. By the time we had returned, it was mid-afternoon, and the winds had picked up. It's like clockwork at this location. You wake up to dead calm with glass like water on the bay. Around noon of everyday the winds pick up and for the next few hours you have to batten everything down or it'll blow away. Then as the sun starts to set, the wind dies down and you have a nice calm night.

We sat under the palapa just relaxing in the hammock watching the breeze blow ripples along the water. What a way to spend an afternoon. When it got closer to dinner time, I was talking with one of the Canadians camped beside us after I noticed he had the same Weber Grill that we do.

When I told him I couldn't get it to work off my external propane tank, he told me that he had the same problem. He suggested I try tightening the hose connection where it meets the regulator on the grill soo tight that I think I'm going to break it. He told me he used his for two years before he found that out.

I walked over and got a set of Channel Locks and tightened the crap out of the thing, and what do you know, it fired right up! See why it pays to be nosey and ask a lot of questions.

So in honor of a new working grill, Cindy grilled up some chicken breasts with some grilled onions and mushrooms for a scrumptious dinner.

We then went to bed and watched "The Notorious Bettie Page Story" which was a really good movie. I've always loved the pin-ups I've seen of her, and we had heard an interview with her after the movie came out where she said the movie was good, but not 100% factual. For anyone who grew up with pictures of this Pin-Up Queen on their walls, it's a great DVD.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Tuesday

I woke up before the sunrise this morning and felt great. The weather has been perfect the last few nights for sleeping. You know those nights where you have a cool ocean breeze blowing through the windows but the temps still hover in the high 60's.

Well I threw on my running shoes and went for a nice long jog around the beach. By the time I got back, Cindy had a snack packed up and the four of us were ready for a paddle around the islands.

The water was its usual pane of glass this early with the sun throwing great reflections off the surrounding mountains.

We all paddled out to one of the farthest islands pointing out the different fish and underwater life that thrives in this area.

After an hour on the water, Chuck and Sandy said they were headed back in for breakfast, and Cindy and I headed farther out to another island. This one had a nice shelf that dropped straight into the ocean that was just filled with tropical fish.

I've never seen so many stingrays in my life, and I'm not lying when I say that there are hundreds of them that'll swim right up to your kayak. Star fish, sand dollars, puffer fish and we even spotted a big sea turtle while paddling around.

This area sure is beautiful and I could see spending the winter here with no qualms about sitting still. Just this little beach area that we're camped at has mountains to climb, islands to explore, dozens of little coves to fish and plenty to keep you busy without ever leaving the protected cove.

With our solar panels to keep our energy up, we wouldn't need to worry about hooking up to shore power or the generators, and this area even has a dump station to empty our tanks. If we were going to stay here long term, I'd just get a barrel to run the macerator into and that way you could go months without ever having to move the camper.

Now I just need a few lessons from our friend Darrel back in Arizona so I can start turning wood bowls to keep me busy during the daytime when were not out fooling around, and I could see us spending next winter here.

Once the winds picked up, we got in the truck and went to explore the other beaches along the Bahía Concepción. The next few miles of shore line are lined with different places to camp at, and everyone has its own unique features. We wanted to see if there were any that might be better to camp at.

After checking them all out, we both agreed that Playa Santispac is the best for its protected waters, all day long sun exposure and Ana's Bar only steps from the camper.

When we got back, Cindy suggested Margarita's and I thought that was a great idea. We walked in and said hello to Zulema, the cute little Mexican bartender and ordered two of her famous margarita's.

Tuesday night is a hopping night here at Ana's and there wasn't an empty seat in the place. We mingled with the locals, and started talking with two guys that were traveling Baja on motorcycles.

Marvin and Ken had left their truck in Arizona and crossed the border in Tecate on their dual-sport bikes.

They'd spent the last week traveling down the peninsula on backroads and camping along the way. To me, that would be one awesome way to travel through Baja. The weather is perfect for tent camping, and the back roads are suited perfect for motorcycle travel.

We exchanged emails and said we would keep in touch to see how the rest of their adventure went. The margarita's were starting to catch up, and I needed to find a bed to fall into

I woke up in the middle of the night with all my clothes still on and my glasses smashed against my face. Apparently I had walked in the camper, announced to Cindy that I was exhausted and fell into bed. She said that she thought I was joking, but a few seconds later she heard me snoring louder than Luca and realized that 4 of Zulema's margarita's are too many.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Wednesday

The last few days the Canadians who are camped beside us have talked about paddling with the dolphins every time they go out. We've yet to see them while were out on the water.

Cindy and I sat watching them yesterday while we were on the shore in the truck, so we were determined to see them today up close while paddling.

The four of us loaded up the kayaks, and headed out for a nice long paddle. Chuck and Sandy decided they didn't want to go that far out into open water with the dogs on the back of their kayaks, so they turned around to head home about a mile into the bay.

Cindy and I paddled out to where we had seen the playful little dolphins yesterday and sat waiting for a glimpse. As anything that you sit waiting for, they never arrived. So we decided after eating lunch in the boats, that we would paddle back to one of the islands that was loaded with huge Magnificent Frigate birds.

I had spotted a few of these birds yesterday while paddling around this island, but didn't have a long enough lens to get any good shots of them. Today I was armed with my longest lenses, a Canon 28-300mm and was determined to get some close-ups.

Half way to the island and about our 3rd hour of paddling, Cindy said that she was getting tired and was just going to paddle back to the camper. I told her to go ahead, and I'd meet up with her later. Just as she was paddling away, I yelled to her "Look on the horizon."

On the horizons edge, there was a giant cluster of birds going crazy dive-bombing into the water and creating a ruckus. She yelled back, "I'm sure that's where the dolphins are, but I'm not paddling all the way out there."

So I sat snapping images of the Magnificent Frigatebirds keeping an eye on the cloud of birds that seemed to get closer every few minutes. When the birds were only a few hundred yards off the small island I was floating around, I could see what the commotion was. About 50 dolphin were circling schools of fish and jumping around in an eating frenzy. The hoards of birds were dive-bombing and trying to get their fill when ever they had a chance.

I couldn't believe my eyes with the waves these dolphins were creating by jumping and lining up to circle the fish like cowboys would with a heard of cattle. I paddled over and floated right in the middle of the commotion with dolphin jumping all around me.

My heart was pounding so loud I thought it was going to scare the dolphins and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as they jumped all around me splashing and soaking me and my camera gear. This was so wild to be right in the middle of this while trying not to get my kayak tipped over by the crashing surf they were creating.

I was trying to get some pictures during all of this, but between holding up a big camera, balancing the kayak with just my hips and not getting tipped over by the jumping dolphins, I wasn't too sure I was going to get any shots that I'd be able to show Cindy.

I snapped a few hundred images real quick before the Compact Flash Card was full, so I put the camera away in the small Pelican Box and just paddled along the feeding frenzy till they started to drift back into open water. By this point I was exhausted as it had been over 4 hours on the water and turned towards the camper with an amazing smile on my face.

When I paddled back up to our camp, Chuck was outside his Coach and asked if I had seen anything good? I was so excited, he probably thought I was a young kid on Christmas morning describing all their new presents Santa had brought.

I told the gang about the crazy stuff they had missed while we all chilled out in our hammocks under the palapa. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful except for Cindy's coconut chicken she cooked for lunch which attracted a few hundred honey bee's at every window of the camper.

Since I'm allergic to bee's, I was held captive inside the camper for the next hour till the winds picked up and blew them away. Who ever knew that bee's loved coconut so much?

This was also hysterical for Cindy but I was hard pressed to find any humor in the situation. Just what I need would be to get attacked by bee's while I'm in another country and far from the nearest hospital.

For our evening movie, we watched King Kong, the newest version which made Cindy cry and not even finish the movie. I was laughing at her telling her that "It's just a movie and she shouldn't be crying over a computer generated gorilla!"

But she told me that "His eyes look so sad, and I just feel so bad for him!" Oh well, I'd have to say it was alright, but I liked the version I remembered as a child better than this one with all the crazy computer generated stuff. It was a bit over the top for me.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Thursday

Cindy was determined to see the dolphin today, so she packed a big lunch and was ready to go kayaking before I was even awake this morning, which is rare.

The water was so calm and there wasn't even a hint of breeze this morning. You could tell today was going to be a hot one. We paddled out to look at the Magnificent Frigatebirds on the island that was filled with them yesterday, but today there was only a few of them there? I'm not sure why they had moved to another island in such a short time, but there were none to be found.

So we decided to check out a few of the far off islands today. We paddled farther out than we have so far, and were treated with one island that had hundreds of huge pelicans along the shoreline. We sat watching their goofy antics while the Western Gull's barked at us begging for scraps of food.

The water was very calm all day today and was almost eerie with no wind and glass like surface as far as you could see in every direction. The only sounds you could hear was our paddles hitting the water with the screeching sound of the birds fighting over the fish that were jumping all around us.

We stopped on one sandy island beach for some lunch, and found a pile of stingray skeletons on the edge of the beach. We wondered what that was from and how weird it was to see so many skeletons all piled up along the rocks.

By the time we paddled back to the camper, our morning workout had probably put 5 to 6 miles of water under our boats and we both were ready for some rest in the hammock.

Chuck and Sandy had just returned from Mulegé where Chuck had found a welder who could repair the roof rack on his Jeep. A few welds on the corners and it was as sturdy as could be.

We all sat around enjoying the beautiful hot weather commenting that today was probably the hottest day we have had so far. Our outside thermometer registered at 96.8°! Sitting in the shade of the palapa with the warm breeze blowing off the water it felt great, but to go inside the camper wasn't any fun.

After a short siesta, we all loaded up in the trucks and went up to visit Elena, who owns a beautiful Bed & Breakfast, Casa De Los Suenos which overlooks Bahía Concepción. Elena is the funny woman we had met the other night at Ana's Cantina during the Senior Prom. She was the woman who got up on the stool so Cindy could help button her dress on the bottom.

When we got to talking, she asked us to come look at her B&B and check out her view of the beautiful bay. When we walked out onto the back balcony, my jaw hit the tiled floor. To see the bay from atop the hill was just breathtaking. The water turns such a cool shade of turquoise from this angle and I'd have to agree with Elena that she has one of the best views in Baja.

She gave us the grand tour of her beautiful home that her and her husband had built some 15 years ago. She had never planned on making it a B&B, she said she has numerous kids and plenty of grandchildren, and didn't want them trashing her house.

So they built it big enough that they'd all have their own section.

When her husband passed away, she decided it was such a big house with such an amazing view, and with her background as a gourmet chef, why not share some of her beauty and cooking talents with others.

On the hill beside her home, I noticed dozens of solar panels and asked how she powered her B&B. She told us "I have 25 solar panels, 20 deep cell batteries, an 8,000 watt Onan Generator and a 5,000 watt Honda Generator if the sun cant keep up." She looked at us with a smile and said "I'm never without electricity!"

I was impressed with her solar array and she told us that she started the generators up in January just to let them run a bit, and except for that last time, she's run 100% off the solar panels for the last 4 months.

We all sat talking in her big open living room about some of the local beauty and how wonderful this must be to have that view 24 hours a day. I probably said "WOW!" 10 times while we were sitting there. I could sit and look out over the bay for a few years before I'd get sick of that sight.

When Cindy mentioned that we had been kayaking and saw all those Stingray skeletons, Elena told us "The local fisherman will catch a boat load of the rays, and clean them right on the beach leaving the carcasses for the birds to pick clean."

When Cindy asked what they used them for, she said it was some sort of fish jerky you can get at the roadside stands. Yuck!

After an hour or so of great conversation, we excused ourselves and thanked Elena and Maria for the tour. The women had a dinner date in Mulegé and we didn't need to be holding them up. If anyone who is traveling to Baja in search of an island paradise and doesn't have an RV, this is the spot for you!

Make sure to give Elena a call or check out her website for more info.

 

[1leglance]

Ooohhh yeah
This is what expo is all about
Great report, amazing pics and you really make me feel like hitting the road tomorrow
Thx

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Great thread and great pictures! As usual!

I had a question though, did you happen to ask how the Canadians liked their Kayaks? I cant quite make it out, but what brand are they?

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Thanks Lance and the name of the Kayaks are Cobra Kayaks and they were pretty sweet

They stacked atop one another and even though they were sit on tops, they still had a nice dry hatch on the front of the boats. This was what made my wife and I realize we both want to ditch our traditional boats and move to sit on tops.

The waters around Baja are so perferct for snorkeling, to have the ability to just jump off the side of the boat with a mask and fins was ideal. This is much harder when trying to re-enter the boat and crawl back into a small hatch like our boats have.

 

[RU55ELL]

Awesome report. Thanks for sharing!