Desk To Glory - Vancouver to Panama (or farther...)

[Rugy]

Looks like your living the dream.
Have been following your thread here and on your blog with great interest.
Live in N.Van and look forward to seeing your pictures and the posts.
Have started to look for an expedition worthy vehicle and will follow in your footsteps-tracks.
Well that the plan anyway.
Take care and be safe,
Mike

 

[DeskToGlory]

Looks like your living the dream.
Have been following your thread here and on your blog with great interest.
Live in N.Van and look forward to seeing your pictures and the posts.
Have started to look for an expedition worthy vehicle and will follow in your footsteps-tracks.
Well that the plan anyway.
Take care and be safe,
Mike

We definitely feel like we're living the dream Mike and we're having lots of fun updated everyone back home with the blog. There are tons of people we're meeting along the way who are doing this trip from anything to a stock VW Golf to Duramax Silverados with giant slide in campers. Keep the ride simple and reliable so you don't have to worry about it too much!

Richard

 

[DeskToGlory]

Missions, Mudbaths and Machetes

Link to the full blog post is here: http://desktoglory.com/missions-mudbaths-and-machetes/

It may sound weird to our friends and family back home who are dealing with the rain, snow, and sleet right now… but we were beached out and, as John Muir would say, the mountains are calling.

There is a 30km stretch of ever winding paved road heading west from the coastal town of Loreto that ends at the San Javier mission. This mission is one of the best-preserved missions in Baja. The main cobblestone street was lined with vendors getting ready for the Festivities of the Patron Saint, set to start in the upcoming days. The four of us stopped for a beer and lunch and decided what to do next (after checking out the mission of course!).

Option 1: Drive back along the same good road and continue south to La Paz.

Option 2: Drive the potentially bad road west to the highway on the other side of the peninsula and hope for somewhere to camp along the way, hope that the roads weren’t entirely washed out, and hope that these 70 km of driving wouldn’t take us 5 hours.

As we are adventurous beings, we decided on Option 2. After stopping to air down near a rancho with some friendly goats and a dirty little pup, we continued on our journey. We ran into our first river crossing after about 20 minutes on the bumpy road. We popped out of the truck for a quick scouting mission to check how deep the river was… at least it was only about 14”! They always look deeper than they actually are. Just to make sure, we locked the hubs, threw it in 4lo, and pushed forward. No problem!

We ended up crossing many rivers in the same manner, always hoping there wasn’t one that would make us turn back. There was only one we were hesitant about crossing, but the locals who were working on the road nearby hopped in their 2wd Chevy pickup with bald tires and showed us that it wasn’t a big deal. Okay, fine.

As the sun headed closer to the horizon we decided it was time to find a place to camp. We were in the deep Baja wilderness so our new options (hey, it’s like a ‘choose your own adventure’ book!) were to find a local and camp on their property or boondock. Richard had the impression that his Pimsleur lessons were working their magic and felt confident in asking the first rancher we came across, “Where is the camping?”

“Donde esta campo?” Richard asked as he shrugged his shoulders.

The rancher gave him a crazy look. Or a look like he was looking at someone crazy.

“Si, el campo.” The rancher replied as he waved his hands in a wide, all encompassing gesture.

“Gracias!”

At first we thought, “Let’s continue on, that rancher had the crazy eyes going on. Plus, he said we can camp anywhere.” Ashley, with her trusty English/Spanish and Spanish/English dictionary realized that el campo actually meant “countryside.” Embarassing gringo/local moment #1.

We continued for another 10 minutes before finding a nice clearing on the side of a river. We set up camp and before long a kid with a machete showed up. Everyone was preparing dinner in the XP camper while Richard was collecting wood for the fire.

“Buenas tardes!”

“Buenas tardes.” He replied.

Okay, greeting complete.

Now, let’s try this again with (what we think is) the correct word for camping, ‘el campimento’.

“El campimento OK?” Hopefully that came across as, ‘Camping okay?’

“Si!” he replied as he made a sleeping gesture with his palms together at the side of his head.

And then he proceeded to hack a couple of the nearby trees apart with his machete. After each swing he would look back at Richard with a giant grin. This was most likely in a childish showing off sort of way and hopefully not in a, ‘Don’t camp here or I’ll do this to you’ sort of way.

Eventually the boy’s older brother showed up. Ashley and Erica watched the scene from inside the camper. Richard, young Manney from Modern Family holding a machete, and his older brother stood around the campfire looking awkwardly at each other.

At this point Richard was really wishing they had made it past the 3rd Pimsleur lesson. There is really only so much conversation you can have in Spanish with a total of 30 minutes of lessons.

“Good evening”

“How are you?”

“Are you Mexican?” – Thanks for this one Pimsleur… :/

Eventually the English/Spanish dictionary came out, the boys got some rudimentary facts about each other sorted out, and we had a great place to camp in the middle of nowhere and knew our neighbors well enough to be comfortable for the night.

 

[T.Low]

Nice thread. The only thing missing is me and my van. Hope to leave in March.

Subscribed. Thanks and good travels.

 

[DeskToGlory]

How a Shirtless Mexican Ruffian Almost Drove Ashley from Todos Santos Back to Canada

Full blog post here: http://desktoglory.com/how-a-shirtless-mexican-ruffian-almost-drove-ashley-from-todos-santos-back-to-canada/

By Ashley

After a long day of driving around the port city of La Paz attempting to find a Fed Ex (and failing, just missing their open business hours by about 15 minutes), we decided to get the hell out of there and move on to Todos Santos. Located on the southwest side of the Baja peninsula, Todos Santos is about an hour’s drive north of Cabo San Lucas. We were tired. We were frustrated. We were hungry. Time to go… and wait in rush hour for 60 minutes… and then go.

Pretty much as soon as we arrived, there was a Fed Ex shining its beautiful beacon at us. This was a great reminder that Mexico works in mysterious ways and not necessarily according to our timeline – going with the flow is mandatory. Richard parked the truck and I stayed put in the passenger’s seat, perusing the local map. A shirtless, sweaty bicycle-riding Mexican ruffian approached the driver’s window, which was rolled down (first mistake).

“Ola.”

“Ola!”

He proceeded in very fast Spanish (frankly all Spanish seems fast to me at this point) but clearly emphasized “bella” (points to eyes). The shirtless bicycle-riding ruffian then did several Italian-inspired kisses of the fingertips.

“No entiendo espanol.” I smile and shrug.

The Shirtless Mexican ruffian looked sad. He points to me, points to eyes, “bella!”

I shrug. He looks frustrated. He asks me to write something down (my number?). We banter back and forth in extremely confused Spanglish.

I attempt to explain to him that we drove from Canada. I make driving motions with my hands and say “from Canada.” This seemed to surprise him, and he said in Spanish (I’m assuming) “Really?! Are you sure!?”

“Si!”

Mr. Shirtless proceeds to put his backpack into the cab of the truck and onto the driver’s seat.

Oh, he thinks we’re driving to Canada together. ****.

“No! No! No!!!” I attempted to push his backpack out of the cab and cried, “Esposa!!!!” while pointing at the Fed Ex. Thankfully Richard then came strolling around the corner and with a big smile said, “Buenas tardes!”

Mr. Shirtless says, “Ohhhhh close one!”

That qualifies as embarassing gringo/local moment #2. I’m sure he had a great time telling his buddies that he almost drove to Canada with a green-eyed bella gringo, if only her husband hadn’t shown up.

Todos Santos was a very hip and happening little town, with many ex-pats and hippies. We found health food stores, juice bars, $6 yoga classes, an amazing reggae night at a free-spirited local outdoor restaurant, cute cafes, farmer’s markets, art galleries, and beautiful boutique hotels. We also found delicious street tacos, ice cream, and lattes. We bought mango empenadas, dates (datils), and organic eggs and mint. Todos Santos is definitely had an interesting mix of the local/gringo/ex-pat lifestyle, and there were many things to see and do. And apparently, very interesting locals to meet as well.

Here are links to some of the places we visited.

Pura Vida Health Foods Store had a great selection of organic veggies/herbs and some pricey items from back home, such as organic peanut butter, eco-friendly soaps, etc. They also had fresh smoothies and juices and coconut water.

La Esquina – We went to an amazing reggae night with our fellow British overlanding pals Alan and Julea. The venue was sweet and there was quite the mix of locals, hippies, hipsters, kids, and travelers. During the day the space converts into a restaurant/café serving healthy and organically grown items.

We just walked through the Hotel California, but it is stunning with a really amazing open-planned dining room with white billowy sheets hanging from the ceiling. Muy romantico!

Cafelix was a great place to be as it had free wifi, delicious horchata, and the owner was very helpful in directing us to live music and told us about the in-town events. Their lattes were yummy (and massive!).

 

[DeskToGlory]

Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape

Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape

Read the full blog post here: http://desktoglory.com/cabo-san-lucas-lands-end-and-the-east-cape/

It took four weeks for us to get to the very southern tip of Baja after crossing at Tijuana into northern Mexico. We had crossed back and fourth from the Pacific side to the Cortez side of the peninsula multiple times. We had driven on dirt, sand, good roads, bad roads, no roads, free roads, and toll roads, but to get to Land’s End we would have to park the truck and hop in a boat. Honestly we didn’t even expect to see Land’s End until we were offered a boat ride from one of the friends vendors on the beach there only to please us! (And make a living on the side). Okay, deal. After a quick haggle there were four of us scrambling onto a boat.

El Arco de Cabo San Lucas (read: the giant rock arch at the end of the peninsula) took our breath away. The color of the water, the tropical fish, the rock formation itself, and the significance of the fact that we had driven south along the coast as far was we could felt like a milestone.

We now totally get why you would want to fly down to Cabo San Lucas for a week to escape the northern winter. The sun was hot, the fine white sand beaches were soft, and the water was bathtub warm. Book a flight, relax on the beach for a few days, and then rent a car to explore the surrounding areas such as Todos Santos and the East Cape. Do it, your mind and body will thank you.

After a day in Cabo San Lucas we drove east to Cabo San Jose to stock up on food before heading out to the East Cape. The dirt road that runs along the coast is stunning. Your eyes have a workout trying to take in the blue sea, sandy beaches, and epic mountain backdrops. After an hour on this road we pulled over with Song of the Road and had the beach (with palapas) to ourselves.

The next day we had rain, and more rain, and more rain. Once the rain broke a little we stopped at Cabo Pulmo. If nothing else the rain gave us some great opportunities for photos and a chance to try out our ARB Awning!

The next day threatened of rain again so we drove up to Los Barilles for a couple nights before saying a sad goodbye to Song of the Road and heading to La Paz to catch the ferry.

These last three days go undocumented with the camera as Richard was faceplanted in the tent fighting the demons that waged war in his stomach and intestines. Richard is quite certain he did nothing to Montezuma to provoke this revenge, but suffered nonetheless. This wasn’t exactly the last memory we wanted of Baja, so we’ll remember Cabo and the East Cape and four straight weeks with new friends.

 

[DeskToGlory]

We Made It To Mazatlan

Check out the entire blog post and photos here: http://desktoglory.com/mazatlan-how-we-love-thee/

We arrived in Mazatlan fresh off the boat, and with no map we made our way through town to the Zona Dorada (The Golden Zone) in which the RV parks are located. After some tediously uninteresting and un-blogpost worthy activities such as laundry and unpacking, we strolled through the local area, checked out the beach, and looked for a good place to eat dinner. A local tour operator advised us that there was a great place where the locals ate called “Taco Time.” Oh, really. Come on now. We want real Mexican food, amigo! Eventually we found Taco Time and it was a legitimate and tasty place for a cheap dinner in the Golden Zone.

Mainland Mexico welcomed us with open arms. We loved the Baja, but were excited to experience something new and different. We soaked up the culture in Mazatlan and have summarized our favourite things.

1. The Malecon. This beautiful and wide stretch of pavement runs along the ocean and is the ideal place for a bike ride, jog or stroll. The beach is close by in case you desire a quick swim. Apparently (if you can believe the locals and Wikipedia) the Malecon in Mazatlan is the longest in world, totalling 21 km.

2. Old Mazatlan. This historic section is marked by a huge cathedral, the market, a beautiful and lush town square, a theatre, and several art galleries dotted along the way. Food stands are easy to find with a variety of tantilizing treats.

3. The Market. You must visit the market in Old Mazatlan! We love how whenever we travel and enter a market, it feels like we could be anywhere in the world. We have been to markets in Tel Aviv, Laos, Jordan, and Vietnam. The contents are essentially the same – fresh produce, fresh meat, fish and eggs, trinkets, and food stalls outlining the perameter as you exit. We love walking into markets and disappearing through the aisles and rows of merchants selling pretty much anything you need (or don't).

4. The Street Food. Pretty sure we have decided to incorporate a rigorous exercise regime into our daily routine due to Mexico's diverse and delicious street food. We ate everything from sweets to soup, tacos to ice cream, and everything in between.

We also went to a power vinyasa yoga class in Old Mazatlan at Villa Margarita. The class kicked our butts as we haven't practiced in a while, but the studio was beautiful and the teacher was fantastic. She did the class in Spanish and English and we'll make sure to go back if we are ever in Mazatlan again!

 

[Wainiha]

Sounds like fun. Just read the thread. I need to go back and read all the blogs now.

 

[TheBuddyExpedition]

Awesome report, thanks for the info, it will come in handy soon as we head North!!

 

[DeskToGlory]

Full blog post here: http://desktoglory.com/a-christmas-miracle-in-puerto-vallarta/

December 23, 2013 – 9:00 p.m.

The night watchman arrived by surprise at our door. He rattled off a string of sentences in Spanish, which Richard interpreted as “follow me!” with a big smile on his face. So together Richard and the night watchman walked up the dark main road away from our apartment. After about 1/2 a km Richard started to get nervous. He was in a foreign country, with no cash in his pockets, following a Mexican stranger into the darkness. Richard asked where they were going, and the night watchman pointed to a hotel up the road.

When they arrived at the hotel, another security guard showed up. Now Richard was with three security guards who didn't speak English in a strange hotel. The security guard at the hotel proceeded to pull our our Rubbermaid container and 20 litre Scepter water jug from behind the counter.

12 hours earlier…

We woke up early, ate breakfast, and jumped in the truck excited to make our way to Boca De Tomatlan for an epic half day hike. A bit fuzzy brained and bleary-eyed we hopped out of the truck, donned our packs, and went around the back of the truck to head towards the start of the trail.

This is what we saw.

Apparently someone had smashed the glass and pried one of the locks, taking our Rubbermaid container full of pots, pans, and dinnerware, as well as our 20L water jug. We jumped back in the truck, irritated that our hiking plans had been thwarted (and that our truck was kind of ****************), and made our way to the apartment we are staying at for several days over Christmas. After unloading most of our belongings into the apartment we set off to try and fix the gaping hole that was the back of our overlanding rig.

5 hours later, after driving to a few shops and ending up at a glass repair shop, the Toyota emerged with a fancy dancy steel rear-end. Due to a slight language barrier, the steel ended up being painted a hilarious red colour to “match” the truck, but at least it was bandit-proof!



9:15 p.m.

Richard was standing around trying to figure out why the heck three guys were in possession of the gear that was stolen from our truck the night before. Finally the hotel manager approached, and explained to Richard in English why they had our belongings. Our security guard had last night off. The other two security guards had seen two individuals poking around the vehicles in front of our apartment, whistling to each other to communicate. They then heard the smash of breaking glass, came out to look, and saw the thieves carrying our stuff. The guards chased the thieves, grabbed our stuff, and kept it overnight as they didn't know who it belonged to. This evening they came to our apartment building and chatted with the security guard and explained the whole story. THAT was why he was so excited when he arrived at our doorstep this evening.

We think this qualifies as a Christmas miracle.

 

[Rugy]

Does sound like a miracle.

Merry Xmas

 

[DeskToGlory]

Our Baja Summary Post

Our latest blog post summarizing our Baja,MX budget and route: http://desktoglory.com/baja-california-summary-39-days-in-paradise-for-1386/

You need three things to spend 39 days adventuring through Baja California:

1. The AAA Map for Baja

This map showed all of the small places that a lot of other maps didn't. The scale is perfect for scouting your route, discussing potential campsites with people you meet along the way, and navigating your way south.

2. Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping and/or Traveler's Guide to Camping Mexico's Baja by Mike and Terri Church

This is the go-to guide for anybody we've met travelling. There has been a consensus that both are about 80% accurate. The last 20% are RV parks that have gone out of business since publishing. We only ran into a couple of places that didn't exist, but make sure to give yourself plenty of time to track down a campsite before the sun sets We hear they also update their website regularly if you do research ahead of time.

3. $1386

We really didn't know what to expect when we crossed the border, but we found desolate mountains and deserts, warm white sand beaches, delicious fish tacos. Grab a map, your car or truck, a pocketful of cash and point south.



BUDGET SUMMARY

Food = $675.73 ($17.33/day)

This includes groceries, eating out, bar tabs, tequila and beer.

Fuel = $353.53 ($9.06/day)

We filled up with 92 Octane whenever possible and paid $1.00/L on average.

Accommodation = $212.13 ($5.44/day)

We camped each of our 39 nights in the Baja. Eleven of those nights were free camping (bonus!).

Misc = $145.11 ($3.72/day)

Our miscellaneous items were tourist cards, oil/filter for the truck, propane tank and propane for the stove, tolls for the toll road, and batteries for the GPS. Note: We didn't include the ferry fees in this summary as they'll be added to the Mainland Mexico summary.

Total = $1386.50 ($35.55/day)

 

[Darwin]

Is that for the both of you?

 

[lysol]

That's insane. I would think gas would be more expensive than that. How many miles would you say that is for $350?

 

[DeskToGlory]

lysol, I think that was about 1500 miles. We've been paying just under $1/L for 92 octane...