My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Thanks Park.....I definitely want to spend at least one day checking out the whales. That sounds like a good spot. I'm not certain but I may go to Laguna de San Ignacio to do it. It seems as though they charge 50 % less since it's off the beaten path, but who knows until you get there.....

I never made it out of Vizcaino yesterday. It takes a minimum of two nights to really get to know what a town is about, and preferably three.....

So rather than eat my typical healthy cereal for breakfast, I decided to walk through town and eat out. My plan was huevos (eggs) and pan (bread). That's what I asked for but that's not what I got (even though they said we have it). Anyhow I guess I had more of a typical Mexican breakfast, tacos and of course black coffee.....





The vendors were very friendly and we got into a (limited) conversation about Donald Trump. His name has come up often, the consensus seems to be that they think he hates Mexicans. Fortunately that doesn't seem to matter at my level. Anyhow breakfast was excellent but I need to lay off the hot sauce.....

I spent the day walking down the streets through town, and made my way into the neighborhoods as well. That's a part of travel that I've always enjoyed.....trying to actually immerse myself into the lives of the local people. I would trade most any "touristy" thing for an invite from a local.....





Not only did I walk through the neighborhoods, I also drove since I want the dogs to get out too. There's so many wild dogs running loose here, it's making me keep my dogs on a short lease. It's sad for me to see the lack of care for all the dogs but it's not uncommon here. We stopped at a neighborhood store hopeful of striking up a conversation but the owner was not friendly, a first for me.....



The gift for the day was stumbling across a soccer game between two local clubs.....





These kids had great skills and played a very aggressive style of soccer, which is a style that appeals to me.....





There were quite a lot of yellow cards issued as well.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I stopped by the local bread maker again and stocked up on freshly baked goods. This lady is a real sweetheart.....





One of my biggest concerns prior to coming to Mexico was the availability of fuel. There's plenty to be had and I'm feeling a bit stupid carrying 15 gallons of spare diesel. Its overkill.....



This is probably the coolest dog I've seen in Mexico so far. He's chillin.....



I was back at the same place last night for dinner where I ingested even more hot sauce. I've really got to slow down on that stuff but.....





Something to think about.....

 

[unkamonkey]

Nice write up Jerry, go with your dreams. People give me crap about how I live my life but I usually have a dog following me back home in the afternoon from a friends house.

 

[georgia5623]

Great pictures!!!!!!

 

[Bane Harper]

Its tempting me to do the same.... I loves to travel its hell fun :bike_rider:

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Thanks guys.....

Vizcaino turned out to be the perfect rest stop for me. The one thing I noticed about this place is that the gringos don't stop here, unless they need fuel. And that's probably what's kept this little town the way it is. But after a few nights rest, it was time to get back on the road. We were back on Mex 1 headed south and east with San Ignacio as our next planned stop. It wasn't much of a drive.....we made one stop along the way.....



We made a quick visual trip into San Ignacio, which is located several miles south of Mex 1, and my first impression was this is a cool little place, a bit touristy but I thought I'd like it, so we made a u turn and headed back to a campground we had passed.....



I can't remember how long it's been since I've seen a large body of fresh water but San Ignacio is an oasis in the desert and it was simply amazing. We picked a spot on the shoreline and set up camp.....



It wasn't long before I had the kayak out and we hit the water.....





Afterwards we drove the Jeep into town to check things out. The town is built around a square with a park in the center. At one end is Mission San Ignacio de Kadakaman, built in 1728. It was pretty cool but honestly it didn't hold my interest for long.....





After a few minutes I found myself back out in the streets trying to talk with the locals and checking out the buildings and what not.....





Walking outside of town we crossed paths with these cowboys.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Grabbed a quick bite to eat before returning to the campsite.....





Quite a few families had gathered next to my site for a huge Mexican cook out. Their kids loved the dogs and overtook my site and had a blast. I hung out and was well fed by the families....

Happy to have brought my own toilet.....



Believe it or not, lunch was so good, I ate even more as I returned to the same restaurant.....



Lots of wild horses in the date trees. I haven't a clue what their story is.....or even if they're wild actually.....



We returned to camp and the party had only grew in numbers. I turned on all the exterior lights on the camper to light the area up for them. I kicked back with my book and listened to Mexican music blaring late into the evening.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We were up really early the following morning since we had big plans for the day. But I certainly had time for a few cups of coffee and a sunrise in the oasis.....







Now our big plan was to drive out to Laguna de San Ignacio and hop on a boat and see some whales. I had heard that there was a lot of whale activity this year so I was pretty stoked. The bay empties into the Pacific Ocean so our drive was mostly in a southwest direction. The first 30 miles or so of the road is paved and you can make good time. The next 15 miles or so to Kuyima Camp is quite rough, lots of washboard and just plain old washed out road. The pavement ends quite abruptly with no warning.....



Then it was rough riding ahead.....





I was told that if I was there by 10 a.m. I could make it out that day (morning). I hadn't paid much attention to the scenery on the way in. I had a one tract mind thing going on. Anyhow, I made it and these guys had their act together. They set me up with a campsite right on the water ($6 for the night).....



Unfortunately 3 van loads of mostly seniors were scheduled for that morning. I told the guy no way, I'm not going with them. He said gotcha and he put me in a boat with a couple of young Europeans. Now that worked out great cause the other boats were packed. I don't know.....I kinda feel bad but sometimes I see the tour buses and I just cringe. Here's a picture of a boat I'm glad I wasn't on. It looked like these guys were going overboard for sure.....



It looks to me like the captian is doing his best to offset the weight.....

 

[unkamonkey]

As usual a good write up. There's something about being out with a swimming dog that is good for your soul. I believe we feel the same about dogs and I can't explain why that horse followed me around the field.
I have a 50 gallon fuel tank in my motorhome and a friends father has a 250 gallon tank in his. An old trucker...

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Now from our campsite it's about a 15 minute boat ride, full throttle, to Punta Prieta, the general area where the whales are mating. Unfortunately I can't recall the exact numbers but I believe there were 168 mother / baby whales and well over 200 whales in total. I'm really wishing I'd paid more attention right about now. Anyhow, we saw whales within 5 minutes of leaving shore and then for the next 2.5 hours. Sometimes there'd be as many as a dozen whales surrounding us. It was truly amazing.....









The captain of the boat keeps the engine running at all times so that the whales are aware of our location. We're in a constant movement, as are the whales. Over time the whales seem to be more curious, I'm not certain, but our paths begin to cross.....





Soon they're so close that you can see into their eyes and you realize how curious they are and that they are doing the same as we are. It's truly an unforgettable experience. It's super natural maybe.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Eventually one whale came right up to edge of the boat and just laid there waiting to be petted.....reminded me of my dogs. We'd been told if it happens, make sure to be aggressive with it as its skin is so thick it's the only way they'll feel it. I have to admit petting a whale is as good as it gets.....serious.....







It was a bit unnerving when the whales went underneath the boat, which happened quite often.....





Finally the captain said we needed to head back to shore. Now we had an entire afternoon and evening to hang out. The tide went out, like way out, so we took a long walk along the beach.....







That night I had dinner with some of the staff and a few people that are addicted to whale watching. One woman was on her thirteenth trip, a German guy was on his fourth. We got into a conversation about how often you actually get to touch a whale. The consensus (totally unscientific) was 25 % so I guess I was quite lucky this day.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The following morning we retraced our steps and returned to San Ignacio. I wasn't near so hurried on the return trip and took the time to enjoy the scenery. I was a little amazed with myself at how much I hadn't noticed the day before. From the number of pictures that I'm posting, I guess you can tell that I really did think it was a very nice drive back.....

















And we saw the mission from another direction as we passed thru San Ignacio.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

After passing thru San Ignacio, we got back onto Mex 1 and drove east towards the Sea of Cortez and Santa Rosalia. We had been driving thru the mountains, and we needed to descend to sea level, which is something that happens very rapidly on Mex 1. I have no idea what the grade is but I'm guessing 15 %. I'm seriously dreading the return trip as we will need to backtrack at some point. Most of the roads in Santa Rosalia are one way, very narrow, so there was no way I was taking my rig thru there. We drove about 10 mikes south of town and found ourselves a campground on a small cove. It wasn't ideal but it worked. Then we took the Jeep into town to check things out.....







Maybe you noticed that the construction of the buildings in Santa Rosalia is not like any other Mexican dwelling. Most of the buildings here were built with wood imported from the Pacific Northwest.....



Then there's this church designed by A.G. Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower guy).....





The people were super friendly and I stumbled onto an awesome bakery where I bought way too much stuff.....



The public library was rather odd.....



The government offices looked British to me.....



I just wasn't real impressed with this town. Oh well, I guess that really doesn't matter.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The following morning we had a real nice sunrise in our little cove. This place was loaded with Pelicans.....



We were back on Mex 1 and driving south to our next destination, Mulege (pronounced Moo-lay-HAY). Now I'd heard about this village from some people when I was in Calexico, and it was all good. So I've kinda been anxious to see it for myself. Mulege has not disappointed.....it's an unreal little Mexican village on the Sea of Cortez. I could see myself spending quite a bit of time here down the road. We found ourselves a campsite away from the water. It's been windy the past few days so this has worked great. I've been cleaning up a bit as well.....



After setting up camp, we took the Jeep into town to check things out.....



Mulege is a perfect example of a small Mexican village. Narrow streets lined with cool adobe buildings and houses. It's almost fairytale like.....









Here's one thing you'll see quite a bit of in Mexico.....soldiers. They're always out on patrol.....



There's also the federal police and the municipal police. They had a roadblock in town today. When I drove thru all they said was "hello mister" and waved me on.....



We walked all over town.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I was speaking with a store owner and she described Mulege perfectly.....tranquilo. Everything about this place is relaxing. Somewhat like San Ignacio, it's also located on a river oasis. The village is sited on the north bank of the Rio Mulege, therefore there are huge groves of palm trees and mangrove trees which grow along the river banks. It's magical with the mountains to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the east.....





There's a pretty cool little lighthouse at the confluence of the river and the sea......



This afternoon we hiked up there to have a look.....



There's some great views looking up and down the coastlines, and up the Rio Mulege.....







We took a drive out into the country and saw this sign.....



There's some really nice homes in Mulege such as this house with a bunch of palm trees growing in it.....



And you also have the shacks on the mountainside.....