[YEAR 7!] Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/53.html on November 28, 2012

While we were in San Diego Mark put us in touch with his friend in Mexico to help us out while we were traveling in the Baja Peninsula. Dan lives in Bahia de Los Angeles (LA Bay), which is on the east coast of the Baja, and he invited us to crash for the night in his cabin by the beachfront on our way south. We've been e-mailing Dan for the last few days as well, and he told us that the Spanish school in La Paz was pretty good, so we're kind of of glad that we're out of Ensenada.

Dan's place by the beach

We left El Rosario pretty late in the day, so the sun was setting fairly fast as we rode Mex-1 southbound and then took a detour eastwards on Mex-12 towards the Gulf of California. The road winds up and over the Sierra de San Borja mountains, and we're barraged by the high winds that the area is known for. It's pitch dark (and only around 5PM) when we arrive at LA Bay, and Dan's place is nothing but a GPS latitude and longitude co-ordinate outside of the town, down an unmarked sandy road that runs parallel to the beach. We had a rule before entering Mexico that we wouldn't ride in the dark - didn't take long to break that rule. We may have to get up a bit earlier now that the sun sets so soon...

The full moon is as high and bright over the Sea of Cortez - view from Dan's cabin

Dan and Nancy greeted us with lots of alcohol and fresh fish and we spent the evening getting very lubricated with them. Dan served us some yellowtail sashimi from a catch earlier on in the day, and we were in heaven! We don't eat sushi very much any more these days and it was such a treat. We got a great sense of what brings ex-pats down to LA Bay, living a cost-effective lifestyle and enjoying the simpler things in life - in Dan's case, it's sport fishing and there's no better place in the Baja for it than LA Bay!

Later that night, a well liquored-up Neda passes out in the cabin. Meanwhile, I am enthralled by the view and walk around the area taking lots of pictures. I don't sleep too much as I want to get a picture of the rising sun over the bay.

Pastel colours in paradise

Dan's cabin, rising sun behind me reflected in the window. And the moon is still visible!

Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez

The reason why LA Bay is such a great place for fishing is that it's one of the few safe harbours in the Sea of Cortez that is protected from the high winds and waves by the number of large islands in the bay. Which also makes it a popular place to dock boats in the marina. Dan told us that not all is paradise, as there's a large drug problem in town and a result, rampant property theft from tweakers looking to support their crystal meth habit.

This is something that I've been wary about, as Mexico does have a very bad reputation in the North American media for the drug-related crime and violence. Neda and I have done a lot of research, trying to balance the Canadian and US state-issued travel advisories, the news articles and what other overland travelers have written about their journey through Mexico. We suspect that there's a truth that lies somewhere between sensationalism and Pollyannaism.

GS slowly warming up

Ex-Pat dreams by the beachside. I've been wandering around taking pictures for over an hour and Neda is still asleep

Cacti against the rising sun over the Sea of Cortez

Dan and Nancy hooking us up with restaurants and things to see and do in the Baja Peninsula

We got treated to a great Mexican breakfast by Dan and Nancy

Nancy at the restaurant

Our very kind and generous host, Dan

We've run into so many awesome people on our trip, and meeting Dan and Nancy really gave us some insight into life as ex-pats in Baja!

 

[clix]

Best thread ever.

 

[lightcycle]

Best thread ever.

Thanks!

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/54.html on November 29, 2012

Southwards we go, armed with a list of places and things to see courtesy of Dan and Nancy! Our trip is like a scavenger hunt! Today we've been recommended to try to make it to Santa Rosalita for the night, only 400 kms away, but since we we're leaving LA Bay after a late breakfast (again, courtesy of Dan), we would probably arrive just before the sun sets.

The ride down Mex-1 was more of the same scenery - beautiful blacktop, twists and turns around the mountains and the ever present cacti along the side of the road cheering us on. Our journey was punctuated by the odd military checkpoint. Soldiers with machine guns stop us and ask about our destination. They're courteous to us despite our lack of Espagnol, and they are all so very young, and very curious about our motorcycles and our trip. These stops are meant to catch drug traffickers, and quite interestingly, we have heard that this effort is partly subsidized by the US government!

Riding into the port town of Santa Rosalia

Santa Rosalia is just south of the Baja Sur (Baja South) border. We lose an hour because of a peculiar time change because this timezone crossing is latitudinal, not longitudinal, placing Baja Sur into MST. This means the sun is still up at 5PM when we arrive at this port city on the shores of the Gulf of California. The outskirts of town are a mixture of industrial buildings and shacks along the roadside. We are tired and hungry and the sun is setting fast, so we book into the first nice (but relatively pricey) hotel and walk into town to find some food. We really do have to make an effort in finding some cheaper accommodations. Baja is a lot more expensive than I thought Mexico would be...

Something smells good in Santa Rosalia!

Neda y nada de gringos

We bypass a few restaurants because there were too many gringos in there. We're really looking for a "local" experience, and we find one with a Mexican family eating inside. When we're seated, the waiter hands us a gringo menu in English. *sigh* BYW, in the picture above, Neda is sipping on a "Michelada". It's a delicious beer/lime/salt concoction and was recommended to us by Yaw, who was our host in Seattle a couple of months ago. Wow, I can't believe we spent two months roaming around the western United States!

The rest of the evening we spent walking around the very small centros area, and we found ourselves hanging out with all the local families and teenagers in the town square watching some people set up a stage presumably for a concert this weekend. Too bad we wouldn't be sticking around, as Neda has just arranged for us to start Spanish classes in La Paz for next Monday morning. The curse of "a schedule" strikes again! Everytime we have to be somewhere at a certain date or time, my chest starts to constrict a little and my heart rate goes up. Or maybe it's just that spicy enchilada we had for dinner...

Retail therapy in Mulege

Our next destination on the way to La Paz is Mulege (pronounced Moolah-Hey), also recommended by Dan and Nancy. This is a quaint town full of neat places to window shop for local arts and crafts and boutique-y restaurants and hotels. As we approached Mulege, the desert flora transformed from cacti to lush, tropical palm trees, courtesy of the Rio de Santa Rosalia. The whole town is in the river valley and was subject to bad flooding in recent years due to the hurricanes in the area.

Flowers in Mulege

Lunch in Mulege

We stopped for lunch in a great hotel/restaurant where we met a whole bunch of gringos from Canada! Penticton, BC specifically. One couple was here on a scouting vacation, looking to move to the area. Apparently, there is a lot of ex-pat interest in Baja Sur.

Ater lunch, we hit the road and ride past some great looking beaches

******?!! I wish somebody had told us there was sand in the Baja!!!

Loreto is only 200 kms away from Santa Rosalia, so we arrived early enough to find a great (and by great I mean cheap) motel right near the centre of town.

These cute dogs live on the roof of our hotel

We walked around Loreto the whole evening, wonderful looking town!

Some other gringo bikers parked outside the more expensive hotel in the centre of town

The Mission in Loreto

Mission of Our Lady of Loreto is considered a historical monument

We heard some music coming from inside the Mission, so we sat in on some musicians and singers at the front of the church. We stayed for quite some time, enjoying the sounds of Spanish hymns sung softly in reverence. We are having such a wonderful experience wandering through Baja Sur.

Shops at nighttime near the town square

Christmas soon! But first, the Mayan Apocalypse...

The town squares are always the centre of activity. Here we watch a dance class underway lit by streetlights

And then off to finish the night with my favorite beer, Negra Modelo!

Getting ready for bedtime in Loreto

We are all set to push onwards to La Paz in the morning. On our farewell ride through the town square, we notice quite a lot of people gathered in the courtyard. And horses! Just like bikers meeting up at parking lot to go riding, these horse riders were getting together to ride to the next town. They gathered quite some attention!

One horsepower.

In the motorcycle world, this would be called "posing"

All little girls want ponies...

But glad to be back on her own pony

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/55.html on December 3, 2012

La Paz is the jewel of Baja California Sur. Located at the mouth of the Gulf of California, it enjoys beautiful weather year-round, a high standard of living and low crime rates. We fell in love with the city almost immediately.

The Malecon, a 5km long boardwalk along the La Paz's beachfront, is the city's focal point for tourists and residents alike

Family-time on the Malecon

We grab lunch at La Aura, the 4th story restaurant with a great view of the boardwalk and beach

Lots of local catch in that seafood soup!

Pelicans are common here, also attracted to the seafood in the waters closeby

Not seafood ice cream

Plenty of places to hang out on the beach, watch the fishing boats go out to sea

One of many aquatic themed statues on the Malecon

Neda is trying to look for what PaperBoatMan is staring at

The Malecon is chocked full of restaurants, diners and bars - all pricey!

We're staying in La Paz for the next two weeks, taking Spanish lessons at a language school called, "Se Habla... La Paz". We've also chosen the homestay option, where we live with a local family for the duration of our stay, so Alicia and Vicente are the first ones to welcome us to La Paz and into their home.

The very first night, Vicente pulls out his arsenal of guitars and we both play and sing while everyone dances around us. Is it going to be like this every day?!? COOL!

Alicia is a first-rate cook, serving us local dishes for breakfast and lunch. This is Joe (Jose) from California, he's our homestay housemate also taking Spanish lessons, but he's much more fluent than we are!

On the weekends, Vicente opens his backyard studio to the local kids and teaches them how to paint

Another one of Vicente's proteges

We are astounded at how talented and cultured our homestay family is. Alicia is master of the culinary arts, while Vicente explains all the imagery of the many paintings that decorate his house. All in Spanish, by the way. My 9th grade French education is only of little help but I get the jist. Neda does much better because she speaks Italian and is so much better in learning new languages than I am.

Lalo, Alicia and Vicente's grandson teaches and choreographs a Hip Hop class.

Because I'm so slow with the Espagnol, Lalo gets in trouble often for speaking English to me. I've hung out a lot with this talented young man, jamming on the guitar and sharing mp3s, movies, and YouTube clips. Every once in a while, Alicia yells at him, "EN ESPAGNOL!" She takes her job very seriously and I'm very glad that she pretends not to understand English. I can only nod, "Si" and "Gracias" and my goal by the end of two weeks is to actually utter a complete and intelligible sentence for her approval!

Mariana, our Spanish teacher gives a presentation on Pinatas.

"Se Habla" is one street away from the Malecon, and every morning we ride our motorcycles down the strip to school, past the salty sea breeze coming off the shores. It's been forever since I've sat in any kind of classroom and I'm a bit cowed by how fast Neda is picking up Spanish. I'm used to learning things very fast, but new languages have always been a weak point for me.

Felipe, another one of our instructors waits for me to finish my homework.
"Gene, the point of homework is that you should be doing it at home..."

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/56.html on December 9, 2012

Our first week in La Paz has been very taxing. Every day, we're up early to have breakfast and engage Alicia in some morning Espanol, then off to escuela for cuatro horas of intensive vocubulary enhancement and verb conjugation. When we get back in the early afternoon, we have a little break then another session of homestay language practice over lunch. Our evenings are spent in the room doing a bit of homework and massaging our aching heads, random Spanish words leaking out of our ears.

Practicing "las compras" (shopping) en Espanol in Todos Santos

So when the "fin de semana" (weekend) finally arrives, we feel rested enough to take a day-trip south to Todos Santos, a beach-side town recommended to us by Felipe, our Spanish instructor. It's about an hour's ride away from La Paz, and the road winds up and down the Sierra de la Laguna mountains. Lots of fun!

Bringing forth the Mayan Apocalypse...

Misione de Nuestra Senora de Pilar in Todos Santos

Musta forgot the rosary beads in the car...

Lobby of the Hotel California, Todos Santos

Yes, this is *THE* Hotel California, made famous by The Eagles song. I was a bit disappointed. I think I was expecting a real dive of an establishment, the kind of place a washed up, disillusioned Don Henley would check into and muse poetic about the twisted lives of the hotel's mysterious occupants. We walked through the lobby and halls, but no Mirrors on the Ceiling, no Pink Champagne on Ice. Just a very trendy, expensive hotel that steers visitors to the very large gift shop selling "Hotel California" souvenirs.

We didn't spend too much time there...

Getting ready to hit the beach

What we're really here to see are the pretty beaches just outside of town. It's about a 10 minute ride through some gravelly and sandy roads, and I'm glad that we unloaded most of the heavy gear off the bikes. Even so, we wobble our way through heavy sand to reach the beach's parking lot. Stupid, crappy Tourance tires.

How to take pictures of the waves coming ashore

Picture of waves coming ashore

How not to take pictures of the waves coming ashore

Felipe told us that a popular attraction in Todos Santos is the Turtle Release. The beaches here are an important nesting site for sea turtles, especially the endangered Pacific Leatherback. Unfortunately, the beaches have become home to all sorts of human activity - dune buggies and other powersports, and people taking their (hungry) dogs out for a walk. All of which destroy turtle nests buried in the sands.

Checking out the incubation greenhouse

Between the nesting months of October to April, volunteers comb the beaches at night and relocate the sea turtle eggs to a protected incubation greenhouse, providing a better environment for hatching success. The sites with the round fences around them are nests that are ready to hatch soon. The fence stops the turtles from trying to instinctually head for the waters, and allows the volunteers to gather them up in the late afternoon.

This baby is seconds old! It just crawled out of the sand having broken out of its egg!

The project is aimed not only at replenishing the sea turtle population, but also to educate visitors, who are encouraged to "assist" the baby turtles to make it to the waters without being trampled on by dune buggies or joggers, or eaten by dogs or birds.

We each "adopted" one baby turtle and walked them to the edge of the shore

My baby! Feeling a bit paternal here...

Sea turtles live to about 100 years. I got a bit choked up when I realized that we were here on their Day 1, helping them increase their odds to make it to Year 100. The odds are still stacked against them, even when they make it to the waters unmolested, they'll have to face aquatic predators, but at least we're evening the imbalance that we caused in the first place.

Day 1 of 100 years

SO CUTE! These little guys know exactly which way the waters are

And they're off...!

A line was drawn in the sand so that we didn't leave deep footprints on the shore that would impede the baby turtles' progress to the waters. And also to stop us from accidentally trampling on them, as the incoming waves occasionally pushed the turtles back on shore. I wanted to walk my baby turtle all the way into the water, but we are told that it's good for them to struggle on land as it prepares them to swim in the waters.

Off into the sunset, goodbye baby turtle!

 

[Bretthn]

It is great reading about your travels! I look forward to your regular updates.

 

[profdlp]

Great thread! I'm looking forward to your "all-Spanish" post. Espanol solamente!

 

[lightcycle]

It is great reading about your travels! I look forward to your regular updates.

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to your "all-Spanish" post. Espanol solamente!

Ha. An All-Spanish post would be one where you'd only be looking at the pictures and wondering what the rest of the gibberish on the screen was supposed to signify...

Oh waitaminute, that describes my current posts already, doesn't it...?

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/57.html on December 12, 2012

Our trip is in danger of ending very soon.

After a week of intensive Spanish and evenings spent digesting all this information, our second week of classes is going much more smoothly and we're venturing out into La Paz often to take in the nightlife. In addition, we're making lots of friends in school and our homestay family has been taking us out often. As a result, our social life in La Paz has blossomed. So much so, that we actually took a look at some of the housing prices at a local real estate agency...

Our wanderlust is still unsatiated though, and we've merely bookmarked this wonderful city as maybe somewhere we'd like to settle down in the future.

Just off the Malecon, we wander around the market with the locals. No gringos here!

Ramping up for a Feliz Navidad

Outside this hotel, a horse made of dried palm leaves

Back on the Malecon, a concert put together by the Municipal Youth Centre: Who can TISS be?

It's HispaniKISS!

Kids breakdancing on the Malecon

We love meeting other travellers while on the road! They're already predisposed to experiencing new cultures and there's always an excitement when sharing these experiences with each other over a beer and whatever the local food is. We met Karay at Spanish school, a super-cool gal from Ohio who is here picking up credits for her Spanish degree back home. We've spent a few evenings with her strolling the Malecon, gabbing over arroz y frijoles, and exploring La Paz. She's also an avid photographer and very interested in motorcycles so we have lots to talk about!

We pick up Karay on our way to church


In school, we learned about the Virgen de Guadalupe, an important figure in Mexican religious and cultural folklore. December 12th, marks the anniversary of the appearance of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Millions of people make the pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City on this day for the celebrations. Thankfully, we are far away from Mexico City and don't have to contend with such a large crowd here in La Paz, but we're amazed at how many people gather at the local church in town.

Religion and commerce meet at the Santuario Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe

La Paz is Spanish for "Peace"

Standing room only at the Santuario Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe - all the way outside!

Getting a lift to view the service

Outside, Neda contemplates buying super-yummy churros that this little guy is churning out

"Un churro mas restante! La quieres La quieres?"
("One more churro left! Do you want it?")

Paintings for sale outside the church

A parade of indigenous dancers walk the streets celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe

Our homestay family has taken us out every Friday night to Stella on the Malecon. We (try to) dance to salsa music, drink lots of Negra Modelo and enjoy the company that has temporarily adopted us for our time in La Paz.

Lalo and his girlfriend Shasta go out with us for pizza

Whirl of Christmas lights and motion

Put on your dancing shoes!

After a night of salsa dancing... and again with the ex-pat daydreams...

 

[lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/58.html on December 16, 2012

Seems like every weekend, we're hitting the beach! Cabo Pulmo National Park is at the eastern tip of the Baja Peninsula and is recommended to us by our homestay family for its excellent snorkeling. There are only three coral reefs in North America, and the one located at Cabo Pulmo is the oldest at 20,000 years, and provides shelter to a whole host of marine wildlife.

Excellent ride from La Paz to Cabo Pulmo, last 15 kms are down a gravel and sandy road

There are many dive shops in Cabo Pulmo, which really isn't a town more than a few buildings scattered over a wide area. Unfortunately, the dive shops have suspended tourboat operations for today, because of the very strong winds. They tell us that visibility is not very good at the coral reef because the waters may be murky from the sand kicked up from the sea floor.

Beautiful beaches at Cabo Pulmo

Definitely off-season, but a few families were here swimming in the waters

We debated on whether to rent some equipment and to head down to the beach ourselves, but I chickened out (It was cold, man!) and stayed on the beach taking pictures. Neda being the braver of the two of us, rented a mask and dove into the waters from the shores.

Divemaster Neda preparing to go in

Although it's advertised as being totally waterproof, this is the first time we've taken our Nikon AW100 completely underwater. I half-expected it to return ashore as an expensive brick. We were pleasantly surprised:

Neda says this school of fish were very curious about her and followed her everywhere

Water was a bit murky, but the pictures turned out surprisingly good

Although it looks small, this fish was almost a foot long!

The Mexican government has done an excellent job preserving the reef against commercial interests that seek to develop condos, marinas and resorts in this very popular tourist area. It's now designated a protected park and the aquatic wildlife has bounced back and flourished from the over-fishing in the 1980s. The park maintains a very wilderness-like feel to it, and the rough road in and out of the park reflects this.

Only old people abstain from swimming. So I grabbed my metal detector and walked the beach with this guy

So long, Cabo Pulmo, and thanks for all the fish!

 

[profdlp]

Land, Sea, Air, and now even UNDER the Sea. You guys really have it covered! :elkgrin:

 

[AA1PR]

first time reading this thread

epic in so many ways

 

[speed2005]

What! Damn this is uber cool. Can't wait to read it all. Still at it?

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

[lightcycle]

Land, Sea, Air, and now even UNDER the Sea. You guys really have it covered! :elkgrin:

Working on rigging the hot-air balloons to the bikes as we speak!

epic in so many ways

Thanks!

Still at it?

Still at it! :bike_rider: