From Loreto north to Mexicali and the border

The northern Baja: March 17, 2017 - April 3

probably the most famous spit of sand in Mexico, if

you're an RV'er, it's called El Requeson

my spot at Playa Coyote

After leaving Bob and Marilyn's place in Loreto I drove the main highway north to the Bahia Concepcion. The road skirts the beautiful Bahia for much of its length and there are a number of campgrounds along the way. Unfortunately, since the campgrounds are next to or near the road they are easily accessible and, therefore, crowded in season. I did find a decent spot at Playa Coyote right on the water but the trucks on the road were quite noisy and so one night was enough.

Loreto to Guerrero Negro

From there heading north I was uninspired by stops such as Mulege and Santa Rosalia, a town that has a church designed by Eiffel, believe it or not. I guess it has some historic significance but I didn't even take a picture. And there is a somewhat famous "French" bakery in Santa Rosalia, as well. Bob commented that it may have been French about five generations ago, and I think he nailed it. It's products are no different than what most grocery stores sell, imo.

Obre Ojos

the beach road, very well maintained

San Ignacio, which is shown by the black #156 (a trip from 2006) does have some things of interest but I elected to turn south towards the ocean. On the coast is Obre Ojos, a fishing village with some gringo homes, but it was quite windy. Instead, I kept moving along on the sand beach road that leads up the coast to Bahia Asuncion (green #150). I had read of a small campground there that had hot showers and wifi. Turns out that the entire town and surrounding area were without running water due to a water main break some days earlier. And the wifi didn't work, and, being situated on a bluff overlooking the ocean it was, again, quite windy. In the morning, to top it off, one of my rear tires was looking a bit soft. I thought it just needed a bit of air...more about that later. 

road under repair on the way to Tortugas

the dock area of Bahia de Tortugas

I thought I may as well drive out to the end of the peninsula so I took what started out to be a very good paved road to Bahia de Tortugas. Some miles on it turned into terrible dirt washboard, so bad I thought of turning around as it's 60 miles one way. Slowly pressing onward the bad section lasted about 10 miles before thankfully turning into pavement again. Some major road repair is going on. The flat desert gave way to some interesting mountainous terrain with lots of tiny yellow, purple and orange flowers before dropping into the fishing town of B. de Tortugas. This is definitely a working town with no gringos in sight and the smell of fish was strong in the air around the dock area.

driving by one of the salt flats

There was nothing to keep me there, however, so I got to ride the washboard all over again (and the dust when you pass another vehicle going in the opposite direction...omg!) as I made my way to the town of Guerrero Negro. G. N. came into existence in the 1950's to support a sea salt mining operation, for the most part. It's still what they do today, along with their own gray whale sightseeing industry. To my eye G. N. is kind of an ugly place, more function than form, but it's a convenient stop.

living the dream!

There isn't much in the way of camping options, so I took a spot at the Hotel Malarrimo. Just to show you that not every campsite is wonderful, here's a pic of the hotel spot. That's basically what the town looks like, now that I think about it. The restaurant has a good reputation, however, and my seafood soup was tasty.

tire repair shop in G. N.

the guy was quick and efficient

I woke up to cloudy skies and a half-flat left rear tire. I had to pull out the owner's manual to refresh my memory on how to change these tires since it had been about 7 years since the last one. I got it done and as I was leaving town I stopped at a llantera, which is a tire repair shop. These are innumerable in Mexico and very easy to find. The guy there found the leak and made the repair for $5. Of course, he didn't have a fancy machine for separating the tire from the wheel. It was done the old-fashioned way with a long lever and muscle. The sound of him hitting that lever against my fancy wheel made me cringe, I had to look away. Turns out, I picked up a screw back in Bahia Asencion, so I got something from that place, after all. Anyway, I was able to continue my journey with a good spare tire.

the desert on the road to Bahia de Los Angeles

The desert north of G. N. started out flat and monotonous before getting more lush, if that's a term you can apply to desert. Lots of different cactus and yellow flowers and the skies cleared as I made my way out to the Bahia de Los Angeles.

overlooking the Bahia de Los Angeles

This is a huge bay and it's as blue as it looks in the picture. Unfortunately, it has a reputation for wind and it didn't disappoint, although I wish it had. Getting the tent packed was tricky. Like much of the Baja, I believe fishing is the main draw for travelers to this small, sleepy town.

This is really the crux of why I don't have any warm fuzzies for the Baja. The three main things gringos come down for, as I see it, are fishing, off-roading and surfing/kite-surfing. Fishing really requires a boat if you are going to make a hobby out of it. I don't have a boat or a house to park it at. I can off-road in my FJ and I do some of that. But, the real off-roaders use motorcycles. I don't have one or a place to store it. And, though I've tried surfing, it's not something I see doing on a daily basis, especially since I'm turning 60 soon. So, the Baja to me is really just a big desert with lots of wind and fairly cold waters, at least in the winter months. Give me Oaxaca!

Guerrero Negro to Mexicali

the new coast road, B. Gonzaga in the distance

From there I took the road that runs along the Sea of Cortez - see map. This used to be an arduous long dirt road that is now about 22 miles from being a pristine two-lane short-cut that I'm guessing will bring explosive growth to some areas. The beautiful Bahia Gonzaga is one area that seems to be an obvious candidate. It's where I would go...if I fished and could afford a house!

the famous watering hole

Along what still remains of the old dirt road is Coco's Corner, a tiny stopover for people traveling through for many years. It even has it's own dot on my map if you zoom in. I was going to stop but there were already two RV's and five motorcycles parked outside. You can see from the picture that the place was probably packed at that point. I'm told Coco is now in his 70's and is confined to a wheelchair due to diabetes but that he is still a colorful host. Looking back I should have stopped as it was probably my one shot to see the place and Coco. Plus, I could have used a cold one right about then.

Campo Mazatlán campsite, sea in background

The road as it gets close to San Felipe loses it's pristineness and is full of potholes and a real annoyance to drive. Along the way is a campground called Campo Mazatlán, a veritable oasis compared to everything else I saw. Every other campground I looked at from south of San Felipe, in San Felipe itself and north of San Felipe looked to be either abandoned or just total crap. Campo Mazatlán (green #153, 154) was a shaded and peaceful location right on a very large beach. I stayed two nights with only one other camper both nights. Of course, I stayed there on a couple of weeknights. I think this campground gets a lot of locals action on the weekends.

I went into San Felipe to have lunch on the malecon with all the other gringos (this is like California south here). It was okay, but this town was never one of my favorites.

the green countryside in the hills east of Ensenada

West to Ensenada, a big and busy city with lots of tourism from up north and via cruise ships.

the Estero Beach Hotel pool area

The temperatures were chilly and the wind was blowing and it was getting late so I took a room at the Estero Beach Hotel. They also have an RV park here, but they charge a fortune so I took the room which was okay but dated and a bit worn.

Just south of Ensenada is a tourist trap called La Bufadora. This is a water spout caused by the Pacific getting squeezed between some rocks. It was one of those "guess I gotta go see it" deals.

La Bufadora

For me, the overall view of the rocks and ocean was the best part as the spout didn't seem to be that special? There is a whole cottage industry in place to serve this one attraction and the gauntlet you have to walk to get to it must be 1/4-mile long. All food and t-shirt and trinket shops. It's amazing so many people can make a living off this. Well, I got my picture, so there. 

the Silver Guy

As I was leaving the city, I took this photo of a guy on the side of the road. He was taking pails of water out of the puddles and throwing the water into the weeds. For some reason he was painted in silver. The whole thing was...curious.

some of the vineyards

After that I drove north out of the city to find the main wine region of Mexico. This is a relatively small area that nonetheless has garnered much attention from folks from Europe, the U. S. and even Russia. It's a happening place.

Driving through the tight winding roads I saw a sign that looked like an impressionistic drawing of a camping trailer. I thought, aha, camping, so I followed these signs as they took me through a jigsaw of vineyards. I arrived at what I first thought was an Airstream graveyard since that's all I saw. Driving in, though, I come to find out this is a glamping set-up with about 10 Airstreams, all old collectibles that have been refurbished and located in a field in the middle of all the vineyards.

camping amongst the Airstreams

one of the Airstreams. They each

have a different interior "scheme"

The owner is Caesar, a recovering lawyer from Ensenada who started it as a lark but it now has a life of it's own. He runs it with his wife and a few others. I stayed there for eight days and it's quite popular, especially on the weekends with both locals and with Americans making a weekend of it from the San Diego area.






You can find out more about it by starting here  rutadearteyvino.wixsite.com/rutadearteyvino/home.  

This is a beautiful part of Mexico and probably my favorite on the Baja. I suppose I prefer living in the hills and visiting the beaches.

Over those eight days I visited five different wineries (vinados) and did their wine tastings and bought some of their wine. The wineries run the gamut from big money operations to small specialty spots. 

the borrego...this pic makes my mouth water,
except for the cilantro, which is gross

the tortilla station

Whenever I told local people where I was staying they would respond, oh, that's near the Cocina de Dona Esthela. This is a very popular restaurant that is famous in these parts for their borrego, or lamb. I had to try it. Man, it's good. On the menu it's called Borrego Tatemado, with consommé on the side (which was excellent all by itself). Only the refried beans were a little bland. And the tortillas are made right there by the lady in the picture, so they come to your table fresh and warm. They don't sell booze, but you're allowed to bring in your wine, or whatever.

the Tecate factory

my favorite beer in Mexico

From here it was a short drive up to the border town of Tecate, which is home to the huge brewery. It's also a Pueblo Magico and one I'd not been to. Tecate Titanium happens to be my go-to beer in Mexico, one you can't buy in the U. S., I don't think.








I spent two nights camping near Tecate at the Rancho Ojai (some of the best showers in Mexico!) and then crossed back into the U.S. via Mexicali, a few hours to the east. I had intended to cross at Tecate but I could not find the banjercito, although I've been told there is one.

I waited about 30 minutes in this line in

Tecate before finding out there was no

banjercito for me to access.

A banjercito is a necessary stop before crossing back over the border. They collect your vehicle pass and cancel it out of the system thereby clearing the way to bring that same vehicle back into Mexico in the future. It also means you get back a $400 deposit that Mexico collects when you first cross into Mexico as a way to incentivize you to not leave that vehicle in Mexico. 

more detail of the north Baja area I saw

leaving Mexicali

Mexicali was jammed with traffic trying to cross back into the States, but with the help of the very nice man in the banjercito and another one in the aduano (where you need to get your passport stamped proving you left the country...also very important), who helped direct traffic so I could cut back in line, I made it back to the U.S. after about two hours. Whew!