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!

The southern Baja loop

The southern Baja: February 13, 2017 - March 16

The night crossing from Mazatlán went smoothly, lasting maybe 12.5 hours dock to dock. It was the getting off the boat and through the various checkpoints that took another 2 hours. A giant pain. The first stop is to pay a "port access fee" of 170 pesos. The next line is for the policia (state or federal, I forget which) to do a check, although I got waved through. A much longer wait to get through a military checkpoint where everyone gets searched...they took my one pear! Finally, a quick, mandatory fumigation spray around the bottom of the car for 30 pesos and I was free.

my spot on Playa Tecolote

After loading up with food and gas (I bought some new pears) I drove the short distance to the free camping beach of Playa Tecolote (#117, 118 in map below). A very pretty flat stretch of sand and stones, this is a popular crash pad for RV'ers.

Tecolote from long range...restaurants and

bathrooms are in the distance

The nights were beautiful with an almost full moon and just the lapping of small waves on this protected beach. In the picture of my campsite in the distance is the island of Espiritu Santo. People fish or kayak here and swim, of course. Although the water is a bit chilly this time of year at 70 and the winds can be fairly strong with the air temps only getting into the low 70's...this is their version of winter. Nights can drop below 50.

one of many statues along the 3 mile
long La Paz malecon

After the beach I went into La Paz and stayed at a campground, Aqua Marina, that I had used some 11 years ago. I thought it had closed but Mary Lou, the owner, has decided to keep it going even after the death of her husband Richard. They have great showers and it's within walking distance of downtown.

almost the end of the beach road north of El Sargento

Next I drove over to La Ventana and El Sargento - really one place as they bleed into one another - one of the wind and kite surfing hot spots on the Baja. It's why the place exists, as far as I can tell. It was definitely too windy to camp in my tent.

approaching the gnarly part of the remote road 

I thought I'd keep heading south along the water and it took me to one of the most remote parts of Mexico I've been to, not seeing another vehicle or person for almost 1-1/2 hours, a very difficult thing to do in Mexico, at least on the mainland. You can see this road on the map below between green #121 and #122.

an obstacle along the remote road, it still had

some stink to it

I also had to shift into 4-low in order to climb over a steep area of large rocks, a rarity. My vehicle is always in 4-wheel drive but, because it's my only vehicle, I don't purposefully look for difficult routes as I can ill afford any major damage. Putting the FJ into 4-low, though, turns it into a different vehicle...it feels like you can climb a wall.

the stormy sea along the remote beach road

The first 11 miles of the remote road took the 1-1/2 hours I mentioned earlier until I reached the outpost of Boca del Alamo, a tiny village that, nonetheless, has Land for Sale signs in English.

a cabalgata going thru Cardonal, beer cans in hand

From this point south to Los Barriles were more and more vehicles, more people and bigger and bigger homes. Cardonal had it's share and Punta Pescadero, with it's single runway of an airport, had huge homes, it looked like Palm Springs.

the big beach at Los Barriles, it's an ATV highway

I camped for two nights in Los Barriles where kite surfing and fishing are the main activities. It's an expensive area to hang out if you're a traveler on a budget. One restaurant, catering to the numerous gringos, wanted 90 pesos for a beer (!), something that costs about 24 on the mainland. I grabbed one out of my 'frig, instead.

I did, however, later find another restaurant in town called El Viejo that has been there for years and they had great fish and chicken tacos and beers for 25 pesos. Recommended.

outside the cafe

For a change of pace I went about 20 miles inland to a campground called Rancho Verde (#124,125,128,132), a small place that sells lots (cheaply, about $15k) to those interested in living off the grid. There is an old mining town up the road to the west called El Triunfo, an attractive place that is known in the gringo world for a restaurant called Caffe El Triunfo (yes, it's spelled with 2 "f's"). I think it's known for it's bread, but the meal I had was overpriced and quite average. Beautiful building, though.

the lower Baja, try to follow the green #116-137

(the black is from my trip in 2006)

waterfall and swimming hole called Sol de Mayo

Next, I wanted to see the waterfall and swimming hole called Sol de Mayo, also inland (#126,127). There is a small informal camping area for about 5-6 vehicles and I had a quiet spot for two nights under lots of stars. Being the only one here I got to go down to the waterfall when no one else was around to take pictures and to take a swim. The water was quite cold this time of year.

rocky beach at Cabo Pulmo

I then drove a bit north and out to the coastal sand and dirt road that goes from La Ribera down to San Jose del Cabo. I had hoped to find a good free camping beach and there is a popular one at a place called Los Frailes. You're supposed to first call the owner of this vast expanse of land to get permission, but I didn't have a signal because of the remoteness! Oh well, it was too windy so I went back to Rancho Verde for a night.

Cabo Pulmo (circled in ink on the map above), also along this stretch of beach road, is a tiny town that has one of the only coral reefs located on the west coast of the Americas. The water, though, is cold this time of year, and it was very windy the day I drove through making the water very choppy, so another time. Summer, with warmer and calmer waters, is your best bet.

the hot spring held back by a dam, rocks create small pools

Another inland spot is called Agua Caliente, a small hot springs where one can camp for the nominal fee of 50 pesos. I had a peaceful night but the hot spring didn't appeal to me. Besides, I don't really like sharing a "tub" with strangers.

San Jose's main square

lunch with Carolyn and Alberto

Then it was down to Cabo San Lucas to meet up with my friend Alberto and his wife Carolyn. I splurged on a room for two nights at $90/night. It was a nice respite and allowed me to do some things on-line, do some laundry and get my FJ serviced. The three of us met up for an afternoon of wandering around the more historic San Jose del Cabo where they did some shopping and we stopped for lunch.

Super Tacos B.C.S. in La Paz

Driving north I quickly ducked into Todos Santos for about 20  minutes (too rich for my blood) before grabbing another night at Rancho Verde as it's very conveniently located and then back to La Paz for two nights. I had previously read about a fish taco joint in La Paz but I wasn't able to find it until this swing through town. It's called Super Tacos B.C.S. and the fish and shrimp tacos were outstanding. I put a salsa roja on mine that's picante without being too hot and some grilled onions. A must stop if I ever come through again. It's right next to the skanky old Hotel California. Not to be confused with the very nice Hotel California in Todos Santos

one stretch of the surfing beach at Rancho Conejo

I was finally ready to seriously head north towards Loreto. First, I drove up the coast just to the west of La Paz to the small mining town of San Juan de la Costa (see map above), intending to keep going further north to San Evaristo and southwest on a backroad to the highway. The gas station I had hoped for didn't exist any longer so I was forced back south to Highway 1 and then west to the surfing beach of Rancho Conejo (#136, 137).

campsites at Rancho Conejo are scattered among the scrub

This was another windy spot and a very basic surfing beach with outhouses and a questionable cold "shower". Hardcore dudes hang out here. I spoke to one guy who had been here three months surfing and sleeping in the back of his pick-up. I stayed two nights for 75 pesos/night (collected by a slight guy named Nardo who wore a baseball cap that said "Aloha" and sandals to show off his painted toenails). I would come back here again for a longer stay as the 10 miles of dirt road to get in seems to keep away a lot of the bigger RV's. Plus, no one will find you here.

the crumbling mission, and church, of Gonzaga.

A one-dog kind of town

I continued to push north making it to Ciudad Constitucion (#138) in just a couple of hours. After scouting out the campground...it'll do...I took a couple of side trips, one to an old mission town called Gonzaga just to the east and then the port town of San Carlos to the west. Gonzaga is all sand and dirt roads and I hardly saw a soul. Even in the town I didn't see more than about a dozen people. It seems to be holding on by a thread. I didn't even see anyone selling snacks from the front of their home...there's always someone selling snacks! The mission itself is crumbling but the humble church is still being used.

Blue heron in San Carlos

San Carlos is one of several places you can go out and watch the grey whales that come down here from around Alaska every winter to give birth to their calves. By the time I got there it was late in the day and it was too windy on the bay, anyway. Wind is a common theme on the Baja for me.

a calf visits a nearby boat, they let you pet them

a mother and calf swim off away from us in the bay

The following day, however, was much nicer and an easy one hour drive took me to Lopez Mateos, another whale watching spot. I walked up to one of the ticket vendors and there were four people standing together who said I could join them. A boat cost 1200 pesos, so the more people the cheaper it is.

the folks I shared the boat with: Glen and Mahtu from

Canada, Maja from Slovenia and Ana from Spain

We spent two hours out on the very calm bay getting close to a number of whales. When they are nearby the trick is to splash the water and this seems to draw the calves more than the mothers. I got to briefly touch one of the calves and the skin near the mouth felt kind of spongy. It's fun and exciting to get close up and they don't seem to mind. Ana, in the picture, is a tour guide based down in La Paz, it turns out. The other three had come up for the day with her and Ana acted as our interpreter since the boat captain didn't speak any English. It worked out perfectly.

Scorpion Bay at low tide. If you zoom in you'll see my

tent perched on the bluff.

That afternoon I drove further north to San Juanico, a surfing town and fishing village on the Pacific. Also called Scorpion Bay, this beach is known for some of Mexico's best surfing when the swells are up, offering long rides of a minute, or so. When I was there the water was quite calm so my campground (#139, 140) was almost empty, which was nice. At high tide the water comes right up to the edge of the bluff and the sound of the crashing waves blocks out the entire world.

from Cd. Constitucion to Loreto, green #138-148

the lush village of Purisima

To get to Loreto I needed to retrace my steps, taking a couple of side trips to Purisima and Cantuomo. The Baja, which is most often rocks and desert, can be harsh, stark and unforgiving, but it's also full of these oasis towns where there is a source of water. The immediate area is a verdant green, going from cactus to palm trees.

driving down to Agua Verde

The Baja is fairly narrow so driving from the Pacific side to the tiny fishing village of Agua Verde was an easy drive of only about 60 miles. The dirt road down to Agua Verde winds its way down a steep cliff at one point offering beautiful views of the Sea of Cortez.

great camping at Agua Verde

The camping in Agua Verde (#141, 142) is free and on the nice sand beach of this pretty and tranquil bay. This town has only a couple of restaurants and a small market to supply the 300 residents and the few campers and boats and yachts that drop anchor just offshore. This is my favorite beach campsite so far on the Baja even though there is only a basic outhouse for use by campers...you get used to it.

the old mission in Loreto

Two nights in Agua Verde and it was time to move north to Loreto to visit my new friends Bob and Marilyn. We originally met last winter on the Mexico mainland and then again back in January in Morelia. I got to spend 6 wonderful nights with them in their beautiful Loreto home eating, drinking, talking and doing some fishing. Yes, I went out with them on their boat to fish!




Bob insisted we needed to leave the house at 5:15 and we had the boat in the water by 6. It was still dark out but a number of us were already fishing for bait fish; mackerel, I think. Bob caught one but that one fish plus a number of others we had bought from a vendor on the water was enough to get going.

the sea lions on Isla Coronado off Loreto

First, we stopped by one of the islands where seal lions were hanging out making lots of noise. When we got close enough the barnyard smell of these guys got to be pretty rude.

blurry pic of dolphins jumping in our wake

Bob dropped a line and very quickly there was a bite. Bob handed the rod over to me and I got to reel in what turned out to be about a 15 pound yellowtail, my first catch. Nothing else was biting in that area so we started moving and caught sight of plenty of dolphin and probably 5-6 water spouts of whales in the distance. 

me with the 30 lb. yellowtail

We tried another fishing spot further out and again Bob dropped a line and snagged one. Again, he handed me the rod and, with considerable effort, I was able to reel in another yellowtail from a depth of about 300', this time much bigger at almost 30 pounds. My lower back and left bicep were sore for two days after that. But what a thrill to get that fish aboard. Bob conked it on the head with a bat and it got put on ice with the earlier catch.

We tried a few more spots, Marilyn in charge of trolling the boat around some very specific points in the water but there weren't any other bites that day. We headed in and for a few nights we had yellowtail sashimi and delicious fish tacos.

having dinner at the Mision in Loreto

Meeting Bob and Marilyn has been one of those serendipitous moments that traveling seems to inspire. I'm not sure when or where our paths will ever cross again, but I'm glad we did. And I hope we do.