Feb 15, 2020

We called the beach at Papa Fernandez Mark Twain Beach because of the rock formation at the south end of the beach that looks like Mark Twain. Today we hiked to both ends of the beach. On the south end I climbed a sand dune to the top of the cliff that saw the bay to the south. It was a very calm bay and I think I saw a whale swimming out of the bay. It was 3/4 of the way across the bay, but it was very large and I think I heard it snorting. On the north end of the beach, Kevin and I walked on the rocks around the point to the next bay. It had an old, closed restaurant and an abandon trailer. It would also be a nice place to camp.

Later in the day we set up the solar shower off the back of the van so we could both shower. It worked pretty good, except the breeze was a little cold. Together we used a little over 2 gallons of water. Another half gallon would have been nice. It was one of the best weather days we have had. It was warm and sunny, with only a little breeze. It did get cool as the sun went down, but it was still one of the warmest nights we have had. Now we are in Baja North we are back in the Pacific time zone. Also being on the east coast the sun sets around 6 pm and comes up at 6 am. So we are in bed early and up early.

Feb 16-17, 2020

We spent the next two nights at Papa Fernandez. The days were warm and there was no wind, so the days were perfect. The nights were warm enough that we didn’t need the furnace in the morning to warm the van. The only downside was the shrimp boats. They would arrive in the bay at sundown and then would cruise back and forth all night long. They were not too loud, but enough that you could hear them. In the mornings they would stop and float in the bay as the finished their work. We would watch the birds and sea lions circle the boats looking for the waste that they would through off the boat.

We left Papa Fernandez campground on Monday. It looked like another good day, but it was time to head further north. We drove highway 5 north. There were still several washed out bridges that had not been repaired from the hurricane that hit the area 18 months ago. When you arrived at the washed out spots, they had a bypass through the arroyo. I think there were only 5-6 spots we had to bypass. They had already repaired many more bridges.

We stopped in San Felipe for lunch and a little shopping on the waterfront. I had garlic shrimp and Eva had chicken enchiladas. We also bought a few things for the grandkids. We were only in San Felipe a couple of hours. As we head north the area becomes more tourist oriented and more commercialized. We found a camping spot in the desert just south of Mexicali. It was not a great spot, but good enough for the night. We heard coyotes howling through the night. Tomorrow we will head to the border.

Feb 12, 2020

We left Laguna San Ignacio around 9 am and drove the 10 hard miles of washboarded roads until we made it to the pavement. Once we were on the pavement it was an easy drive into San Ignacio.

Today was a day of driving. Once we were back on highway 1 we headed north. Nothing interesting happened as it was highway we had already traveled. Highway 1 is the main highway that goes from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the peninsula. It criss-crosses back and forth from the Pacific coast to the Gulf coast to hit all the larger towns. It is pretty much one lane each direction for the entire length, except in the major cities it may expand to 2 lanes. I think it has only been 5-10 years when the entire length was paved. Some of the highway is newer, so it is smooth pavement and has a small shoulder. That is maybe 20% of what we have traveled. Most of it is rough, broken pavement with lots of potholes. There is very little shoulder on the side of the road. At best there is 4 inches outside of the white lines. At the end of the shoulder there is a 2-4 foot drop off. The road is so rough, driving the van is like riding a bucking bronco as the van jumps back and forth on the rough pavement. While I am trying to keep the van in the lane, there are semi truck blasting past us only inches away from hitting us. There is also the drivers that will pass on any hill or curve, regardless of if they can see ahead for oncoming traffic. About every mile there is a memorial for someone who has died on the road. Some of the memorials are just a cross and flowers, but most are small buildings, anywhere from 4 square feet to 15-30 square feet. They have flowers, pictures and candles inside the opening. Most are very ornate and are nicer and better maintained than most houses.

For lunch we just ate sandwiches at an parking lot. North of Guerrero Negro we turned east off highway 1 and drove about 40 miles to the east coast. The town of Bahia de Los Angeles is like most small towns in Baja. There are a lot of abandoned homes and buildings, but there were a few nice homes. This town has a lot of vacation homes for Americans. When we arrived school was getting out and all the kids in their school uniforms were walking home. We picked up a few supplies at the “tiende” and then continued through town to find a camping spot on the south end of the bay. The dirt road was very rough and bumpy, but after 5 miles we found a spot among the dunes, just off the beach.

And the Earth Shook

Feb 13, 2020

At 12:15 am, both Eva and I woke up to the van violently shaking. At first I thought it was a gust of wind, but the night had been calm and we could not hear any wind blowing. Eva thought maybe someone was rocking the van, but it would be impossible to rock it that much. We finally decided it was an earthquake. And in the morning everyone else confirmed that they felt it. We decided it was between a 3 and 4 on the Richter scale. I am a little worried in driving back into town as most of the buildings are ready to collapse without an earthquake. Later when we were back in town we found out it was a 4.3 quake centered on the island about 24 miles from our camp.

We ate breakfast as a group and then sat on the beach watching the water and enjoying the day. It was real nice in the morning, but around noon the wind started blowing and kept blowing until 6 pm. Eva and I spent the afternoon in the van reading and resting.

Later that evening the wind had stopped so we started a campfire and sat out there until 9 pm. Most every camp in Baja has been very dark and it is amazing how black the sky is and how many stars you can see. We saw several shooting stars. The past few weeks the moon didn’t come up until later in the night, so around 7-8 pm the sky was full of stars. It is different than the stars we are used to seeing. Orion’s Belt is alway just above us, and the Big Dipper and the North Star are very low on the horizon, that it is difficult to find them some nights. We went to bed about 10 pm and had another calm night in the van.

Feb 14, 2020

This morning was a very calm morning. We were sitting on the beach watching the water when we saw a few dolphins. As we watched they came in closer and we think there were between 20-25 in the pod. They put on a show for us for about an hour. They would chase fish and the birds would chase the dolphins. There were several times that dolphins would jump completely out of the water. As they fished they got closer to us until they were around 100 yards from where we were sitting. Unfortunately they were still to far away to get good pictures or videos, but I tried.

https://youtu.be/4rymqssit0c

After the dolphin show we packed up camp and drove the 5 miles of rough road back to town. It was Valentines Day so we stopped for a lunch at a restaurant. We all had something nice for dinner. Eva had the Mexican combination and I had garlic scallops. While we were eating a group of motorcyclist pulled into the parking area. There was one guy from Vernal. They had driven from the border over the previous two days and were spending 2 weeks riding in Baja.

After lunch we drove the paved road back to highway 1 and then to the new highway 5 that takes you up the east coast to the border. As recently as last year it was a winding dirt road, but now the first 20 miles are a new modern highway. It has been a lot of miles since we had such a wide smooth road. It felt great to drive it. After the new section, it was still a better road than any other in Baja.

We rode up highway 5 to San Luis Gonzaga Bahia. Fortunately the gas station was open as we were down to less than a quarter tank of gas. After gassing up we continued through the military checkpoint and about a mile later turned off the highway. There was a 2 mile dirt road that took us to Papa Fernandez campground. We were a little worried as the road was taking us through a junky shanty town, but once we passed through the gate and over the hill there was a beautiful bay with 20-25 camping spots. The cost was 100 pesos/car ($5.25 USD) There were two other groups camping there, but there was still plenty of space. We took some spots near the beach and set up camp. It was already getting dark by the time we got camp set up, so we spent the rest of the evening in the van.

Feb 5, 2020

It was windy in the morning with the wind blowing from the north, so we decided to pack up and drive 2 km to La Bahia de los Colores. This bay was on the other side of the mountain just south of us, so we thought there would be protection from the wind.

La Bahia de los Colores translates to The Bay of the Colors. It is named for the colorful rocks and cliffs that surround the sandy beach. The road in from the main road is rough with a lot of loose boulders and rocks, but it was not steep. It took a while to drive in, but once we were on the beach, there was soft sand. We found a camp back near some bushes to help protect us from the wind. This bay was much less windy than Las Dunas, so it was a better place to camp. When we hiked around the point of the bay the wind was just howling and cold.

When we arrived at the beach there was a single tent and a couple of kayaks on the beach. We met Elizabeth (Victoria, BC) and Freya (Germany) who were kayaking north up the coast. We only talked to Elizabeth as Freya was pretty quiet and reserved. Freya is a famous kayaker (freyahoffmeister.com) who is on a multi-year quest to kayak circumnavigate North America. She has already kayaked around Australia and South America. Last summer she kayaked from Washington to somewhere in Alaska, until it got too cold. She left her kayaks there and went back to Germany for a while. Then at some point she had kayaked from Washington, south around the Baja Peninsula to La Paz. She started the leg of the trip in La Paz 5 days ago. She will work her way around Mexico until summer when she will fly back to Alaska to continue north. Freya has 2 custom sea kayaks that she uses and gets a companion to paddle with her for a month at a time. Elizabeth had just joined her in La Paz. We heard this story from Elizabeth who had come to our campfire to burn her trash. Freya was in their tent working on her blog. She has a satellite phone to get weather reports and update the blog. Her paddling partner does the cooking and cleaning.

In the afternoon we hiked around the rocks and saw a few fish, but a lot of sea urchins. Apparently you can eat sea urchins, but no one wanted to try. It was to windy out of our protected cove, so we didn’t hike far.

Feb 6, 2020

A few days ago I hurt my back moving some large water containers. It did not hurt much the first day, but it really started hurting today. It was a windy day so I thought I would take it easy and I spent most of the day in the van laying on my back. That did not help much and by the end of the day I was hurting pretty bad. The last two nights have been miserable as it is very painful for me to climb into the bed.

Feb 7, 2020

We decided to drive to La Paz, ahead of the others, and see a physical therapist. We also said goodbye to Jeff and Wendy as the were staying in southern Baja for several more weeks. It took over 3 hours to make the drive. The first hour was pretty rough roads, it then turned into just a washboard gravel road and then the final 40 km was paved. While we were on the rough dirt road we passed a guy with a Jeep and teardrop trailer. We stopped to talk and found out I had met him while driving the White Rim Trail last October. He remember my van.

We arrived in La Paz and after gassing up, we went looking for a physical therapist. There was only one that was open during siesta time so we drove to their office and found out they had moved, so we had to drive further into town to find the new location. They didn’t have any time today so I made an appointment for tomorrow morning at 10 am. The office was in the downtown area, only 1 block of the waterfront boardwalk. We found a B&B just 3 blocks away from the clinic. It is very nice inside and only cost $1000 pesos ($53 USD). After checking in we walked down to the waterfront and took some pictures. We video chatted with all the kids on the Facebook app. Later we ate dinner at a small sidewalk restaurant. After driving and walking all day, my back did not feel too bad, but it was still hurting.

Feb 3, 2020

We were up early and went to get some laundry done. It cost $162 pesos ($8.52 USD) to have two loads washed, dried and folded. We checked out of the hotel and left town around 10:30 am.

The plan was to drive east from Constitución over the mountains to the east coast of Baja Sur and end at a Bahia Coyote. It was almost totally on dirt roads. We planned to stop and tour two missions that were in the mountains. It was a 2 hour drive to San Luis Gonzaga Mission. It was built in 1761 and is still in use today. There were a lot of large buildings around the mission that also looked very old, but were abandoned or in ruins. At one point there must have been a larger population in the area. The current town of San Luis Gonzaga looked like about 8-10 houses. There were two large schools, so it appears they pull students from all the ranches in the area.

We continued down the road looking for Mission de Passion. It was just the ruins of the mission buildings, but we could not find it along the road. We had the GPS coordinates (24.8875399, -111.0305679), so we knew we were close. We had passed the point and were turning around on the road when a rancher came out and waved us down and wanted to know if we wanted to see the ruins. He was yelling across the arroyo and Eva was yelling back. We finally figured out that the ruins were on his property and he wanted to show them to us.

We backtracked to the entrance of his ranch and parked near his house. The ranch is an oasis in the desert. Maximo Amador raises 120 goats on his 7-1/2 acre ranch. He lives there with his wife Maria, son Javier and daughter-in-law Sandra. His mama, Teresa and nephew, Vicente were also visiting the ranch that day.

Maximo was raised about 20 km from his current ranch, but his wife was from the area, so they bought the ranch and moved there. The ruins of the mission were right under his goat pasture and ranch land. He walked us around and told us about the Mission de Passion that was founded around 400 years ago. When he started the ranch he knew the ruins were there, but didn’t know anything about them. However, for the past 11 years professors from the University of Utah would bring a group of students down for a month to study the ruins and surrounding area. We think it was a combination of archeology, anthropology and biology students. They came to study the ruins of the mission and how the people lived there.

Maximo has learned a lot about the mission from the professors, so he gave us quite a tour. They think there were over 800 people in the area. There were many ruins of the large churches and smaller buildings. Most of the ruins are just the foundation, or a short rock wall. However, they think much of the buildings are still underground. The missionaries served the indigenous Indians in the area. From what we could see of the local area, they had a large areas for crops. There is a small river running through, so they had plenty of water. Maximo had a solar powered pump that would pump water from the river into a cistern. From there he had 2” plastic pipe to distribute the water.

After the tour we walked to Maximo’s house and sat on the patio. He showed us the dozens of arrowheads that his son found in the area. He also showed us some of the documentation that the U of U professors had left with him. Of course Eva was the translator for all the Spanish discussions. Maximo and his family were very nice and accommodating. We asked if we could camp in the area and he wanted us to camp in his yard, but we thought it would be best to be down by the river, just below the house. He wants us to share about the ruins so more tourists will come. If more tourist come to the area the government will invest more into the roads and infrastructure. He said only 10-12 tourist come each year to see the mission. He had us sign our names and where we were from into a book that documents the visitors. We were the first ones to sign the book. They have a Facebook page named Rancho La Capilla (Chapel Ranch), so we will share that page, and also add a POI in iOverlander.

It was a pretty warm day today, but when the sun went down it got cold quick. After setting up camp we had a campfire under the trees.

Feb 4, 2020

In the morning Maximo came by and talked to Eva for a while. He was telling her about his property and said if we wanted to move in the area he could help us get some property. I haven’t talked Eva into moving yet, I will have to keep working on it. It is a very beautiful oasis in the desert. It was also very calm and quiet. We also saw some vaqueros riding their horses through the area herding their goats.

We hit the road around 10:30 am to drive to the east coast of Baja to the village of San Evaristo. The road took us up over the backbone of Baja, where on one side the drainage is the Pacific Ocean and the other side is the Gulf of California. I think the elevation was around 1800’ above sea level. This road was the roughest, steepest road we have been on. It was continual rocks, steps and loose rubble. There were very few spots where we could get above 15-20 mph. The road from the Mission de Passion to San Evaristo was about 20 miles, but it took us 5-1/2 hours to drive there with only a few stops. We did stop for about 1/2 hour and walked a couple hundred yards to a waterfall.

We arrived in San Evaristo at 4 pm. It is a small fishing village that has a very protected bay. However the bay is surrounded by all the houses. It made it difficult to find a good camping spot. There were also several sailboats anchored in the bay. There was one restaurant called Maggie May. We drove to Maggie May, but the owner had gone to the store, so we couldn’t get anything to eat. After driving down to the beach and looking around we decided not to camp here, but drive further south towards La Paz. It was a little to crowded. We drove another 7 km to Las Dunas bay. The road was a little better than the road into San Evaristo, so we arrived at 5 pm.

Las Dunas is a small bay that has a nice sandy beach with a rock outcropping that extends into the sea and provides some protection from the waves. There was enough room for all of us to camp so we decided to stay for a few days. However, it got dark not long after setting up camp, so everyone just stayed in their camp for the evening. I think everyone was drained from the past two days of driving.

Feb 2, 2020

The morning at Agua Verde was calm, but cloudy. We got the van ready to travel and then took a walk on the beach while the others packed up. This area of Agua Verde is very calm and quiet. The village is surrounded by mountains on three sides and the bay on the fourth side. It is a beautiful place. They said the tourist only come between December and April as the hurricane season starts after that. This has been my favorite place to stay.

We left camp at 10:30 am and drove back to highway 1. At that point we headed west towards the Pacific side of Baja. We stopped for lunch in Ciudad Insurgentes before continuing to Ciudad Constitución. They all wanted to get a hotel for the evening. We stayed at the Oasis Hotel. It was $28 USD for the night. It was pretty nice, but still a Mexican hotel. The shower was hot, which made it nice.

We first went to Leys for groceries and then stopped at the Purified Water store to get 5 gallons of water. We also filled the van with gas before driving back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel we noticed a festival in the town square, so after parking in the hotel courtyard, Eva and I walked back the town square. The festival was to celebrate the Oaxaca culture in Constitución for those from the state of Oaxaca on the Mexican mainland. They had booths, food and music playing. There were a lot of families out for the evening. We had some ice cream and a desert that was made from a biscuit filled with Nutella and cream. It was warm and very good. We have decided to try and experience some of the Baja culture through food. So we have ate out a lot more than we normally would. While we were at the festival we talked to all the kids and found out half of them were sick. So we decided to stay in Mexico until they are all better.

We walked back to the hotel in the dark and watched the last two minutes of the Super Bowl. The announcers were in Spanish, so Eva understood. They had pretty good internet, so I was able to update the blog. We had been 9 days on the beach with not cell phone reception, so everyone was glad to get connected again.

Jan 29, 2020

We packed up and left Loreto around 10 am and drove further south on highway 1. The roads in this part of Baja have been pretty good. I think they get a lot of money from tourism, so there is more government investment. There are a couple of very nice resorts and golf courses just south of Loreto.

The highway south climbs in and out of mountains and hills. It is a very pretty highway. Because of the rains earlier this month, the vegetation is full and green. The mountains have sharp peaks and exposed rocks that make them look like the mountains in Costa Rica.

We stopped at Rattlesnake Beach to check it out, but we didn’t plan on staying, so we continued to Punta Agua Verde. This small town of maybe 40-50 occupied buildings, is at the end of a 20 mile dirt road. For the most part, the road is a nice gravel road, but there is a section of steep, narrow switchbacks that takes you from the mountains down to the beach. Fortunately we didn’t meet any other vehicles while we were descending from the mountains.

We found a nice camping spot on the north end of the beach that was protected from the wind. There was only one other camper, but they were on the south end off the beach. A few coves north of us was a small bay with 6 sailboats anchored. Eva and I walked along the cliffs to that bay and talked to the sailors. Most were from Canada, but there was a group from New Zealand. They invited us to a bonfire, but the path back to our camp us covered with water when the tide came in, so we thought we better get back. We had a quiet evening at camp.

We call this pelican beach because there are 15-20 pelicans that fly and hunt for fish right in front of our camp. They are only 10-50 feet from shore. They were fishing the same area all night long and they are still there in the morning. They are fun to watch dive in and swallow the fish.

Jan 30, 2020

This morning we were up to see the sun rise over the bay. After breakfast I took the kayak and paddled to an rock named Roca Solidaria that was about 1.25 miles off shore. The rock was probably 100 ft high and was just out at the edge of the bay. It is used by sailors to mark to entrance to Agua Verde Bay. There was no wind so it was an easy paddle. However, at the rock there was wind and waves, so it was difficult to get on shore, but I was able to beach the kayak and walked around the small island that the rock was on. On the way back to camp I was able to use the new downwind sail that Sea Eagle sent me. The wind wasn’t real strong, but I was able to sail almost all the way back to shore. The last 100 yards I had to paddle because the wind was parallel to the shore. The sail worked well, but I wish the wind was a bit stronger.

Before lunch the group hiked about a mile along the shore to the small bay where the sailboats were anchored. Eva and I continued around the bay to a point on the shore where all the pelicans nested.

After a PB&J sandwich for lunch, Eva and I walked into the village of Agua Verde. It is a stretch to call it a village, it is more of a collections of houses and buildings. We wanted to spend some money with the locals, so we went looking for a store to get some groceries. They told us there were three stores. We found one after a lady told us to walk up this path and the store has a black truck parked outside. After wandering between houses, we found the store. It was about 12’ x 12’ and also served as the owners house. Two walls of the house had a bed, crib and dresser. The other two walls had shelved for food and other items. There was just enough room in the middle for us to stand and look at the food. The owner had just started the store, but was looking to add on to his house so the store wouldn’t be in their house. He had a 12 year old son and a 9 month old girl.

There was a good selection of food and the fruit and vegetables looked real good. We bought 2 bananas, 2 tomatoes, 2 avocados, 4 eggs and 2 small cookie packs for 72 peso ($3.84 usd). He told us the eggs were fresh from his mom. We were surprised at the selection and the price. We walked around town a bit more and then back to the beach.

We had a fun time watching 3 of the sailors launch their dinghy from the beach. The surf had gotten a bit rough since when they landed and their dinghy was a small, short, flat-fronted rowboat. With three of them, it was overloaded so their first try the boat was swamped in about the first 25 yards. They had to jump out and pull the boat back to shore. The second try was almost the same, but then one guy jumped out of the boat. With a smaller load they were able to get out away from shore and motor to the sailboat. The other guy had to walk back along the shore. But first he was diving and searching for their stuff they lost on the first attempt. We found out they had lost an oar lock. He came back later to search, but could not find it.

On the way back to camp we stopped at the restaurant to order dinner. They only serve dinner by reservation. Otherwise they don’t open for the evening. We had tacos and tamales. It took several hours to make the tamales and they didn’t finish until after they closed for the evening, so he delivered our food to our camp, about 200 yards down the beach. We ate dinner around the campfire.

Jan 27, 2020

Riviera Del Mar RV Campground is in the middle of Loreto, close to the downtown square and waterfront. It is also the center of stray dogs, cats and roosters. Around midnight each night the dogs start howling and fighting. We hear them all night long. Also, each night there are stray cats wandering through the campground crying and fighting. We are camped next to 3 guys in tents. One night, two cats must have been fighting for something in between the tents, they were quite loud. And then there are the roosters. They start crowing at 3:30 am. First one or two will start, and soon dozens of them are trying to out crow each other. This continues until after the sun comes up. But overall it is the cleanest and nicest campground we have been in. The showers are the best we have found in Mexico.

We walked down to the town square and a cruise ship had come into port that morning. The square was full of dancers and singers entertaining the crowds. We watched that for a while and then walked around the square and waterfront. There are a lot of nice hotels and condos along the waterfront. There are also vendors and shops to look at. We ate an empanada and ice cream for lunch.

Later, after siesta, Eva and I walked 5-6 blocks to the grocery store. We went just to get milk, but came home with a bag full of food, including a watermelon. Later that night, the group had a potluck dinner. The campground had a nice pavilion next to our campsite with a BBQ. We had BBQ fish, chicken, rice, tortillas, guacamole and watermelon. There was plenty of food for everyone had plenty to eat. As usual, we went to bed early and read.

Jan 28, 2020

Today we drove about 25 miles from Loreto to the Mission at San Javier. It was a very nice road up a beautiful canyon to the top of the mountain. San Javier is a very small quiet town in an oasis of palm trees on the top of the mountain. The mission was founded in 1699 and the current temple was built in 1758. It is in very good condition and is in use today. The surrounding grounds were farmed and they had an olive orchard with trees that were over 300 years old.

We bought some empanadas at the only small store that the town has. We also ate lunch at a restaurant near the mission. The town was so quiet and peaceful after spending the last few days in Loreto.

After lunch we drove down the canyon back to Loreto. In town we stopped at the car wash and they hand washed the van for $100 MX ($5.40 US). The van was pretty dirty after 3 weeks of dirt roads, rainstorms and sandy beaches. It is nice to have it cleaned.

Later that night we had another potluck with everyone in the pavilion. Eva made some Spanish rice. Tomorrow the group will separate as Jim and Gail will head north back to Canada while we will continue south down the Baja coast.