AS THE TORTILLA BURNS – PART TWO

 

   A Road Trip Down Baja

After arriving in Rosarito, I was anxious to get started on finding a new place to live.  I knew I wanted to be in Baja, but further down, where it was warmer.  I thought La Paz would be a great place to start.  Nearly 1000 miles from the border, I planned a 10 day road trip.  I would stop every day in a new location, just to check things out before finally reaching my destination.  Baja Sur offered a more tropical climate, palm trees, white sand beaches and warm weather.  La Paz is the capital of Baja Sur, the main seaport with a Malacon with many hotels and a thriving tourist business.  A major airport and many boat harbors made this a good choice and I was looking forward to my new adventure.  I didn’t waste anytime getting started, I moved my loaded trailer into my garage and did a bit of shopping for supplies.   The next morning I loaded the dogs and took off at 6AM.   I enjoyed the sunrise along the Pacific heading toward Ensenada, I had already traveled this way a few times and I knew the road.

Moving on from Ensenada there are some wonderful side trips to Valle de Guadalupe, Santo Tomas and San Vicente Valleys and The Pacific coast.  The valleys are know for wine making and beautiful rolling hills.  The Mex 1 is a narrow band of two lanes punctuated with twists and a near constant fleet of trucks and RVs roaring by.  To the west is the Pacific Ocean, where the craggy rocky coast rises thirty meters from the crashing waves below, off limits to all but the most adventurous surfers.  A very scenic drive with spectacular sunsets.    The drive out to the Pacific is mostly a dirt road and very slow going, great for surfers and camping.  The only hotel is Coyote Cals in Erendira,, very basic, other that, you are on your own.   I spent two nights here, watching the surfers and the waves.  You might be asking what its like to travel alone as a single woman.  I had no trouble, I had my 2 dogs and surfers are friendly lot of people.  I wanted to visit as much as Baja as I could on this trip, I wanted to see what there was and if I wanted to spend time in these location, before making up my mind about exactly where I wanted to live. 

Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro can be seen rising in the east, with 160,000 acres containing trout-filled streams, alpine lakes, evergreen stands, granite cliffs and during the winter months, snow.  The only way to reach the park is by car taking a paved road turnoff at KM 141 on Mex1, which leads to the settlement of San Telmo.  The road through the park ends at 2831 meters, just short of the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional, which is home to the largest telescope in the country.   I passed on this trip, my friend Roger from Rosarita said he had gone up for a total eclipse of the moon and it was awesome!

Passing through San Quintin a highway packed with eighteen wheelers and buses, this is great spot to stop for gas and food.  I never really cared for it, I could hardly wait to get out there and on the road toward El Rosario.  I had been as far as El Rosario on the trip before, when I got tetanus. A great place to stay is Mama Espinosas, restaurant and a Pemex gas station, the last dependable one before you reach Guerrero Negro.  Past El Rosario you enter into the desert, catus line both sides of the highway and all modern conveniences disappear by the unforgiving Parque Natural del Desierto Central.  There isn’t a lonelier  place than on this drive along the Baja Highway 1 between El Rosario and Guerrero, except for Catavina and Bahia de Los Angeles.    As soon as you leave El Rosario a eerie landscape of desolate mountain ranges, yucca, towering cardon cati, the worlds largest species of catus began to appear, its daunting. There are no a gas stations, no people and no towns.  

 Catavina is one of my favorite places, huge boulders form prehistoric mountains and the  strangest catus I have ever seem grows abundant in this area.  The cirio or boojum would seem more appropriate in a dreamland or a set designers sketchbook.  Its shaped much like a carrot, it grows straight up to over 18m, at the top a plume of leaves that later bloom.  I spent five years trying to find a baby plant to dig up, I finally bought one in a nursery in La Paz. There is a Pinta hotel in Catavina, and sometimes you can buy gas out of the back of a guys truck.  This is the only place to really stop and take break.

Heading toward Bahia De Los Angeles and driving in the stifling heat of the desert, the lure of coast and blue waters of The Sea of Cortez were in my fore thoughts.  I did not know what to expect as I reached the signs pointing to a 69Km trip east along the resurfaced two lane Mex 6. Bahia is a hour drive, from the cut off on Highway 1, along a mostly paved road, adjacent to one of the largest dry lake beds in Baja.  The dry lake has a history of being an illegal landing stop for refueling of drugs planes.  Not my reason for stopping,  Bahia also offers some of the best scuba diving and the illusive Whale Shark has been reported as a regular visitor.  As a avid scuba diver I felt this detour might be of interest for a return trip another time to do some diving and take a few kayak trips.  So far, there are not any operators in town.  You can arrange through your hotel or you will be directed to someone who can you help you fill your tanks .

Bahia does not offer much in the way of hotels or anything for that matter, as I would find out.  I followed signs along the crumbling asphalt road finding a place to stay.  Larry and Raquels Motel on the Beach, with small rooms right on the beach for $45.00 per night.  Camping was also available at this tiny outpost.  I took a drive through the tiny village to discover a few more small hotels, some looked a little run down, a boat ramp, an internet café and a couple of restaurants.  Before settling in for the evening, I watched the sunset as I had dinner at Larry and Raquels right on the beach, a local favorite of fish tacos.  Isla Angel de la Guarda, the largest island in the Sea of Cortez, dominates the Bay and is the primary focus of the village.  It’s the best place on the seas northern coast for diving and  with air and rent kayaks at Costa del Sol or Villa Vitta.  So basically bring all your own food, supplies and toys to this outpost.  The more time I spent in Baja, I began to understand that you were on your own here.  Baja is a very rural area for the most part, not many services until you reach Loreto and La Paz.  I spent one night in Bahia de Los Angeles and was on the road early the next morning to head down to Mulege for another stop over. 

Guerrero Negro is a nine hour drive from the border, this is also the border for of Baja Norte and Baja Sur.  You are handed a tourist visa at the check point and asked to pay $20.00 at the nearest bank to activate it.   A great place to stop, hotels, restaurants, gas stations and tiendas of all kinds for picking up supplies.  Guerrero Negro  is also a starting point to visit whales during the winter season.  The lagoon is filled with rental boats ready to take to you to see the gray whales on their migratory route to the breeding grounds at the wedge shaped Pensinsula de Vizcanio.. The Reserve de la Biosfera El Vicanto offers a bit of everything.  The Peninsula de Vizcanio is an relatively remote location.  It remains mostly undeveloped, if you make it out here you will find kilometers of unspoiled beaches and world class surfing and fishing.  There are virtually no services, so bring your own supples, plenty of food, water, camping gear and at least one spare tire.  I did visit this area and found it to be beautiful, I wish I had been more prepared for this trip, I could have stayed for quite a while.

The most exciting thing to do in Guerrero Negro is whale watching.  The mostly flat and wind blown Guerrero Negro is cold, windy and foggy most of the time.  Most of the people living in the area work for the salt mining company. The business is based on flooding the surrounding saltpans, the worlds largest with ocean water and waiting for the water to evaporate so that trucks can haul away the salt for export.  Its kinda like watching grass grow, it could be exciting to a few people, but most stop for gas, food and supplies and head either north or south.  So far, I had been on the road for 4 days, I had traveled all over the world, as an editor for a dive travel publication.  Diving and writing about dive locations, hotels, dive operators, side trips and just general information.  I was giving Baja a C-, feeling a little discouraged I continued on to Mulege. 

Before leaving Tahoe I had spent 6 weeks researching Baja.  I talked with friends who had been down there, who had spent time camping, renting, living on a sailboat. I was versed in driving along the narrow Baja Highway 1, told about the trucks trying to drive you off the road, the animals, horses, goats, pigs and cows and passing on the two lane road.  I lived in Rosarito for eight months in my little house with a leaking roof, telephones going off and on, water being shut off for no reason, learning to speak some Spanish.  I spoke with property owners about the different ways to buy property,  I had a FM3.  I knew the difference between a Fedicamiso, clear title, buying in trailer parks, leasing, renting, getting a corporation, a work permit and how to open a business.  I thought I knew everything I needed to know.  I had spent eight months learning about Mexico.  I had thought this trip through from the beginning and I thought to the end.  

It was July, the hottest time of year, I chose this time of year to go down to Baja so I could experience the worst possible scenario, heat, unbearable heat.  I wanted to see if I could handle it,  Tahoe never gets above 90 degrees and it only last a few days, then it rains and cools off.  This was my biggest fear, THE HEAT!!!

~ by clairedelores on May 15, 2008.