We
looked today and we are more than 3,000 miles from home and that is if we take
the ferry.
Today
we drove to La Paz.
Initially
the road was wide and straight. It got
really curvy and then it followed a thin ridge.
It was really windy up there. Tim
said it was a “2 hands on the wheel no bullshit drive.”
In
our travels along Mexico 1 and on many of the smaller roads, we have seen
hundreds of roadside shrines and memorials.
Some are very simple crosses and others are quite elaborate.
I
did a Google search after we wondered if every memorial represented a life lost
along the road and indeed, they do.
As
we have mentioned before, this road is very narrow and winding. Oftentimes, there is little or no
shoulder. The road is well marked warning
of dangerous curves, painted with white stripes to remind you to slow and then
there are the “topes” or speed bumps that will really get your attention.
In
a busy town or residential area there are stop or alto signs on every corner. There are signs that say “This is not a high-speed
road,” signs that warn not to drink and drive, and signs to wear a seatbelt.
When
we researched this trip, we read the rules of the Baja roads. We are advised to drive slowly and
cautiously. We are also advised not to
drive at night. Driving after nightfall here
is particularly dangerous and not for the reasons you might surmise. In the evenings, the free-range livestock,
goats, chickens, and cows, gather and congregate on the asphalt to enjoy the warmth. At night, desert animals emerge from their
dens and burrows to hunt.
Local
drivers are familiar with the bends and twists in the road and they want to
travel more quickly than we do. There is
very little law enforcement and many rules and limits are ignored. As a result, there are lots of accidents. There are very few curves without a memorial,
and many curves have more than one.
Family
is revered and sacrosanct in Mexican culture.
When someone is dies in a car accident, the family erects descansos or
crucitas or memorias. They believe that
the place where the loved one’s soul left the body is a sacred place. The ground is blessed with holy water. Memorials small and grand often utilize rocks
from the area and contain pieces of the wreckage.
The
idea of the roadside shrines is to provide a place for loved ones to be
remembered. They are decorated with
flowers, wreaths, pictures, personal mementos, and are usually dedicated to a
saint. Many have burning candles as
well. They are a place for people
passing through to rest and say a prayer.
They also serve as a reminder to travelers to respect life and slow
down.
We
are staying at Campestre Maranatha just north of La Paz. We got settled and spent some time doing laundry. We made a Walmart run to get supplies that we
have not been able to find in other smaller local groceries. This is the first
Walmart in about 1,000 miles. We also spent time this afternoon catching up
with family and friends.
We
went out to dinner on the Malecon along the Bahia La Paz. This is the biggest city that we have seen in
Baja. We zigzagged through the city streets
to find our way. We ate at the
Bismarkcita. The food was good but the
ambience was wonderful. We could see the
Malecon and we watched the sunset.
As
we were waiting for our food a parade for the advertising of Carnival came through. There was music and dancing. A man stopped his car in the middle of the
street and got out to dance with the performers.
After dinner we walked along the water. There was live music on the pier.
Day 2 Misiones RV Park Ciudad Constitucion BCS, Mexico
We set out this morning without a real plan. We headed to Puerto Lopez Mateos.
When we arrived, we saw that there was a festival in progress. Today was the first day for the Festival of the Grey Whales.
We walked down to the wharf where the whale watching tours begin. We spoke to a guy about taking a tour and just as we were deciding what to do, a couple, Mike and Holly, from Vancouver Island, approached us. They were looking for people to share a boat with. The boat was 1600 pesos for up to six people for one hour. We decided to go with them.
We boarded the boat and glided across the calm water of the bay.
We saw this coyote on the sand spit.
The skipper parked his panga near the mouth. Almost immediately we began to see a pair of whales. We thought mother and baby but the skipper in his broken English and sign language told us that the pair were mating. All of our pictures are of this pair of whales. It was a magical experience.
After our hour of whale watching, we had lunch with Holly and Mike at the festival. We chatted about our travel experiences. They have been staying in Loreto for a month in a friend’s casita. It is almost time for them to go home.
We decided to take the back-way home. We traveled for miles on sandy roads, across big open spaces and thorny desert.
We were tired when we got back…an easy egg, cheese, and chorizo burrito for our dinner and some quiet time.
We really liked the town of Loreto with its gentle breeze, sunshine, sparkling waters in the Sea of Cortez, and its kind and gracious people.
Our last glimpses of the Sea of Cortez.
A rose planted at a memorial.
We were headed back across the Sierra La Giganta in the RV this time and on pavement!
We settled at the Misiones RV Park in Ciudad Constitucion. We were warmly welcomed by the owner. We had a brunch of eggs in her small restaurant adjacent to the campground. She chatted with us, answering questions, and offered to take our postcards into town. She also called for prices for whale watching tours.
We decided to follow Route 22 out of town to San Carlos.
The very nature of exploring implies that you don’t know what you will find at the end of the road you are traveling. Most of the time we are pleasantly surprised. The village of San Carlos had a power plant puffing away. The center of town had many abandoned buildings and lots of very small shacks.
There was also a fish packing plant that smelled rather organic.
We took a sandy road that led us to a derelict fish camp.
On our way in we passed a beer truck on that sandy road. We wanted to find out where it had made its beer delivery. We finally arrived at this little spot.
We were still not disappointed. We saw lots of osprey and open flat land. The air was balmy and warm. If it is our quest to see the real Baja…then this back-country road is all part of the bigger picture.
The morning was spent cleaning the inside of the RV and publishing the pictures for the blog since the 23rd of January…we are finally all caught up!
Our first stop today was at the post office. We ordinarily mail post cards to the boys and we haven’t been able to find a place to get stamps.
Next, we stopped at this stand to get fresh oranges. We were able to get some in Mulege and they were so good…we wanted more. 6 oranges for 15 pesos…less than a dollar.
We drove to the promenade and parked by the beach.
I’m not sure why they try to conceal cell phone towers and make them look like palm trees…
We walked through the arch and into a nice plaza with shops and restaurants. Today was NOT a cruise ship day…luckily for us! The ship would anchor in deep water and then small boats would bring the cruise ship guests to town. We were fortunate to have a quiet walk, meandering in and out of shops.
The Mission Church of Loreto.
We went to Mi Loreto Cocina Mexican and had fish and shrimp tacos for lunch.
Of course, we took the gravel road out of town to see what we could see.
Some substantial compounds and villas by the sea.
Some sweet little condos right along the beach in front of the campground.
It is always difficult to leave a beautiful place. El Requeson with its glistening blue water, ragged coastline, protected inlet, and glittering starry nights, made this little sand spit a very special place…but we get restless and eager to discover what’s up and around the next bend…to find our next adventure.
We said hasta luego to our new friends Brian and Carol and Lucy. They are traveling on a different timeline and need to be in Los Barriles on February 1st.
Our destination today was Loreto. We needed a full-service campground. Loreto was founded in 1697 and it is the longest continuously occupied town in Baja. Here there are 3 big grocery stores, lots of shops and restaurants and even some resorts.
Our afternoon was spent doing laundry, working to catch up the blog, and going to the grocery. The Ley Store was the first real grocery we have been to in Mexico…even as we wandered up and down the aisles searching for our familiar stuff, we were reminded again how very spoiled we are. It was fun though to get some different things and I look forward to experimenting!
We went to find dinner in town. A woman in the RV Park told us about this new soul food restaurant called Alma Del Sur. She said that the food was delicious and the place had a funky, fun vibe. We went to try it out. The chef, John, is from Louisiana where he was a chef in New Orleans for 15 years. His wife is from Canada. She was a dive instructor in the Caribbean. They decided to open a restaurant here in Loreto and they have only been open for 2 weeks. The food was outstanding! I had the house special…the gumbo. The restaurant owner said that she married John because of his gumbo and that is completely believable!!! Tim had shrimp and grits. The corn was hand ground in the restaurant. It was by far the best meal we have had on this trip. I wanted to go back tomorrow but they are closed on Wednesdays! Make sure you stop and eat at this restaurant next time you are in town!!
After dinner we took a walk in the twilight along the malecon. It was a lovely evening. This is a resort town.
Today we headed to the town of Mulege (moo-lah-hay) to explore, gather supplies, have some lunch and use WiFi.
This town sits at the mouth of the Rio Santa Rosalia. Date palms line the riverside. We entered the historic part of the town and parked on a side street not far from the square. We had some cell service and so we checked messages and tried to work on the blog…but internet speed was just too slow. We walked into town and had a good omelet especial at Doney Mely’s.
We stopped in the little shops along the street looking for postcards for the boys…but without success. Main Street.
A primary school.
A Mexican dog…they are everywhere…big ones, little ones, noisy ones…but not one has bothered us as we walked by. No collars of course!
We saw a small mini mercado and walked through but did not find any groceries there. We drove to Saul’s and got some milk, strawberries, and yogurt.
Such a sweet little girl…her mom granted permiso for a picture.
Cockfighting event last week.
There was free WiFi back in the restaurant so we returned with the laptop and tried to load pictures but it was much slower than we are accustomed to. We will try again in Loreto.
Earlier in the day a fish vendor brought us fresh sea bass. We grilled it in a lemon butter garlic sauce and prepared elote as well. We ate our dinner again under the palapa soaking up the ambiance of this place and remembering just how blessed we are. We ended our evening with the stars.
At 2:22 am I was awake. I decided to look at the stars. They were big and brilliant and looked so close. The stars were casting a reflection in the still water of the bay…so very pretty!
We headed south on Mexico 1 and again saw dolphins in the bay. We stopped to watch them and counted more than 30. They were swimming in a long line, feeding and cavorting.
Enjoy the videos.
Today it was our goal to travel across the peninsula from the bay to the ocean on an improved gravel road. It was 61 km to the town of San Isidro. We traversed the Sierra La Giganta Mountains.
Cool little lantern like blooms.
We saw lots of critters today; lizards, chipmunks, ground squirrels, jackrabbits, hawks, roadrunners, burros, horses, cows, and goats.
The landscape was craggy and rugged and harsh, with lots of sharp edges. The vegetation was scrubby and thorny. It was still and silent but for us. It was though quite beautiful in its desolation and austerity.
San Isidro is a desert oasis fed by the Purisima River. There are date palms and flowers. It was green and lush.
The gravel road dumped us right onto pavement, Route 53, at the edge of town. We took 53 south and turned toward Las Barrancas and the Pacific Ocean.
Lunch spot.
There were osprey nests everywhere. We counted more than a dozen in the small village. They were perched on telephone poles but also on roofs and in vacant buildings. The beach was strewn with lobster heads abandoned by fishermen after the claws and tails were harvested. The heads were almost the size of a football! We saw this little crab scuttling around in the sand.
Goats on the beach?!?
Every school has a fenced yard with a shade shelter.
We turned around and went back the way we came. I drove part of the way.
It was 4pm when we got back to the RV and Lucy, Carol and Brian’s dog, was waiting for us. She is the sweetest and best-behaved dog I have ever met. She joined us for an afternoon snack.
We grilled our dinner and ate outside again this evening. This is the mildest night we have had so far. We watched the sliver of moon dip behind the mountains and then watched the stars pop out. The Milky Way was vibrant. It was the most spectacular night sky we have ever seen.
Today we were excited for a backroad adventure. We packed the cooler and headed to Mulege, 22 miles away to fill the Jeep. We also called mom and had FaceTime with David and the boys. We posted the blog from the 23rd with a note that we were out of service range. No worries… we are out having a blast!
We saw about 8 dolphins sluicing through the water just 100 feet offshore. We stopped to watch. From our elevated vantage point, we could see them clearly. It was so quiet that we could hear the spray from their blowholes as they swam.
This is the path that we intended to follow.
We missed the first gravel turnoff but we found the road to San Nicolas. The ride took across desert. We saw wild burros and their foals and lots of beautiful desert landscape.
We arrived at San Nicolas…really just a very small and simple village on the water. I love the contrast of the cacti and the desert landscape abutting the water of the bay!
We stopped for lunch after passing through La Ramadita, another small, modest fishing village.
San Sebastian was nestled in a protected cove and had nicer resort style buildings.
Here we turned back toward the Bahia Concepion. We walked along the beach gathering shells.
When we arrived at the end of the road…we knew why we had missed the turn earlier in the day…the gate was easily moved and replaced!
The view of our campsite from a lookout on Mexico 1.
We grilled avocados and salmon for our dinner and sat beneath our palapa to eat, enjoying the lapping of the water and a small fire.
We left San Ignacio and went across El Vizcaino on Mexico 1 to Santa Rosalia. The road was a roller coaster ride but the road surface was good and the lanes mostly wider, and even with decent shoulder. Tim made the driving look easy.
Santa Rosalia was an industrial town on the Gulf of California also called the Sea of Cortez. It was a busy little place and we drove straight through…we were headed for warmer weather.
We passed through Mulege and stopped just south of town to fuel the RV. As we left town, we lost our cell service. The road wound along the coastline and we began to see campsites on the beach. We decided to check out the best of the camping spots according to our guidebook and then choose where to stay. This area is a favorite for people overwintering in Baja. El Requeson is the beach that is pictured most often in travel brochures. The beach sits on an inlet in the Bahia Concepcion. The turquoise waters, blue sky, and warm temperatures beckoned to us.
We were able to park our rig just feet from the water’s edge. It cost 600 pesos or $32.00 for 4 nights.
We walked and rested and relaxed in the sunshine. This camping spot is definitely in our top ten of all time!
At sunset we walked around the small lagoon.
This sailboat anchored in this protected cove overnight.
This little blue house has no door and no windows. It is open all the way through. There is a family living here. We are constantly humbled by families Working hard to survive and care for their children.
Vendors drove by offering trinkets and blankets and ponchos and later fish and vegetables. We purchased a kilo of jumbo shrimp for 400 pesos. We grilled them for dinner and they tasted delicious, sweet and tender.
Carol and Brian had arrived in midafternoon. The four of us spent the evening in our palapa enjoying the mild temperatures and protection from the wind.
It was too cloudy to see stars before we went to bed. I woke up sometime during the night and the heavens twinkled with a zillion stars…Who has it better than us???
NO ONE!!!
