4 Days in "Old" Baja

Friday, 5 March – Bahia San Luis Gonzaga (lat 29 47.377: long 114 23.711: elevation 10ft)

1. Sunrise at Bahia San Luis Gonzaga

2. A visit to the fish camp next to our camp site.

3. Color coordination is not important for shoes.

4. Ray climbs the headland north of Alphonsina's. The terrain is rough.

5. Bahia San Luis Gonzaga from the headland north of town.

6. The way things work in Baja: Dean gives Olive and Jerry mixed gas; Olive and Jerry give Ray and Joel fish. Joel and Ray give Dean unmixed gas. Dean gives Joel and Ray cooked clams. Everyone gets through another day.

We were woken last night by the barking of sea lions off the beach behind the camper. We were up and out of bend at 5:45 a.m. to see the sunrise. We walked south down past the camp with local fisherman adjacent to our campsite. We were approached by one fisherman about going sport fishing (this he admitted was an easier day than fishing commercially). After we told him we really were not fisherman, he chatted with us for about 30 minutes. It looked like from the remains on the beach that they catch a lot of sharks and rays. Our new friend explained how to dry and cook these. There was a truck on the beach that purchased and put the fish on ice. The truck takes the fish to market in Tijuana and Mexicali. The fishermen live in the camp until the season closes at the end of March. Ray asked if he could take some photos and he agreed. He asked us if we could help him launch his boat since he was stranded by the tide. However, his crewmate had found a truck to pull him in the water so we really didn’t have to do much work. We said adios and he disappeared around the headland on his way to another day of work.

We returned to camp, took care of some chores, and made tea. We met Dean, a retired law enforcement officer from Los Angeles who has a permanent trailer here on the bahia at Rancho Grande. He gave us a run down on the area, the local politics, and the impending development that is waiting for the new road. He recommended that Ray buy the Airstream trailer sitting next to us with a “for sale” sign on it (half of the picture today were of the airstream – Hannah, hurry up and graduate). Ray and I then walked up the beach to Alphonsina’s for breakfast.

We finished breakfast at low tide and walked across the sand spit to the island in the bahia. We climbed to the top of the first peak and took some pictures of the bahia – more great scenery. We took photos of Jerry and Olive, a retired couple from Wyoming which we later traded for fish. Jerry carries a Zodiac with 9 HP outboard in their camper van to fish on the bahia. He happened to be fishing right below us and was an easy target for the camera. The sea bass filets we had tonight were very good. Later while downloading our daily “catch” of photo’s onto their computer, Jerry and Olive gave us several good tips on places to stay and things to do based on their many trips to Baja.

Ray is sleeping and it is actually late (9:30 p.m.). We plan to travel tomorrow so I am keeping this short.

Thursday, 4 March – Punta Bufeo to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga (lat 29 47.377: long 114 23.711: elevation 10ft)

1. The road warrior

2. The coast road is to the left of Ray

3. The dessert is in bloom.

Well it turned out to be a long 20 miles on a bumpy road. We rolled into Bahia San Luis Gonzaga around lunch time and ate at Alphonsina’s as all the guide books direct you to do. We checked into Rancho Grande for 2 nights and then did a little exploring.

We drove back to Papa Hernandez’s to look at a house that was posted for sale at Alphonsina’s. We also asked about camping ($5 US) to camp at the boat launch and whether anyone was selling fish or shrimp (maybe down the beach).

We returned to Rancho Grande then took a smaller road toward Punta Final at the south end of the bay. We stopped in at Campo Beluga and decided the beach and the facility was much nicer there. After a little hand wringing, we decided that we would eat the cost of one night at Rancho Grande and move to this beach tomorrow. After discussing rates and the facility with the owner, Juan (all in my limited Spanish so you can kind of guess how the conversation went), we continued on toward Punta Final.

After crossing a rather wide arroyo and climbing a rather steep hill, we could see Punta Final in the distance. We estimated the time and distance to go there and return would put us back to Rancho Grande after dark. Since we had unloaded a lot of our gear including the food, water, propane, and extra gasoline, we were not as self supportive as we had been the previous days and decided to turn back and save to trip to Punta Final for tomorrow. BTW, the truck rides decidedly better off-road with even a little less load. Ray is recalculating specifications for the next upgrade.

With the exception of the irrigated lands between Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado, everyplace we have been is dessert with spare vegetation. Toady however, we started to see many flowers in bloom. Crossing the arroyo on the road to Punta Final was rich in white and purple. I am positing one image to share.

We met an American on a BMW motorbike at Alphosina’s today. He gave us some tips on some of the off roads travel we have ahead of us and promised that the roads are better than what we have been traveling on since Puertecitos.

With no moon, we turn in early. It gets really dark without the moonlight and there is nothing to do after updating the journal. Ray went to sleep last night at 7:00 p.m. I lasted ½ hour more. We were both awake by 5:30 a.m. and up and moving by 6:00 a.m. I am feeling rested.

Wednesday, 3 March – Punta Bufeo (lat 29 54.444 long 114 26.453 elevation sea level)

1. The beachfront taken from the headlands south of Punta Bufeo

2. Beach campsite at Punta Bufeo

3. Whale bones were plentiful because of a several recent beachings.

We got up today for another sunrise. We washed dishes, made oatmeal, and did sone reading on the next leg of our trip. We climbed the headland (the point in Punta) east of the bay. We were greeted with some great views of the coast. We got back down to the beach in time for lunch. By this point, we decided to stay in place for today as the temperature climbed to about 75F and sunshine was abundant.

After lunch we walked down the beach to Campo Las Encantadas to look at house that is for sale. We had met the owner on the beach this morning. There was no one at home so we looked in the windows – very nice. A major upgrade from a trailer.

We got back to the truck and started dinner. As I was finishing up the chicken and broccoli, a boat with three fishermen began heading toward us on the shore. Apparently, they were headed north along the coast and had been out later than they expected. They wanted to trade fish for food. They had several skates which neither Ray nor I knew anything about preparing. So we declined to trade but Ray and I made them peanut butter sandwiches and gave them some oranges. They know about as much English as I know Spanish. It was an interesting negotiation.

We had full moon two days ago so we have no light after the sunsets. Lots of great stars. 3 planets. Going to bed early.

Tomorrow we go to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga which is a short 20 miles from here.


Tuesday, 2 March – San Felipe to Punta Bufeo (lat 29 54.444 long 114 26.453 elevation sea level)

1. San Felipe from the headland north of town.

2. The San Felipe light taken from the headlands north of town.

3. A "campo" with a great beach north of Puertecitos and 1/2 hour south of San Felipe. Many pass Boo's quality test.

4. Riding the new road south of Peutecitos

5. Sign for Punta Bufeo on the main road said by some to be the worst in Baja

Today started with the promised chore day. We got up to watch the sun rise from the back of the camper. We really didn’t have much to pack so we were able to get into town around the time the laundry opened. The laundry service had two options: full service or self serve. We opted for full service to save time with other important chores – like eating breakfast. We had breakfast at “Rice and Beans” on the waterfront on San Felipe. I had heuvos rancheros. Ray had the octopus omelet. We climbed the headland on the north end of the bay and got some great photos. Then we were back to business; grocery shopping, filled up with gasoline (we are carrying 5 extra gallons), bought water from the water purification vendor (reverse osmosis), then went back to pick up our laundry. With that we said adios to San Felipe and headed south down Hwy 5.

The coast was lined with “campos” down to Puertecitos. The development thinned the further south we went. We contemplated staying in Puertecitos where we sat in a campo waiting for someone who looked like that might work there. There was no sign of life save for two kayakers who told me they were staying the night and assured me someone would come by and take our money (it was the attendants day off). An interesting thing about these kayakers: They had left San Felipe 4 days earlier and were planning on finishing in Cabo in May. I thought we were doing it the hard way. As we sat waiting for something to happen, it became clear that it was still early afternoon and we were not ready to stop for the day. So we played the game of saying “one more beach” until we wound up well south of our original plan finally camping in Punta Bufeo.

When we ventured south of Puertecitos, the guide books had us prepared for “some of the worst roads in Baja”. As it turned out, the Mexican government is extending Hwy 5 south to Hwy 1. We were surprised by and additional 15 km of some of the best roads we had seen in Mexico – then the pavement ended. The new road gets you through a section where the mountains come down to the Gulf of California. Where this section would have taken 3 hours via the old road, we cruised at 110 km/hr with no other traffic.

South of Puertecitos, the campos are relatively few and signs of human habitation sparse. Off the pavement, we progressed at about 15 MPH. The scenery however is absolutely stunning. This is how California must have looked before the roads were built and the people moved in. Ray and I agree that although the new road opens the area for economic growth, it is going to end an era that we both came to experience. We both feel that we are lucky to travel this section of the coast on the “old road” because we will not be able to do it this way in just a short time ahead.

In the middle of this empty stretch we came across a hiker going north. He had been out “hiking in the canyons” for 3 weeks. He was out of water (we helped him by filling his bottles) and was looking for a ride north. After chatting for about 15 minutes, we parted ways – strange.

If I have the story correct (probably not), Punta Bufeo is run by some of the Papa Fernandez family, an icon in this area of Baja. Papa Fernandez opened a campo further south years ago. Being the remote beach that it is, Punta Bufeo has a 2800 ft airstrip with about 20 homes owned by Americans and Canadians – mostly pilots. When we pulled in, we met Julio, who told us he is the grandson of Papa Fernandez. We are the only campers. Julio let us set up on the beach for 50 pesos. Showers are $2 each. In Punta Bufeo, there is also a small hotel, and restaurant which the sign says is open from 7a.m. to 10 p.m. Ray and I had some doubts since we are the only camper on the beach and most of the houses are closed up. We decided to check it out anyway facing the prospects of cheese sandwiches. Julio indicated that the restaurant was open – in his kitchen. He (and I am guessing) his mother prepared dinner for us (shrimp or fish – we both went with shrimp).

During dinner we chatted and learned some interesting things. This campo (and I am assuming this is how all the campos work) is owned by Juilo’s family. The 20 houses are sitting on leased lots. Beach lots are $940/yr, lots back from the beach $400/yr. You provide your domicile. Most of the campos we have seen have trailers with permanent structures like decks, sheds, or even additional rooms. We stayed in one of these last night in San Felipe. In Punta Bufeo, the tenants have built houses. There are no electric or telephone wires out here. Most of the houses we see have solar panels. In Julio’s house, he runs at least a refrigerator (did I mention we had cold beer for dinner), a deep freezer, lighting, and a television from 6 panels (I am guessing 1 sq.meter each) and batteries.

The other thing Julio shared is that he worked construction in Las Vegas and San Diego. I want to ask him more about this tomorrow. However, the pattern we are seeing is that if you meet someone who speaks English, they worked in the US. There are so many questions I want to ask about his experience. How did he get there? Why did he go where he did? How was he treated? … and what about that fence?

More later.