The Road to San Ignacio

Sunday, 7 March – San Ignacio to Laguna San Ignacio (lat 27 18.009; long 112 53.675)

1. Cave art reproductions at the museum in San Ignacio.
The real thing is 4,000 to 10,000 years old.

2. Arriving at the Laguna San Ignacio

3. Accommodations at Antonio’s camp.

4. “No, I don’t have a job.”

5. Antonio and friends play guitar and sing.

Had a great breakfast at San Ignacio Springs Bread and Breakfast, then took in the cave painting museum next to the cathedral.

We took care of business in San Ignacio. Gassed up (took on 5 extra gallons for the the road south), bought food for four days, and punched out the last blog post at the internet café on the San Ignacio plaza. Then we were off to Laguna San Ignacio. A nice new paved road lead us about 20 km out of town. The road turned to dirt. The people in San Ignacio warned us that the road was rough. Compared to the road to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga, the road was really pretty good. With the exception a couple single tracks across the tidal plains, we were able to roll at 30+ MPH the entire way to the Laguna.

Ray and I checked into a cabana with Baja Expeditions (celebrating their 35th year as a world’s leader in eco-adventures). Here on the laguna, BajaEx appears to have merged with a local operator Antonio. Look for them on the web: www.bajaex.com. For those that know Laguna San Ignacio, Baja Expeditions has leased Antonio’s Eco-Tours (www.antonioecotours.com) for two years. So I guess, Antonio is now a sub-contractor. If you want the Antonio experience, you have to book through BajaEx.

Watched the sun set on the Pacific.

We had a nice fish dinner at the restaurant. After dinner, Antonio and friends played guitar and sang.

Whale watching tomorrow.


Saturday, 6 March – Bahia San Luis Gonzaga to San Ignacio

1. Taking a break on the road south of Bahia San Luis Gonzaga

2. The road climbs to about 2400 ft from sea-level.

3. The desert was in bloom in the Saguaro cacti zone.

4. A really big Saguaro (Joel is in the frame for reference)

5. We arrive at Coco’s corner for the obligatory beer …..

6. … where delivery trucks have seen better days …..

7. …and ladies undergarments adorn the ceiling.


8. The mission San Ignacio, 2 km south of HWY 1

9. Sunset on the river at San Ignacio

Big travel day. Packed up and dumped the gas on the hitch carrier into the truck’s tank. Had some extra and tried to give it to Olive and Jerry to repay them for the fish they gave us earlier. He had mentioned earlier that he did not have enough fuel to make it to Punta Final. However, Jerry told Ray that Dean (a permanent camper on the beach) had already given him mixed gasoline but that Dean really needed raw gas for his generator. So Ray gave Dean the raw gas. Ray returned from the trip with cooked clams. A start to another day in Baja.

We paid for a shower on the way out at the reverse osmosis plant at Rancho Grande. Then we headed south on the coast road. We passed the turn off to Punta Final. I am a little sorry that we did not make it out there this trip. We said that we would return to this sopt if we had time on the way back up HWY 1. However, given all the places marked on our map already, I am realizing for the first time that our time is limited and 5 weeks is not enough time for this trip.

The road improved somewhat compared to the road we had traveled from the north although progress was still slow. We gradually climbed to over 2400ft back into the Saguaro and Organ Pipe cacti zone. The dessert was in full bloom. As we crested the mountain spine that divides Baja, the temperature dropped noticeably as we felt the Pacific winds. We also encountered light rainfall.

We made the obligatory stop at Coco’s corner, a small compound at an intersection for the road to HWY 1. According to all the Baja books, Coco is a hermit that moved from Tijuana to the dessert something like 30 years ago. He sells beer and soda to passers-by and is a renowned story-teller. There are also ladies undergarments nailed to the ceiling which no doubt are the subject of some stories. I haven’t checked but I bet that Coco’s Corner is in Wikipedia. As fate would have it, after seeing no-one (either way) after leaving Rancho Grande, we had 30 motorcyclist from the US (it is Saturday – which I guess means dirt biking time) pass us right before arriving at Coco’s. So when we arrived, Coco was rather busy selling beer and getting people to sign his book. So we had the beer, we signed the book, but we did not get the story. I guess even Baja can get crowed.

The ride from Coco’s to HWY 1 went well. We turned south on HWY 1 and drove for several hours through high dessert with Saguaro as well as other cacti. This section of rode was particularly desolate. There were a few houses at the occasional road intersections. However, the gasoline stations marked on our travel map did not materialize. We were thanking ourselves for putting the extra gas in the truck that morning.

We came in close to empty at Vive Jesus Marie. We filled the truck at the Pemex station and had lunch of shrimp tacos, fish tacos, and tamales (the later were very good – those of you know me know how I am always looking for a good tamale) at the stand on the Pemex grounds just north of the station.

Just south of Vive Jesus Marie, we crossed into Baja California Sur where we had to pass the military post (I don’t think it was a check point) then into a agriculture inspection / toll booth. We paid our 10 pesos and answer “Si” to whether we were carrying any fruits or vegetable. We were directed to the side of the road where we had our oranges and avocado confiscated. I think the agricultural officer was enthusiastically trying to tell us that we could eat them there. However, Ray and I had just finished lunch and weren’t in the mood to pack in the oranges – or then again, that may not have been what happened at all since this was all done in Spanish. That same agricultural officer may have used our exchange in a training video.

We skirted Guerro Negro, marking this industrial town for our return trip. We found cell coverage for the first time in 5 days, pulled over, and called our families to let them know everything was well. The drive to San Ignacio was fairly uneventful passing through another military checkpoint just north of town.

A word about HWY 1. It is a fairly good road but the lanes are very narrow. We got behind a tractor-trailer on one section and the rid went from the yellow centerline to the white marker at the edge of the road. What makes this unnerving is the road is elevated in many section with a 3 to 4 foot drop off immediately after the white line (i.e. there is often no shoulder). Several times, tractor-trailers passed in opposite directions with no daylight between them. So, we are sticking to the rules of 1) no driving after dark, 2) obeying the speed limits, and 3) driving while well rested.

We pulled into San Ignacio which is a VERY COOL mission town. If you are traveling HWY 1, you should not pass this town. About 2 km off the highway is the mission started in the early 1700’s and the plaza with these magnificent trees. The town is an oasis built on a spring which everyone refers to as the river. If I have this correct, the river is underground, comes above ground at San Ignacio, and then goes underground again. The town is full of date palms and some irrigated fields. Apart from being the jumping off point for whale watching and cave painting tours, I don’t think the town has changed much. Being on the only road that connects northern and southern Baja, we will go through San Ignacio on our return trip and will probably stay here again as we are familiar with the town.

After checking out the square we looked for a place to stay and settled on San Ignacio Springs Bed & Breakfast. We have been camping for 12 days and decided to get a real bed for a day. The B&B is run by Jerry and Terry, a couple of Canadians that have transplanted themselves into San Ignacio. We stayed in the now-defunct karaoke bar. In addition to getting an update on the gold-medal hockey game between the US and Canada (Canada wins in overtime), we got a room with two beds, a hot shower (really), and a promise for breakfast the next day.

We caught the sunset on the river (see attached picture).

Since dinner was already booked at the B&B, we moved down the road toward town to El Padrino Restaurant where we had shrimp, scallops, and the calms Ray got from Dean this morning. The food and service were good. I would recommend El Padrino to anyone wandering into San Ignacio.

Tomorrow we do chores then move out to Laguna San Ignacio to do some whale watching.