2024 is well underway!! Baja secrets continued…

We returned to Baja on January 5^th and have been travelling with friends since the 10^th so we, apologetically, have not been on point with our travel musings. Alas, here goes…

Our return for Christmas was excellent and full of the joy and happiness with our family we missed the previous year. Our son, Eric, had recently finished a work commitment up north and was ready for much needed down time from a 2 week on 1 off, twelve-hour shift schedule. Our daughter Elly and son in-law Taylor managed to fit together a week of time off from their busy work schedules in Montreal to celebrate Christmas on Vancouver Island with us.  It was fantastic! We hiked a bit, ate a whole bunch, snuck around each other wrapping and hiding presents then celebrating. We also managed some fun festivities with our friends through New Years!

Storing the truck and trailer in the town of Los Barriles was easy, secure and about $100 for the month. We used regional public busses for the one-hour trip to and from Barriles for the return flight out of San José airport. The timing of our return trip meant not connecting with the bus back to Barilles so we planned an overnight in the old town of San José del Cabo. Fortunately, it was a Thursday which meant that we were able to go to the popular Art Walk. San José closes its streets around 6 PM on Thursdays. No traffic, open galleries, restaurants, and public spaces with a host of street vendors creating a festive vibe and the people watching was spectacular. We grabbed a beer, and drooled over the street vendor foods like tamales, churros and Elote – steaming fresh corn, mayonnaise, and picante sauce. We didn’t find the street food until after we had filled up on another Al Pastor. But definitely next time. 

Arriving back in Barriles the next day we checked into an RV park called Playa Norte. This place was built on the side of the arroyo and had a nice calm atmosphere in the camp area and a gazillion kite surfers, foil afficionados and all-terrain vehicle commuters on the windy sand beach. We spent two nights there to get the trailer provisioned, set up the new Starlink, then we headed north to meet up with our friends from Vancouver Island in Loreto.

It took a couple of days for us to drive to Loreto stopping back at Playa Tecolote at the end of the peninsula northeast of La Paz. We had a lovely hike out over the headlands looking out to Playa Balandra. This beach requires a day use permit and only gives permits for morning or afternoon. We decided to just hike out above and look in. 

When we arrived in Loreto, we found a palapa at the end of the international airport, on the beach, looking out to the mountains and Sea of Cortez. The airport is not set up for night arrivals and departures, so it is very quiet at night. During the day there may have been four or five airplanes on average.

We found a place to store the trailer for a couple of nights and headed to a secluded beach north of Loreto where our Comox friends were camped at. Our princess of a trailer would not have made it in and out of there so the 4×4 truck and a tent was it.  We do not have a lot of followers on this blog but vowed we would not post the gorgeous pictures of the bay and beaches as the few people who stay there, and the ranchers want to keep it pristine and free of influencers. Not sure it would make a huge difference as we might influence 5 people. But a promise is a promise even if censorship is the result.

During one of the nights at 2 am, SpaceX launched a rocket spewing more Starlink satellites. Here is a pic Albert caught of it going by from the door of our tent.

After 3 nights we headed back to Loreto and camped at the airport. Honestly, it is the quietest free camping we had encountered until then. During our stay there we day tripped it into the mountains, found some nice beaches south of Loreto and did a walk up a creek to a waterfall. 

The waterfall day involved airing down the tires on the truck and driving about 10 kilometers up a sand wash to a creek with fresh clean water, palm oasis and a flow that sometimes disappeared under the sand and reappeared on the smoothly grooved bedrock in the canyon. About 1.5 k up the creek, I tripped and really hurt my foot. I encouraged the rest of them to continue upstream as I would go slowly back to the truck and probably arrive back the same time as them.  

Look at this amazing tree. Apparently related to a fig. 

The waterfall and swimming destination.

Another day I kept my iced foot up while Albert went with our friends to nearby Puerto Escondido and launched their Hobie for a day of sailing and beaching in the waters near Isla Danzante. 

The next day Al and I decided to go see if there really was something nasty going on with my foot. Two doctor visits with a trip to the hospital for an Xray in between resulted in casting my foot as I had in fact broken my middle metatarsal on my left foot. 

The cast was paper thin, fit in my shoe and had disintegrated within 4 days. Biking was easier than walking and the middle of the night pee was excruciating. Oh well, it was only pain, and it would heal. I wrapped it with a sticky thin tensor and my orthotic to support my arch and that was a lot better.

Next stop was San Juanico and Scorpion Bay on the Pacific. Apparently, the surf there is great for all levels and the wave patterns are evenly dispersed so riding is very consistent for novices. Albert and I are not surfers, but we were looking forward to biking along the coast. There was no wind, and no swell for surfing so the 4 of us had some excellent beach riding.

No surf, “let’s go see if the whales have arrived” to have their babies. We pulled up camp and headed for the whale information center at Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos.  With the ability to park overnight we made the trek finding out that there were about 6 Grey Whales only and no babies. We enjoyed a fantastic sunset, decided not to go on a tour as it was still a bit premature and headed out the next day. 

We decided that we would camp near La Paz and go into town for an evening dinner and spend a day in the city. Two nights at Maranatha campground with a pool and hot showers was the ticket for my sore foot telling me to take it easy. We rode our bikes along the Malecon and Albert took a tour to see and swim with a whale shark. These beasts are the largest fish (some as long as 13 m) on the planet and while they are a shark, they are gentle and eat only plankton.

After La Paz we headed to La Ventana. This windy coastal expanse is famous for its wind sports and is mostly Canadian expats. They also have some fantastic mountain bike trails for all levels. Albert headed out on a challenging downhill run with his buddy and some other Comox acquaintances. We also hit another group of trails a bit south of the hub that were gently flowy cross-country trails. They were so lovely we found a place to camp for two nights on the beach nearby. One day we decided to do a sunset ride. Spectacular until it got dark, and we realized we hadn’t brought headlamps. Did I tell you I am getting cataract surgery this year? Believe me when I say that darkness was exponential with poor eyesight. I did manage to stay upright on my bike until I hit a sand trap near our trailer. No injuries, just my ego….

After La Ventana we headed to Cabo Pulmo again. We had spent a week there before Christmas and had fantastic snorkelling and biking. The three amigos headed out doing all the activities while I elevated my foot to try and speed up the healing. It had been about 2 weeks after all. 

While camped at Cabo Pulmo, we day tripped into the mountains inland starting early to see as much as possible in one go. We had heard about some river swimming and hot springs. We were not disappointed. First stop was Santa Rita with the hot springs and cooling river. We arrived early enough finding no one in the hot pool and very few in the river upstream. We were contemplating driving out to see a rancho/campground called San Dionisio but …why hurry?… we were owning this lovely place. Then the locals arrived. They arrived with families, barbecues, and music. So great to see all these folks relaxing with their loved ones. Less peaceful than our comfort level, however. We moved on. Next stop was to another beautiful spot called Sol de Mayo. The road in was easy and we contemplated coming back to stay overnight with the trailer. The hike in is along a trail that drops down into a steep sided canyon. Sounds full on, but there were stairs built into the walls, so the access was pretty easy if you didn’t worry about the possibility of careening off the steps. At the bottom was this swimming hole and waterfall. The very picturesque town of Santiago also boasts a lagoon oasis and church. We also noticed the painting between the bell towers proudly depicted some violent colonial conquests!! Yikes!

A day trip just north of Los Barriles and Cabo Pulmo is to an old mining town called El Triumfo. It has been restored and houses 3 well touted museums. The cowboy museum, mining museum and an art museum. We arrived too late in the day to take them in but the town in itself is restored to museum quality. Plus, the best passion fruit ice cream we had ever tasted!! We will return…

Another pleasant surprise for this invalid was a visit to a biodiverse farm in La Ribera. Buena Fortuna is a plot of land that has transformed from dry sandy desert with sharp shrubby greenery to a palm oasis with orchards, full of curry leaf vines, bananas and starfruit trees and a miriad of plants used for food, medicine, dyes, and shade. The proprietor had partnered with a botanist and built the dream as a living seed bank. She has glamping tents, runs healthy retreats, cooking classes, and serves up a delicious vegan lunch with foods grown on the land, her own honey and a menu which not only listed the food but it also listed the “in season- in process – to plant” duties. A full time passion for her and a great touristic thing to do when snorkelling, golfing or reading a book at the beach get old.

“Los Cabos” are the three capes Cabo San Lucas (South Cape), San José del Cabo (southeast cape), and Cabo Pulmo on the east side. After Cabo Pulmo we headed to see the Pacific Ocean side at the south end of the Baja peninsula. The area we visited consisted of three very different villages – Todos Santos, Cerritos and El Pescadero. We found a free beach just south of Cerritos and biked around the hills. The area is famous for its surf, but it is also easy access to San José airport, Cabo San Lucas and there are a lot of mega-mansions being built along with surf shacks and VanLifers all vying for a coveted slice of beach front. Probably the best sunset of the trip happened here. The area of Cerritos and Todo Santos is in the grips of a building boom that speaks volumes of the many people wanting to grab a piece of this lifestyle while they still can. All movement stopped on the peninsula that evening to witness the wild magenta colours of that sunset gift.

We had one night out for live music at a local watering hole called Shakas. Happy hour margaritas resulted in slurred, animated and extroverted talks with the band and their manager. Highly valued intel was obtained regarding the scurrying camera- toting personnel capturing the scene. Some kind of Netflix shoot was taking place right in front of us and we were part of it! Tequila fueled dancing, and a staggered walk back to the truck (before the second set) marked the end of my tequila happy hour days forevermore….

Then to a hike along a cliffside overlooking the fishermen bringing in their catch. We bought some uberfresh fish while duking it out with the pelicans.

We parted with our friends after Cerritos and headed to a gorgeous villa in Todos Santos where more family friends were staying with their neighbours from Calgary. We chilled by the pool, enjoyed biking the local walking trails, made fantastic dinners and had a great visit with my cousin Tara and husband Chad.

Chad had a bucket list wish of going to swim with the whale sharks in La Paz so off we went one day. While he was swimming Tara, Albert and I enjoyed the festivities of the last day of Carnival along the Malecón. There was a parade with about 13 floats, hundreds of costume laden sparkly children and 13 tow vehicles with 5 large speakers a piece all playing different songs. Just down the way was a stage and a midway. It was loud and festive.

We arrived back at Todos and met our hosts/ new found friends at a local restaurant and enjoyed our final night there having great wood-fired pizza and washing it down with BOGO Cervesas. A great night out to celebrate all of our fun festivities during our 4 nights together.

After almost two weeks in Cerritos and Todos Santos, we left Todos and headed just north of San José del Cabo on the east side to a beach called Shipwreck near La Fortuna for 3 nights. Surfing and big mega mansions exist here. The countless water trucks go by bringing the tasty, essential, life giving liquid to the gringos who own them.  The whales had arrived, and their acrobatic show was going off. Mother whales teaching their calves how to breech, slap their tails noisily and probably do the bubble hunt. Males making lots of noise to attract the females.

It was a “whale of a show” (sorry couldn’t resist) and a precursor for the next leg… the trip north…that’s right we are slowly headed home.