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Published: February 6th 2009
Viscaino Desert then to San Ignacio
We stayed 4 nights in Bahia de Tortugas. The second day we got invited by Jose to go out fishing again, this time in a small boat, but we declined and decided to ride right out to the end of the peninsula - just to have been there. It was about 35 km each way, with a side trip to another little beach on the way back.
The desert is so beautiful.
The third day we road a couple more of the dirt back roads around the bay, going to Malarimo on our own and then to Rincon and Clambay. Rincon is a lobster fishing port. There are 3 fishing cooperatives in the Tortuga area and only they are allowed to fish lobster and abalone in the area. The other spot, Clambay is just a beautiful empty half moon shaped beach.
By the time we left, the wind had come up. Our last night in town was so windy, even the local taco stands didn’t open. The town has virtually no pavement, and was totally enveloped in a cloud of sand and dust. The wind lessened as we rode into the mountains, the next
day - then we were back in the Viscaino, and it’s ever changing topography.
In the space of about 130km we went from flat desert, to mountains, to cactus forests, to salt flats, to acres of covered in cultivation.
We got gas what I think must be the busiest truck stop in Baja, putting up with having to buy regular gas (the bikes really prefer the premium) only to, on the way out of town, discover that there was another Pemex station WITH Super gas at the other end of town.
Gas stations are a breed of their own in Mexico, Baja anyways. There seems to be at least one or two in just about every mid to large sized town. Whether they are open or not, or whether they have any gas is another matter. There are slick looking gas stations all over the place which have been there anywhere from 1 to 8 years which have never opened or had any gas. I guess this is a bit of a testament to government run (Mexican Government, that is) efficiency and decision making.
So when we are travelling, we always fill up whenever we can - particularly whenever we
can find super. You never know when the next opportunity will be.
We decided that, seeing we were approaching the halfway point of our trip we would splurge a bit and spend a bit more money on the hotel and stay somewhere nice. Hot showers guaranteed and comfy bed, maybe do up laundry. San Ignacio Springs Bed and Breakfast is such a place. Got our own Yurt with a King size bed, internet, breakfast included, in a grove of date palms beside a lovely river in the middle of the desert. We decided to pass on the private bath and instead use the extra $150 pesos to buy a great bottle of Chilean cabernet/merlot that they had available. Good decision. By the time the bottle was empty and we were heading into the palapa for the home cooked dinner we had decided to stay two nights and just relax the next day.
It is like a little resort in the middle of the desert about a km or so outside of the little mission town, and all the rooms are yurts - brought down from Oregon, no less and owned by a Canadian couple who used to live in northern
Punto Eugenia
at the tip of the Viscaino PenninsulaBC.
The yurt was actually sumptuous, with a great king sized bed, a patio, good Chilean wine and a beer fridge (both priced very reasonably)and even wireless internet. We checked in for one night, and it felt so good we ended up staying 3.
The town is situated on the edge of an underground river, that only surfaces here, in this area, for a km or so. The Jesuits figured this would be an easy place to get established, so they set up camp here and did their thing, including the planting of about 10,000 date palms. There are dates scattered on the ground everywhere, and the two fat resident date dogs prove that it was not a bad idea.
At first we thought the room a little pricey at 610 pesos, but after including breakfast, it really was no more expensive than some of the boring places we’ve stayed in the towns. The owners and their staff, treated us like part of the family - well, actually more like a visiting favourite aunt and uncle, given the attentiveness and good food.
To start my ‘day off’, I suntanned for my maximum 15 minutes each side and then took advantage
of the complementary kayaks to explore the extent of the river’s escape from its normally underground state. Was only about a km or so long, but so beautiful.
In the afternoon we walked the mile or so into town and checked out the cathedral, the town square and the tiendas (stores). There is a bookstore/hotel that is run by a woman who has taken on the role of being the resident local archivist. She is in the midst of documenting all of the oral and photographic history of the area, and appears to be doing a stellar job. She has set up a room where she keeps binders of all the available archival photographs from the area so that local families can come in and look for pictures of their ancestors. She will even arrange copies for them of specific photos if they wish them. I did say it was a book store. That means Dainius had to buy a book. Did I say 1 book? Make that two books. And not just any two books, one of them happened to be the biography of Frida Kahlo, about the size of a large version bible.
By the end of the
day, we decided we just couldn’t leave yet. Just one more day of r & r. It is like being on a cruise ship here. They fuss over you at breakfast, “Fruit salad to start? This is fresh orange juice, and there is mixed fruit juice if you prefer. How would you like your eggs? Oh the bread is all home made by Terry. She has to bring in her flour from the US. Mexican flour just doesn’t make good bread. That’s homemade strawberry jam, or there’s pineapple and grape as well.“ Wow!
We spent the day reading, napping in the sun, and
near the end of the day starting to pack things up to leave the following morning.
I notice Dainius’s running shoes are now strapped on the outside of his gear bag. I guess the biography of Frida is about the same size as a pair of size 13’s and being a book, much more precious, gets the inside berth.
Travelled then stopped in Santa Rosalia for cash, blankets and lunch. Then Mulege for groceries before heading for the beach - that would be Playa El Burro, the 3rd beach on Bahia Conception. But that is another story.
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