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Published: April 1st 2007
Friday we left our little Barriles and headed to La Paz to catch the ferry across to the mainland. Taking the ferry will cut down about 5 days of treacherous driving up the Baja Peninsula. The drive is much easier on the mainland as well.
As usual, getting ON the ferry was a very complicated process. Mike and I figured if we were in charge, this country could move along much more efficiently. Example…..We arrived at the boat dock at 10.30 am. First we parked and then were told that we first needed a temporary permit for the RV and the truck in order to enter the mainland. Of course, we needed all of the documentation on the vehicles as well as our passports, driver’s licenses etc. No problem. Now one hour later….Return to ticket booth. Now you have to go around the corner to get copies made. Copies made, return to ticket man. No, you need 2 copies now of certain documents. We were never told that in the first place. We go back to ticket man and he begins the process of getting the vehicles checked in. We are told to “wait about 20 minutes”. We
waited about 30 minutes and returned and the paper work for the truck was finished but it will be another 20 minutes to get the RV paper work. So we finally get it all together and we learn of the big “bonus”--the permit for the RV is for 10 years!! Yay!!!!!! Like we would EVER pull that down here again????? I don’t think so!! But the truck permit is only good for 6 months. Go figure that one???? Another question of logic? If you try to think logical, forget it. We have our permits now and are paid for after 2 transactions on the credit card…….Yes, TWO???? Why? Two vehicles. It would be too logical to just have one transaction. And there is only one ticket man and loads of folks lining up…Two and a half hours later….
Now we have to go over to get tickets for passengers. Another huge wait only to be told that the computers have gone down (?????? computers???? I thought they made life a little faster???? Not in Mexico--they still use the 3.5 disks!) WE are then directed out to the “cargo lane” to wait. At the moment I am not sure, only
Packed in!
See the horses?that we have to go somewhere else for tickets. I am thinking, “Can’t I walk there?” No, they say, it is too “far”. It is around the corner so here we go in a van to rush to get in line once again. WE are then told that we probably will not be able to get on w/ the truck and RV but we can get on. Duh? Like we are going to leave our vehicles? But “maybe” there will be room. We get to the truck, go through the customs line and get in line. We are about the last rig on the boat! We made it. It is now almost 2.15 pm…..almost some 4 hours later!!!! Mike is about fit to be tied…..
The boat, California Star, is quite nice , really. WE are the only gringos on the whole boat. A meal is included and we have a late lunch. The boat is quite crowded and the locals rush to “claim their space” in the hallways, under the stairwells or wherever! They spread out their blankets, pillows etc. The other to areas to wait out are in the bar area with loud Mexican music or in
the restaurant w/ more Mexican music. We have 6 hours to go on this boat. We decide to get a room. Well, worth it.
We left the kitties in the trailer instead of the truck and I am glad to have done so. It was way too hot in the truck and they were petrified. I am sure they are still petrified.
We got off the boat at about 10.30 pm. We have no clue where we can stay the night but one of the guards at the ferry
tells us about the Marina Motel, how nice it is and there is parking there for our RV too! Clearly the guy can see that our RV is not "petite". So we go in the direction to find this hotel which is in a very dark area, guys sittling on the street drinking and we canNOT see a place to park. Both of us are cranky and tired so we just head to the next little town called los Mochis. Do you think we can find the RV park? Nope. I am tired of asking people where the RV park is and getting the wrong answers. See, it is
Restaurant Bar
A very popular place... kind of a cultural thing. Even though Mexican may not know where something is, he will tell you SOMETHING in order to be friendly--even if it is wrong!! I am at the end of my rope and we are in front of a Pemex gas station that is open all night! I tell Mike to park and I go into the store to ask if we can park our RV in the lost for the night. So now we are really hard core boon dockers having now spent the night in the parking lot of the Pemex! Needless to say, it was very loud there and we did not get a lot of sleep.
We got up and set out north towards the US on the toll roads. We are not sure what they do with the toll$$ collected but they certainly do NOT put it back into the road repairs! We were happy to not be doing hairpin curves but the road was still rough. We had to laugh when we saw a sign that said "Dangerous curves ahead". Compared to what they were in the Baja, this was nothing. The signs in the Baja should read, "Dangerously
The lounge bar
Very loud live band deadly curves ahead"! Ha ha.
We made it to the town of Guaymas in the state of Sonora and found a very nice campground at the historic Playa de Cortes Hotel here. The hotel has a lot of history to it (est.1935) and still has much of the same design from then. It really is quite exquisite . It is right on the bay here.
And so ends the Baja segment of the trip. Who knows what adventures remain on the mainland ahead? Tomorrow our goal is to make it to Magdalena, just outside of Nogales, Mexico. Monday we hope to be back in the US!
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jan hoey
non-member comment
what an adventure - caramba.
I have so enjoyed your trip through all your blogs. and the pics as well. I have forwarded them to one of my best friends and she also has lived through your eyes and enjoyed them. You should really write a book. where are you off to next? Are you ready to come home? You know you always have a free place here.