Baja Mexico, days 1-5

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Buenas tardes amigos! We are in Mulegé, Baja del Sur, Mexico currently! Let me catch you up on the activities of our last few days!

Day 1: We crossed the border in Mexicali (directly south of Calimex) and drove west on the 2 highway to Cañon de Guadalupe. After a gruelling drive on a washboard road followed by an extremely rocky (boulder-y?) road we hit a small pool that we couldnt decide was safe to cross (it was night by that time...great). Just when we almost parked to camp alongside the road an old man called out to us from the top of the hill and said the water was safe to cross. To prove it, he drove across twice and led us up to his campsites in the canyon. We were too cold to get into the pools which were rather luke-warm and went to bed early in the tent.

Day 2: We woke up with the sun and packed everything back into the car before jumping into the pool. It was a nice temperature with the sun. When we were satisfied, we loaded up into the car and started the drive out...luckily that felt shorter than the day before. We drove through Tecate and then turned southward to Ensenada. On the way to Ensenada we passed the Ruta de Vino, a hilly vine-covered corridor of wineries. It was very lush and beautiful the whole drive down. We arrived in Ensenada around sundown, found a hotel (Hotel Hacienda), and then ate at the restuarant that the office attendent recommended (Tamarindo, the food and namesake drink were mediocre, but our waiter was from Riverside...random).

Day 3: We promptly left Ensenada the next morning (not before stopping at starbucks...oy vey) and continued through a very long agricultural corridor. Passing through the coastal plain of San Quintín, we turned inland and made our last stop in Rosarito before crossing the desert. The desert was incredibly different than the agricultural land we had been through the last day and a half. There were some amazing plants including the cirios (boojum trees, related to ocotillo) and the cardónes (largest cactus, can be 12 tons, looks like a saguaro). Elephant trees also splattered the landscape. We chugged away through the desert and arrived in Guerrero Negro (named after a whaling ship which sunk off the coast) a half hour after dark. We again crashed early at a hotel named Don Gus, but not before finding out that we are not yet in whale season 😞

Day 4: We awoke early, grabbed some coffee and continued on out of Guerrero Negro. We stopped about midday in a town called San Ignacio, an oasis in the desert with fresh water and date palms. We walked around, checked email, bought dates, and looked at the Mission in the center of town. After eating lunch overlooking the oasis we continued. We passed through Rosalía in the midafternoon. The coastal mining town was busy and crowded, probably because everyone had just gotten paid (friday!) and it was right before christmas. We tried to get a ferry schedule (the winds made the schedule unpredictable) and then kept on. We passed through Mulegé to find a hotel (we ended up finding a hostel in Posada Concepción, a tiny community full of either snowbirds or ex-pats) and are staying there for a couple nights

Day 5: Today! We woke up this mornign, took some pictures, and then piled into the car. the wind is still too high for any kayaking, and its rather cold for swimming 😞 We drove up the coast towards Mulegé again (taking pictures and looking at different living arrangements as we went) and are now in Mulegé looking for stocking stuffers and postcards, visiting churches, and walking around. Soon we are going to find a bakery and visit the Mission on the hill.



So that´s Baja so far!

Nos vemos pronto,

Jo

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