Travelers' Reports On Baja California

We crossed the border at Tecate on the 30th of June, heading south towards Ensenada. We were stopped in Valle de Guadalupe at our first checkpoint where we were boarded and inspected by a soldier looking for drugs and guns - the normal inquiries. We proceeded on to Ensenada where we found the Migracion Office quite readily, but parking was a different story. One must get one's tourist visas, but there is very little parking available in the area! We circled around a few times before finding a lot nearby where we almost fit - tight squeeze into it but Tom managed to park it and we went and got our paperwork, then to the bank to pay for them. We exchanged some money on the way back to Migracion (9.55 pesos to the dollar), stopped at the fish market and got some smoked marlin, got our visas and headed south for San Quintin and Cielito Lindo Motel/RV Park.

Along the way we stopped at a mercado for cheese, avocados, lime, etc., and got into Cielito around 5 PM. The park was pretty empty and we had our choice of spots. We spent several days here walking on the beach, relaxing and so on. We met Al and Gay, who have been camping in Baja for over 20 years - and this is their first year in an RV! They were northbound so we spent some time catching up on road conditions, etc.. The weather was sunny but cool (tends to be that way on the Pacific) and we enjoyed our stay but were ready to move on after a few days.

From Cielito Lindo we headed south for Bahia de Los Angeles, stopping for lunch along the way and picking up a young soldier at the turnoff. He was headed back to his post and we gave him a ride into town. The road into Bahia was pretty good, seemed a bit better than last year. We went to Daggett's Beach Camp again and found our favorite space available. We parked and the wind shifted and came in from the west - hot and fast! It was calmer in the morning and the temperatures there were in the high 80's/low 90's with west winds at night and calm days during our stay. We were there for two weeks relaxing and enjoying the weather (very little wind to speak of on the whole) and the people we met. Tom was out fishing several days in a friend's zodiac and we ate well as a result, not to mention the numerous clams we gathered. Last year we had met Maury, a regular down there, and the Goodwin family - and we were pleased to see them there again this year. We also met Donna, another seasoned Baja traveler who was parked next to us with her traveling cat, and a number of other folks coming and going. We watched the partial eclipse on the 10^th - it was exciting to be in Baja for this one as we had viewed the total eclipse in 1991 from Punta Pescadero, so we were here for the first and last in the series visible from Baja! This was a totally relaxing time, I spent a lot of time in my hammock reading, exploring the beach and hanging out with our friends.

After two weeks there, all of our friends were heading out and so were we. We headed south and were stopped at the checkpoint south of Bahia de Los Angeles and boarded, and again at the checkpoint outside of Guerrero Negro (military base) where we were asked for our visas, boarded briefly and sprayed. We headed into town where we found an excellent mercado and stocked up on groceries, went to the bank and changed some more money (9.8 pesos/1.00 US), and stopped at the Pemex for fuel. We were stopped again at the checkpoint near San Ignacio, then continued south to Mulege and the Orchards Vacation Village. We spent two nights there - one of Pooh's favorite spots - on a lovely riverside site. Very pretty, very hot and humid. Here we caught up on our laundry and did some shopping in town - we actually found some cat litter, which is next to impossible to find down here!

Our next stop was Naranjos beach on Bahia Concepcion. Al and Gay had told us about it, so we decided to go there on our way south. Beautiful beaches, good swimming in warm water, lots of shells, and we saw dolphins playing around out in the bay. It was 100 degrees and humid, windy, with bugs, so we spent only one night and headed out in the morning. We'd thought about beach hopping around the bay, but the heat and humidity make dry camping very uncomfortable for the cats, so we gazed longingly at the beautiful beaches as we passed them and kept going south to La Paz.

We pulled into the La Paz Trailer Park where we found a couple we had met there two years ago; they're pretty much living there year round now. Other than that, the place was empty. We spent the night and in the morning we visited El Serpentario, a reptile sanctuary/educational facility in La Paz. Snakes, turtles, scorpions, etc., fascinating place and one of the highlights of Tom's day! On our way out of town we went to the Gigante market and got supplies - avocados for 17.5 pesos/kilo (that's about $1/lb), mangos, etc..

There is a lot of repair work continuing on the roads from the hurricanes last year, especially in Baja Sur. The good news is the detours are pretty good and the delays are minimal.

Our next stop was Verdugo's RV Park in Los Barrilles, where we parked next to a group of several families who come down to fish every year for a month or so. On Saturday we went to Punta Pescadero to visit our friend Cathi and spent the night. This is a very special place to us and we really love being there.

We had dinner at Cathi's with some other friends and had a great evening. In the morning I walked the beach, took some pictures and then went up to Mary's house and we exchanged massages - definitely a highlight of my week/month/whatever! After lunch on Sunday we returned to Verdugo's where we found a couple of cats who were quite pleased to see us come "home." We stayed there for another night and visited Tio Pablo's for lunch on Monday - I had the calamari which was wonderful. We spent the day cleaning up around the coach, relaxing, etc.. The next morning I visited the local tortillaria (19 pesos/kilo of fresh, warm tortillas) and we packed up and left around 11 AM.

We had decided to continue south around Cabo San Lucas and on to Todos Santos for the night. Once we reached the airport region we found lots of roadwork going on. They seem to be repaving and improving all four lanes from the airport into Cabo San Lucas, beginning just west of San Jose Del Cabo. We did stop and check out the Vagabundo's Del Mar RV Park a couple of miles outside of Cabo - nice park and we'll definitely stop there in the future. As we approached Cabo San Lucas we saw a huge cruise ship in the outer bay. Lots of road construction so we headed north on Hwy. 19, passing through the industrial and housing areas of the city on our way north towards Todos Santos.

George and Marie had invited us to take a look at the property they are developing south of Todos Santos and to camp there for a few days if we wanted to. We found Rancho Nuevo - very attractive area with some lovely homes and more under construction. We drove up to the beachfront and headed for an area that George had said would be a good place to camp. Three undeveloped lots overlooking the ocean - a perfect view site for an overnight, or so we thought! Tom followed a set of tire tracks out toward the beach - unfortunately once we drove beyond the tire tracks the ground became a lot softer... and we got stuck! After a fleeting mental image of being stuck there for days, I remembered who I was with, and looked to Tom, knowing he would get us out of this. Tom got out shovels, boards, etc., and began to dig us out. I drove forward when told to, and he dug! It took three times of digging, laying out the boards, moving foward and stopping again, but we made it out in a short period of time and decided to continue on to a campground up the road.

We spent the night at San Pedrito Campground and RV Park - one other rig in the park itself, lots of campers in the beach area. The RV park is quite large and the location is very pretty. We'll probably stop here again in the future. The next morning we headed out for Todos Santos. We stopped there to wander through town a bit; the last time we were there was two years ago when we lost our power steering, so this time we wanted to see a bit more of the town.

We visited the local museum and I bought a new hammock. Lots of artists and craftspeople here and it is a fun place to visit. After touring the town, we headed for the beaches north of La Paz, planning to stop at a park outside of La Paz for the night and then continue on in the morning. We stopped at the Oasis RV Park, but the spaces were small, pool was dirty and the beach is more of a mud flat at low tide, so we continued on to Ciudad Constitucion. We were of course stopped by the Army at the La Paz checkpoint.

The road was pretty rough - lots of repair and reconstruction going on there, but we reached Manfred's RV Trailer Park before sunset and parked there for the night. Very attractive park and Pooh thought it was a pretty good place to be (very comfortable 80 degree weather) and enjoyed going outside. We were awakened in the morning by roosters crowing - reminding us that this is a farming community. Lots of services available in town, banks, mercados, several Pemex stations, Internet access, etc.. After breakfast we fueled up and continued north to Santispac Beach in Bahia Concepcion where we took a quick dip in the ocean, gathered clams for dinner and I got a sunburn.

We turned west off Hwy. 1 at Km 156 north of Mulege toward Punta Chivato, not knowing how far we'd be going or what the road would be like, other than washboard! About a quarter mile down the road, we stopped to ask a couple of men if we were headed in the right direction and ended up giving one of them a ride to work - a couple miles down the road. He confirmed that we were on the right road and told us which branch of the road to follow when it split. We dropped him off at what looked like a very large agricultural operation and drove on slowly down the very washboardy road. Finally we neared the coast and began to see houses along the beach. We followed the signs that said "Hotel and Camping" for what seemed like eternity! Lots of houses going up and we finally saw what we figured was the hotel - really reminded us of Hotel Punta Pescadero. A hotel sitting on the point overlooking the ocean, rooms along the top of the cliffs, all facing the water, houses owned by gringos adjacent to the hotel, etc.. We followed the road north past the hotel, past more houses, and finally curved down onto a beach camping area below the houses. There were a few spaces available so we found one we liked and parked. Pooh gave this spot high approval ratings also; especially the kangaroo rats living on the beach.

Most of the people who were camping here had boats and were fishing. The folks next to us were from Orange County and had been here a week. Nice family and they gifted us with a huge container of ceviche and various food items they didn't want to haul home with them (they needed the ice chest space for all the fish they caught).

This is a beautiful area for camping (no hookups), fishing, shelling and just hanging out. No place to hang my hammock, but other than that it has it all (including hot showers and toilets). Tom and I went up the road to the point and looked out to the ocean. Did I mention the shells here? They are everywhere and I went into a collecting frenzy - and I didn't even get as far as the official "shelling beach." Very much like Punta Pescadero, the beaches are still fairly pristine and the sea gifts one with new and exciting discoveries daily! And I was out looking for those treasures daily. In fact, on the 30^th of June I went out early to walk out the point at low tide and see what I could find. As I was heading out toward what looked like a treasure trove of shells, I suddenly found myself sitting in the water - with my left ankle turned under my body. As I pulled myself up I realized that I had banged up my right knee, sprained my left ankle and had a few additional scrapes and bruises where I had hit the rocks as I landed in a pool of water after slipping on a loose rock. Fortunately I was not too far from camp, so I slowly limped back to the coach where Tom could minister to my wounds. After cleaning me up and assuring himself that I wasn't broken, he wrapped my ankle, put me on the couch with my leg in the air and we decided to go ahead and head out. We backtracked to the Pemex Station in Mulege, then turned around and headed north again. Between Mulege and Guerrero Negro we were searched extensively by the Army at Km 24 North of Loreto, and boarded in San Ignacio.

Our next stop was Malarimmo RV Park in Guerrero Negro where we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant and spent the night. We generally stop here for the night on our way north and the place has been fairly empty. This year there were 4-5 RV's when we arrived, and quite a few came in after we did. About half of the people were headed north and the rest were southbound - mostly to Loreto to go fishing. At this point you can always tell which way people are heading; northbound vehicles are very dirty and those heading south are still nice and clean! One doesn't waste water down here just to have a clean rig. In the morning I called my mom to check in, we went into town for fuel and supplies and then reluctantly continued north.

We were waved through the checkpoint at Guerrero Negro (could have bought those avocados at the market) and arrived at Cielito Lindo around 5 PM, after "losing" an hour to the time change. To our great surprise the RV spaces were almost filled up! We found a spot - same one we'd been in on the way north, and settled in for the night.

My ankle was still quite swollen and sore, but starting to improve. We met Mitch in the space next to us - retired and spends most of his time in Baja with his dog, Socks. The cats didn't think much of Socks, but she thought they might be fun to play with. We stayed here for a week over the 4^th of July (a few fireworks, but relatively quiet) and I relaxed, read and waited for my ankle to heal. While we were there they had a fiesta - they have them almost monthly on holidays and roast a pig, etc.. It's free to all the residents and was really fun.

We joined the locals in the afternoon happy hour most days - everyone congregates on the patio from 4-5 for half price drinks. Margaritas are $1, beer is $0.75, etc.. It's amazing how many people show up - a lot of folks rent lots on the property and are here for extended periods, so the community can be quite large at times.

On Monday, July 8^th, we packed up and headed north after breakfast at Gypsy's - the beach camp on the ocean down the road from the motel. Heading north, we were stopped briefly at the checkpoint in Maneadero and continued on through Ensenada. We turned off at Hwy. 19 towards Tecate and were thoroughly searched at the checkpoint in Valle de Guadalupe by a group of very pleasant and polite soldiers. We continued on toward the border, until we were pulled over by the Policia on the grade north of El Testerazo. They checked Tom's license and the vehicle registration and said they were citing him for speeding through town and not turning off the jakes ... even though he did turn them off, just not soon enough for them I guess. As for the speeding, signs are scarce and we were probably going about 30 - along with the other couple of vehicles on the road. They were going to have us turn around and go back to town to pay a $50 fine; Tom nervously offered them $20 and they said to make it $30 ... so we paid the mordida (bribe) and continued on. First time this has happened, and we'll be more careful in the future!

We reached Tecate around 3 PM and experienced another easy border crossing. We were boarded by the agent and asked where we'd been, how long we'd been in Mexico and about any animals, fruits and plants we had on board. I introduced the cats, showed him my little cactus (that's traveled with us for the past three years), the new planting of cat grass and discovered that I had two lemons I'd forgotten about. Declared my new hammock and the bottles of tequila, vodka, and the three litters of wine - which we had purchased earlier in the trip and hadn't consumed yet. He was quite nice and told me to dispose of the "extra" wine when we reached our destination.

San Quintin area
Cielito Lindo Motel - Motel has new owners; Dave and Juanita still own majority of property and beach camping area. Beach camp is now called Gypsy's and has clean restrooms with toilets and showers for $5.00/night. Also has a live-in caretaker with a restaurant which currently serves burritos, tacos, beer, coffee.; all at $1.00US each. The motel has eight RV spots with full hookups - which means brackish water, sewer and electricity (15 amps) between about 7 AM and 10 PM (purified water is available from the restaurant). There are also several pull-thru spots for RV's with no hook-ups and a camping area for tent campers. Restauant is reasonably priced and the food is good; they have a large exchange library, satellite TV in the library/game room and happy hour at the bar is from 4-5 PM daily, excluding fiesta days. There is quite a community of gringos here and everyone seems to show up around 4 to socialize. The beach is beautiful, long and mostly empty of people. Lots of fishing, clams, etc. in the area. Rates are reasonable (and variable); posted at $8.00US for full hookups - price breaks come with weekly and monthly stays. We paid a little less than $7.00/night on a daily basis with a 10% Vagabundos del Mar discount. We stayed for a few days southbound and a week on the northern part of our journey this year.

Bahia de Los Angeles
Daggett's Beach Camp - About 40 miles off of Hwy. 1 over a mostly dirt road. It's a small park north of town on the water with a dozen or so RV/camping spots; each with a palapa and barbecue. Daggett's offers hot showers and toilets and also has a couple of small "cabins" for rent. Kayak rentals, scuba diving equipement and fishing are readily available and there is a Motel (Raquel & Larry's) next door with a restaurant and internet access via satellite phone. Fish are plentifull and clams are easy to find. The produce man comes by on saturdays and there are markets, distilled water, motels and restaurants in town. Rates vary by the day, week and month. We paid $7.00/night at the weekly rate; others we met were paying more. Seems to depend upon who checks you in. It can get uncomfortable here in the summer if the west wind gets going - lasts for days. We spent two weeks here in June - warm but not too windy. We keep coming back here and it's becoming one of our favorite spots.

Guerrero Negro
Malarrimo Motel, RV Park = - Motel and campsites with hook-ups. Electric is 15 amps, non-potable water and sewer. $13 US/night, we paid just under $12.00 w/Vagabundo discount. Narrow spaces and only a few long enough for our 35' coach without extending into traffic area. Clean toilets and hot showers. The facility includes a gift shop, tours of the area, phone and restaurant. The location is great for stopping north or south bound; banks, markets, water and fuel are all available in Guerrero Negro.

Ciudad Constitucion
Manfred's RV Park. Manfred has sold the park and the restaurant is closed. This is a lovely park with lots of shade and decent toilets/shower facilites. Full hook-ups; 30 amps, potable water and sewer conncetion. Good sized pull throughs, long altho not very wide. We couldn't really put out our awning if we had wanted to. We were the only one's in the park. The caretaker lives on the premises and the gate is closed at 9 PM. Quiet location and a good place to stay if you're in that area as night approaches. Expensive at 170 pesos - we paid a bit less with the Vagabundo discount. Many services available in Cuicad Constitucion.

Playa de Punta Chivato
Punta Chivato Shores - 12 miles of washboard road out to the point. Drycamping on the beaches along along Punta Chivato for $10/night; restrooms and hot (gravity flow) showers. The area is comprised of multiple points reaching into the bay itself and there are houses and a hotel south of the camping playa and a few houses above and north of it. South of the hotel a lot of houses are going in and the beaches there are considered the "shelling beach", although we found a large number of shells on the beaches just south of the camping area. Fishing was excellent, lots of dorado while we were there; most of the people who go there bring boats and there were some serious fishing camps around us. Nearest services are in Mulege.

Mulege
Orchards Vacation Village. This is our favorite place in Mulege. The owners are moving toward more permanent residences - the lovely huge RV spaces are being divided and small one-bedroom casitas are being built and sold. In June they had at least four underway, with additional lots already sold. We camped there for two nights; quoted rate was $16.00/night, we paid $14.50 with Vagabundo discount. Full hookups with potable water, electricity (30 amps) and sewer. Clean restrooms and showers and beautiful, lush grounds. We had a spot on the river - humid in June but the cat loved it.

Bahia Concepcion
Naranjos Beach - = same turnoff as Punta Arena; take fork to the left and proceed to the beach. Lots of palapas along the beach, camping cottages for rent and a beautiful beach. $6.00/night for dry camping, hot showers and toilets included in the camping fees. Also has a restaurant. Beautiful beaches, lots of shells, fishing, etc.. Windy in June with bugs.

Santispac - lovely beaches and great swimming. $6.00/day for dry camping, $3.00 for day use. Dump station, toilets and showers ($ for hot water). We stopped in on our way north to take a swim and pick up some clams for dinner. Both restaurants were open and there were a few campers on the beach and some boats in the bay. Lots of no-see-ums during the summer months.

La Paz
La Paz Trailer Park - This park used to be quite busy, now the owner is turning the overflow area into a minature golf/paintball/fun-zone type facility. The remaining park contains a few full-time rigs and was fairly empty when we were there. $17/night - $15 with Vagabundo discount; 30 amps, water and sewer. Clean restrooms and showers. Very convienent to the city and quite secure.

Los Barrilles
Verdugo's Motel and RV Park - Full hook-ups, clean restrooms and hot showers, laundry, pool and bar in front of hotel. 30 amp, potable water and sewer. Clean, pleasant park with nice sized book exchange. $14 US/night. Martin offers fishing packages with boats, rooms, etc.. Los Barrilles has two markets, a great fish smokehouse, restauants, etc.. The area is also known for windsurfing, scuba diving and there are cave paintings nearby and tours can be easily arranged.

Cabo San Lucas Area
Vagabundos del Mar RV Park - Very nice park with restauant, pool, roomy spaces, 30 amp, non-potable water and sewer. $16 US/night, very clean and friendly. A good number of the spaces in this park seem to be permanently occupied and there were quite a few folks around even in June. The location is everything here - just a few miles from Cabo San Lucas and easy access to the airport, beaches, etc.

Todos Santos Area
San Pedrito RV & Campground - about seven miles south of Todos Santos on the beach. Restaurant, beach camping for 30 pesos/person at palapas right on the beach, motel rooms and a large RV park. The RV parking is $15.00/150 pesos per site; 30 amp power, potable water and sewer. Clean restrooms and hot showers. The RV sites are expensive and back from a rocky beach area. Surfing seems pretty popular there and people were shore fishing. Very pretty area, if we go there again we will dry camp on the beach.

Location	Personnel	Action
KM 81-Valle de Guadalupe	Army	Boarded, checked pantry, bathroom and a few drawers in back of bus.
Maneadero	Army	Waved through
KM 52- North of El Rosario	Army	Waved through
Km 68-So.of LA Bay	Army	Seached cupboards, pantry, closets and overhead cabinets in back, bathroom and shower, took apart puzzlebox. Askedmake & model of coach, name, destinationand where we were coming from.
Guerrero Negro	Army	Checked visas, looked in 3 outside bays, took citrus fruits, sprayed undercarriage
San Ignacio	Army	Stopped; asked destination and asked about guns, then waved on
Km 24-North of Loreto	Army	Waved through
La Paz Agricultural Insp. Station	Army	Boarded; questioned about destination. Searched closets, poked around/behind washer, looked in bathroom and shower

Location	Personnel	Action
La Paz Agricultural Insp. Sta.	Army	Searched back of coach; overhead bins, drawers, closets, bath & shower
Km 24 - North of Loreto	Army	Boarded by three soldiers; one additional waited on steps at Tom's request. One searched the drawers, cabinets, closets,bath & shower in back, other two talked to Tom and looked in overheads in living area & kitchen cupboards. Looked in one bay.
San Ignacio	Army	Boarded and looked in .
Guerreroo Negro	Army	Waved through
Km. 68 - South of LA Bay	Army	Stopped/searching vehicles in both directions; taking folks out of cars & trucks. Took our name, destination, license number. Pulled us over to cargo lane where 4+ soldiers tried to board; Tom asked for only one to board as I had a sprained ankle and he was the only person available to show them the coach. One soldier entered and throughly searched under the mattress, rummaged through drawers and closets, checked contents of bathroom cabinets and pantry shelves, icemaker, couch cushions, chairs, etc. Tapped on walls, chair supports, etc. Meanwhile the others were circling the coach, tapping on panels, the door and the bays.They tried to open all the bays (which were locked) and using some kind of "sniffer" on the tires. When the interiorinspection was finished, Tom went outside to open bays for their inspection.After inspecting 12 bays they waved us on our way. This was the most thorough search we've had to date. The entire search took about 20 minutes (seemed longer at the time) and trafficwas backed up in both directions as they seached everyone going through. People in cars and trucks had to get out of their vehicles and I saw them going through one woman's purse.
Km 52 - North of El Rosario	Army	No one there
Maneadero	Army	Boarded by one soldier; looked in one pantry door, bathroom & shower, under the bed. Glanced around rest of coach and left.
Valle de Guadalupe	Army	Stopped in line with two cars and two trucks ahead of us. We waited for about 5 minutes while the soldiers were climbing around on top of the cargo in the trucks to check it out. We werethen boarded by two soldiers - one of whom looked into the pantry, then went tothe back of the bus and lifted the mattress and the boards supporting it. He then looked in the large drawer and cupboard under the bed and removed the panel accessing the engine compartment (first time for that one). After putting everything back together quite neatly, they checked the freezer compartment, refrigerator, cupboard over themicrowave, etc.in the kitchen. One pointed up at the ventilation fan for me to open it and was surprised when the fan came on. We think he thought it was access to the roof. Meanwhile, Tom was outside with several more soldiers who looked in all of the bays on the passenger side of the coach and kept looking at the roof as if they wanted to go up there (we have no obvious roof access ladder). Another lengthy inspection; the soldiers were very pleasant & polite.