Baja Amigos

Today we are off to Ensenada on Highway Mex 3 where extensive re-pavement  has been completed in the Spring of 2010.  After a short drive through Tecate you will experience a typical Mexican highway winding through the Valle de las Palmas and Valle de la Calafia. As we enter “Wine Country” the highway upgrade  becomes very apparent, wide lanes and significant paved shoulders, a nice change indeed.  At about the 100 km mark we will begin our final descent to the Pacific Ocean where we connect to Hwy Mex 1.

Today we are off to Rancho Santa Inez in the community of Catavina.   This will take us through El Rosario where the highway ended prior to construction of Mex 1 in 1973.  This campground is located  in the heart of the Catavina Boulder Fields and its impressive and unique Sonoran Desert vegetation includes Cirios cactus.

Today is a shorter drive taking us into the middle of the desert through Vizcaino before arriving into the a beautiful date palm oasis of San Ignacio. San Ignacio has a population of about 4000 and is home to the magnificent Mission of San Ignacio. The site for the original mission was founded in the Cochimi settlement of Kadakaaman in 1728 by Jesuit missionary Juan Bautista Luyando.

Our short drive today takes us to the town of Loerto.  Loreto is the birthplace of California, as it was the first permanent settlement anywhere in the Californians, including the U.S. state to the north.  Loreto was the capital of both California’s’ for 132 years and was a sleepy village where summer’s heat made for a laid-back pace for locals and visitors.

We will leave early this morning and drive to Playa El Tecolote where we will spend some serious beach time.  Our journey will take us through La Paz where we will grocery up for our boon docking (dry camping).

Our short trip today will bring us to the beautiful Rancho Verde RV Haven located on a 3100 Acre Ranch in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains.  We will pass through the towns of both Los Barriles on the ocean and San Bartolo in the mountains.  In Rancho Verde you can enjoy hot sunny days and cool nights with gorgeous vistas and sunsets.  There are miles of trails for hiking on and around the ranch and next door you can rent horses.  The bird watching here is fantastic!

We have a longer drive today but well worth it!  We will dry camp amongst the date palms in a National Park on the Sea of Cortez, what could be more enjoyable?  There is a  2 hour hike to a view point of Puerto Escondido that we will gladly take you on.  This is a great beach to go for a dip or just sit, relax and read a book.

Today we will spend most of the day driving as we retrace our steps northward, our day includes a lunch stop in Jesus Maria. Our final leg is from the junction on Mex 1 where we will take a paved road 68 km down to the Sea of Cortez and the sleepy fishing village of Bahía de los Ángeles (“Bay of Angels”).  We will spend 2 full days in one of the most scenic spots in Baja California.  This will be dry camping as we will be staying in the abandoned Brisa Marina RV Park.

This is the final leg of our journey and we will take a different route back to Tecate.  There will be one last shopping experience before turning onto Corridor 2000 (4 Lane Highway) and then off to the border.  Weather permitting, we will have our final happy hour once we arrive at the park and say our goodbyes.

Hasta la vista!  (Until we meet again!)