Sometimes one just gets lucky and everything seems to fall into place. This happened for my wife and I when we were looking through an RV magazine and we spotted an article about driving the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. There were a couple of options offered by a company called Baja Amigos based out of British Columbia and we decided that a 28 day tour would be a good trip as we had never experienced anything like this before. We had to remember that we needed time to get from Alberta to the rendezvous in California and then home again.
We left Alberta in cold snowy weather and finally de-winterized in St George on the Utah border. Our route to Potrero County Park in California the starting point for the caravan, took us to Las Vegas, Yuma then west. Our first full day in Mexico ended up on the beach after a trip to the tourist town of La Bufadora where the ocean has formed a blowhole pushing the water through the rocks in a huge spout. The countryside varies so much on Baja, going from scrub brush, cactus, mountains, valley’s and of course beautiful unspoiled beaches.
The great thing about Baja is the variety of experiences available to travellers. We saw km after km of agricultural land where crops such as strawberries, Brussels Sprouts and Lettuce, to name a few are grown under a mesh like fabric. Then the next day we would drive 150kms or so through mountainous terrain where the only thing growing are cacti. We ended up eating at a small cantina at the campground, where we had to take our own dishes and drinks, quite an adventure, the food was simple but delicious. The roads did present some challenges as the idea of shoulders seemed unusual. Every so often we would hit a stretch of great road and as there is only one major highway on Baja, you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad.
The weather was great with temperatures in the 35C degrees during the day during the whole trip. As promised, we went whale watching from Guerrero Negro and were fortunate to see lots of whales and their calves, supposed to be over 600 in the lagoon. What an experience to be able to touch theses huge beasts as they are so gentle and seemed to want to show off their calves to the tourists. Every day brought something new and with a mix of full service, not fancy RV parks, to boon docking right on the beach. Baja Amigos arranges various sightseeing tours for the group and one of the highlights of these for my wife and I, was to the San Javier Mission. This is a small village in the mountains near Loreto that has been built around a well preserved Jesuit mission, what an outstanding experience. The following days saw us experiencing more beach camping which with the perfect weather was just great. The sights just kept on unfolding as we made our way to Cabo San Lucas where we spent 2 days snorkeling and sightseeing.
As this was about half way through the tour, we were now heading north along the Pacific Ocean again. The next RV Park boasted a nice swimming pool which was much appreciated. Once again our waggon masters took us to a local Mexican restaurant for an authentic supper, burritos and French Fries WOW. Today was a chance to stock up on supplies at Wal-Mart in La Paz and get prepared to make some more miles. Today some of the group went swimming with the whale sharks whilst others did the tourist thing in La Paz. We also had chance to visit a pottery studio where most of the group splurged on some beautiful Mexican dishes and ornaments.
One of the strangest places we visited was Puerto Escondido where we got to see government inaction at its worst. We got to see a modern fully developed marina that has never been finished to its potential. Hopefully for the local’s sake, the government will get their act together and finish this multi-million dollar development. After a night in the parking lot, we travelled on to Mulege and the Hotel Serenidad which is a fantastic hotel that in its day, hosted the likes of John Wayne and his fishing buddies. As a bonus we were lucky to meet and talk to the original owner and hear some of his anecdotes. We got a chance to visit Mulege and visited the mission, the old prison and other historical sites. Getting further North now and the weather is definitely cooling down. There is more agricultural activity in the area and where there is water, the land is quite fertile. We camped tonight at an RV Park next to a nice Mexican restaurant. The group had a nice meal and of course the odd margarita. Next day we drove to Bahia de Los Angeles which was badly damaged by last year’s hurricane. Fortunately the campground was still livable and the “snowbirds” were still living there. We parked right on the beautiful beach. We went through another police/army checkpoint on the highway but they do a good job and are quite friendly. We went into town to visit the museum which was extremely interesting and well done.
On the last full day on the road we had a chance to visit one of Mexico’s’ biggest wineries. We had a nice time tasting a number of different products made at the winery and finished up a fantastic tour on a sweet note. The following day we got to the border about 9:30 am and I think everybody was cleared into the U.S. by noon at the latest.
This was definitely a trip of a life time and all my wife and I can say is a huge thank you to Lisa and Dan for their organisation. I know we would be leery about trying this on our own, but their love of the Baja is so evident, that their enthusiasm can’t help rubbing off on tour members. I also want to say what a great group we were lucky to travel with, as the laughs kept coming. We fully recommend Baja Amigos if you are thinking of taking this adventure. As it says in the literature, this is not designed for RV’ers that want all the bells and whistles but that is part of the experience. We always felt safe and in good hands with Lisa and Dan.
Thanks again,
Val and George
