Behind Heart Shaped Sunglasses

Time to hit the road and head south. Things have been pretty amazing thus far. We have a bigger distance ahead of us, about 3 hours. Our destination for New Years is San Ignacio, a lagoon fed oasis in the middle of Baja and finally we will cross into Baja Sur. Ioverlander indicates this as a super safe, friendly small town. Up until now we haven’t felt any kind of insecurity. Instead the Mexican culture and kindness is allowing us to feel welcome and integrated.

Travelling further on the Mex 1, we cross the peninsula to have a tiny glimpse of the Pacific just North of Guerro Negro. Guerro Negro can be a great stopping point to get supplies and to whale watch. The overnight options are not the best and Olive has really settled into life on the road, so we press on. 

Again I’m so surprised that Baja is this mountainous. As we drop down into San Ignacio there is a change in warmth and in wind. Hot and windy. Baja is known for winter wind and we have definitely had some experiences with the intensity of it. We stay at Los Petates for 3 night over the New Year holiday. $250 pesos/night with flush toilets a warm, trickling shower and use of their kayaks and canoe. This is the cheapest we have paid so far. Los Petates is leased by a very friendly expat from the US. The campground and San Ignacio has recently experienced a fire and more recently a flood. The damage is apparent throughout town, but people are working to repair it. All around the lagoon are large date palms. We picked some right off the ground to sample.

San Ignacio is a very charming small vaquero(cowboy) town with an outdoor plaza/courtyard that is used regularly by the community. This plaza is lined with different shops and restaurants and the mission (built in the 1760’s) that is still used today. There is a strong sense of pride within the community. The streets are clean of garbage. People are quick to lend a hand, the homes are well maintained and colorful.

All throughout Mexico there are agua purificado stations for a small price we can top up our water supply. We experienced our first laundry service with a kind lady with poor english. We fumbled our way through a very broken conversation. We agreed upon $180 pesos for a bag of laundry dropped off at 1 and to pick up at 5. A good lesson in learning to let go of control and lean into the way it is done here. 

With a tip from Josh the campground host, we paddled up the lagoon on the otherside of the highway and a small walk brought us to the spring that feeds the lagoon. Not to bad for a little dip and afternoon picnic! We got to blow up our 3 person kayak for the first time this trip. We are now excited to be back on the sea. Exploring by water is a whole different experience.

The local fire chief (Juan) was very friendly to us helping move our kayak across the highway, he stopped by with his fire truck to show Olive…but Paul was more interested in talking engine talk than Olive was to get inside it. He explained that New Years eve is a big celebrationn in Mexico…and that people will celebrate long into the following morning. Needless to say we had a poor sleep, but heard a wide array of Mexican music that night.

We exchanged numbers with a young family with a little girl the same age as Olive to maybe meet down the road and packed our home and hit the road.

Next up Mulege and Bahia de Concepcion. This spot is why many people come down to Baja. Some drive straight to Bahia de Concepcion and find their spot and don’t leave for several months.

We have arrived! Of course we have enjoyed all the trip so far…but Paul and I sitting in the water with Olive playing nearby watching the waves and the pelicans. We couldn’t help turn and grin as though we made it!

Mulege is a great town just outside the Sea of Cortez for restocking and maybe mingling with the locals or trying out more delicious Mexican dishes. Our restock days can be challenging as we navigate new streets with poor or non existent signage. Learning to recognize topes(speed bumps) that are marked or not. Settling into Mexican traditions and cultures of slow down or manana time and learning that things are always a bit harder in another country with another language.

Playa Santispack, we stayed 2 nights for $200 pesos with pretty poor toilets and no showers. Here have been the snowbirds that we had expected along the way. We are seeing lots of Canadian plates and a few American plates.

When we travel we listen to others recommendations. This leads us to Playa El Coyote another fairly wild camp ground along Bahia Concepcion. It did not disappoint we stayed for 5 days, our longest time sitting still. Here, during the day are all kinds of vendors driving past offering food or souvenirs. The fish guy came to see me every morning… he had yellowfin tuna, sea bass, shrimp, scallops…whatever was fresh. There were ladies selling empanadas, tamales, chili con queso, fresh orange juice. The prices may not have been the best but we paid for convenience. We met some really great travelers here, some friends of ours from BC joined up with us. It was bittersweet driving out, but there is still so much left to see. There is a very different feeling in the Sur compared to the Norte. It feels more relaxed in the South. People seem happier, less oppressed. I was told that the cartel organizations have less authority in the South.

Next stop Loreto to clean up, resupply and get off the beach for a couple of days. Thanks for following along. I’d love to hear your comments or experiences of the Baja Peninsula.