Andy in front of the Cathedral, the biggest and oldest in the Americas
I have hazy memories of being sixteen and having an overnight stopover at the Mexico City airport with a friend and his parents, and we were all scared to be there. It was dark and we had to go outside and get in the shuttle van for a two minute trip to our airport hotel, and all of us were nervous and rushing like we’d be mugged or kidnapped at any moment. That memory seems pretty silly now that I’ve been back a few times and commuted between the airport and the center of town via the efficient subway system; Mexico City rates high up on my list of favorite cities and is pretty safe to walk around in most places a visitor would go.
The Zocalo
El DF (what most Mexicans call the city, pronounced “day eff-ay” for Federal District, like the US’s Washington DC) is huge, with almost 20 million people factoring in all the adjacent sprawl, and has a hard-earned reputation for crime and smog. It’s also an important center of finance and business on a global level, with sections of town that rival New York for cosmopolitan-ness (so I’m told, I’ve only visited the historic center). It has an great subway system that costs less than a quarter per ride and is packed with historical sights and architecture, quality museums and art, and tons of things to do and see.
Walking the streets
On this visit we stayed a couple nights at the fantastic Hotel Isabel, just down the street from the Zocalo (central plaza). It was only about $25 USD for a faded but roomy shared-bath room in this historic hotel in a perfect location. For an important capital city Mexico City is a pretty cheap place.
Denae drinking a miche-squirt, soda with several kinds of chile powders, chile sauces, various brown sauces, and who knows what else. Delicious!
Emerging from the Zocalo subway station for the first time is always a fun experience, walking up the stairs and seeing the giant plaza stretching out in front of you. It’s a huge empty space with a giant Mexican flag in the middle, and we happened to arrive just before the flag lowering ceremony our first evening. A bunch of soldiers march around and eventually take the lowered flag into the Municipal palace, which is itself a must-see. There are some interesting museum exhibits and the architecture alone is worthwhile, but the highlights are the dozens of Diego Rivera murals painted throughout the building. Entrance is free, too.
Diego Rivera mural inside the presidential palace
More Rivera murals in the palace
The Zocalo is actually built right over the center of the Aztec’s former capital city, and many of the old buildings re-used stone from the conquered city. Now there is an Aztec ruins exhibit literally right next door to the cathedral. We didn’t go in because we didn’t feel like paying the admission fee, but it is still interesting to look in from outside . Hundreds of years ago this place was an island with lots of swamps and waterways all around, but over the centuries all the water was drained and the land reclaimed. It’s left the soil unstable, and many of the old buildings look off kilter; they’re literally sinking slowly into the ground, with some sides going down faster than others.
Aztec ruins right in the center of town
Notice the church in the background, tilted over to the right. Lots of old buildings were like this.
A lot of the streets in the Historic Centro area are markets, and it’s fun to just pick a random direction and walk; you never know what you’re going to find and just about everything is for sale somewhere. Cheap taco restaurants are everywhere and delicious, and exploring is a lot of fun. Keep your eyes open though and don’t wander into any areas that look too sketchy. There were lots of cops patrolling all through the day and night and we felt fairly safe walking around, but I’m sure muggings aren’t exactly rare around some of those streets.
Kids interviewing Andy for their English class at school. We were constantly stopped by students wanting to practice their English.
Speaking of sketchy areas we walked over to Plaza Garibaldi one night, an area famous for the Mariachi musicians that gather there each evening waiting for customers. It was a lot of fun to people watch and listen to the music and we each bought a giant michelada beers to drink outside, but there were quite a drunks that were aggressively begging for money and the area had a little bit of an edge.
Plaza Garibaldi mariachis doing their thing
fuel for the party!
One of the highlights of our stay was going to the upscale Holiday Inn bordering the Zocalo after breakfast one morning and buying coffee to drink on their terrace overlooking the plaza. The views were unreal, and the excellent coffee only ended up costing $1.75 USD each; a small price to pay to live like the other half for a little while.
View from the Holiday Inn terrace, coffee here is the best deal in town
With only a couple days in the city our time was up all too soon and we were on the subway to the airport (I love subways that reach airports!). Mexico City is always on our short list of places to return to. It’s very accessible to the US with plenty of cheap flights, and there are lots of cool cities within a few hours by bus to visit as well. Viva Mexico!
Taken from the flanks of the Pyramid of the Moon, looking out at the Pyramid of the Sun in the distance.
Teotihuacan is a giant 2000 year old archaeological ruins site less than an hour from Mexico City. It’s historical.
Us on the Pyramid of the Moon
It’s easy to get to the ruins from Mexico City: take the subway to Terminal Norte and walk to the adjacent bus station, at the far end of which you can buy tickets for a few bucks for the buses leaving every half hour or so. If you’re lucky (as we were) you’ll get a local troubadour on your bus to sing you a few songs for spare change.
The scope of Teotihuacan is genuinely awesome. It has some of the largest pyramids in the world (apparently the same size base as those in Giza, but only half as tall), and the area just stretches on for what seems like miles. There are lots of distinct sections, built at different times for different purposes, but looming over everything are the massive Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. There are some well-preserved murals and museum exhibits, but the highlight of a visit here is definitely a few hours climbing up pyramids and random buildings, imagining the place as it used to be: one of the greatest cities in the world during its zenith with a population over 150,000, which was a lot back then.
Lots of the steps are really steep and have safety cables strung up
There were lots of strolling venders selling all kinds of knickknacks, the most popular of which seemed to be a ceramic jaguar call that every other kid seemed to be enthusiastically using the entire time we were there. Being so close to so many millions of people, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it can get a little crowded, but the place is big and can absorb a lot of visitors. Bring sunscreen and a hat, and pack a lunch. Teotihuacan is a great day trip from Mexico City, don’t miss it if you’re in the area.
Way back in 2005, Denae and I worked together at a kayak and whitewater rafting outfitter in Eugene, Oregon. I’d worked there all through college and was about to graduate from school, and had big plans for a long solo trip through Mexico and then on to a “job” ski bumming in Utah. At that point Denae and I were work friends and nothing more, but literally the night before I left on my trip we went on a date and both realized that there was a lot of potential between us. Over the next few months while I was traveling we emailed back and forth a lot, and I somehow managed to convince Denae to take a leap of faith and fly out and meet me in Mexico City at the end of the summer. It was our second date!
Santo Domingo.
We hit it off in a big way, and spent two and a half blissful weeks traveling together seeing a few wonderful places in Mexico. When Denae ran out of money and bought a ticket home, I decided the smart move was to call an end to my trip also and go back with her. It proved to be the right choice; we’ve been living together ever since, and been married for almost four years now. And that first trip set the tone for the way we’ve lived our lives ever since.
Probably the most memorable place for us during that trip was the city of Oaxaca (pronounced “wah-ha-kah”), in southern Mexico. We were blown away by the beautiful, gracefully aging colonial architecture, the friendly people and festive atmosphere, and some of the best food Mexico has to offer, which is really saying something. It was a special place for us, and ever since then those wonderful memories of the city have been intertwined with equally wonderful memories of ourselves, at a fun point very early in our relationship.
2005/2012, taken at roughly the same spot in the Zocalo
Cathedral at night
So you might understand why, almost seven years later, we were more than a little excited to finally return to Oaxaca. We rolled into the bus station in the predawn hours on an overnight bus from San Cristobal, waited for first light in the bus station, walked past the line of taxis (we almost never pay for such frivolity!), and trudged our way downtown. Everything was still closed and for a while nothing looked familiar, but when we got close to the Zocalo (Spanish for “base”, Mexican Spanish for “town square”, with interesting etymology) the memories definitely started clicking. It was so cool to be back!
The center of the Zocalo
We figured we’d stay for a couple weeks so Denae could get her dentistry done (the dentist ended up recommending we just let it be), but didn’t have any accommodation booked yet. With a little luck and an internet connection that isn’t a problem these days. Finding a coffee shop with WIFI was easy, and we checked craigslist for short term apartment listings. A phone call and three hours later we were meeting our new landlord at Al Sol Apartments, one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed at while backpacking. At close to $20 a night for the two week rate it was more than we usually like to pay, but Mexico isn’t really that cheap anymore and this place was deluxe! Our room was a giant studio with a nice kitchenette and bathroom, with quality furnishings and actual decor; a serious step above our normal accommodations where we’re satisfied with things like having only a few cockroaches in our room, instead of a lot. There was also a big rooftop to hang out on and some very nice common spaces, and free WIFI. Highly recommend, and the owner Veronica speaks fluent English and is very nice.
Our apartment and hibiscus margaritas on the rocks.
First off, let me say that Mexico is a wonderful country, despite what you’ve been hearing. It’s been having some real problems with the drug violence and it’s heartbreaking, but most places an adventurous tourist would want to go- away from the border cities- are still pretty safe. We felt fine walking around after dark (being smart about it of course) in Oaxaca and even in much of Mexico City’s center, something I can’t really say about Xela and some other places in Guatemala and further south. There’s a heavier police presence in Mexico, and more prosperity in general, making a tourist stick out a lot less. And even though Mexico isn’t super cheap anymore, it’s a fantastic value. Like our $17 USD/night apartment, or the best $4 lunch you’ve ever had. Those prices are halved in Guatemala, but the quality is probably only 25% or less. Mexicans are super friendly and like seeing foreign tourists, and there aren’t too many of us around these days so you can feel like a pioneer.
The pedestrian street that runs from the Zocolo to Santo Domingo.
Oaxaca is a beautiful city, there’s no doubt about it. It’s a city filled with art and museums and has a long tradition of craftsmanship. It must have dozens of colonial era churches spread all throughout the historic center, which is big and fantastic to wander around checking out the old architecture. The center of it all is the Zocalo, filled with benches and shade trees and kitty-corner to a second plaza fronted by an ornate cathedral. It’s surrounded by restaurants with outdoor cafe seating that are a fantastic place to grab a beer and people watch for a while. There always seems to be free public music events in the evenings, maybe a parade or two, and hundreds of people out strolling.
Semana Santa procession
Easter outfits looking uncomfortably close to KKK garb
We were in town for Easter, which is a week-long event in Mexico called Holy Week (Semana Santa) and is a very big deal. They stage all kinds of religious events in the streets that are fun to see, and there are lots of vendors and musicians and street food around. There were tons of Mexican tourists in town, and during processions some of the pedestrian only streets were packed wall to wall with people. It made for a really fun atmosphere, and we spent most of free time just wandering around with everyone else.
Some random deliciousnous clockwise from top left: Mole colorado and enchiladas with salsa verde; our daily breakfast papaya with lime juice and chile powder; squash blossom and Oaxacan cheese quesadillas, traditional atole from the market.
Oaxaca is also a city of food. Moles of all different colors and flavors, enchiladas with the most perfect green sauce, tacos and tlayudas, chillied grasshoppers (great as a beer snack!), perfect Oaxacan cheese, hand ground chocolate mixed into the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had for $1, mescal… That’s just the basic stuff. It’s one of those places with a perfect spring climate year round, so the produce selection and flavor is unreal. There are lots of high end restaurants that are reputed to churn out some of the best food you’ll ever taste, but we stuck with the cheap market stalls which were always stellar. There are no bad cooks in Oaxaca, I think it’s a law or something.
Chapulines, aka grasshoppers. Not bad.
Freshly ground chocolate is everywhere and flavored with cinnamon.
One of my favorite things about Mexico is the Tortilleria, more omnipresent then 7/11’s in the States and always making wonderful fresh tortillas that sell for next to nothing. Lots of them also sell cooked beans and salsas, and for literally $2 I could walk down to the corner tortilleria and buy all the fixings for a giant dinner of quesadillas for the two of us and cook them up in our apartment in a couple minutes. We’d buy fresh limes for mescal margaritas made with hibiscus infused simple syrup, and drink them on the rooftop overlooking the city…
When I die I want to go to Mexican barbeque heaven
All the fixings you could want, grilled to order
Maybe our favorite lunch was heading to the asada market, where a long smoky corridor was always packed with people buying freshly grilled meat from a dozen or so stalls. You buy tortillas from someone else, salsas and grilled peppers and fixings from someone else, and for $10 or so you ended up with some of the best barbeque imaginable.
There were lots of people in town, but not many gringos
We took it easy in Oaxaca, enjoying the sights and our comfortable apartment. I did our taxes online. We strolled and explored, saw some great museums, and met some nice people. The Oaxaca valley is filled with villages and markets that are supposed to be very interesting, but we were lazy and only made it to Santa Maria del Tule, a village famous for its giant cypress tree with a diameter of almost 40 feet! We never did make it back to Monte Alban, a cool archeological site just out of town that we’d visited on our previous trip. Seven hours from Oaxaca by bus are some of the best beaches in the world, but we didn’t make it back to them either. We were pretty content, eating too much world-class food and feeling like expat elite.
Stoutest tree trunk in the world
It was a nice re-visit to a city that will always hold a special place in our hearts. Two weeks went by quickly, and before we knew it we were taking the six hour bus to Mexico City.
Santo Domingo ceiling.
Eating, as usual. We preferred the beef with grilled onions and sides of salsa, guacamole, and a nopal cactus mixture.
Around noon the stomach churning overnight bus ride from Chetumal eventually came to an end and we disembarked in San Cristobal de las Casas. We secured our tickets for the next night bus journey to Oaxaca and found a hostel near the station that was willing to watch our bags so we could use our free afternoon to walk around the city.
This pedestrian-only street is busy, even with a little rain.
San Cristobal is a really beautiful place; kind of like a bigger, more interesting Antigua with a lot of Mexican tourists and fewer gringo groups. Most of the houses are painted with bright pastel colors, there are striking looking churches scattered around, and pedestrian-only streets run by the main plaza. Not to mention the amazing food. Within a few minutes of arriving we had already bought cut mangoes covered with lime juice and chile from a street vendor for a dollar (the best flavor combo EVER). That was soon followed by enchiladas topped with mole negro for me and chilaquiles for Andy and for dinner tortas, a Mexican sandwich.
We’ve decided that San Cristobal is a city worth revisiting and hopefully next year will be back. We barely had time to scratch the surface before we had to get our bags and board the bus.
During the end of our stay in Belize I somehow managed to fall and chip two teeth and put a crack in one. For days the sensitivity was excruciating and my jaw was extremely sore and since neither Andy or myself had any experience with this before we decided that the best thing to do would be to get to a place where we wouldn’t mind spending a week or two in case repeat visits to a dentist were necessary. This meant that instead of wandering through the Mexican state of Chiapas and the Yucatan Peninsula we would be taking two overnight buses in a row to get to Oaxaca, a place we knew we loved and has plenty of good dentist recommendations on Internet forums.
Cenote Azul
We felt like we were traveling in luxury during the two hour boat ride from Caye Caulker compared to the rejected U.S. School buses we had grown accustomed to in Guatemala and it seemed like in no time at all we were docking in Chetumal, Mexico. We got our passports stamped as a trained German Shepherd police dog sniffed everyone’s bag, then took a taxi to the bus station. It was easy enough to find the ticket stand and we found ourselves with the entire day stretching before us until the evening departure of our bus to San Cristobal, the first leg of our overland journey. Thank fully we had done a little research into things to do in the area and were able to leave our backpacks with a store in the bus station for the day.
The dock at Hotel Laguna.
From the station we took a local bus to our first stop, the Cenote Azul outside of Bacalar. A cenote is basically a limestone sinkhole that exposes underground freshwater caverns. They are often very deep and circularly shaped and were an important source of drinking water for the Mayans since the Yucatan has only a few marshy lakes and almost no rivers. We found that the only way to get to the Cenote Azul seemed to be through the bars and restaurants that are build along the sides of the pool. We walked to the waters edge and thought it was pretty but without any great places to lay out and sunbathe we decided to move on before being pressured into buying drinks. More incredible than the actual view of the pool was knowing how it was formed and wondering how deep it was.
Hotel Laguna
Our plan was to walk along the highway to the Laguna Bacalar, a beautiful turquoise fresh water lake where we had heard that it was possible to rent kayaks. It didn’t take very long for the sweat to start running down our bodies and the smell of exhaust to become a little overwhelming so we decided to stop at the first swimming hole we came to. It so happened that next place we saw was a semi-swanky looking place called Hotel Laguna which looked completely deserted except for a few employees. The hotel had a swimming pool and a diving board off of a dock into the lagoon and was so perfect looking that we took our chances and asked what the day use fee was. We couldn’t believe our luck; use of all the hotel facilities was free with the purchase of something from the restaurant. It was a perfect afternoon spent splitting a plate of nachos and drinking Pacificos interspersed with swimming breaks in a beautiful fresh water lake that was the most perfectly cooling temperature.
San Felipe fort in Bacalar
Eventually we pulled ourselves away from paradise and continued on to Bacalar. We took a quick walk around town and saw the Fort of San Felipe which was built in the 1700’s to protect against Caribbean pirate raids. Pretty soon the sun was setting and we caught a ride back to the Chetumal bus station in a collective van. We brushed our teeth in the bathroom and settled in for a 13 hour overnight bus ride.
Looking out at Carmen (on the left) and Danzante (on the right, in the back), photo taken from the highway
The Loreto Marine Park contains a string of beautiful islands that offer wonderful conditions for kayaking and camping. In May of 2011 we spent 8 days paddling around two of those islands, Islas Carmen and Danzante. This was the third and final portion of a larger kayaking trip in which we’d paddled from Mulege to La Paz, and then paddled Isla Espiritu Santo. With some extra time after those two legs, we decided to drive back north to the Loreto area and paddle the 60 or so miles around Isla Carmen.
We ended up leaving our car at a family’s house in Juncalito, a small beach community just south of Loreto and a very convenient launching point for Carmen. We took our time assembling our trusty folding Feathercraft K2 kayak (a wonderful boat that is our most valuable asset- literally, it’s worth twice as much as our car), and finally shoved off in the early afternoon. Paddling south out of Juncalito’s bay was familiar ground; we’d covered this stretch a month earlier during our paddle to La Paz. But just before Puerto Escondido we turned left and made the short crossing out to Isla Danzante, new territory for us.
We called it a day and set up camp on a beach in Honeymoon Bay, a popular yacht anchorage. We soon regretted our decision to camp here when a nearby sailboat started up an obnoxious generator and ran it for hours; get some solar panels!
The next morning we woke up and started packing, and soon enough the sailboat’s generator started up again. Then the boat’s occupants got in their tender and motored (of course) off to visit another boat across the bay, leaving their generator running! I resent this kind of noise pollution in the wilderness, and seriously considered paddling out and emptying our toilet in their cockpit, but instead we sped up our packing and paddled off, vowing to never again camp in an anchorage if we could avoid it.
We tied our sheets to the top of the tent to help block the sun; it was May and starting to get hot during the day.
We made the short crossing to the southern end of Isla Carmen and proceeded north up the west side of the Island. Conditions were wonderful, with calm and amazingly clear water. We saw two separate sea turtles that dove underwater as we approached, but the water visibility was so good that we could see them swimming under our boat. Later we saw a couple Humpback whales that let us approach within 100 feet, and as they swam away they repeatedly showed their flukes, and then one of them breached and completely left the water! I was trolling with my handline and caught some sort of elongate fish, but when I gutted it the flesh was so mushy and unattractively gray that I threw it to the seagulls.
Partway through the next day we saw another humpback, and while we were waiting to see if it would resurface we were surprised by a pod of about thirty dolphins. They swam right up to us and suddenly we had dolphins on all sides-and under- our kayak! They passed us and we paddled after them, once again entering the middle of the pod where we all kept pace with each other. It was really incredible, paddling right in a pod of dolphins, and we continued on like this for miles! They’d let out their puffs of breath each time they surfaced, we’d watch them swimming under our kayak and occasionally jumping out of the water, and it was just a wonderful experience that lasted for well over an hour and left us with smiles plastered to our faces.
Dolphins!
We camped that night in a beautiful and protected cove, and as we unloaded the boat we were treated to one last acrobatic show as the dolphins swam by again, headed in the opposite direction now. Snorkeling that afternoon I saw two beautiful hawkfish and wished that spearfishing was allowed in the Marine Park. In the evening we ate our dinner as the water’s edge as the sun went down, and watched a dozen pelicans dive endlessly for fish in the shallow waters only a few feet from us. After it got dark a moray eel came to feed at the edge of the water, which was gently surging in and out from the cove. A couple times he was left high and dry wriggling on the beach for a few seconds as the water surged out. A magical day.
a great camp
We only paddled a few miles the next day, because we came upon a wonderful looking camp that was just too nice to pass by. It was a rocky beach with some interesting rock formations and an incredible view, and we sat and read and watched the dolphins swim by, listening to the endless slapping sound of the many jumping rays as they belly flopped back into the water.
Carmen looking a little ominous
Another shortish paddle the following day took us past some pretty rocky scenery and brought us to Playa Salinas, a beautiful sweeping white sand beach that holds a mostly abandoned salt mining works at one end. We’d seen pictures of this spot and wanted to camp here despite it’s sandy nature (sand is a pain to camp on, it gets into everything). It was definitely beautiful, but it was pretty windy and we had to hide behind the tent from the driving sand and had trouble keeping our shade tarp up; not the most comfortable day.
Playa Salinas
It was pretty windy the next morning so we tried sailing, but it was just a little too exciting after a while. Even after the sail was down the tailwind pushed us along at a fast pace. We were a couple miles off shore and before we knew it we realized that we’d passed by a sea cave that we’d been looking forward to seeing. Camp that day was a pretty spot set back in some thorny trees, and we spent the afternoon reading in a bit of a heat stupor. It was getting pretty hot during the days, and we could feel the trip coming to a close.
As we rounded the southern tip of Carmen we camp across some kayakers on a day trip (probably from a yacht) wearing skimpy bathing suits and bikinis. We looked at each other, with our giant hats and long sleeves and pants, and laughed about our different relationships with the sun. At this point we’d made it around Carmen, and crossed back to Isla Danzante. It’s a small island so we decided to paddle around it too, counterclockwise down the east side and back up the west. It’s a pretty island with dramatic, rocky topography. Toward the end of the day we were getting pretty tired, but the last two spots that we’d planned as possible campsites were both occupied by separate groups of independent kayakers; we hadn’t seen any on the whole trip, and now here were a bunch of them, in our way! But we found a nice little pocket beach and enjoyed our last evening of kayak camping for the trip, staring out at the beautiful view of Isla Carmen.
Sunrise on our final day of kayaking
We got up early the last morning and took in a wonderful sunrise, contemplating being finished with a long and wonderful kayak trip. From our camp it was a short paddle back to Juncalito and our car, where we folded the kayak and packed all our gear and started off on the long drive back to Oregon. We tallied it up and realized that we’d been on the water for a total of 4o days, a trip of biblical proportions.
Isla Espiritu Santo is a beautiful, medium-sized island just north of La Paz. We spent nine days paddling around in April of 2011, from 4/20 to 4/28. It’s a magical place for kayaking and exploring, complete with crystal clear tropical turquoise water, great snorkeling and spearfishing, wonderful camping, fantastic rock formations and arches to paddle through, lots of sea life, and the list just keeps going…
Unfortunately these attributes are not exactly a secret and it’s a very accessible place with La Paz so close, so the island can see a of visitors. It can get especially crowded around Semana Santa, Mexico’s Easter week celebration in April, which of course was right when we visited. We spent nine lazy days circumnavigating the island in our folding Feathercraft K2 kayak, and there was a lot of boat traffic, with a very steady stream of pangas buzzing by every day shuttling day visitors out to the sea lion colonies and beaches. There were also many sailboats and a surprising number of giant luxury motor yachts, and even a few other kayakers. That said, even with all the traffic for the most part we found our preferred campsites empty each day, especially the smaller non-sandy ones that we generally prefer.
Our kind of camp
You’re required to have island permits for visiting Espiritu Santo, available from any outfitter in La Paz for $5 per person per day, but the better alternative for anyone going for more than a few days is a yearly pass they call a Passport. It’s good for most of the islands in the Sea of Cortez, as well as Cabo Pulmo, and only costs 260 pesos per person, a real bargain. I did have to track down the SEMARNAT office (the governing agency, located on Abasolo in La Paz out towards the Walmart) to purchase the passes, but it wasn’t too difficult and saved us a lot of money. We were checked for passes while on the island. You’re also required to have a portable toilet, which I made out of some PVC pipe; the rangers never asked to see our toilet, but it’s good practice to dump your poop out to sea especially in such a frequently visited place.
Espiritu Santo was actually part two of an extended kayak journey for us. We’d spent 22 days kayaking from Mulege to La Paz, and then rested for five days in La Paz where we had some reasonably priced dental work done, stocked up on food and water, and consumed way too much tequila and tacos in celebration of being in civilization again. Now with a temporary crown over a formerly cracked molar, I drove us out to Playa Tecolote where we set up our kayak and did a final check of our gear and supplies. We paid one of the beach restaurants about $30 usd to watch our car, and early the next afternoon we set off on the 5 mile crossing. We would have started sooner in the morning but this area has a distinct wind pattern known as Corumuels, strong southerlies that start up at night and usually die off by the end of the morning.
Getting ready to cross from Tecolote to Epiritu Santo, in the background
After the southerly died down we had calm conditions and an easy crossing that took us a bit less than 1.5 hours. About halfway across a whale surfaced pretty close to us, and we could hear it singing, which is a pretty amazing experience. When we reached the southern tip of the island we were greeted by a school of big 2-3ft roosterfish patrolling for food, their distinctive dorsal fins often above the water. I trolled for a while with my handline and was probably lucky not to get a bite; I probably would have ended up with a dislocated shoulder!
We paddled a bit further up the west side of the Island (we were doing a clockwise circumnavigation) and found a decent beach to camp on inside one of the many fjord-like bays that the island is famous for. We cooked dinner watching the light change on some pretty pink cliffs near our camp and were visited by some wild goats nibbling at the shrubbery on the steep hill above us.
cookin'
The next morning the Coromuels were up again but we were feeling antsy and headed out early anyway, finding some pretty big waves outside of our little bay. Within a couple hours the wind had died and the water was totally calm again. There were a lot of motor boats around, from buzzing pangas to 20 million dollar luxury yachts, and it had me feeling a little irritable. We’d been traveling under our own muscle power for so long in our unobtrusive little boat, totally silent and non-polluting, and here we barely even saw a sailboat that wasn’t motoring. There were jet skiers pulling inner tubes! The noise pollution was getting to me. But… it was the highest of high seasons so we had to expect company, and as far as the scenery went this was the best we’d seen yet. The water was so clear, and varied between an amazing number of shades of blue. We found a great camp in a tiny inlet, and fended off the ringtail cat that had obviously found some meals at people’s camps in the past. We secured our food in dry bags but forgot about a bag of tortillas that we’d left on a boulder, and he stole the whole bag! That night when we’d shine our lights around camp we’d always see a few sets of eyes glowing hungrily, hoping for more.
Ringtail cat / thief in the night
The next day we took a layover day, getting in some good reading in the shade and doing some snorkeling from our camp. We took a day paddle around a small nearby islet called Isla Ballena, which is a big bird nesting site and smelled terrible. We saw baby pelicans on the clifftops, gangly white little things. That evening a couple hawks hung out on the cliffs near us, and must have kept the ringtails away, although we heard lots of rustling around that night while we were in our tent.
I love taking pictures of my kayak
We slept in the next morning to allow the usual winds to die down, and then made our way north, exploring each cove we came to. We passed a couple semi-permanent looking outfitter’s camps situated on some incredibly beautiful white sand beaches. They’re actually not that great to camp on, as sand gets into everything and becomes a real pain, so we were fine with leaving them to the people taking tours.
Beautiful arch we paddled through
In one bay we heard some big tell-tale whooshing sounds and immediately looked around for a whale, who was a fair ways off and soon went underwater. A couple minutes later though it surfaced less than 50 feet from us, and slowly swam along as we kept pace beside it. It was an incredible encounter and went on for minutes, and we could hear its beautiful whale song with amazing clarity. Unfortunately a 50′ motor yacht noticed the whale and drove straight for it from about a quarter mile away. They approached too close and never cut their engines and the loud idling ruined any chance of hearing the whale any more and it soon disappeared under the water. We paddled a ways off hoping to guess where it might surface, and the boat followed us! I guess they thought we had some inside information. Did I mention how I was feeling irritable about motors? At this point I was having some serious Monkey Wrench Gang style sabotage fantasies.
Paddling along we saw some sea lions playing, and in another bay we had our best sea turtle encounter yet: a larger turtle saw us coming, and rather than instantly diving as normal he watched us approach, and then went under and resurfaced at least five different times. He seemed just as curious about us as we were about him! When we paddled right up to him he lazily went under, but the water was so clear we could still easily see him under our boat, staring up at us. We like turtles.
I love my pole spear!
That evening we camped in a nice little cove backing up to an arroyo (canyon), and did some hiking and snorkeling. I speared a delicious little Mexican Hogfish, and got my heart rate up a bit when I was bluff charged by a big Moray eel. Later that night while I was brushing my teeth at the water’s edge I noticed a Moray coming right up to the beach feeding; he was in water so shallow he was only half submersed.
The next morning we left camp set up and paddled about four miles north to Los Islotes, a pair of islets just off the north tip of Espiritu Santo and home of a famous sea lion colony. It’s a big tourist attraction because people here swim with the sea lions! You’re not allowed to land on the island so we tied our kayak up a free mooring ball alongside some pangas, and gathered our courage to actually enter the water. Those sea lions are big… When we finally got in it was pretty cool, with the lobos swimming and diving all around us. They’re very graceful and fast underwater, and they seem to enjoy messing with people a bit, doing things like swimming straight at you and veering off at the last second. It was really fun, and there were a surprising number of fish around to watch also. When we finally left the place was getting pretty busy with panga loads of day visitors, and somebody warned us that three orcas had been spotted in the area. I was happy that I hadn’t known that while I was in the water with some of the orca’s favorite food.
Snorkeling from our kayak at the sea lion colony
The next morning we read in a shade cave until the winds had calmed down, then headed back north to a popular camping spot called El Embudo. We set up camp and went for a hike up the arroyo to a dry lake bed that fills up during the summer rains, then hung out in camp and relaxed. There was a steady stream of people landing at the beach, and we had a conversation with a panga captain about Morays, and how you had to be careful with them especially with blood in the water, which tended to make them aggressive and sometimes bite. Not two hours later I speared my best fish of the trip, a nice flag cabrilla, and turned around to see another big moray not six feet behind me! All was fine though, and the fish was delicious.
flag cabrilla, the best fish I speared
The next day brought more of the same, lots of snorkeling and reading, playing cards, and other wonderful forms of tropical relaxation. I speared another cabrilla, and was really enjoying using my pole spear. Some park rangers came by and checked our island permits, and a tourist gave us an icy cold Pacifico!
Shade is a fine thing out there in the desert
The next morning a half-dead squid had washed into a rocky area, and soon enough a Moray came and ate off his tentacles! And so the eel adventures continued. We rounded the tip of the island fighting some strong currents and used up a ton of energy paddling out toward what we thought were Orcas but turned out to be dolphins. Distance and size can be tough to judge out in that clear desert air.
Our camp at El Embudo
Dry lake bed
The intrepid couple
Heading south along the east side of the Island the topography became a lot more rugged and we saw a lot less people. There aren’t a bunch of bays like on the west side and in general it isn’t so spectacularly beautiful, so this side of the island sees much less traffic. We ended up paddling about fifteen miles all the way to Playa Bonanza, a several mile long white sand beach where we camped and entertained ourselves by messing with the plentiful hermit crabs.
Playa Bonanza hermit crabs, arranged as art installation
The following day we packed up and rounded the northern tip of the island, completing our lazy circumnavigation in nine days. The winds were calm so we made the crossing with ease, pulling into Playa Tecolote where we found the car extremely dusty but otherwise unharmed. We drank a celebratory beer while we broke the kayak down into its duffel bags, then headed into La Paz for a couple more days in the city.
This recently dead ray washed up at Playa Tecolote shortly after we landed. A few minutes after this picture was taken somebody chopped off the wings (delicious in burritos with machaca, apparently) and the carcass was buried in about two inches of sand.
Still to come: circumnavigating Isla Carmen, near Loreto.
The Sea of Cortez is like a great big wilderness tripping Disneyland: it’s beautiful, incredibly fun, almost seems like it was designed for kayaking, and every now and then the ride malfunctions and someone gets killed. It’s almost perfect.
I’ve been planning a big kayak trip here for a long time, and this last March the stars finally aligned and Denae and I found ourselves standing on the shores of Bahia Concepcion (near Mulege), assembling our foldable Feathercraft K2 kayak and preparing to paddle 200 or so miles to the city of La Paz. We’d then take a break in the city before circumnavigating Isla Espiritu Santo, and then drive back to the Loreto area and paddle around Isla Carmen.
To do a trip like this independently requires a lot of logistical planning. We drove down from Oregon, which is a topic in itself that I won’t really get into. You need seaworthy boats and, more importantly, need to have the skills involved with kayaking in potentially dangerous waters. The Sea of Cortez can vary from flat as a pond to large, steep breaking waves and dangerous winds in a disconcertingly short amount of time. The gear list of kayaking equipment, rescue gear, spare parts and repair kits, camping gear, navigational aids, food, etc, seems to stretch on forever. We carried 18 gallons of water (that’s about 150 pounds!) at a time to make it between water sources in this very dry region.
All that said, if you have the skills and equipment, you should go. And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it independently you should start saving your pennies and sign up for a guided trip with one of the many outfitters here. Kayaking Baja was absolutely one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.
Our home at Playa Cocos, Bahia Concepcion
We chose to set out from a beach in Bahia Concepcion called Playa Cocos, a place we’d camped out on for a while on a previous trip. We went through our gear at a leisurely pace, spent some time wandering around nearby Mulege and buying last minute provisions, swam and enjoyed ourselves, and before we knew it four nights had gone by living in our little palapa hut. Fun, but the sea was calling our names, so Denae watched our gear while I drove to Loreto and parked our car in an RV park (they charged me $3 usd/day to watch it). We had the second half of our food and fuel in the car for when we reached Loreto. I then took the bus back towards Mulege and had them drop me off at Playa Cocos. The next morning we finally set off.
The first leg of the trip was from Bahia Concepcion to the town of Loreto, about 70 miles to the south. Like most people we chose to paddle north to south to match the prevailing winds. We were both fairly out of shape so we allotted plenty of time and rest days to make it to Loreto, hoping to ease our bodies into the practice of paddling for anywhere from three to ten hours a day.
Our first night's camp. Cobble might not be as scenic as sand, but it's much more comfortale for camping. Sand gets into everything!
We managed to stick to our planned 7am departure time, and paddling out into the bay we could hardly believe we were finally doing it. It was a beautiful morning and we lingered for a while in the middle of the several mile crossing of the bay, floating in the calm water and taking in the scenery. By the time we started rounding the peninsula and heading south a pretty strong headwind had sprung up, and it was looking to be a long haul to our night’s camp. Our spirits and pace were slowly fading when a pod of dolphins swam by, and the excitement powered us through.
I love cookin' on campfires...
The wind kept building that evening and the next morning we woke to large breaking waves and a sea of nasty looking whitecaps… layover day! We spent the day off reading, playing cribbage and hiking around a bit. The next day the wind had mostly died but the seas were still up, and we had an exciting launch powering through the breaking waves. Out in the open water the swells were big enough that we could only see water when we were inside the troughs, but nothing was breaking away from shore so it was easy paddling, if a little nerve-wracking.
We quickly fell into a routine. Get up just as the light was filtering in, pack up camp and eat our breakfast of granola, water and homemade instant breakfast mix (more delicious than it might sound). We’d pile up our load of drybags near the water, carry the kayak to the water and shoehorn everything in. Sunscreen on our face, neck and hands, clothing over everything else, and we’d push off. It always took at least an hour.
Bahia Pulpito, described in our 3 year old guidebook as "out there" in a wilderness sense. We found a big house, airstrip and kids on an atv. Enjoy wilderness while you can folks!
The first couple hours of paddling was usually my favorite part of the day. It would be nice and cool, the winds weren’t usually up yet and the water calm, and the ache in my shoulders wouldn’t yet be distracting from the scenery. And that scenery was spectacular: multicolored cliffs leading straight into the sea, jagged mountains inland, water stretching off to the horizon… We saw lots of wildlife almost every day, from paddling through swarms of diving pelicans and osprey and other sea birds, to sneaking up on sea turtles that would dive and hide as soon as they saw us. Pods of dolphins became almost routine, and we even saw some far off blue whales, identified by their GIANT spouts of water that seemed to hang in the air for minutes, and by the raising of their flukes which apparently distinguishes them from fin whales, the other local plus-sized leviathan.
scenery on a hike from Bahia San Juanico
After our day’s paddle we’d try to find a nice protected landing and campsite, and with the boat still in the water we’d unload our many dry bags and water bladders, then haul the boat up away from the water and tie it up. Shade would then be the priority, hopefully natural in the form of a properly oriented cliff or cave or (very occasionally) tree, and if not we’d set up our shade tarp. We’d set up the tent and secure everything in case of strong winds, and finally have some time to relax or go snorkeling.
Bahia San Juanico, with Punta Pulpito to the north
Amazingly enough, the hours spent packing, loading and unpacking every day didn’t really get old. It was all part of the process, and the feeling of independence we had from carrying everything we needed inside our kayak was wonderful. Our bodies adapted quickly to their new habits, and we found ourselves becoming leaner and harder and able to paddle much further much easier. It’s a simple life out there, and we loved it.
We reached Loreto 11 days after leaving Bahia Concepcion. Only 7 of those days were actually spent paddling, and that had been at a fairly leisurely pace. We took out at a beach next to the town marina, and I ran and picked up the car where I’d left it at the El Moro RV park, and we shuttled the boat and gear back there using the car. El Moro was a convenient place to park and was right downtown, but camping there was like camping in, well, a parking lot. Not many people seem to tent camp in Baja.
The boat folds down into a couple big duffle bags. Good thing, I don't think the roof racks could handle driving more than the 4 blocks we went after taking this photo.
We camped two nights in Loreto, catching up on our online news and emails, eating lots of tacos and enjoying some cold beers. We replenished our food supplies and water, and were quickly ready to set off again. Loreto is a nice little town, but a little touristy for us and frankly doesn’t compare to the wilderness experience, at least in our opinion. We got up before dark to shuttle everything back to the marina beach, and I re-parked the car at the RV park. Once again we were off!
leaving Loreto
The following are excerpts from the update email Denae sent out after we reached La Paz:
This portion of the trip had more bountiful visible wildlife than the Mulege to Loreto stretch. We paddled out one morning to be greeted by a pod of dolphins surrounding our boat while a school of rays were belly flopping close by our side. If you´ve ever seen rays in the water you know what graceful swimmers they are and may imagine that when they jump out of the water it´s with the same Olympian grace that they swim. Not so, the rays actually look more like a fat kid falling off a diving board than anything resembling graceful. They hit the water with a belly flop and a loud smack after flapping their wings frantically and uselessly; almost as if they want to leave their world of water and can´t.
Jumping rays became a several-times-a-day sight once south of Agua Verde. Once a ray landed close enough to splash us.
Our friends the dolphins were also frequent visitors.
This video is footage of rays jumping, dolphins, some stormy waters and some snorkeling with sea lions we later did off Espiritu Santo island:
Another especially fun day we spent the morning watching whale spouts off in the distance near Isla San Jose. As we neared camp I saw a whale spout off of a nearby point and didn´t think much of it as we pulled the boat onshore and took out our snacks preparing to relax. All of a sudden the whale appeared 30 feet offshore slowly arching its back showing us that it was a Finn whale. Andy, who was farther away from the water than me, yelled loudly and stared sprinting towards me while I jumped up and down pointing at the water dumbfounded. We tossed our partially eaten Clif Bars into the boat and quickly shoved it back out to sea. We tried following the whale around the bay and, although it never got that close to us again, we fell silent listening to the high pitched sucking noise it made when it took a breath and let out a few moans. Andy did manage to whisper to me, “Do you think you could pass me that Clif Bar?”
On really calm days the water would sometimes merge with the sky, creating this endless horizon
I forgot to bleed air out of our sponsons one afternoon, and the heat from the sun burst one of the seams. We didn't notice until after dark, which lead to this repair scene. It takes a while to take apart and assemble the boat, and I was tired and not happy.
We paddled into another bay to be greeted by a pod of especially energetic dolphins leaping clear of the water three at a time and pulling stunts worthy of Sea World, we paddled over a school of yellow tail that were so dense the tornado of fish below us turned the water black, we saw jelly fish, we paddled next to a 6 foot shark slowly passing us by just below the waters surface leaving a sinister feeling in its wake (I am told maybe it was a Nurse Shark?), and we saw too many aquarium fish to count. Packing up our desert camp one morning I was putting on my paddle skirt when I saw a 1.5″ yellow scorpion trying to work his way towards me from the spot where my skirt was laying previously. I´d never seen a scorpion before and although it was smaller than ones I had seen on nature programs I could tell his stinger would still pack a powerful punch.
An especially nice camp near Puerto Escondido. The Pelicans were going nuts diving for fish all afternoon, and I caught a beautiful little Roosterfish with my handline.
Sunset at Agua Verde. Somewhere in here we were starting to get the sense that this trip was too good to be true, and yet it just kept getting better.
another great camp. We had all these beaches completely to ourselves, never saw another kayaker.
The last 50 miles to La Paz is all lowlands with a close by road and many more houses than we´d seen the whole trip, not to mention the ugly mine we had to paddle by; so we decided as long as the weather cooperated we would cover as many miles as possible.
Some of these spots had wonderful snorkeling
Under sail- luxurious ease
The last four days we kayaked 18 miles, 24 (with 14 under a Genoa sail using our awesome Feathercraft mast), 20, and another 18 miles (8 under sail). It´s really fun to use the sail, but there are some trade offs. To go south or east we need a north wind and the Nortes here get strong quick and can make the seas dangerous for small crafts like ours, especially with a big sail up in the air. On our 24 mile day we were on the sea a little longer than was maybe safe and we had to pull in to shore right next to a deserted fish camp to find a semi protected landing. The mob of vultures pecking away at the pile of fish heads ruined the ambiance of the camp a little at first, but we were able to find a nice spot to set of the tent and very grateful for the safe landing.
We were lucky to find a protected landing on this day. Believe me it's always rougher than it looks once you're out there.
The next day the seas were huge from the wind storm but we didn’t feel like taking a layover day. Towards the end of our paddle we were in swells of about 5 feet. Imagine sitting on the ground and looking up to a five foot tall wall of water and you may be able to understand why my heart was beating a little faster that day. The Norte did what it usually does and built all day until we were again forced to try and find some semblance of a protected camp. The direction of the land had changed sweeping south east to east all the way to La Paz and we knew from our guide book that such a camp didn´t exist. Here´s is the conversation that passed between Andy and I as we looked at a wave pummeled beach.
Andy “Well, I guess we will just crash land here”
Me “Why do we have to crash land? Why can´t we just land?”
Andy (silence) “So, what do you think?”
Me (silence) “I don´t think I want to do this.”
A surf landing in a kayak uses the exact opposite principles as a surfer on a surf board. We tried to paddle hard right after the waves broke and avoided being surfed along in our kayak which besides being dangerous can destroy the boat when it hits the sand. Lucky for us the beach had a gradual break and Andy lead us safely to shore directing me on when to paddle and when not to. We were surfed one time and although it was fun I was also terrified imagining being tipped over and crushed under 400 plus pounds of boat, and as i have an active imagination a sting ray was factored into my worst case scenario fantasy. Finally upon dry land I told Andy that it didn´t look so bad from shore but the quaver in my voice gave away just how freaked I had been.
local fishermen
It´s fun to be back in La Paz again seeing old haunts and new buildings. Andy is on the bus up to Loreto to get our car and bring it back to La Paz. I wish I could go with him, but I guess I will just have to use the Internet and go shopping. What a bummer, haha! I also have a few repairs to do, a burst seam on a sponson, a dry bag tear, a loop on the kayak, and both peeling soles of my chacos. We have been leading a healthy life kayaking eating granola, fruit, nuts, energy bars, and smaller dinners. True to form the first thing Andy and I did last night was to poison our bodies with jumbo margaritas and a huge greasy burger from a road side vendor in the plaza. Andy woke up sick but seems to be recovered now while I am walking around town today cramping and wanting to heave any time I look at food. I´ll be going to the store soon to find my tropical climate cure all medicine- the papaya.
embracing modernity in La Paz
definitely worth a little indigestion
We are staying in nice hotel which also does guided kayak and boat tours based in La Paz. When Andy went to ask about room availability the owner recognized the tell tale salt deposits covering Andy´s clothing and immediately asked if he needed help with the boat. The pickup was quickly loaded with all of our kayaking gear and driven to the hotel where we were given free reign of the outfitting warehouse to rinse off everything we own in fresh water and to generally do what ever we needed to.
Well we ARE in Mexico after all... we have to make some margaritas!
La Paz was not the end of our kayaking trip; we still had Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Carmen to circumnavigate.
Back in 2006 Denae and I spent the summer driving around and exploring Mexico’s Baja peninsula. It was a fantastic trip, and one we did on the slimmest of budgets, but summer proved to be a rather poor season to visit; it was way too hot! The kind of heat that warms up large bodies of water- the Sea of Cortez- until they no longer cool you off. Where sunbathing becomes unthinkable and your shade tarp is your most treasured possession. Of course we’d known about these issues going in so it was OK… sort of.
But that heat got to us after a while, and it affected our enjoyment of the trip to a certain degree (get it?). Pretty much right after we made it back to the States I was scheming to myself about a trip back to Baja. I was certain that our return would involve a sea kayak or two, and I was pretty sure we would want to go during the Spring.
Spring in Baja is a favored season. Starting in March the winter winds are dying out in the Sea of Cortez, the water starts warming up a bit, and equally important for us, the Gray whales are still in the Pacific Lagoons.
For those of us who live on the west coast of the US, Gray whales have a special significance. These incredible creatures spend their summers in Alaska and Canada, then migrate all the way south down to Mexico in the winter to mate and give birth. Denae and I have seen them up in Canada in the summer, we’ve seen them passing by the Oregon coast in fall, and now we wanted to see them in Baja.
Whale-watching in Baja is not like other places. It’s better. A more accurate description of the activity would be whale-interacting. For some scientifically undetermined reason, a small percentage of the whales down here actively seek out human contact: they like to be touched. Both adults and calves.
Yes, in Laguna Ojo de Liebre, Laguna San Ignacio and Bahia Magdelena, you can go out in small boats (called pangas) and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be approached by some of the largest animals on earth- and they’ll act like puppies begging for attention. Any more written description than that is just going to be clutter; watch this video and you’ll see what I mean:
As far as logistics go, our first stop was Laguna Ojo de Liebre, aka Scammon’s Lagoon. It’s just inside the state of Baja Sur near the small windswept town of Guerrero Negro, a fairly easy two day’s drive from the US border. You can stay in town and arrange trips through many places, but we drove out to the ejido a few miles south and camped at the laguna for a few dollars a night. Actually, our first try at getting to the ejido was thwarted when someone flagged us down partway through the washboard road and said we’d be turned back if we kept going: there was a tsunami coming (!). This was, of course, back in March when the calamitous Japanese earthquake occurred. We drove back to Guerrero Negro and read up online about all the disturbing news, but at least determined that we weren’t about to be swept away.
The next morning, March 12, we drove back to the ejido and set up camp, paid our $40 usd each and were out on our 1.5 hour panga trip. This day was my backiversary: exactly a year after I broke my back in a skiing accident. The boat ride was so incredible we decided to stick around and do it again the following morning, which was Denae’s birthday. I wanted her day to be very special; her previous birthday had been somewhat subdued by it’s hospital bedside location. Luckily this second day was even better than the first with lots of contact with whales, which was vindication for Denae: she’d been telling people for months that she’d be petting baby whales for her birthday, and getting some strange looks. After all this we still hadn’t had enough of the whales, so we figured we might as well do it again at Laguna San Ignacio.
San Ignacio town is a pretty little date palm oasis in the desert, and the laguna is about 40 miles west over some pretty rough gravel/dirt/sand roads. We’d planned on getting a ride there from town in a shared van, but the cost only becomes reasonable if several people are going, and they weren’t. Once more into the breach, trusty old Ford Escort Wagon! It was a bit of a rough ride, half of it after it got dark, and had Denae holding her breath as we careened high speed through sandy stretches, the undercarriage plowing off the top inch or two of sand between the wheel ruts. Somewhat miraculously we didn’t get stuck, and made it to camp Kuyima where we set up our tent in the lee of our car to protect it from the howling winds.
Kuyima proved to be a pretty professional outfit complete with English speaking staff, and would be a good option for anyone wanting to see the whales (and if you’ve read this far and don’t want to go, one of us is doing something wrong!) but needing a little logistical hand-holding. Their website has lots of good information. Once again, the boat trip was indescribably amazing, after which we successfully drove back to San Ignacio town for the night. The next day we headed south to the Sea of Cortez for phase two of our trip: a grand sea kayak expedition.
Back in June of 2006 we got the bright idea to head down to Baja for some relaxation and adventure. We loaded up a van with supplies, I built a platform bed in the back, and we were set. At the Tijuana border we decided to skip the immigration office and get our tourist cards 80 or so miles later in less crowded Ensenada. Unfortunately the office there had a sign on the window saying we had to go back to the border; the guy behind the counter just pointed to the sign and smirked. Ouch. After a frustrating round trip to and back from Tijuana to get ourselves legal we finally made it to our first planned stop: a place on the Pacific called La Bocana.
I did manage to catch a few fish on this trip. A very few.
We coaxed our van up onto the beach between the ocean and a small freshwater lagoon, set up a shade tarp, and spent a great week doing next to nothing. When we finally motivated ourselves to move on we spent another couple days at a beach near San Quintin, uneventful except for getting quite stuck this morning when we tried to leave. Eventually we dug and jacked ourselves out, the only casualty a broken fire grate we used for traction.
Next we headed into the desert. We especially liked the area around Catavina with it’s huge boulders piled up everywhere and the crazy desert plantlife. And cows; one night we were sleeping in the van when we suddenly heard an unbelievably loud moo/roar from what sounded like two or three feet away. As we were asking ourselves what the
hell was that we heard hooves galloping away…
The desert light is so amazing, especially at dusk. We spent some quality time just sitting on the rocks, sharing a ballena (Literally “whale”, but slang for liter bottle) of beer and taking it all in.
We wanted to keep the gas tank topped off, but the Catavina Pemex station looked like it had been closed for years and years. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t any petrol available:
From there we traversed more desert and cruised through some small towns until we reached San Ignacio, a very nice little desert town completely packed with date palms that were introduced in the missionary era. It’s a very pretty place where we broke down and payed $5 a night to camp along the river under some palm trees where we hung our hammocks, and explored the town on foot.
The "motorhome"
Very nice, but after a few days we were getting anxious to see the Sea of Cortez for the first time.
Oh my god, we found paradise: Bahia Concepcion. Of course there was a catch. It was July and it was waaayyy too hot. We weren’t going to let that stop us though, and we pretty much had every beach to ourselves. Playa Cocos, where we spent a week:
The snorkeling was incredible with all kinds of fish and things to see, and the fishing was fun although completely unsuccessful. That includes the fishing with the ingeniusly (I thought) improvised spear gun I made out of
bungie cords and tarp poles. I did catch a lot of (very small) fish with a length of line and a small lure that I tied to a bottle and snorkeled around with; it was fun to watch.
It was hot, we spent a lot of time in the water
Home sweet home
Me wishing we'd brought a boat, planning a better-equipped return
We had some insect run-ins: Denae proved once again that she is every bug’s favorite meal by applying lots of repellant and ending up very well covered with no-see-um bites, which are itchy little buggers much worse than mosquitos. I, who put on no spray, searched myself and said, um well I might have a bite here, nope thats a pimple. The only effective measure we found for keeping Denae bite free was socks, pants, longsleeve shirt and headnet, but she couldn’t stand it too long in the 90 degree humid nights.
Out exploring
Had to cool off
We read about Playa Coyote; it sounded great. We found it from the highway:
But we couldn’t figure out how to get down there. Was it this rough road?
Nope, the van isn’t making it down that. Maybe we could make it around the point from the adjacent beach:
Yup, that was the ticket. Must be high tide, there’s a road of sorts under there. Later we spent some wonderfully bug-free time (due to some consistent breezes) at Playa Armanta:
Contemplating the nature of beauty...
One day while we were here we noticed some bees buzzing around. We went snorkeling for a while and came back to find the palapa absolutely swarming with bees! Thousands of them, drawn to our fresh water supply. We managed to load up our stuff and escape to a different beach without being stung.
The happy couple
After a while we reluctantly decided that we wanted to see a new place, and we headed to Loreto and a bit south to an area of beaches called Liguii. We found a deserted rock beach and set up camp for a few days of lazy solitude. The swimming wasn’t as good because there was usually chop, but it was fun watching the lightning way offshore every night. One night it kept coming closer; I kept an eye on it until it seemed to stop and I went to sleep. At 3am that night we woke up to very high winds and uncomfortably close lightning; we packed haphazardly and in a hurry in the beginning rain, and drove the network of sand roads that we figured would be impassable soon and found a campspot by the highway. We fell asleep to wind rocking the van, but the storm never really materialized. The next day we drove back to the campspot and found the clothesline we’d left, and some of the clothes.
Then we headed on to La Paz:
Art along the Malecon
And out to Playa Tecalote, where we lived for a couple weeks:
That's our car and camp in the lower left corner
Nearby Playa Balandra, maybe our favorite beach of the trip
Feeding the morning coffee habit
Lunch time
The larger lady in the above photo peed herself right after we took this photo. It just started gushing down through the chair slats. Her family was pretty embarrassed, but she wasn’t: ten minutes later she lumbered to the water to wash up.
Oh man, that water was amazing:
We had to spend most of our time submersed to stay cool... poor us
Bliss
We went to Todos Santos looking for some cooler weather, but found that it was much more humid and therefore uncomfortable over there. After two days of walking around town we found ourselves sitting in a car bitching at each other trying to figure out what to do. The only possible thing to do was to pay for the first hotel of our trip, a big deal on our very meager budget. We stayed two nights where we blasted the air conditioning nonstop and enjoyed watching Hallmark Channel movies; the only English language channel available. It was rejuvenating but after two days we were itchin for the camping life and set out south. Every beach we went to didn’t look swimmable and all of a sudden we were in Cabo San Lucas. We drove around and looked at the outsides of all the tourist shops without even leaving the car… not our type of town, so we headed on.
We made our way over the washboard roads to Cabo Pulmo, where we’d heard the snorkeling was stellar. We found a place to camp outside of town, jumped in with our masks, and saw… nothing more than a foot in front of us. The chop was up and the water turbid. Later that night a storm rolled in, and we fell asleep with raindrops hitting the roof of the van. We woke up at around 2am to find the van parked in about six inches of flowing water. Uh oh, I guess this is an Arroyo. And our prized Chaco sandals had been carried away- tragedy! After I moved the van to higher ground I beachcombed with a flashlight for our sandals, and found that the waves had tossed up one of mine and one of Denae’s. Not that helpful. But the next morning a Mexican lady from the family camped nearby came up with the two missing sandals!
The sea of cortez had looked pretty flat the day before
We figured the snorkeling wasn’t going to be good any time soon so we decided to head somewhere else. The roads were flooded in spots, so I’d check each area out before we drove through.
This one's OK
But we went through so many I got lazy and stopped checking, and a very innocent looking area (to my foolish eye) led to this:
Very stuck
It was quite a thud when our front wheels dropped into the hidden mud ditch and we landed on the frame. We weren’t going anywhere. Luckily the Green Angels (I think that’s who these guys were) were cruising around, keeping an eye out for idiot tourists like ourselves.
They tried to tow us out, but their inch thick hemp rope kept breaking. By now a crowd of locals had formed, and they cheered each time it busted. Err, should I be offended by this? No, I deserve it. I had a strong tow strap, but it was too short for them to get their truck to dry ground and traction. The guy in the slicker was great; both of us kept glancing nervously at the clouds and hoping we wouldn’t get flooded. Losing the van was a real possibility. “Ojala,” (god willing) I heard him mutter, as we realized that we couldn’t pull the van free. My Spanish is iffy, so I wasn’t sure what he meant when he told me he’d sent for a “maquina” (machine). Mexicans even call computers “maquinas,” so I had no idea. When this showed up, believe me it was a sight for sore eyes:
The CAT pulled us right out of there. We were lucky.
Later while snorkeling off a beach near La Ventana we suddenly found ourselves floating among a bunch of Jellyfish. Kind of freaked out but fascinated, we carefully watched them for a while and managed not to get touched/stung. A few minutes after we got out of the water a Mexican family pulled up and prepared to go swimming. We told them “cuidado, hay medusas” (great word!) and they cleared out of there in a hurry.
Later we followed our maps to Bahia de los Muertos (bay of the dead), only to find a sign declaring it renamed Bahia de los Suenos (bay of dreams). Developers being their incredibly lame selves. The snorkeling here was really good, and I almost swallowed my snorkel when I turned around and saw a huge dorado cruise by only a few feet from me. I was only 100 feet from shore!
We liked La Paz a lot and were ready for a break from camping, so we managed to find a $300/month apartment a couple blocks from the Malecon. It was great, we spent tons of time cooking and enjoying having a refrigerator. The street food in town was great, and wandering around town was fun. We’d take day trips out to the beaches to stay entertained and cool off. The heat was definitely an issue (this was August), but we managed to deal with it.
Evenings were always incredible. The above picture is right next to the raspado (like a snow cone) stand, two blocks down from our place. The apartment came complete with a resident cockroach who we named Gregor and left alone, because he stayed peacefully behind the sink. But when we were walking along the malecon one evening and a cockroach dropped out of a palm onto my head and neck… eeaachhh. I get chills just thinking about it.
Crime!
Unfortunately our apartment didn’t have secure parking, so the best I could do was park the van on the street right outside the bedroom window. That’s why I so clearly heard the window shattering at 7am one morning. The sound woke me up and found myself screaming “fu….dge!” I grabbed the baseball bat I kept by the bed and was halfway out the door before I realized I wasn’t wearing any clothes. By the time I threw on a pair of shorts and ran outside the perp was long gone. There were witnesses and there was a chance that the teenaged troublemaker would have to pay us for a new window, but it was a convoluted process hampered by the language barrier. It was the end of August and a hurricane was supposed to roll in during the next day or two, we were about out of money, and it just seemed like the right time to head home to Oregon, so we paid for our own junk yard window and started the long drive back to Oregon. A great adventure.
Denae and Andy's Travels 