Khunajawdge
Toto El Mundo!
Trip to Baja, March 2006
Living on the central coast of California as I do, Mexico exerts a strong influence on most people who live close to it. California’s history, its culture, its place names, much of its present population, all reflect the closeness of one country to the other. Indeed the geographical proximity is but one aspect of the special relationship between the two countries. That said, however, it goes without saying that Mexico is a foreign country in every sense to most Americans. We don’t think of our southern neighbors as we do our cousins to the north. We share no common language and no common Anglo roots. If Americans are people of wheat, Mexicans are people of corn. Yet, no two countries share so much at the same time. No two such different countries have relatives on both sides of the border. Every community in America probably has a Mexican restaurant of some kind. They are as ubiquitous as McDonald’s these days. “Cinco de Mayo” is rapidly becoming as American as St. Patrick’s Day or Thanksgiving.
The idea of traveling deep into Baja California on a motorcycle had been on my mind for years. I had not been to Baja California since 1969 when I was a participant of a surfing contest at San Miguel, Baja, Mexico some 30 miles below the USA border. The event was memorable, but a career, family, and other travels have taken precedent in more recent times, to re-visiting Mexico. I am very happy to have had such great traveling companions, which added to an overall fine experience in traveling south of the border.
Saturday, 3/18/06
Robert Van Houtte had arrived at my home in Los Osos the night before we left, on his FJR 1300 from Marina, CA. and spent the night on the sofa. He, Louie, and I had attempted this trip to Mulege’ last year at this time, but were shut out due to rain and the early Easter holiday in Mexico of 2005. This time, we arose at 5:00 AM and suited up. After coffee, outside a fairly clear sky was overhead portending enjoyable riding conditions. . At 6:00AM Louie May arrived on his Honda GL 1500 Goldwing with a fourth rider, Rudy Lopez on another FJR 1300. My bike is also an FJR so there were now 3 of us on Yamahas.
We fired ‘em up and headed south to Shell Beach just south of my home in San Luis Obispo, where we picked up the final rider. Phil Teresi, riding a Suzuki V-Strom SV 650. At around 6:30 AM we were heading south on the US 101. Took Cachuma Pass over CA. Highway 154, re-joined US 101 in Santa Barbara. We stopped briefly in Ventura so Phil could pick up a Cobra communicator from a friend. We had a bite to eat and sorted Phil’s communicator out which turned out to be vary compatible with the Chatterbox’s that Robert and I were using.
Back on the road we wound south down the 101 to the 126 to the 5, to the 210, and then east on I-15 until we reached El Cajon. At El Cajon we took a short run further east joining the 94 and ended up at the border. At 3:15 PM we crossed the Tecate border. It only took us about 1/2 hour to get our Tourist documents processed (you should carry a valid US passport to go into Mexico, but minimally have a copy of your birth certificate to prove citizenship), but we couldn’t get money exchanged from dollars (US) to Pesos as the bank in Tecate had closed at 3:00 PM. As it turned out, we should have stopped on the US side before crossing into Mexico, to exchange money. The Exchange rate is something like 10.5 Pesos per $1 US, but the rate varies daily. It is better to exchange early upon arrival in Mexico, because if you use $ US, you will probably not receive change in Pesos and the vendor will round your price off to the closest US $. Upon entering Mexico, the roads were wet, although we had arrived after the rain.
Our goal for the first day was to reach Ensenada and with 471 miles completed on my odometer, we pulled in to the El Bahia Hotel in downtown Ensenada. The Hotel was approx. US $80.00 for a room with 2 beds and we were able to split the rooms into two groups to save money. It was very biker friendly as there was a So. Cal Harley group of visitors that had already settled into the courtyard. Apparently this group rides once each year between San Felipe’ on the Sea of Cortez and Ensenada on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Our bikes were parked off the street in a secure guarded parking lot behind the hotel.
After settling in, we walked the streets to find a nice little place with some great mole which is a sauce made from chilis and of which there are endless varieties in
Mexico, and had our first (of many) beers on this trip. On the way back to the Hotel we stopped at a seafood restaurant called Marisco’s (seafood), as Louie didn’t want to try the Mole’ and wanted seafood. I discovered a Conch (red sea snail) cocktail on the menu and ordered one. It turned out to be one of my most memorable dishes of the trip! We used $ US to pay for food and lodging as they were accepted readily being so close to the border.
Sunday, the 19th of March
The day was a bit overcast, the marine layer which pervades he coast of California doesn’t evidently stop at the border but continues on down the Pacific coast of Baja. Though the sun wasn’t brightly shining, it would make for comfortable travel as we proceeded along the western side of the peninsula. I went for an early walk that morning over to the plaza by the huge flag of Mexico flying above the port. In the plaza there was 3 large portrait busts of famous Mexicans, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juarez and Pancho Villa. Seeing these, it caused me to recall the turbulent past of Mexico’s patriots.
Returning to the hotel I met Louie and Phil in the hotel lobby at 7:00 AM. We hiked over to the Fisherman’s market and saw the catch of the day being displayed. Nearby there were a number of Taco stands where we picked on for Desayuno (breakfast). Huevos con Jamon y tortillas with lots of fresh salsa hit the spot before the day’s ride. We began a walking search for a bank to exchange money but found that most were closed until later in the morning due to it being Sunday.
After breakfast at the Hotel our group saddled up, and hit the Pemex (Mexican Government owned gasoline station), and Louie found that his gas cap key lock had disintegrated. After some minor surgery, we extracted a broken internal key cover from within the lock, and the gas cap was open. After fueling, we had had to wait until 10:00AM for an Exchange to open. At 10:30 AM we finally left Ensenada, and that would inevitably cut our ride a day short of our intended goal of reaching Guerrero Negro for the second night. Continuing south from Ensenada, we drove through endless city sprawl, until Baja Highway 1 finally opened up to some hilly countryside. We were riding at a good pace when near Santo Thomas it began to drizzle, so we stopped to put on rain gear and re-secure gear for potential rain showers. The road was wet and we slowed down to a reasonable speed to cross a mountain and ride to San Vicente. It cleared after San Vicente, and I don’t think that the showers re-appeared at any other time for the rest of our trip.
Mama Espinosa’s in El Rosario was our next stop. Besides the excellent food at Mama’s, this is the last stop for gas for the next 220 miles or so, until you hit Guerrero Negro. We made sure to top off, and filled Phil’s spare gas can, as the spare gas might come in handy for Louie’s Gold Wing with its range of 190 miles per tank.. The road south led us through some amazing Baja desert featuring Sujuaros, Yuccas, Agaves, Bonjos, and other desert cactii. As we approached Catavina the desert became punctuated with igneous boulders of various sizes in vast quantity. Apparently an active volcanic area somewhere back in the Geologic past.
It was 5:00PM when we hit Catavina so we immediately “bee-lined it” to the La Pinta Hotel which was unfortunately fully booked! We arrived at nearly the same time as a group of 10 or so (?) Canadian riders (including Ken Bergen from the COG list) so we all hustled back up the road to a small motel called the Mi Cabana and checked into the rather Spartan accommodations there for the overnight. We tried to play cards while we relaxed after sunset, but other than poker hands, we were un-practiced at the rules of games like Gin Rummy, or Spite and Malice! Anyhow, ride expectations were high and the camaraderie was excellent, so we passed the evening in good spirits.
Monday, the 20th of March
On this day we left Catavina in 2 groups. Louie and Phil left early at 8:00AM for gas in Guerrero Negro. Rudy, Robert and myself, went to breakfast at the La Pinta. After a nice fresh fruit breakfast, we headed out across the long expanse of approx. 120 miles toward Guerrero Negro arriving there at around 10:15 AM. No Response from Phil or Louie on the Chatterboxes, so we headed into Guerrero Negro to find a bank to pay our 200 pesos for a Tourist card. At the bank, the 3 of us ended up waiting about a half an hour in line. We left Guerrero Negro at around 11:30 with still no word from Louie or Phil who we assumed had ridden on toward San Ignacio. The next stretch of desert heading south out of Guerrero Negro is not the most interesting! It is mostly straight and dry, and typical of southwestern desert terrain. At San Ignacio, Robert and I spoke on the Chatterboxes, and decided that we would blow off the stop and head to Mulege’ as we were tired of the long straight roads. Rudy however, held back and we ended up losing him.
Robert and I pulled into Mulege’ at around 2:00 PM and it took us a half hour or so to wind around and find the Hotel Hacienda. It was an old but quaint Hacienda. After we had our bikes well situated in the courtyard and moved into our room, I rolled into the pool. Phil and Louie showed up and hour later, but we never saw Rudy again that day. The four of us had a nice dinner at the La Casita Restaurant, and turned in around 9:00PM for some much needed R& R after sampling an Ahem, bottle of good tequila!
Tuesday, 3/21/06
This started out to be a very easy day! Louie, Phil, Robert, and I walked out to the end of the road toward the Lighthouse at the end of the river to have breakfast at “The Clam”. The Clam is a bungalow style restaurant that mostly serves seafood dishes and it is located right on the rocks of the beach on the Sea of Cortez. Omelets and Jugo de Naranja all around!
The walk back to the Hacienda put us there around 10:00AM and Rudy had re-joined our group. He had found Mulege’ on his own and asked a local where to stay when he hit town. He was guided to the Hotel Mulege’ which he said was clean and adequate. We discussed how we missed each other the previous day at the same time as we finished our packing for the ride to Loreto past the Bahia Conception. Gassed up just south of Mulege’ we began a ride past one of jewels of beach paradise on the Sea of Cortez. Bahia Conception features green bays with sand spits, and inlets with bungalows located right on the sand. The land is in a great bay and is protected from the wind from most directions. The beaches looked idyllic but we were on our way to settle in at an Inn in Loreto that we had heard about by a British couple at the Hacienda in Mulege’. Unfortunately, we weren’t all that impressed with the Hacienda, and Mulege’ itself.
Upon arrival for our first time in Lareto we found ourselves a little disoriented in trying to find the La Damiana Inn that was described to us! We were driving around blocks in a circular pattern. Phil and I were communicating on the Chatterboxes with banter like “ Hey Phil where are you going? I think I’m going to make a right at the street you just passed!” <doodle –loot>
Drama struck when we arrived in front f the Inn when Robert was knocked over by a car. A local boy hit the brakes after running a stop sign on a side street and skidded fifty feet into Robert who was completing a turnabout in the street. Robert felt that he would have more room to park across the street so he was attempting to re-locate when the accident occurred. The car hit Robert’s FJR in the rear end and spun him around dumping the bike in kind of a high side. Robert got right up but was limping a bit. The Loreto police showed up and immediately showed disfavor to the boy who apparently had had previous transgressions. The police were thorough. They wrote everything up and confiscated both vehicles for an overnight at the station, until fault and penalties could be directed.
Fortunately, we had all purchased Mexican Auto insurance (PL & PD, but comprehensive for motorcycles is too expensive with a $ 5K deductible), before entering Mexico. Robert’s coverage was the best of all of us as he had obtained his 3 weeks prior. The Mexican boy had no insurance; he probably lost his car and driving privileges permanently. The police offered a ride to Robert and I went along to the hospital for a quick check-up, then over to the police station. Rudy who speaks good Spanish rode over and met us there as well. We contacted the insurance company by phone, and they were to send a representative the next day. The police tried to get Robert to sign a ticket that he was party to an illegal U-Turn and inattentiveness, but with Rudy’s help in translation of the proceedings Robert refused. The police said the matter would be settled the next day when the insurance representative arrived. So we departed the station with Robert’s gear from the bike to finish checking in at the La Damiana Inn.
Debra at the La Damiana Inn was as worried as we were about what had happened she immediately offered that we park our bikes in her gated off street lot behind the inn. We were happy to do so. The Inn is a well-appointed remodel of an old house in Loreto. It has about 5 room some of them are doubles. Debra (the owner/proprietor) is a very gracious host and will make your stay comfortable. After settling in we got Robert some pain medication and headed out for a late lunch at 2:00PM for Taco’s y Taco’s a local establishment within walking distance from our Inn’s location near the town’s center. After an excellent lunch we walked the Malaccan and bought a few gifts for the loved ones back home. When in Mexico, buy some Vanilla extract. It is cheaper than here in the US. Blankets, and silver jewelry are also obtainable at a good value. I believe this was where I purchased my first bottle of “XA” a fine red wine produced in the north of Baja near Tecate. It turns out that wine was one of the items that Miguel Hidalgo tried to encourage the Mexicans to produce themselves in order to no longer be subject to buying wine from Spain. Many times the Spanish burned the Mexican vineyards, but like our own Boston tea Party we no longer pay tax to a foreign power in the USA.We celebrated this notion with the bottle.
Wednesday, 3/22/06
Woke up at 7:00 AM at the Inn to a not so pretty picture. When we mustered in the main sitting room at La Damiana to discuss the day’s plan, Robert revealed his ass to us and it had turned into a contusion about 8” inches in diameter on his right thigh, Ouch! After that shock, we all walked over to the Café Ole for some fine Jugo de Naranja (fresh squeezed orange juice), a bowl of fruit, and an order of Chilequilles (cut up tortillas with a chili gravy). After breakfast Louie and I decided to see if we could raise John Ramos the artist (who happened to be a friend of ours from home in San Luis Obispo, see: www.JohnRamos.com). John has moved to Loreto and has restored a beautiful 200-year-old home right in the middle of the main plaza adjacent to the City Hall. He will be opening a retail business to sell prints, of his paintings there soon.
Meanwhile, Robert and Rudy headed back to the police station by taxi. The insurance adjuster (Instant Mexico Auto Insurance = 800-345-4701 purchased before we left the states), had not shown up yet and wasn’t due for another hour, so they returned to the Inn. We all met up at around 11:00 AM and I decided to head back with Robert and Rudy on their second trip to meet the adjuster.
This time the guy was there; he was late because he had driven a fair distance (250 miles) up from Cabo San Lucas. He spoke perfect English and immediately took charge of the conversation between Robert and the Police Chief (jefe’ de la Policia) for Robert’s behalf. In the end Robert was not cited ( $$ = hmmmm?), but had to pay a $100.00 fine for executing an illegal U-Turn and was told that the young Mexican fellow had had is car permanently confiscated. Robert was given back the keys to the bike, after which we immediately fired the bike up and I rode it back to the Inn to begin with rudimentary repairs while Robert and Rudy returned by Taxi. Repairs consisted of straightening the rear bag mounts and re-attaching the ends of the right side muffler to the titanium tube that was somewhat squashed. All in all, other than a large abrasion on the left bag, the bike looked OK and was road worthy.
The rest of that day was spent visiting John Ramos again where we were invited to a fish dinner that evening which actually didn’t materialize. We ended up eating fish tacos in the afternoon at LuLu’s, and in the evening walking about Loreto trying to seek a guided fishing trip for the next morning in the Sea of Cortez.
Thursday, 3/23/06
At 7:00 AM we were at Manuel’s Sport Fishing, but Manuel said that the wind had picked up and the panga fleet had been grounded. A second check with Arturo’s verified this, so after one last breakfast at the Café Ole’, we saddled up and headed North toward Guerrero Negro to see if we could get a Whale watching tour arranged on the Pacific side. Phil and Louie left early to get ahead of us, as the three FJR pilots were rode a little faster than the pace set by the SV650 and the Honda GL 1500 Goldwing. Robert, Rudy and I rode past Bahia Conception and it was truly a windy day. If you have never seen the ideal beaches at Bahia Conception, then imagine the most whimsical vista of green water cove/palm tree paradise, with grass thatch bungalows stretched along the seashore. After cruising the 80 miles between Loreto and Mulege’ we stopped for gas and as I was pulling some change (Pesos) out to donate to a Mulege’ youth group volunteer, I fell over at the pump. Don’t I get a number for that like fjr 001 d? We gassed up in Mulege’, and headed for Santa Rosalia where the French architect Gustave Eiffel was commissioned to build a church with an iron frame. Eiffel is an interesting figure in history. Besides creating the Eiffel tower in Paris as head engineer and constructor, he also designed the structure within the Statue of Liberty in New York. The structure in Santa Rosalia is not one of Eiffel’s most ambitious projects, yet it is a noteworthy attraction. The Santa Rosalia bakery is also famous for its pineapple and apple empanadas.
Continuing on from Santa Rosalia, our next stop was to rendezvous with Phil and Louie at the La Pinta Hotel in San Ignacio. We rode into the town to see the mission San Ignacio de Loyola which was a beautiful old stone building with a wooden alter. Apparently, San Ignacio is the launch spot for visiting some very well preserved cave paintings (pinturas rupestres) on the nearby Saint Martha Rancho. For us this will have to be a visit on a future tour as you must ride there by pack animal. The restaurant Rene’s is touted as the place to eat, but we missed it on our quick tour through the old town section.We photographed the mission and the lagoon as we left town on our way to Guerrero Negro. We arrived in Guerrero Negro at around 4:00PM and checked into one of the first motels on the strip across from the Malarrimo Whale Tours office. After checking into the motel, we headed over to book a whale tour for the next morning leaving at 9:00 AM. Done, we hit the Malarrimo dinner house (which wasn’t the greatest food we had had, and expensive too!). Apparently, Guerrero Negro’s name “Black Warrier” hails from an American whaling ship that had wrecked there in 1858. Scammon’s Lagoon (one of the arms within the bay) is named after the ship’s captain Charles Melville Scammon.
Friday, 3/24/06
The next morning all 5 of us boarded the bus for the Malarrimo Whale tour. The bus route wound through Guerrero Negro and then out to the salt flats while Victor the bilingual guide filled us in on whale facts. Apparently the high salinity of the bay, helps to keep the baby whales buoyant while they are taught to swim by their mothers. The salinity also creates a breeding ground for brine shrimp which the breeding whales feed on for the 3 months that they spend in the lagoon each year. Arriving at the dock on the levy we boarded the boat in short order, and proceeded out toward the mouth of Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Eye of the Jack Rabbit). The Lagoon was full of gray whales, mostly mothers and calves. The adult whales grow to an immense size but the calves are big enough when you are next to one petting it from the boat. This is a great, must see experience!
Returning from the whale tour, we checked out of the motel, gassed up 15 miles out of town and headed to dinner and fuel at Mama Espinosa’s in El Rosario. The Lobster empanadas were exceptional as usual washed down with a Negro Modelo. It was decided that we would head to San Quintin to the La Pinta there for the night.
The La Pinta at San Quintin is right on the sand. It is a very Big La Pinta with 57 rooms, and has the usual swimming pool, bar/restaurant that all of the other government run La Pinta’s have. It is also a very popular place to launch a cross-country dirt bike trips toward the southern desert. We found this out from a group at Mama’s in El Rosario we had met the day before, which had done exactly that.
Saturday, 3/25/06
It was 7:30 in the morning when we were saddled up and ready for the long slow grind from San Quintin to San Vicente. The road in this sector goes through a number of roadside towns and agricultural as well as light industrial areas so it is not the most picturesque are of the Baja. After San Vincente the road opens up a bit and heads over some very nice twisties on the way to Santa Thomas where there is fuel. It took almost 2 hours to travel these 100 miles. It was at San Thomas where the fast group parted with the slower group again, this time until we all reached home.
Next stop was Ensenada where Rudy, Robert and I had Breakfast at around 10:30AM at the Marisco Café and Grill adjacent to the Bahia Hotel. I had Conch (red sea snail) ranch style, Ummmm! Did a little shopping, then headed for Tijuana and the border. The border at Tijuana is really slow, with vendors of nearly everything you can buy in Mexico including stuffed animals; wristwatches even food is brought to your car, while you wait to get to the head of the line. Be sure you have a Passport at the US border or at the very least a Birth Certificate. We made it; we were back in the good old USA.
Tried to get in touch with my daughter in San Diego but she was out, so we drove an hour or so up the 15 to Lake Elsinore and found a motel for the night. The next day’s ride put the three of us home by 2:00PM. So long Baja, Vaya con Dios!
Living on the central coast of California as I do, Mexico exerts a strong influence on most people who live close to it. California’s history, its culture, its place names, much of its present population, all reflect the closeness of one country to the other. Indeed the geographical proximity is but one aspect of the special relationship between the two countries. That said, however, it goes without saying that Mexico is a foreign country in every sense to most Americans. We don’t think of our southern neighbors as we do our cousins to the north. We share no common language and no common Anglo roots. If Americans are people of wheat, Mexicans are people of corn. Yet, no two countries share so much at the same time. No two such different countries have relatives on both sides of the border. Every community in America probably has a Mexican restaurant of some kind. They are as ubiquitous as McDonald’s these days. “Cinco de Mayo” is rapidly becoming as American as St. Patrick’s Day or Thanksgiving.
The idea of traveling deep into Baja California on a motorcycle had been on my mind for years. I had not been to Baja California since 1969 when I was a participant of a surfing contest at San Miguel, Baja, Mexico some 30 miles below the USA border. The event was memorable, but a career, family, and other travels have taken precedent in more recent times, to re-visiting Mexico. I am very happy to have had such great traveling companions, which added to an overall fine experience in traveling south of the border.
Saturday, 3/18/06
Robert Van Houtte had arrived at my home in Los Osos the night before we left, on his FJR 1300 from Marina, CA. and spent the night on the sofa. He, Louie, and I had attempted this trip to Mulege’ last year at this time, but were shut out due to rain and the early Easter holiday in Mexico of 2005. This time, we arose at 5:00 AM and suited up. After coffee, outside a fairly clear sky was overhead portending enjoyable riding conditions. . At 6:00AM Louie May arrived on his Honda GL 1500 Goldwing with a fourth rider, Rudy Lopez on another FJR 1300. My bike is also an FJR so there were now 3 of us on Yamahas.
We fired ‘em up and headed south to Shell Beach just south of my home in San Luis Obispo, where we picked up the final rider. Phil Teresi, riding a Suzuki V-Strom SV 650. At around 6:30 AM we were heading south on the US 101. Took Cachuma Pass over CA. Highway 154, re-joined US 101 in Santa Barbara. We stopped briefly in Ventura so Phil could pick up a Cobra communicator from a friend. We had a bite to eat and sorted Phil’s communicator out which turned out to be vary compatible with the Chatterbox’s that Robert and I were using.
Back on the road we wound south down the 101 to the 126 to the 5, to the 210, and then east on I-15 until we reached El Cajon. At El Cajon we took a short run further east joining the 94 and ended up at the border. At 3:15 PM we crossed the Tecate border. It only took us about 1/2 hour to get our Tourist documents processed (you should carry a valid US passport to go into Mexico, but minimally have a copy of your birth certificate to prove citizenship), but we couldn’t get money exchanged from dollars (US) to Pesos as the bank in Tecate had closed at 3:00 PM. As it turned out, we should have stopped on the US side before crossing into Mexico, to exchange money. The Exchange rate is something like 10.5 Pesos per $1 US, but the rate varies daily. It is better to exchange early upon arrival in Mexico, because if you use $ US, you will probably not receive change in Pesos and the vendor will round your price off to the closest US $. Upon entering Mexico, the roads were wet, although we had arrived after the rain.
Our goal for the first day was to reach Ensenada and with 471 miles completed on my odometer, we pulled in to the El Bahia Hotel in downtown Ensenada. The Hotel was approx. US $80.00 for a room with 2 beds and we were able to split the rooms into two groups to save money. It was very biker friendly as there was a So. Cal Harley group of visitors that had already settled into the courtyard. Apparently this group rides once each year between San Felipe’ on the Sea of Cortez and Ensenada on the Pacific side of the peninsula. Our bikes were parked off the street in a secure guarded parking lot behind the hotel.
After settling in, we walked the streets to find a nice little place with some great mole which is a sauce made from chilis and of which there are endless varieties in
Mexico, and had our first (of many) beers on this trip. On the way back to the Hotel we stopped at a seafood restaurant called Marisco’s (seafood), as Louie didn’t want to try the Mole’ and wanted seafood. I discovered a Conch (red sea snail) cocktail on the menu and ordered one. It turned out to be one of my most memorable dishes of the trip! We used $ US to pay for food and lodging as they were accepted readily being so close to the border.
Sunday, the 19th of March
The day was a bit overcast, the marine layer which pervades he coast of California doesn’t evidently stop at the border but continues on down the Pacific coast of Baja. Though the sun wasn’t brightly shining, it would make for comfortable travel as we proceeded along the western side of the peninsula. I went for an early walk that morning over to the plaza by the huge flag of Mexico flying above the port. In the plaza there was 3 large portrait busts of famous Mexicans, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juarez and Pancho Villa. Seeing these, it caused me to recall the turbulent past of Mexico’s patriots.
Returning to the hotel I met Louie and Phil in the hotel lobby at 7:00 AM. We hiked over to the Fisherman’s market and saw the catch of the day being displayed. Nearby there were a number of Taco stands where we picked on for Desayuno (breakfast). Huevos con Jamon y tortillas with lots of fresh salsa hit the spot before the day’s ride. We began a walking search for a bank to exchange money but found that most were closed until later in the morning due to it being Sunday.
After breakfast at the Hotel our group saddled up, and hit the Pemex (Mexican Government owned gasoline station), and Louie found that his gas cap key lock had disintegrated. After some minor surgery, we extracted a broken internal key cover from within the lock, and the gas cap was open. After fueling, we had had to wait until 10:00AM for an Exchange to open. At 10:30 AM we finally left Ensenada, and that would inevitably cut our ride a day short of our intended goal of reaching Guerrero Negro for the second night. Continuing south from Ensenada, we drove through endless city sprawl, until Baja Highway 1 finally opened up to some hilly countryside. We were riding at a good pace when near Santo Thomas it began to drizzle, so we stopped to put on rain gear and re-secure gear for potential rain showers. The road was wet and we slowed down to a reasonable speed to cross a mountain and ride to San Vicente. It cleared after San Vicente, and I don’t think that the showers re-appeared at any other time for the rest of our trip.
Mama Espinosa’s in El Rosario was our next stop. Besides the excellent food at Mama’s, this is the last stop for gas for the next 220 miles or so, until you hit Guerrero Negro. We made sure to top off, and filled Phil’s spare gas can, as the spare gas might come in handy for Louie’s Gold Wing with its range of 190 miles per tank.. The road south led us through some amazing Baja desert featuring Sujuaros, Yuccas, Agaves, Bonjos, and other desert cactii. As we approached Catavina the desert became punctuated with igneous boulders of various sizes in vast quantity. Apparently an active volcanic area somewhere back in the Geologic past.
It was 5:00PM when we hit Catavina so we immediately “bee-lined it” to the La Pinta Hotel which was unfortunately fully booked! We arrived at nearly the same time as a group of 10 or so (?) Canadian riders (including Ken Bergen from the COG list) so we all hustled back up the road to a small motel called the Mi Cabana and checked into the rather Spartan accommodations there for the overnight. We tried to play cards while we relaxed after sunset, but other than poker hands, we were un-practiced at the rules of games like Gin Rummy, or Spite and Malice! Anyhow, ride expectations were high and the camaraderie was excellent, so we passed the evening in good spirits.
Monday, the 20th of March
On this day we left Catavina in 2 groups. Louie and Phil left early at 8:00AM for gas in Guerrero Negro. Rudy, Robert and myself, went to breakfast at the La Pinta. After a nice fresh fruit breakfast, we headed out across the long expanse of approx. 120 miles toward Guerrero Negro arriving there at around 10:15 AM. No Response from Phil or Louie on the Chatterboxes, so we headed into Guerrero Negro to find a bank to pay our 200 pesos for a Tourist card. At the bank, the 3 of us ended up waiting about a half an hour in line. We left Guerrero Negro at around 11:30 with still no word from Louie or Phil who we assumed had ridden on toward San Ignacio. The next stretch of desert heading south out of Guerrero Negro is not the most interesting! It is mostly straight and dry, and typical of southwestern desert terrain. At San Ignacio, Robert and I spoke on the Chatterboxes, and decided that we would blow off the stop and head to Mulege’ as we were tired of the long straight roads. Rudy however, held back and we ended up losing him.
Robert and I pulled into Mulege’ at around 2:00 PM and it took us a half hour or so to wind around and find the Hotel Hacienda. It was an old but quaint Hacienda. After we had our bikes well situated in the courtyard and moved into our room, I rolled into the pool. Phil and Louie showed up and hour later, but we never saw Rudy again that day. The four of us had a nice dinner at the La Casita Restaurant, and turned in around 9:00PM for some much needed R& R after sampling an Ahem, bottle of good tequila!
Tuesday, 3/21/06
This started out to be a very easy day! Louie, Phil, Robert, and I walked out to the end of the road toward the Lighthouse at the end of the river to have breakfast at “The Clam”. The Clam is a bungalow style restaurant that mostly serves seafood dishes and it is located right on the rocks of the beach on the Sea of Cortez. Omelets and Jugo de Naranja all around!
The walk back to the Hacienda put us there around 10:00AM and Rudy had re-joined our group. He had found Mulege’ on his own and asked a local where to stay when he hit town. He was guided to the Hotel Mulege’ which he said was clean and adequate. We discussed how we missed each other the previous day at the same time as we finished our packing for the ride to Loreto past the Bahia Conception. Gassed up just south of Mulege’ we began a ride past one of jewels of beach paradise on the Sea of Cortez. Bahia Conception features green bays with sand spits, and inlets with bungalows located right on the sand. The land is in a great bay and is protected from the wind from most directions. The beaches looked idyllic but we were on our way to settle in at an Inn in Loreto that we had heard about by a British couple at the Hacienda in Mulege’. Unfortunately, we weren’t all that impressed with the Hacienda, and Mulege’ itself.
Upon arrival for our first time in Lareto we found ourselves a little disoriented in trying to find the La Damiana Inn that was described to us! We were driving around blocks in a circular pattern. Phil and I were communicating on the Chatterboxes with banter like “ Hey Phil where are you going? I think I’m going to make a right at the street you just passed!” <doodle –loot>
Drama struck when we arrived in front f the Inn when Robert was knocked over by a car. A local boy hit the brakes after running a stop sign on a side street and skidded fifty feet into Robert who was completing a turnabout in the street. Robert felt that he would have more room to park across the street so he was attempting to re-locate when the accident occurred. The car hit Robert’s FJR in the rear end and spun him around dumping the bike in kind of a high side. Robert got right up but was limping a bit. The Loreto police showed up and immediately showed disfavor to the boy who apparently had had previous transgressions. The police were thorough. They wrote everything up and confiscated both vehicles for an overnight at the station, until fault and penalties could be directed.
Fortunately, we had all purchased Mexican Auto insurance (PL & PD, but comprehensive for motorcycles is too expensive with a $ 5K deductible), before entering Mexico. Robert’s coverage was the best of all of us as he had obtained his 3 weeks prior. The Mexican boy had no insurance; he probably lost his car and driving privileges permanently. The police offered a ride to Robert and I went along to the hospital for a quick check-up, then over to the police station. Rudy who speaks good Spanish rode over and met us there as well. We contacted the insurance company by phone, and they were to send a representative the next day. The police tried to get Robert to sign a ticket that he was party to an illegal U-Turn and inattentiveness, but with Rudy’s help in translation of the proceedings Robert refused. The police said the matter would be settled the next day when the insurance representative arrived. So we departed the station with Robert’s gear from the bike to finish checking in at the La Damiana Inn.
Debra at the La Damiana Inn was as worried as we were about what had happened she immediately offered that we park our bikes in her gated off street lot behind the inn. We were happy to do so. The Inn is a well-appointed remodel of an old house in Loreto. It has about 5 room some of them are doubles. Debra (the owner/proprietor) is a very gracious host and will make your stay comfortable. After settling in we got Robert some pain medication and headed out for a late lunch at 2:00PM for Taco’s y Taco’s a local establishment within walking distance from our Inn’s location near the town’s center. After an excellent lunch we walked the Malaccan and bought a few gifts for the loved ones back home. When in Mexico, buy some Vanilla extract. It is cheaper than here in the US. Blankets, and silver jewelry are also obtainable at a good value. I believe this was where I purchased my first bottle of “XA” a fine red wine produced in the north of Baja near Tecate. It turns out that wine was one of the items that Miguel Hidalgo tried to encourage the Mexicans to produce themselves in order to no longer be subject to buying wine from Spain. Many times the Spanish burned the Mexican vineyards, but like our own Boston tea Party we no longer pay tax to a foreign power in the USA.We celebrated this notion with the bottle.
Wednesday, 3/22/06
Woke up at 7:00 AM at the Inn to a not so pretty picture. When we mustered in the main sitting room at La Damiana to discuss the day’s plan, Robert revealed his ass to us and it had turned into a contusion about 8” inches in diameter on his right thigh, Ouch! After that shock, we all walked over to the Café Ole for some fine Jugo de Naranja (fresh squeezed orange juice), a bowl of fruit, and an order of Chilequilles (cut up tortillas with a chili gravy). After breakfast Louie and I decided to see if we could raise John Ramos the artist (who happened to be a friend of ours from home in San Luis Obispo, see: www.JohnRamos.com). John has moved to Loreto and has restored a beautiful 200-year-old home right in the middle of the main plaza adjacent to the City Hall. He will be opening a retail business to sell prints, of his paintings there soon.
Meanwhile, Robert and Rudy headed back to the police station by taxi. The insurance adjuster (Instant Mexico Auto Insurance = 800-345-4701 purchased before we left the states), had not shown up yet and wasn’t due for another hour, so they returned to the Inn. We all met up at around 11:00 AM and I decided to head back with Robert and Rudy on their second trip to meet the adjuster.
This time the guy was there; he was late because he had driven a fair distance (250 miles) up from Cabo San Lucas. He spoke perfect English and immediately took charge of the conversation between Robert and the Police Chief (jefe’ de la Policia) for Robert’s behalf. In the end Robert was not cited ( $$ = hmmmm?), but had to pay a $100.00 fine for executing an illegal U-Turn and was told that the young Mexican fellow had had is car permanently confiscated. Robert was given back the keys to the bike, after which we immediately fired the bike up and I rode it back to the Inn to begin with rudimentary repairs while Robert and Rudy returned by Taxi. Repairs consisted of straightening the rear bag mounts and re-attaching the ends of the right side muffler to the titanium tube that was somewhat squashed. All in all, other than a large abrasion on the left bag, the bike looked OK and was road worthy.
The rest of that day was spent visiting John Ramos again where we were invited to a fish dinner that evening which actually didn’t materialize. We ended up eating fish tacos in the afternoon at LuLu’s, and in the evening walking about Loreto trying to seek a guided fishing trip for the next morning in the Sea of Cortez.
Thursday, 3/23/06
At 7:00 AM we were at Manuel’s Sport Fishing, but Manuel said that the wind had picked up and the panga fleet had been grounded. A second check with Arturo’s verified this, so after one last breakfast at the Café Ole’, we saddled up and headed North toward Guerrero Negro to see if we could get a Whale watching tour arranged on the Pacific side. Phil and Louie left early to get ahead of us, as the three FJR pilots were rode a little faster than the pace set by the SV650 and the Honda GL 1500 Goldwing. Robert, Rudy and I rode past Bahia Conception and it was truly a windy day. If you have never seen the ideal beaches at Bahia Conception, then imagine the most whimsical vista of green water cove/palm tree paradise, with grass thatch bungalows stretched along the seashore. After cruising the 80 miles between Loreto and Mulege’ we stopped for gas and as I was pulling some change (Pesos) out to donate to a Mulege’ youth group volunteer, I fell over at the pump. Don’t I get a number for that like fjr 001 d? We gassed up in Mulege’, and headed for Santa Rosalia where the French architect Gustave Eiffel was commissioned to build a church with an iron frame. Eiffel is an interesting figure in history. Besides creating the Eiffel tower in Paris as head engineer and constructor, he also designed the structure within the Statue of Liberty in New York. The structure in Santa Rosalia is not one of Eiffel’s most ambitious projects, yet it is a noteworthy attraction. The Santa Rosalia bakery is also famous for its pineapple and apple empanadas.
Continuing on from Santa Rosalia, our next stop was to rendezvous with Phil and Louie at the La Pinta Hotel in San Ignacio. We rode into the town to see the mission San Ignacio de Loyola which was a beautiful old stone building with a wooden alter. Apparently, San Ignacio is the launch spot for visiting some very well preserved cave paintings (pinturas rupestres) on the nearby Saint Martha Rancho. For us this will have to be a visit on a future tour as you must ride there by pack animal. The restaurant Rene’s is touted as the place to eat, but we missed it on our quick tour through the old town section.We photographed the mission and the lagoon as we left town on our way to Guerrero Negro. We arrived in Guerrero Negro at around 4:00PM and checked into one of the first motels on the strip across from the Malarrimo Whale Tours office. After checking into the motel, we headed over to book a whale tour for the next morning leaving at 9:00 AM. Done, we hit the Malarrimo dinner house (which wasn’t the greatest food we had had, and expensive too!). Apparently, Guerrero Negro’s name “Black Warrier” hails from an American whaling ship that had wrecked there in 1858. Scammon’s Lagoon (one of the arms within the bay) is named after the ship’s captain Charles Melville Scammon.
Friday, 3/24/06
The next morning all 5 of us boarded the bus for the Malarrimo Whale tour. The bus route wound through Guerrero Negro and then out to the salt flats while Victor the bilingual guide filled us in on whale facts. Apparently the high salinity of the bay, helps to keep the baby whales buoyant while they are taught to swim by their mothers. The salinity also creates a breeding ground for brine shrimp which the breeding whales feed on for the 3 months that they spend in the lagoon each year. Arriving at the dock on the levy we boarded the boat in short order, and proceeded out toward the mouth of Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Eye of the Jack Rabbit). The Lagoon was full of gray whales, mostly mothers and calves. The adult whales grow to an immense size but the calves are big enough when you are next to one petting it from the boat. This is a great, must see experience!
Returning from the whale tour, we checked out of the motel, gassed up 15 miles out of town and headed to dinner and fuel at Mama Espinosa’s in El Rosario. The Lobster empanadas were exceptional as usual washed down with a Negro Modelo. It was decided that we would head to San Quintin to the La Pinta there for the night.
The La Pinta at San Quintin is right on the sand. It is a very Big La Pinta with 57 rooms, and has the usual swimming pool, bar/restaurant that all of the other government run La Pinta’s have. It is also a very popular place to launch a cross-country dirt bike trips toward the southern desert. We found this out from a group at Mama’s in El Rosario we had met the day before, which had done exactly that.
Saturday, 3/25/06
It was 7:30 in the morning when we were saddled up and ready for the long slow grind from San Quintin to San Vicente. The road in this sector goes through a number of roadside towns and agricultural as well as light industrial areas so it is not the most picturesque are of the Baja. After San Vincente the road opens up a bit and heads over some very nice twisties on the way to Santa Thomas where there is fuel. It took almost 2 hours to travel these 100 miles. It was at San Thomas where the fast group parted with the slower group again, this time until we all reached home.
Next stop was Ensenada where Rudy, Robert and I had Breakfast at around 10:30AM at the Marisco Café and Grill adjacent to the Bahia Hotel. I had Conch (red sea snail) ranch style, Ummmm! Did a little shopping, then headed for Tijuana and the border. The border at Tijuana is really slow, with vendors of nearly everything you can buy in Mexico including stuffed animals; wristwatches even food is brought to your car, while you wait to get to the head of the line. Be sure you have a Passport at the US border or at the very least a Birth Certificate. We made it; we were back in the good old USA.
Tried to get in touch with my daughter in San Diego but she was out, so we drove an hour or so up the 15 to Lake Elsinore and found a motel for the night. The next day’s ride put the three of us home by 2:00PM. So long Baja, Vaya con Dios!
