Tag Archives: Holiday

Baja Sur – the land of saguaros and endless surfing beaches presents us with lovely new friends

As we could work out a great deal with Bonny and Paul and helping them we were able to stay 4 nights in San Ignacio (thank you both again for that opportunity!). The last day we discovered the spring of the river with the kayak, we were visiting the Chaa Creek Natural History Museum (don’t miss that if you are around – just knock the door if it is not open) and had a great dinner together.

During our stay there we had the great pleasure to meet Pam and Maria. They are friends for 36 years and have been on a road trip bringing down Pam´s car from California to Todos Santos. Maria is from Tijuana so it was easy to pick her up on the way down. They are both lovely persons with big hearts and great humor and Pam invited us to pass by her place when we come to Todos Santos – so that´s where we are at the moment!A really beautiful spot and we love to spend the time here together with Pam. Even now in the off season the town has a really nice spirit and as Pam is living here since 25 years. She knows the place, people and the surrounding very well. Pam is running an exclusive cloth shop here in Todos Santos, “El Taller” (@el_taller_todos_santos) which is right in the center on the plaza. They sell unique clothing out of handmade/ woven fabrics from tribes of India, Vietnam and Mexico. She takes us around to gorgeous beaches, hidden fishing spots and places where you get the best food. She knows not only where to get the best fresh fish but as well how to cook it – so yummi!!! Unfortunately Maria had to leave but we do have the best teacher from now on chatting with her in Spanish all the time; even though it is still challenging us (muchas gracias Maria Maria jajaja ;)
With the arrival here in Todos Santos we tried to find out which ferry is going when to the mainland. Not as easy as Baja Ferry seems to have an issue with maintaining their boats and therefore currently not going to Mazatlán. The other option would be Topolobampo which is nearly 500km to the north. But we found out that TMC is running a cargo ferry to Mazatlán. It will take about 17 hours, they do not have cabins but that´s actually the one we reserved with Pam´s help via phone for Monday the 27th. We will see if it will works out when we get there…

So long Pam hosts us in her very nice guesthouse and we try to give her a helping hand wherever is needed. She is such a great person and knows many interesting stories to tell… With her it never becomes boring! For sure it is a real great pleasure meeting her and as well Maria. Aside we practice our Spanish in the tacorias or with her gardener Ricardo (a real character!).
The summer time here is the season of hurricanes and thunderstorms. So far we were lucky more or less. On the way down here we recognized many times that it is off season; places look like ghost towns, camps are closed and beaches are empty except some locals to have a cooling jump into the water. The desert looks fantastic with the uncountable giant saguaros cactus and a high variety of succulents. But it is incredible HOT and the weather can change in a minute. In Loreto the camp which is usually visited by overlanders just closed down for the season and on the other campsite we have been the only guests. At least we did not need to worry to bother anyone while just sleeping on the tables.
The original plan was to stay on one of the beaches at the famous Bahia Conception. But there an sudden upcoming thunderstorm made us leaving the place after a refreshing swim. One of these days we headed direction east coast with the plan to stay at the the El Chorro Hot Springs. On the way we stopped in El Triunfo, a little old mining pueblo (village) where we bought real good sourdough bread with walnuts and cranberries. Marc, from California is famous for his bread and imported even a professional oven from Italy to enhance his business further. When we left the highway and drove down the gravel road direction mountains we could see the first lightnings already. But we continued and shortly and before we reached El Chorro the road became a river and a real thunderstorm came up. After an hour waiting in the pouring rain it still looked not like it will end soon and the thunder and lightning did not stop.So we decided to get back and skip the springs. At least we got delicious bread and had a nice day riding. Inland we can see nearly every day the dark clouds and can hear the rumbling of the thunder storms. Cross fingers we will not have one of these storms when we take the ferry as they do not have cabins and we have to sleep on the open deck…

VIVA MeXico – Baja California in the heat

If you are on a long-term journey you are not able to be in all places at the best season of the year. That’s how it is and you have to make the best out of it. So far we crossed the Baja North and entered Baja Sur already and we stranded in an real oasis in this desert terrain: San Ignacio. It is a large grove of lush green date palms by the river and village next to an eighteenth-century Jesuit mission. We stay at `Ignacio Springs Bed & Breakfast´ (https://www.ignaciosprings.com/) run by the Canadian couple Bonny and Paul. They just took over this place in May this year and looking after it very well. The yurts are airy, clean and cozy and the breakfast is one of the bests we ever had on our journeys. We do feel like in paradise here in this big palm-garden, kayaking with the sunrise and jumping into the river for a swim. The village has a charming plaza with huge shady trees, little cozy restaurants, bars and cafes. This is definitely a place to settle back; especially after riding in the summer heat through the desert of Baja California.

When we left San Diego and said good bye to Randy & Doc we reached the border at Tecate in the late morning. (By the way – if you do love travel, dogs and or motorbikes please support Rad ‘n Doc Travel the World´ and like their Facebook page so they might get a sponsor for dog-food on their future travels). We almost entered Mexico, when we recognized we haven’t done the checkout of the US and we turned the bikes. This action was not really liked by the border police of the US and they seriously censured us. We had a little dispute that we were looking for the US border and that they do not have any sign there where or when you are leaving the country and as well that we would need an exit stamp that we left their country with our bikes. In the end we left the States without any proof by them and we crossed over to Mexico. There they just waved us through and suddenly we were in the middle of the town…??? Nobody wants to see our passport? Nobody wants to know who we are and what we are doing here? A little bit confused we turned back once more and parked in front of a little shop. While Sascha was walking to the customs with our papers I stayed with the bikes and started a chat with the family who runs the shop. I bridged the time refreshing my memories of Spanish with the kids and the family invited me to stay inside the shop to escape the heat while waiting. After about 1 1/2 hours Sascha was done and I had to go to finish the import of my motorcycle. Everybody was friendly and polite but it took a pretty loooong time; all together it took nearly 3.5 hours and we were completely sweaty.

The scenery of Baja is rough. The desert, the sand dunes, the cactus and the beaches are having its own spirit; but at this time of the year it is incredible HOT and unfortunately not the right time to see any whales. We mostly remained on the coastal roads if possible. As well we do not go on long sandy off road trails with this heat. We will need to come back one day to explore the Baja more intensely for sure. Inland of Baja had quite a lot of rain within the last days and we had some flooded roads to cross as the dried earth cannot absorb the water quickly.

The Mexican foot is just after our fancy as we do love spicy food and our first Margaritas cooled our dusty throats. We try to work on our Spanish and we are curious to see more of this big country rich in history and culture…