Northern Baja

November 08, 2019

Arriving into  Baja Mexico

As soon as we crossed the border, the street greeted us with hassle and bustle, smells of Mexico and confusion, but also friendliness and excitement. Tecate is a small Mexican Bordertown, and we were warned to watch out for the police as they like to give tickets to gringos as soon as they cross the border. So with minimal street signs, we naturally got lost to find Mex1 or Mex5 to get out of town and kept returning to the border crossing over and over again. But finally, we found our way to the highway and out of the city and somehow dodged the ticket, or maybe we did not look rich enough, or it might be a myth who knows.

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.”

Dalai Lama

Great words to live by. There’s something exciting about exploring a new place every year or every day. It can be a new country, a new city, or an interesting spot near you.

We followed the wine country highway, and many little wine tasting places appeared on this stretch of the road. Some even had wine barrels cabins or some modern architecture (probably European design) cabins.

Lots of agriculture and also though the mountains were quite steep; the view was spectacular. After a couple of hours driving, we reached the City of Ensanada, a cruise ship and tourist port.

Ensanada

It had a large shopping district, including a Walmart. Lots of vendors. It was a little touristy for us, but we restocked our supplies and headed out of town to find a beach.

Our  visit to La Buffadora

All I need is a dog on the beach…

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It all started on our campground Campo Meneses south of Ensanada we are staying.  We were right at a beautiful long beach, and Charley and Tessy got to be free dogs and tear around in the soft sand; even though Charley hates getting his feet wet, he sure enjoyed all the washed-up treasures and the great smells. What happy dogs!

We met 2 Mexican ladies Latisha and Angela, who were camping next to us. We all decided to carpool to the Bufadora attraction. As we arrived, we were greeted with a big tourist attraction starting with a large market from souvenirs to food. Having our two friends from Mexico with us made it sure much more comfortable to go through the market. The Mexican vendors adored Charley and Tessy, and many pictures were taken with Charley or Carlos, as the locals lovingly called him. Some vendors even offered us goods in trade for Charley. The dogs enjoyed the individual attention they got. As we finally made it to La Buffadora ( The Blowhole), we took our mandatory picture of this natural phenomenon.

And I have to say it was quite a water blow. Our two friends invited us for lunch, and we went to a restaurant, and our two “Perros” was welcome to join us. Charley and Tessy so smithed the waiter he brought out a bowl of water and a plate of leftover meat. Well, that was it for Charley he was in love with the waiter.

 

Even though this was a very touristy place, the people were kind and so friendly, and I would go back.

 

As we returned to the campground, we all made tortillas and cooked some meat and sat around a campfire with good friends and brought a beautiful day to an even better night to an end.

 

The best part we all made friends for life.

 

Charley enjoying the beach

 

Angeles and Laticia from Mexicali MX
Charley and Cliff discovering the Market

 

La Bufadora attraction

 

La Chorera a place where a volcano and the pacific ocean meet

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein

We have been using the App iOverlander and found some fantastic places to camp. This time we found a recommendation just outside of San Quintin, a boondocking spot right at the ocean. Trying to get there with a minimal street map is an adventure at ist own. As soon as you get off the Mex1 highway, the road turns into a dirt and washboard road. And there are no street signs what’s, however. The iOverlander has a somewhat satellite map. So we embarked on finding this amazing place by mostly following tracks in the sand.

 

And off course, we got lost again. As we venture through farmland on sandy trails which looks like a road we drove by massive greenhouses and agricultural land.

 

 

 

Farmworkers were waiving to us in a warmly matter as we got more and more into sand and dunes. We were on the right track, but as we got somehow on top of one of the dune, we got finally stuck. Here we are! Digging out the LuvShk and looking down the steep washout road in front of us, and thinking -NOT a good idea at all!

 

Out of nowhere, a truck with a Mexican family pulled up and asked us if we needed help. We sure did! He said we should drive down this sketchy road and at the bottom of this hill will be a better road which brings us to the destination. He said “a little bumpy, bumpy, but ok!” So we attempted the drive and got shook around but made it to the bottom(not sure how) to a better road with the Mexican family leading us. I said to Cliff, would it be funny if that family would be the owners of the place we are trying to find?

 

We finally made it to this tiny village and to our destination at Don Alvaro`s backyard overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a volcano at the end of the peninsula, it has the most spectacular view. And of course, the nice family who helped us was the grandson of Don Alvaro

 

The camping is free, but it is good to give a small donation to Don and his family as they are accommodating and super friendly. His son speaks some English and will help you to buy seafood if you like. The beach is quite windy, but the view is spectacular. We purchased 24 fresh oysters for 150 pesos and let me tell you they were the best oysters we ever had.

 

Best dinner ever

 

 

 

 

The sunset was spectacular, and the sound of the ocean was amazing.

 

The following morning we thanked the family and found an actual road to head back. So much better than sand trails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cactus farm

massive greenhouses

 

 

digging out of a dune

 

 

Don Alvaro`s backyard

 

shucking oysters

Fresh oysters

 

Spectacular sunset!