Baja California #2 – November 2019

The camp overlooking the 8-kilometer-long clam beach and the Punta Mazo Peninsula was too perfect not to stay a couple of days, but we did need to move on, and we had to time our exit for a low tide to return to the gravel road and Highway 1. After airing up the tires back to 55psi and a few quick stops in San Quintin to fill up on diesel, water and some fresh fruit, we drove south down the Baja Peninsula. The narrow road was sometimes treacherous, with big semi-trucks passing us only inches away at combined speeds of 120 miles an hour. Often there was no shoulder, or worse, a 6” drop-off over a steep berm. No room for mistakes. To make an already obvious point, we stopped to take a few photos of what I guessed was about a $230,000 Unicat MAN expedition camper parked in one of the numerous junkyards along the highway. I had recognized the style of windows from a visit to the Unicat factory in Germany years ago when we were researching our own Turtle V. An overturned semi loaded with tomatoes offered more evidence. Little crosses along the road reminded us of those who were less fortunate.

Disaster struck for this French Couple

The exciting ups and down through deep “vados”, (dry flash flood crossings), were something like riding a giant rollercoaster, like when the cart starts up the track from the loading platform-—click, clank, click, clank—(the brave ones hold their arms over their heads)—and you can’t see what’s coming up over the top—-Left turn? Right turn? Steep downhill? A big semi-truck using all of his lane and part of yours!!!? All the girls scream!  It’s called “white-knuckle” driving. You can scream but do not hold your arms over your head!

Loncheria El Faro, El Rosario

We made a short stop in El Rosario for lunch at our friends Café, Loncheria El Faro. After a couple of delicious shrimp tacos, we got our propane tank filled just across the street. Knowing our escape route lay ahead, we carefully drove south to Cataviña and into its amazing rock garden. Turning into the boulders we followed a sandy two-track that twisted through the cacti for a while to reach a special spot we nicknamed Turtle Camp. Amongst the huge house-size granite boulders, there are two that form a perfect giant turtle. We arrived just in time for a spectacular sunset while we grilled some fresh fish over a mesquite fire. For those of you who know this camp or find it, please leave it clean for the next person and gather your fire wood from the desert before you get there, and please, don’t post it on some “app”!! Let people discover it for themselves.

Heading toward the Pacific Coast

Getting a lazy start the next morning, we lowered our big Michelin XZLs down to 30psi and headed west on what started out as a very nice sandy track leading to the Pacific Coast some 50 miles away. The unnamed backroad is sometimes used as part of the Baja 1000 off-road race and it is seldom if ever maintained. This was supposed to be a “shake down” trip for The Turtle V before we ship to South America, and shake it did. There were some very rocky pot-holed sections and some 4-inch washboard that required slow speeds. The real function of trails like this are not to entertain four-wheelers or the wanna-be racers. Their purpose is to reach the fishing, lobster, abalone, crab camps and remote cattle ranches. While you might think you are “off-roading”, your hubs locked and 4X4 engaged, you are likely to meet a fisherman in a two-wheel drive pickup with bald tires bringing his catch to the market. He will be just as surprised as you!

The scenery was spectacular from valley to valley, ranging from forests of crazy Boojum Trees (Cirios) to stately Giant Cardón, Coastal Agave, Jumping Cholla, Elephant Trees (Torote Colorado), Old Man Cactus, and clusters of spiky Barrel Cacti. Sometimes we just had to stop and climb a rock to take in the view. Traffic was nil so camping at dusk was simply finding a clearing and stopping. Safety was not even a remote concern. We still had plenty of fish and a stash of fresh oysters. There is something special about camping 30 or 40 miles away from the nearest highway or light bulb. We even found a place where the local families had built a little shelter with some tables.

In Search of Lobster

One of our goals on this trip was to enjoy the abundant seafood Baja has to offer and that definitely included lobster. By afternoon we had reached our destination, a deserted beach near a lobster camp we had visited many times. No sooner had we set up our chairs and poured a glass of wine, a rattling Ford pick-up arrived. The friendly fisherman asked if we wanted lobster! Yes, of course. We paid about $18 for four fat ones, a deal since the last time I saw frozen lobster at our local super market they were over $11.49 each.

Our technique for preparing live lobster, learned from Mexican fishermen, may be a bit cruel, but it’s quick. Rip off the tail from the head and body. Insert one of the antennas into the tail, broken end first. As you pull it out the sharp spines will remove everything you didn’t want to eat. Cut a slot in the back of the shells, insert a little butter and wrap them in foil. Place them on a hot grill for 10- minutes while you are melting some butter.

After a quiet morning and a nice walk on the beach we drove around the point to visit old friends at the fish camp itself. While I watched the fishermen haul their boats out of the surf and unload the traps of lobsters, Teresita insisted on giving Monika a lesson on how to make a flour tortilla. It is said in Mexico that a girl cannot marry until she can hand-make a good round one.

The road back out to Hwy 1 was as rough as we had ever seen it, perhaps the result of recent hurricanes, the last Baja 1000 race, or the swarms of side-by-side Razors that have ruined many of our favorite backroads as they follow apps that are telling everyone where to go. After a pleasant night at Turtle Camp we continued a few miles south. The gas station in the town of Cataviña was abandoned but our 1,000-range would take us all the way to Santa Rosalia or Mulegé if needed.

Mandatory stop at the legendary Rancho Santa Inéz Café and Motel

We stopped at the old Rancho Santa Inéz café and motel for wonderful Huevos Rancheros breakfast at this historic watering hole & air strip. It’s just out of the Cataviña settlement a short distance off the highway and there is a large area for overnight camping and even bathrooms. It was also a place to refill our water supply. Long before the highway was built, it was once an important stop for travelers because of the deep well. For years, the Baja 1000 race used it as one of their main pitstops until recently. It’s also the trailhead to visit one of Baja’s lost missions. Heading south we were slowly getting used to passing the semis—well sort of.

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Mexico by Monika Wescott