Something to Beach About

If a picture is worth a thousand words this may be one of my longer essays. (If you click the pictures below they will open up to full screen)

One morning last week I awoke a bit earlier than usual, about 6:30, and, rather than roll over and try to catch another snooze, I looked at the greying sky through the bedroom blinds and decided there were better things to do. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and grabbed my camera and headed to the beach.

Since I’ve been down here, I have settled into a morning routine of spending from 9:30 to about 12:30 in the Dorado Loreto Open House on the Paseo. While this can hardly be considered an onerous schedule, it does impose some necessity for timeliness that I have quickly adapted to. This usually includes a 5 minute commute on my bike, carrying a briefcase with my laptop, various papers and keys, coffee and water. My mornings “at work” are occupied with computer busyness and, most importantly, talking to people who drop in for information or just to visit. Needless to say – it beats working for a living!

As a result of this commitment, I have been preoccupied and have missed out on one of my favourite pastimes living here – walking on the beach at sunrise. This was brought home to me by a special friend who is not here this winter, but understands the special magic of that time in this place, and reminded me in a recent email to “smell the surf”. So with that in mind, I headed out on this morning to walk the beach towards Punta Nopolo and the rising sun.

There was a reason why, over a year ago, I chose the title picture for this blog –
it is one of my favourite images. The sun rising from behind the hulking mass of the rocky point, the contrast of the soft shades of indigo through dove greys turning to deep glowing burgundies, then crimsons into rich tones of gold, bringing with it, rich clear blues to the sky. So begins another day in paradise!


On this morning, the tide was high and the gentle lapping waves reached to the edge of the sea grass dune that separates the shore from the row of beachfront lots, and I noticed how thick and lush these tough grasses were after the recent Fall rains.
This is still a natural beach, scattered with a
collection of palm boughs, and a few larger logs of palm trunks along with the detrious washed up by the high surfs that accompanied the recent storms. So as not to paint too romantic a picture, there was also the usual evidence of civilized pollution, mainly bits and pieces of plastic; bottles, Styrofoam, and a few odd things like a single sandal and further down an odd sock.

But as I look out over the glassy water to the far horizon of Ilsa Carmen, I see one
of my favourite sights – Pelicans, skimming just inches above the surface of the
water, motionless, while seemingly self propelled, as they cruise effortlessly for hundreds of yards between occasional wing beats. These are the true masters of their domain – their prehistoric appearance, perfectly adapted to do precisely what is required to thrive as one of the dominant fishers in this environment. At this early hour, another Pelican is floating lazily about 50 yards offshore, it’s perfectly grotesque beak tucked comfortably into the chest, being gently rocked by the wavelets that are rippling into shore. Apparently this specimen has chosen to catch a few more winks of sleep before taking to the air in search of breakfast, but as I get closer I notice it is keeping one eye on my progress – you don’t survive for millions of years without learning to keep wits about you - even if you are sleeping in.


Continuing on down the beach I note the progress that has been made during the
summer on the row of beach front homes north of the INN. Where there was only one occupied home earlier this year, surrounded by the rough construction of others far from completion – now a number of the neighbouring buildings are in the final finishing stage with windows and doors in place and cosmetic details receiving most of the worker’s attention. I pause for a moment and squint my eyes and imagine what this scene will look like later this winter. With a row of individual and unique custom homes, catching the first rays of the morning sunrise – it will be a truly impressive sight! As these homes reach completion, and their personalized designs become distinct I realize that in a development like this, where the vast majority of homes are variations on a handful of standard floor plans, the one-off nature of these custom homes adds greatly to their appeal.

A little further down the beach I come to some sharp reminders of the potential


destructive power of this now placid environment – shade palapas uprooted from the sand – some missing their thatched umbrella roofs that had been supported by a sturdy frame of braced 2x4 struts. These beachfront “sentinels” had been subjected to the brunt of 100 mph winds for hour after hour during the sideswipe of Hurricane Jimena almost two months ago, considering the force and duration of the storm it’s surprising that there wasn’t more evidence of damage.





These palapas are in front of the Inn at Loreto Bay, which reopened, on a reduced scale, about a month ago. Here too there are some signs of the wrath of Jimena; some beachfront windows still boarded up and a broken window which probably should have been. Overall, there is little sign here of any damage from the storm, but it’s was a different story 200 km north, between Santa Rosalia and Mulege, where the centre of the storm sat for 8 hours or longer, resulting in serious damage and some destruction.

At the end of the Beach I turn and retrace my steps, the sun, now rising at my back

and casting long shadows, strikes the ring of homes that are rising from the shoreline. Once again I try to imagine what this scene will look like, in a few year’s time, when all of these homes, as far as I can see down the beach, are finished and are catching this golden morning light. Walking back to my home I think about how far things have come with this development over the past few years – hundreds of homes finished, over a hundred more in the final stages of completion in the second phase. In spite of the many frustrations and challenges we “pioneers” have faced, and continue to deal with most days, the simple act of spending half an hour walking solitary along the sea shore at dawn has the remarkable effect of putting things into proportion. I feel calm and yet energized, I relish the beauty around me and I realize that my glass is not half full – it runneth over! And this is truly one of the best parts of “Living Loreto”!

The Guests Assemble

Arriving in Loreto at this time of year is like being among the first guests to get to a party. You looking forward to it being a good party, and you want to be sure not to miss a thing, but you’re feeling a little self-conscious about being among the first to arrive. Then, as more people come, the excitement builds, and, with the growing strength in numbers, the party’s success has become a self-fulfilling prophesy! Each new arrival is greeted with growing enthusiasm and the first questions are; “When did you get here?” and “How long are you down for?” Every new addition confirms and reinforces the presence of those who are already here, and they in turn add to the growing momentum.

Like arriving at a party, the “guests” are curious to first look around the place and get their bearings. After the initial focus on their own homes, it shifts to their cluster neighbourhood and then beyond to include the whole development. “That paving is completed, this courtyard has been planted, and that custom home is almost finished” – every change is noted and discussed.



Even in just the past two weeks I have noticed the parking in the Paseo filling up with more licence plates from far afield – often from places where winter has already begun. You can see people unloading boxes and suitcases from their dusty vehicles after the long drive south. Every “Flight Day” more travellers rumble their suitcases through the paved pathways – always managing to bring a few more things down with them than the last time.

Once the unpacking is done the first priority is usually followed by the first big provisioning trip to town. Hunting and gathering for the essentials – remembering favourite stops and where it is that you can always find balsamic vinegar. Then, loaded down with more bags, they return to “a casa”, and the shopping is unpacked, the fridge and cupboards are restocked, and then things begin to feel “lived in” again. So begins the transition into the home-away-from-home.

Back in town you can feel the reawakening too – stores are becoming busier, restaurants are fuller, there are people on the streets, and there is a buzz in the air. This is in contrast to what was a very quiet summer here in Loreto. Many local businesses were struggling with the ripple effect of the reduced numbers of workers requiring fewer services and spending less money. So now that the cycle has reversed, we really feel our presence is appreciated and we are making a difference, just by our being here.

On subsequent trips to town; going to dinner, picking up more supplies,

buying gas for the car or visiting with friends there; we notice the changes that have happened over the summer since the last time we were down here. New restaurants have opened; others have done additions or renovations – enclosing a patio, adding more seating, sprucing up with new signs or decor. New businesses have opened, others closed, and there are signs of other changes; the town plaza in front of the municipal offices is being torn up and redeveloped, bringing major changes to the centre of town. This reminds us that time does not stop, just because we are not here, life in Loreto goes on, as it has for over 300 years. Business may be slower, the weather may have posed challenges, but the spirit of the town, and more importantly, the people, the Loretanos, are strong, as they have proved time and time again.

One of the changes is that the “new bridge” closest to Nopolo/Loreto Bay is now finished – thankfully in time for the recent storms. Over the past several years there have been many bridges built over the deepest arroyos on Mexican #1, the main road that runs 1600 km from Tijuana to Cabo. Having travelled the length of this road a number of times, I appreciate and respect the importance of this infrastructure investment. As the main commercial artery for the entire peninsula, the economic significance of Mex. #1 cannot be exaggerated. The vast majority of what is consumed and produced in the entire peninsula travels this road in the hundreds of transport trucks that are the most common vehicle on this road. While these are definitely NOT “bridges to nowhere”, for most of the year they ARE bridges over nothing.

The reason is that the arroyos that they cross are dry rocky beds that become raging torrents only periodically, when the Baja is inundated with rain from tropical storms or hurricanes. Without a bridge, the largest of these runoff channels are subject to major erosion in extreme rain events, and the submerged sections of pavement can disappear. The resulting breakage of the only road connecting hundreds of thousands of people in the Baja can interrupt most travel and commerce until repair crews can start rebuilding the roadbed and eventually repaving it. In a serious storm these washouts can happen in dozens of places along the road, creating logistical chaos for the repair crews and everybody else, until the damage is fixed. This is why the recent focus on developing a new system of bridges over the weakest spots on the highway, plays such an important role in the entire economy and society of the peninsula. With the addition of this third bridge in the 15 km. between the town and Nopolo/Loreto Bay we now have a “robust” connection to Loreto that passed the recent challenge from the storm effects of Hurricane Jimena with flying colours and will help to insure our access in the future.

A positive aspect of the recent rains is the transformation of the surrounding

desert into a lush green landscape. Tough grasses grow thickly at the sides of the road, the wild shrubs and bushes that carpet most of the plains leading up to the Sierra Gigante mountains are now leafed out and green - enjoying the one time of year they have more water than they need. It amazes me how quickly things can grow down here when there is water. The new grass can easily grow a foot in the month since the rains began and the brush seems to sprout green almost overnight.

This explosion of growth and life is quickly shared in this harsh environment. The notoriously skinny Baja cattle, who, most of the year, somehow manage to graze where it appears there is nothing edible, are now gorging themselves on all the lush green foliage that surrounds them. Their sense of urgency is not just due to greed, this excess of food will only last a short time – weeks, perhaps a month or two – before the relentless sun and heat inevitably return the desert to its normal parched condition. The banquet will soon be over, and life for the grazers will return to their regular struggle for survival, and gradually the ribs will reappear on these hardy breeds of cattle, burros and horses.

And so the stage is set for the new “party” to begin. The winter “guests” are assembling and settling in, perhaps for the winter, perhaps just for a week or two, but they bring with them their hopes and dreams of the life they want to lead in this special, beautiful place. And as their numbers grow, from one year to the next; as more homes are finished and more Owners have the time to spend enjoying them; so grows our community in size as well as spirit. Those of us lucky enough to have been living here for several seasons no longer feel like strangers in a strange land. We still have much to learn, and to appreciate about this place we have chosen, but if we are fortunate, now, when we return, we know we are coming home – and that is the best part of “Living Loreto”!

On the Road Again!

After spending a busy summer back in Calgary I planned my return trip to Loreto to begin after the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, October 13th. Preparations began almost a month before – assembling things that I wanted to take back with me, sorting out what else was to go or would stay in storage for the winter. Even with half a dozen previous trips under my belt, I was scrambling as the departure day approached remembering things, sometimes at the last minute, that I had previously overlooked. One “crisis” arose in those final days – I realized that I hadn’t received the hard copy by mail of my renewed Mexican Car Insurance! Fortunately, thanks to internet access, I was able to get the renewed policy emailed so I would be carrying a valid copy with me.

Day by day as I finished packing boxes and suitcases, I moved them down to the SUV parked underground at the condo. In the final week several friends dropped off boxes that they wanted carried down as they were too bulky for air travel. Finally, the moment of truth, as the last additions to the load were made – would it all fit? Well, the short answer is, yes! But just. I later confirmed at a public scale that I was carrying over 1,000 lbs. of cargo, pushing (but within) the safe limits of the Yukon’s capacity. I have yet to be accused of ever “travelling light”!

Talk about inauspicious beginnings – when I woke up, pre-dawn on the day of my departure the radio was full of dire warnings about traffic chaos – overnight Calgary had received the first real snowfall of the season, several inches of wet slippery snow which had accumulated over a film of ice, making a skating rink out of the morning commute! So I poured myself another cup of coffee and let some of the logjam clear before I started out. Heading south through the city I was mainly going against the heaviest traffic and I made decent time , stopping to top off the gas tank and say good-bye to my Mother, before finally hitting the main highway southbound.

Within half an hour of leaving the city there was noticeably less snow at the sides of the road and the pavement was just wet with no accumulation. A couple of hours later I stopped in Lethbridge for lunch and the sun was out, with little or no snow around but it was still cold. An hour further south I came to the Coutts/Sweetgrass border crossing and there was a 15 minute line-up to reach the Immigration Officer. Although I have made the crossing into the US many times before, there is always a slight level of anxiety as I approach the border. Things started out normally enough with the regular questions, but when I said I was going to spend several months in my home in Mexico, the Officer surprisingly said that he didn’t think “foreigners” could own land in Mexico - and this is from a US Immigration Officer – he should know better! So I presented him with my FM3 as evidence of my “resident” status and with that and my passport in hand he shut the window to his kiosk and started consulting with two other Officers who were all three studying the computer monitor. Meanwhile, the “Outdoor Guy” had peered into the cargo area from the back and side and seemed satisfied, so when the meeting was over and the window re-opened Officer #1 handed my Passport and FM3 to the Outdoor Guy and told me to follow him to the parking lot and then into the office.

Inside the office I was directed through a glass door into a smaller secure area at one end of the room. There I was met with two other Officers; a woman who was in charge and a younger guy who was apparently a trainee. I was a bit taken aback the way things started – take off my jacket, remove everything from my pockets and turn them inside out, then stand away from the counter separating us so they could see me in full view and then pull up my pant legs above my socks and turn around slowly. At this point I was thinking – thank goodness I have a completely clear conscious and nothing to hide, or else this routine could be VERY intimidating! Apparently satisfied with my appearance, I was told to take a seat and the two officers moved to a computer terminal where She proceeded to walk Him through everything they could ever want to know about the past comings and goings of Yours Truly!

These days nothing should surprise us when it comes to Homeland Security – and what we the public think we are aware of, is probably the tip of the iceberg when it comes to whatever information that they have access to. Without wanting to appear TOO interested, I did manage to pick up bits of their conversation, while She showed Him different screens of information about me and how they could shift between them and search for things in different ways. Suffice to say, that they were looking at records of every time I had crossed into or out of the US going back who knows how far and it was, of course, a consistent pattern with what my current story was. I could also tell by their tone that there was nothing amiss in what they were looking at – I was just lucky enough (long-grey-haired-single-guy-in-a-heavily-loaded-SUV-heading-to-Mexico-for-an-indefinite-period-of-time) to have been picked out as sufficiently interesting subject for a training exercise!

After about 20 minutes I was given back my documents and other stuff and told I was free to carry on – which I did with enthusiasm and alacrity! Never have the bleak and barren hills of northern Montana looked so inviting to me before! The rest of my drive was uneventful – arriving in Dillon, near the southern border of Montana about 7:00 that evening. The next day I got a good start on a bright brisk morning and chewed up almost a thousand km before stopping for the night in St. George, Utah, a few miles north of the Nevada border. My third day started early and I was arriving in Las Vegas just before 10:00 am – timed precisely for the opening of the Las Vegas Outlets Mall where I quickly and efficiently picked up several shirts, shorts, pants and some shoes to update my “winter” wardrobe.

Back at the truck again, I managed to find a few nooks and crannies to stuff with my purchases and then hit the road again to cross the desert into California. Needless to say, the weather had changed dramatically over the two and a half days of travel –99 degrees in mid-town Vegas. The day before, travelling from Montana to southern Utah was like a speeded up movie of the arrival of spring, starting out in snow and arriving in mid-summer conditions (for Canada). But from Vegas south I was “cooking”, flirting with 100 degrees F. all afternoon.

After two and a half days on “cruise control”, following my nose south on I-15, I was now beginning the first challenging part of the trip so far. On every other journey to Mexico I have entered the country through Tijuana where the border is connected to the main southbound Interstate through California. This time I was going to go in through Tecate, about 30 miles east of TJ, due to changes in the Mexican Customs routine. I had read several posts about heavily loaded Snowbirds being redirected from the main crossing to the commercial truck crossing at Otay Mesa about 10 miles east. Although the reports I had read had said there were no problems making the crossing, I was reluctant to have to negotiate any new territory in and around Tijuana so I chose to go a little further east and use Tecate, which I was very familiar with, having always exited from there on my previous trips.

So I had to negotiate several new freeway connections to get on highway 94 eastbound in the middle of what passes for rush hour in the southern California corridor. My Google Map gave me one bad turn, which was quickly remedied by a helpful young lady in a tire shop, and I eventually left the congested civilization of the San Diego environs behind and as twilight turned into no moon dark I was winding my way along the right highway skirting the border and heading to Tecate. Now, as I said, I have travelled these roads before, but always westbound and usually mid-day, and not paying much attention to the surroundings, as I was enjoying the relative freedom of the American road system after just having left Mexico. According to the maps there are three “dots” on the road indicating towns (or more accurately “Hamlets”) and I had falsely assumed that there MUST be somewhere to stay in one of these places.

Well, I was wrong. When I reached the turnoff for the Tecate crossing without seeing anywhere to stop I decided to keep going east and see what was further on. Five miles later I came to a General Store and asked how far till I would find somewhere to stay and the nice couple there said 38 miles. Well, that wasn’t going to happen –and it was at least 20 miles back to the last place I had seen before, so my choice was clear – I would cross at Tecate that night, rather than first thing the next morning as I had planned.

Now, I would be less than honest if I didn’t say that the crossing into Mexico is always a highly “anticipated” moment of any trip I have made here. Having planned my itinerary with some care, I was “psyched” for the morning crossing and now I was driving back to Tecate in the pitch black, not sure what I would find when I got there – which turned out to be NOTHING! As I approached the modest border control buildings on the Mexican side there were three lanes – two of which were closed, leaving only the Nothing to Declare lane open. This suited my purposes just fine, I wasn’t planning on making any “stinkin Declaration”! So I proceeded with caution through the one open gate and slowed to a crawl as I approached the kiosk on the driver’s side – no one home! – the booth was empty – and I had just triggered the Red/Green light and it was GREEN! I quickly glanced left and right and seeing no one of any official appearance I was through and in downtown Tecate – Yippie!

My celebration was short lived. Because now I was on the lookout for a Hotel in a medium size Mexican town that I had only driven through before, looking for the way to the US border and not paying any attention to the local attractions that Tecate must hold. Finding the “main drag” I went 6 or 8 blocks one way and saw a decent looking motel, and then went back in the other direction to see if there was anything better that way. Which, there wasn’t. So I found my way back to the likely looking Hotel Eldorado and pulled into the narrow entrance lane, squeezing past a Police truck to get into the courtyard parking lot. That’s when I knew I had made the RIGHT choice! Indeed, Eldorado parking lot looked even better than it’s golden name promised – the Police truck I had squeezed past was partially blocking the entrance because, the entire lot inside was FULL of nothing but more Police trucks!

While checking in at the front desk I asked the guy what were the trucks there for, and he said the Hotel was full of Police staying there while on some sort of training course. I had stumbled on to the SAFEST Hotel in all of the Baja – old Denny (my Yukon) would sleep soundly surrounded by (I counted the next morning) 27 full regalia Cop Trucks and every other guy sleeping in the building, other than me, was ARMED! I slept like a baby that night.

The next morning I was on the road by 8:00 with a great cup of coffee from across the street and I hit the Costco parking lot in Ensenada at 10:00. One hour to score some liquor and meat and a few other Costco-only delicacies, a quick pizza slice in their open air snack bar and I was back on Mex #1 heading south. Traffic was light after I cleared Ensenada and I put the pedal down and arrived in Guerrero Negro at 6:00 pm just as the sun was setting. A comfortable room at Malarrimo and a good meal in their excellent restaurant and the next morning I was back on the road after a full breakfast for 100 pesos (less than $8.00!). The trip to Loreto was mainly smooth – with a few rough patches between Santa Rosalia and Mulege from Hurricane Jimena, but nothing to worry about – and I hit the north end of Loreto at 1:00 pm on day five, last Saturday.

I may revisit some parts of this trip in more detail in future postings, but I had promised my return trip as my first post so I wanted to get the whole thing down for you, my loyal readers. This winter I pledge to carry on with Living Loreto and track my on-going journey here in this beautiful place I call home. And you may notice some changes, as I look forward to a new winter of challenges and celebrations here. My career as a Real Estate agent here for Dorado Properties is entering a new, more focused phase, as we prepare for the changes that will inevitably come to Loreto Bay this winter. I welcome you to join me in my journey and just maybe someday soon you too will be “Living Loreto”!

Road Trip - Baja Style

As you begin to read this posting the conclusion is immediately obvious – that is – I MADE IT! Yes, I arrived back here in Calgary, safe and sound, after completing the trip from Loreto in six days, including a layover of a day and a half just outside of Los Angeles.

I left Loreto at 9:00 am on Sunday morning, after finishing loading the Yukon with all the last minute things – not least of which was the cat! Jazmine was travelling in her kitty cage travel box which I put on the passenger seat beside me. In behind the front seats there was about a four square foot area on top of one of the boxes that was her “patio” area where she could move around and stretch her legs. When she felt adventurous, she could range over the entire back cargo area, sniffing and exploring the various boxes and suitcases that filled it up to, and above, the back windows.

Because of slow traffic, it took me almost an hour to clear the first Federal Army Checkpoint which is only 25 km north of Loreto (40 km from Loreto Bay) – not a very auspiscious beginning to a 4,000 km trip. (I couldn't help calculating that at this rate it would take me 100 hours to complete the trip!) But progress speeded up past the checkpoint and about a half an hour and 50 km later I saw the south end of Bahia Conception, which is one of the most scenic features of the entire Baja.

About half way between Mulege and Santa Rosalia there was the first of several new bridge constructions. This one was major, with three long spans and it is a good example of the ongoing improvements to this highway which the Mexican Federal Government is funding to the tune of millions of dollars. At the 200 km mark I arrived in Santa Rosalia after two and a half hours of driving. This is a thriving Port with the ferry terminal to Guaymas on the mainland, and adjacent to the docks there is a large industrial site belonging to the copper mine which has been shut down for years, but it is currently being refurbished and the mine will be going back into operation when the restoration work is completed. Upon leaving Santa Rosalia you head west, away from the Sea of Cortez and up the Cuestra de Infierno (the Hill from Hell) and onto the high desert plain that stretches almost 200 km across the peninsula to Guerrero Negro and the border between the states of Baja California Sur and Baja California (Norte).

Just past San Ignacio, about 75 km from Santa Rosalia, I came to the second Military Checkpoint. These inspection spots are the most obvious and invasive part of the government's “war on drugs” and by evidence of the number of heavily armed, uniformed soldiers that staff these stops, they take their work seriously. The rigorousness of these searches varies widely; from a few questions through the open window about where you are going to and coming from, up to being told to leave the car while two men search under the seats, tap the door panels and thoroughly inspect the cargo area, opening a box or two to check the contents. It is my impression, however, that these soldiers, with the experience of inspecting hundreds of cars a day, have a pretty good idea of the profile of the smuggler types they are looking for, and, fortunately, I don't appear to fit that profile. However, I have watched while they have inserted long metal probes into trailer loads of hay bales, and dismantled entire loads of miscellaneous cargo from tractor-trailer units looking for drugs and guns. All of this diligence apparently pays off sometimes, as at some of the more established checkpoints there are large display boards with a dozen or more “mug-shots” of unlucky offenders that had been aprehended at that location – a combination of bragging rights and sober warning!

The trials and tribulations of travelling with a cat – about three hours into the trip Jazmine, who had been complaining fairly steadily off and on since we began the trip, suddenly started making a small gagging sound which was soon followed by throwing up what was left of her breakfast. Being the appropriately concerned “parent” that I am, I was distracted briefly by watching her, but that was long enough for me to sideswipe one of the ubiquitous white posts that appear by the hundreds on both sides of this highway, to mark it's edge for night-time travellers. Now in most of North America these sort of markers are made of flexible plastic, however in Mexico they are made of solid concrete reinforced with a piece of rebar (like just about everything else in Mexico). Fortunately, I just “kissed” the post with the front corner of the bumper, resulting in mainly cosmetic damage to the plastic bumper cover and a ding in the front fender. However, as evidenced by the white scuff mark on the sidewall of the front tire, I was probably within an inch of the post connecting with something solid which could have had a much more serious result. Because of the lack of any shoulders on the road, and very few spots where it is possible to turn off, it was several kilometers after my near miss before I was able to get off the road and inspect the damage.

After cleaning up the cat cage and confirming the car was OK, I was back on the road again. A short distance further on I came to an unmarked intersection where there were a couple of dozen cars pulled off the to the sides of the road with people milling about and a police truck with their lights flashing. I was naturally curious, but there was no sign of an accident or other reason for this congregation and I continued on. A short distance further I started to see a few scattered caballereos on horseback, then a few more and soon I was stopped behind a lane full of pick-up trucks pulling horse trailers travelling beside over a hundred mounted horses riding in the dust along the side of the highway. I was eventually able to pass this parade of trucks and trailers which was being lead, at a walking pace, by another police truck with lights flashing. When I eventually reached the front of the column of horses I discovered it was being lead by a truck mounted with a huge pair of speakers blaring mariachi music. What made this event even more peculiar was that it was happening in the middle of one of the most remote spots in the entire peninsula, over 100 km from any population, but yet here were over 100 horses and at least twice that many people congregating for a Sunday afternoon ride.

But that wasn't the only recreational activity happening on the highway – about 50 km further on, traffic was halted in the middle of nowhere by a small group of aparent officials, all wearing uniform yellow T-shirts. With about half a dozen cars stopped in both directions, we waited for a few minutes before we saw a dust trail approaching the highway from out of the desert. As it got closer we could hear the growl of the engine and then suddenly a souped up quad came to a screaching halt in a cloud of dust at the edge of the road where it was quickly checked out by another guy in a yellow T-shirt who waved it on to cross the highway and then it disappeared in another cloud of dust back into the desert on the other side. When the racer had disappeared the cars were waved on and my journey up the Baja continued.

I arrived in Guerrero Negro about 2:00 pm at the 400 km mark in about 5 hours, including a gas stop and the two Checkpoints I had cleared. This is where the border between the two states divides the peninsula north to south and there is a small Immigration Office (trailer) which is sometimes open where you can get a visa stamped as you enter or exit Baja California Sur. Because this office has been closed as often as open, when we have passed through here on previous trips, I took the precaution of having my FM3 visa exit stamped before I left Loreto. There is also a major military post here and this is also where there is a time zone change, when you cross the border going north you gain an hour going from Mountain to Pacific time. I stopped here to top up the gas tank as there is a long stretch ahead without services.

About 60 north of Guerrero Negro I came to the third Checkpoint of the trip. The officer in charge was polite and spoke a little English, while a couple of others did the regular inspection. However, Jazmine apparently doesn't like these strangers rummaging around her box, so she starts complaining and that brings the inspection to a fairly abrupt conclusion. It has been my observation that many Mexicans don't like cats – perhaps because they are relatively uncommon down here (as opposed to dogs, that are everywhere) and the ones that manage to survive here are probably pretty rank and possibly dangerous. In any event, Jazmine seems to have a discouraging effect on the dilligence of the inspection routine, another reason why I like cats!

Speaking of wldlife, there is one less vulture now in the Baja. About 50 km north of the Checkpoint a vulture took off from the side of the road, right in front of the car. This is not an uncommon event as they are often to be found nearby the highway, attracted to the roadkill. However this individual timed it badly and it hit the front fender on the driver's side. Fortunately the impact sounded much worse than the damage that resulted – these birds are about the size of an average turkey and probably weigh at least 20 lbs. When I was eventually able to stop, about 5 km later, I discovered that the collision had knocked the turn signal module partly out of the fender but I was able to snap it back into place and all the lights were still working. Unfortunately, the vulture didn't fare so well – I wonder if vultures scavenge each other's remains?

About 150 km north of Guerrero Negro I came to the first of the granite boulder mounds that become more and more common as I got closer to Catavina. This is a unique, almost unearthly, feature of this part of the peninsula – suddenly you are surrounded by huge mounds of rounded boulders, some of them the size of a small house, for as far as the eye can see in all directions. These rocks are the result of eons of erosion and after 50 km or so they disappear as quickly as they appeared with the changing geology.

During this remote and isolated section of the journey ones thoughts tend to wander, so, in keeping with my mood at this point, here are a few random thoughts about gasoline. In Mexico all retail gas is distributed by the government owned monopoly Pemex. This means that gas prices are fixed nationally and do not vary with location. Currently gas is selling for about 74 pesos per litre – or 75 cents US, approximately equivalent to the US prices in the $2.85 per gallon range that I paid on the way home. There was an announcement in Mexico, this past winter, that gas prices would be frozen for the foreseeable future as part of an economic recovery package. This was in light of the fact that previously the prices in Mexico were being slowly escalated every week to raise more revenue for the government. Different than in our market based economies, fuel prices in Mexico are set by government decree, not world markets.

Although I could be accused of being a conspiracy theorist, I believe that this price freeze has been coupled with a gradual reduction in the octane levels in the fuel to offset the lack of increased revenues. My reason for this theroy is due to the fact that my Yukon has developed a persistent “knocking” problem for the first time this winter, which disappears when I use the more expensive, higher octane premium fuel. However, every time I stopped for fuel on this trip the Pemex stations only had regular grade fuel available, coincidentally they were all out of the premium grade – verrrry interrresting!

Now, some mental meandering on the subject of the current and future condition of this road, Mexico Highway #1. While most of this road is consistantly two lanes and 19 ½ feet wide with no shoulders, there are occasional stretches of new paving that have been built out to 25 feet or more with reasonable shoulders and white outside lane markings replacing the dangerous posts I had met with earlier. These wider stretches are, I hope, an indication of the new standard that will become the norm for the entire road in the future. On a trip from Loreto to Cabo earlier this winter, I was amazed to drive almost half of the 200+ km between La Paz and Cabo on a brand new 4 lane divided highway with wide bridges – dare to dream what it would be like to travel on such a road the entire 1600 km length of the Baja!

Back to my journey – at about 5:30 “mountain” time I was approaching El Rosario, about the 750 km north of Loreto. This small town is near the Pacific coast and is significant historically as the southern end point of the original road, prior to the opening of Highway #1 in 1973. One of the landmarks is a roadside diner called Mama Espinozas where the specialty is Lobster burritos and, from the profusion of racing team decals covering every window in the place, it has been a must stop location for the many Baja 1000 participants over the years. Leaving this town I am now less than 60 km from my destination for the evening in San Quintin.

Now that I have crossed over to the west coast of the peninsula I am travelling through more populated areas and I get a sense of the fact that Sundays here are truely a day of rest, as most people here work six days a week and so this is the only day they have to spend time with their families. As I drive through small settlements of a few houses, a bus stop and a “mini-super” selling a few basic provisions (always beer) I see people playing with kids, fixing cars, or just walking with friends or family, there are roadside picnics or soccer games and generally the simple pleasures that can be enjoyed on a rare day of rest.

As I approach the next Checkpoint just north of El Rosario, this is the most careful inspection so far. I am glad to have my Mexican drivers licence when asked for identification, I think it gave me a higher degree of credibiliy and sense of my belonging here. When they opened the rear window to inspect the luggage they asked to look into a conveniently accessible case, which revealed an innocuous collection of some of Cathy's music books which quickly ended the inspection and got me waved through. After several such trips I have learned to carefully position some easily opened and inspected things in the most accessible places that will reveal nothing to raise any curiosity or interest. Anything that might be of any questionable nature (like a box full of vitamin pill bottles that might be mistaken for more illegitimate drugs) are carefully located out of sight in the most inaccesible places that would only come to light in the event of a completly unloaded inspection. This may just be due to my natural paranoia, but, while I would never consider transporting ANYTHING of an even slightly illegal nature on this road, I feel taking some care and simple precautions in the way the cargo is packed can avoid any awkward questions that could lead to more extensive inspections and result in long and stressful delays.

Approaching San Quintin you get the first glimpses of the Pacific shore, dramatic in the low angle light as the sun is starting to set. There are also the beginnings of the intensive market garden industry that extends for much of the 200 km north to the border. Huge shade structures covering hundreds of acres extend as far as you can see on both sides of the highway sheltering millions of tomato plants from the sun and wind. These “plantations” supply a large modern packing plant that is surrounded by a parking lot filled with dozens of tractor trailer units ready to transport their cargo north to the markets in California and beyond.

Just after 6:00 pm (Loreto time) and 800 km I arrived at my destination in San Quintin, the Hotel La Villa de San Quintin. It is a newer motel that is past the second set of traffic lights from the south end of town just over a small bridge “Punta San Quintin” where you bear right onto a service road, paralleling the main paved road. There is another hotel just before it called the Maria Celeste Hotel which is also pretty good, but La Villa is newer and the rooms are superior and it has a nice modern restaurant overlooking the main road with protected off-street parking in front of the actual motel accomodation building. (By the way, a word of caution for any future travellers, neither La Villa or Marie Celleste accept pets. Not wanting to incriminate myself I will leave it up to you, my loyal readers, to come to whatever conclusions you wish as to where Jazmine spent the night – but suffice to say, we both passed a quiet (shhhhh!) and restful night and we departed the next morning leaving no incriminating evidence behind.)

The next morning I left the hotel by 7:30 am and stopped for gas before I left town and I noticed how busy the town was as people went back to work on a regular Monday morning – rush hour, San Quintin style. About 70 km north of San Quintin, after passing through a pretty ugly agricultural/industrial area of market gardens and factory farms you start to go into a more mountainous area which will eventually evolve into the wine growing regions further north. Two hours later and 140 km north of San Quintin I arrive at the 5th Checkpoint which is the busiest one so far with three lanes and more than 30 cars waiting in line north bound and a separate “unloading dock” area that transport trucks are ordered to back into for more extensive inspections of their trailers. While waiting, I saw my first ambulance pass through a Checkpoint, one quick glance through the back window and they were on their way again, much to the relief of any passenger, I'm sure. After a longer wait in line than usual when I reached the front of my (slowest) lane, they gave me a quick glance and waved me through without any questions or inspections. Leaving me to believe that 50 something gringos with long grey hair driving dusty 10 year old SUVs don't fit the profile – thank goodness!

Just under 50 km from Ensenada I encounter my biggest detour of the trip, almost 5 km of heavily rutted sand with occasional muddy spots where they have tried to control the clouds of dust with liberal attention from water trucks patrolling the roadside. In spite of the length of the detour there are little or no provisions for the traffic and I find it hard to imagine what this track is like in a fully loaded transport truck or – God forbid – a Motorhome driven by a senior citizen of limited capacity!

As I approach the outskirts of Ensenada, a city of almost half a million people, it is obvious this is a major city and very different than the rural towns and villages that I have passed through so far. I'm on a four lane divided road, traffic is heavy and rules of the road, while relaxed by North American standards, seem to work. As I approach the centre of town the “Big Boxes” appear; Costco, Home Depot and a Walmart Supercentre, they're all here. But five years ago things were much different, I don't think that Costco had opened yet and now, this concentration of major retailers has created the best source for hard to find consumer goods between Tijuana and Cabo.

There is a critical turn off the road that you arrive on, it is sign posted but the Office Depot/Sorriana Mall is perhaps the more obvious landmark. Here you make a left turn toward the “Zona Touristica” and the harbour on the waterfront. If you don't turn here, you can continue with the road on what is identified as a “Truck Route”. I made the mistake once of taking this Truck Route, thinking (reasonably?) that it would be a more direct less congested route through town. Big mistake! It wound through residential areas with many twists and turns, stop signs and local traffic and I realized that this route wasn't intended for the smooth and efficient passage of truck through a large city, it's sole purpose was to divert the heavy vehicles from the shorter and more scenic Tourist area by the waterfront.

When you make the turnoff for the Zona Touristica the street ends at a rather impressive naval base with sharp uniformed guards at the gate where you turn right and proceed along a wide divided boulevard with large Hotels and marinas and many bars and restaurants. At the end of this commercial area you follow the signs for Tijuana and wind around the freight port and start to leave the northern outskirts of the city. I was watching for the turnoff for the Highway #3 to Tecate which is near the signpost showing the distance of 100 km to Tijuana and I take the “Ruta Vinacola” exit to the right. Within half a kilometer the road becomes a beautiful 4 lane divided highway of pristine asphalt that lasts for about 10 km. before it turns into a construction zone and then a few kilometers later reverts back to the original two lane road.

I have always chosen to exit through Tecate to avoid what can be lengthy delays crossing the border northbound at Tijuana, which holds the record as the busiest border crossing point in the world. With the distance from Ensenada almost the same for both exit points, and the Tecate road being much more scenic, travelling through mountainous wine country, and now the work being done to upgrade the road to four lanes, all added to the much less congested border crossing, makes me think that this route will become even more popular in the future. There was a temporary Federal Police stop on the road, they asked me where I was coming from and going to (kind of obvious as this road only goes between Ensenada and Tecate) but they waved me through after a few questions. Their presence, however is a comfort, given the close proximity to the border and a few reports I've heard about some earlier drug related problems in the area.

About 70 km. from Ensenada there was a temporary military Checkpoint that I had not seen on previous trips. I got a perfunctory once over and was waved through again which was followed by a stretch of one lane road work which was followed by more fresh paving. I arrived just in Tecate just after noon and made my way down the winding approach to the city, then crossed a large bridge into the “downtown”. From the bridge you follow the San Diego / Highway 94 signs, for which you take the second right turn after the bridge. You follow that road for several kilometers watching for a left turn signposted for San Diego/Border Crossing which takes you to the east end of the aproach road to the border that runs back westward beside the border fence until it reaches a recently upgraded US border crossing. On this trip there were only two cars ahead of me and I was through the border in less than 5 minutes. So after 5 hours and 300 km since I left San Quintin, following the 9½ hour 800 km trip from Loreto I travelled a total of 1100 km in 14 ½ hours including 3 gas stops and 6 Checkpoints to the border crossing in Tecate.

It is hard to describe the feeling entering the US after a day and a half of driving Highway #1 in the Baja. It's not just the width of the roads, the prosperity of the homes and businesses you pass, the fact that signs are in English and place names are familiar, it's a sense of calm and order, and yes, security. As a Canadian citizen I am usually concious of the differences between the US and Canada, and I have strong personal feelings about the contrasts between our lifestyles and societial influences. In spite of the fact that I perceive there to be significant differences between Canada and the US, and that I readily admit to my bias towards my home country in many aspects of day to day life, when I cross this border between Mexico and the States I realize how closely I identify with America as a Canadian, and a partner in North America. There is a sense of relief and belonging that I feel on the US side of the border that makes me understand and appreciate how much closer we North Americans are as a culture, and the differences we have in common with our Mexican friends and neighbors to the south.

This brings me to the end of my travelogue about my trip back from Loreto. For those of you who are interested, I continued on to San Clemente California that day and stopped over there with a friend for a day and a half, giving me and the cat a welcome break from our travelling. On Wednesday we hit the road again and drove from south of Los Angeles to Cedar City Utah about 450 miles in 9 hours. Then from there to Dillon Montana, just over 600 miles in 10 hours. Finally, the last leg back to Calgary covered 330 miles in the States plus 385 km in Canada and took about 9 hours. The total distance travelled from Loreto to Calgary was just about exactly 4,000 km. and it took 4 ½ days of driving time.

I plan to put “Living Loreto” on hiatus for the summer while I am “Living Calgary”, but I will resume writing again in the Fall when I return to Loreto. My next posting will be the reverse trip back to Loreto, again by car, and I expect to publish it by the end of October. I would like to thank all of you who have sampled my writings here over the past seven months, I have felt honoured and priviledged to have attracted over 14,000 hits to this blog during that time. I would particularly like to thank those people who have expressed their thoughts and enthusiasm about the blog by word and message, your encouragement and support has kept me writing, and will insure that take up the challenge again in the Fall. Untill then, I trust you will enjoy a safe and happy summer and I look forward to meeting you again here in the Fall when we will return to “Living Loreto”.

And now, the end is near....

They say all good things must end!

And so it is with my “winter” here in Loreto. We arrived Oct. 20th last year and, but for a Christmas trip and a short Mother's Day visit this spring, it will be exactly 7 months by the time I am back to my “summer home” in Calgary the week after next. As you may have read several weeks ago, in my wife and partner Cathy's guest blog “Loving and Leaving Loreto”, she has already headed north, and now it's our turn, Jazmine (the Baja cat) and I will be leaving here next weekend and driving back to Calgary to reunite our little family.

I admit that I am feeling a bit intimidated by the preparations that are required to close up our Mexican casa for the summer and to pack up all the things that have to go back to Canada with us to complete this move across the continent, which will total about 4,000 km door to door. Since this will be my sixth round trip Calgary/Loreto (we first drove down here in June of 2004) I am getting familiar with the road and feel confident about the journey, however, this will be the first time I have done the whole trip solo – not counting the harmonic contributions that I can expect from Jazmine the cat. I must say, that she has acquired some admirable travelling skills from the previous 3 one way drives she has endured. Although I think that when she adjusts to her reasonably calm travelling mode, by the second day of the trip, it will be more because she is resigned to the fact that resistance is futile, than any real love for the open road. Based on our past experience, the journey will take about 4 ½ driving days to complete, but this time I am making a rest stop at a friend's place in Orange County, just south of LA, after day two. I'll stay there for one day, partly to give Jaz a break from the car “jail”, before we push on through the mid-west, arriving back in Calgary three days later.

I confess that I expect that the trip from here north to the border will be the most challenging part, for all the obvious reasons; narrow roads, uncertain conditions, language and, perhaps surprisingly, boredom. While there are some spectacular scenic areas (Bahia Conception, Cuestra de Infierno (the Hill from Hell), Catavina, etc.) there are hundreds of kilometers of pretty much NOTHING! While a lot of the scenery we pass through is striking and unusual, to begin with, after hours of “more of the same” the impact is lessened and eventually boredom sets in. Fortunately, I will be travelling with a satellite radio with over 100 channels of entertainment so I will keep myself occupied with that – and, of course, there will be periodic rants from Jazmine, when she wakes up and emerges from her vehicular bedroom (travel carrier) and stretches her legs in the nicely cushioned “patio area” that will be set aside for her. In fact, she will probably have more than ten times the space (proportionally) that I will have in the car once it is fully loaded.

After what I expect to be a successful and (hopefully) uneventful trip north to Tecate (yes, the home of my favorite beer) where I will exit Mexico, I will then proceed to my friend's place south of LA in Orange County for the rest stop. Then we will head northeast through Nevada to Las Vegas on the I-15 before clipping the corner of Arizona and the working our way north through Utah, Idaho and Montana before we finally reach the Canadian border three days later. After the challenges of travelling in Mexico, the Interstate system of America will be a welcome relief, 3 ½ days of cruise control on minimum 4 lane divided highways with wide shoulders and regular rest stops, familiar fast food brands and comfortable Motels with no surprises.

What I will be leaving here, is a very much quieter place than it has been most of the winter. Most of the “snowbirds” flew the coop up to two months ago, co-incidental with Tax season, and the normal flow of short term residents and visitors has been much reduced due to the trifecta of the northern economy, and the general media hysteria about Mexican drug wars and swine flu. While there have been no cases of swine flu in Baja Sur and we are well off the beaten track as far as the illegal drug trade is concerned, these two situations have drawn unfavourable publicity to all of Mexico, and we here in Loreto have felt the consequences of the reduced number of visitors caused by the media fear mongering.

I will also be leaving a much warmer place. In the past few weeks temperatures here have increased from the low to mid 80's by 10 degrees or so into the 90's which is compounded by rising humidity. Cathy and I have been here in June twice before, and while this weather so far this month isn't radically different, I believe that this year it is warmer earlier than on our previous stays. On past visits we were only getting these kind of temperatures towards the end of June, but this year the warm, muggy weather started a month earlier than our past experience.

I don't really mind living in this sort of heat, as long as I remember to adapt to it sensibly. Although I wear a hat year round, wearing it now it is all about protection and not fashion. It also comes naturally to seek out any shade, when available. I don't think there are any popular old songs here in Mexico proclaiming the virtues of the “sunny side of the street”! I have noticed how the workers here will gravitate to any shade when they are on a break or eating lunch and I find myself looking for the “shady” way of doing things whenever possible (in the solar sense of the word!).

Another thing is water. Now, perhaps this is more of a confession than I should make, but for many years my favorite beverage, here or in Canada, is beer! However, in the past month or so I have significantly increased my consumption of ice-water, and I am pleasantly surprised by just how satisfying a good chilled glass of water can be in this sort of heat, it really does a body good!

Fortunately my hair is now long enough so that I can pony tail it, which is the way I am wearing it more and more often during the heat of the day – and needless to say, shorts are the only possible garments for me now, day and night! This is probably evidence of my genetic disposition towards the “thick blood” of my native land because we “gringos” are the only ones who seem to regularly wear them – Mexican men are all still wearing jeans and long sleeved shirts, inspite of the heat.

Another consequence of the heat is laundry. I am now changing clothes several times a day and often have a second shower during the day to “rinse off”. This reminds me of one of one of my first visits here in June. I had set myself the task of hanging several small “estrella” (star) lamps under the overhang surrounding our interior courtyard. The work was far from strenuous, drilling a few holes in the cement ceiling and running the wiring up to the fixtures, all in the shade of the overhanging roof. However, moving at the slow pace necessary in the 90 degree weather, it took most of the morning and part of the afternoon to complete. By the end of that day I had taken five showers, (which still stands as my personal best). I am embarassed to admit, as a sidebar to this story, that on the very day I was hanging my lights (and taking 5 showers) there was a crew of Mexican workmen digging the foundations for a neighbouring house, with pick and shovel, in full sun, and they didn't appear to be breaking a sweat! I guess you have to be born here.

But I don't want you to get the wrong opinion – I don't really mind the heat, so far. However, I don't know that I would enjoy what will be coming in the summer months, when days like this would probably be considered a relief from what will be even higher temperatures and greater humidity. In a funny way, peoples reactions to the temperature extremes are very similar, north and south. Growing up in western Canada, the not uncommon winter experience of walking to school in minus 30 degree weather was worn as a badge of honour, particularly in long hindsight - “When I was a boy . . . ! In a similar way here, the few hardy ex-pat souls who stay here year round positively brag about their ability to thrive in the dog days of a Baja summer – the real hard core ones shun air conditioning as being unessary at this time of year, saving it for when it gets really hot! I, on the other hand, have to admit that in the past week or so I have started using the A/C for a few hours most afternoons, and to cool the bedroom for half an hour or so before lights out. But it is amazing what you can get used to, like when I set the A/C temperature to +25 degrees (over 75 F) the room quickly feels quite cool and comfortable, but I know that in Calgary this summer, that will be the high on an typical day and it will feel quite hot. What is even more surprising is when I go out from the cooled room into the night air and then return a few minutes later, that 25 degrees feels positively chilly!

Aside from the weather, I realize that it is time for me to go because my reactions to the experiences that I get from living here have shifted in the past few weeks from being a glass that is half full, to one that is half empty. I use that comparison thoughtfully, because it means that the experiences here haven't changed, but my reactions to those experiences have. Perhaps my current frame of mind could be described as “beached”, as opposed to “bushed” which is commonly applied to people who have been living out in the woods too long. Perhaps after 7 months here, my appreciation for this place, and the lifestyle that comes with, has become jaded. Perhaps I need a fix of the “first world”, and enjoy the perks and pleasures that are available in urban North America. Perhaps the draw of family and friends, of familiar places and things, of being fluent in the local language, of feeling confident in the understanding of “how things work”, perhaps all of these things, and more, are drawing me north again.

But as I leave here I know it is only a temporary absence. I know that when I'm back in Calgary and the summer starts to turn to Fall and I am becoming frustrated with traffic jams and constant crowds, as I begin to question the type “A” concerns that drive so much of day to day life in that world – then my thoughts will shift again, back to my home and simple life here in Loreto and I will be drawn back, looking for the relief and sanctuary that I find here. Truely, this is the definition of the best of both worlds, loving where you're leaving, as much as you love where you are going to – and that too, is part of Living Loreto!

P.S. Because next week I will be getting organized for the trip, and then travelling the following week, I will not be posting a blog here again until the last weekend in June when I plan to post a travelogue about my drive home. Then I will be on “hiatus” from the blogosphere for the summer.

So, to be sure you don't miss my next posting, and also to insure that you will automatically be notified when I return to Loreto in the Fall and start writing again, I have added a subscription option to the blog. Go back up to the start of this article and just to the right of the title you will see the heading “Subscribe to” and under that a tab marked “Posts”. Click on the word “Posts” and a list of several “brands” of subscription tools will drop down, pick any one, they all do the same thing, and follow the simple instructions and you will then be subscribed to Living Loreto and notified automatically of any future posts. (Ain't technology great!)

In closing, I would like to thank you all for your continued interest and support. When I started this blog last November I had no idea that it would attract over 13,000 hits in seven months! I truly appreciate all of my loyal readers, and, while sometimes I feel the presure to “Publish or Perish”, writing these posts every week has been a wonderful learning and self discovery process for me, and one that I look forward to continuing when I return to Loreto. So I really hope you will subscribe and come back again to Living Loreto!

The Alley Cat goes to La Paz

I have written here before that the best part of Living Loreto is on the water and whenever I have had the opportunity to get out on the water it has been a memorable occasion. So it is with great pleasure that I offer this weeks guest blog written by my good friends about a recent trip that Jill and her husband Ben (Capt'n Benito) took on their 33 foot trawler The Alley Cat from Loreto to La Paz, and back.


We finally did it! Our first trip by boat to La Paz. We have talked about it for three years and after some 3-5 day trips to closer anchorages, and minor maintenance on the boat, Captain Benito felt it was time to venture to the big city of La Paz. Our two amigo's, Dewain and Julie, who are also permanent residents of Loreto, agreed to make the voyage with us.



A day and a half was spent at the Marina here in Loreto stocking the boat with food, clothes, lots of SPF-50 and even SPF-100, ice chests, block ice, fishing poles (they were Dewain's) and other "stuff". We set out early on Wednesday, May 13th. The sea was like a mirror with no wind and a good forecast for the week. Our first stop was Puerto Escondido, 14 nm (where we usually keep the boat) for fuel and to fill the water tank (150 gallons) Pulling away from the fuel dock, the engine decided to quit. This was the return of a nagging problem Ben has been working on, an air leak somewhere in the fuel lines, but after bleeding the lines, we were on our way. Time for ham sandwich's and a beer.



Our destination for the first evening stop was Bahia Aqua Verde, 23nm's. There are numerous islands along the way, and each is spectacular with their contrasting layers of soil and rock. This area of the Sea of Cortez has many pinnacle's rising out of the water. There are also numerous reefs, so careful navigation is required. Dewain, being the fisherman he is, threw out two lines, over the stern and behind the dinghy on the swim platform. We were trolling at 6.5 knots with a dorado feather. Not quite the fishing boat you normally see in the Sea. Well - wouldn't you know it, he got a bite! And it was a BIG bite! We had no idea what was on the line, but he battled the fish for about 15-20 minutes, and sure enough, he caught a yellow tail!!! Guess-ta-mation was 30-35 lbs. Our dilemma was this - no net or no gaff - the fish was finally pulled along side the boat, I grabbed the camera and Ben took a picture of the fish, as Dewain had the line wrapped around his hand. Try as we might, we knew we could not get the fish aboard and the line finally broke, and his fish swam away. That was the first edible fish caught aboard the "Alley Cat". I think when we get to La Paz, we need to buy a gaff, don'tcha think???



In the late afternoon, Bahia Aqua Verde was in sight and we pulled into the bay looking for anchorage. We had been here in April, 2008, and decided to anchor in the same spot, near a narrow sand isthmus. Other power boats and sail boats were anchored at the other end of the bay, so we had the spot to ourselves. Time for a drink and some hors d' oeuvres. A few minutes later we had a visitor. As we were anchored near the reef, our visitor was a turtle just swimming around and watching us. She visited for about an hour and we took pictures of her. The wind started to blow, so we pulled anchor, and went across the bay where the other boats were anchored - much better with no wind. Bahia Aqua Verde is a very popular anchorage and with good reason. Not only are the beautiful green waters and surrounding mountainous lands spectacular, it has extras here that makes this a perfect spot to stay for a couple of days. There is a very small fishing village with a tienda (store) and even a school for the ranchers children. For hiking, there are many areas to explore and if you are into snorkeling and diving, there is a beautiful array of sea life. We decided to take the dinghy over to the sandy beach and look for shells. Dewain got the prize for the spiny star fish. Our meal that night was spaghetti, and salad. We had about an hours entertainment watching the local fishermen chasing the small fish (bait) into a net by going in circles. We settled down in our staterooms for the evening and looked forward to our trip the next day. The wind came up around 3 a.m. and the Captain got a little anxious. We were all awake by 4:30 when the engine roared to life and we were on our way South, heading for the next stop, Isla Espiritu Santo, 73nm's.



Julie and I went back to sleep, and when we awoke around 8 a.m., we both took a sea sick pill, and headed back to bed. Needless to say, it was just a tad rough. Somehow the Captain managed to make sunny side eggs for him and his new First Mate, Dewain. This was the one area of the Sea of Cortez that I particularly wanted to see, as it is noted for it's cave paintings, and red rock bluffs. You follow the dramatic Sierra de la Giganta's (which is the mountain range that surrounds Loreto). It's a very jagged and rocky mountain range that gives the appearance of rising straight from the Sea of Cortez. Needless to say, I saw none of it. Finally around 2 p.m. the wind died down as were now in the area known as the Canal de San Jose. Isla San Jose is an equally impressive island which spans a length of 16.5 nm's. It reaches the dramatic height of 2100 ft. Feeling much more chipper, I joined the Captain and his new First Mate above decks. No fish were caught, but whale sightings were reported, along with manta rays. A short time later, Julie emerged, and we all enjoyed the rest of the trip to our anchorage for the night, Ensenada Grande, on the North end of Isla Espiritu Santo.


The waters here were turquoise in color, with lacy rock cliff sides and a white sand beach. Julie and Dewain decided to go swimming or I should say "noodling" and Ben and I took the dinghy around the various coves looking for shells. We saw numerous fish that we thought only belonged in a salt water aquarium and marveled at their beauty. After our adventures, we settled down for our dinner of BBQ tri-tip, fresh beets and pasta salad. Just before dinner, we were given the unforgettable pleasure of seeing schools of "golden rays". These are a definite golden color and look like butterflies in the water. They are fairly large and just magnificent to watch. They stayed around the boat for quite a while and finally left. We did get some pictures, but not as good as we would have liked. Tonight the stars seemed like they were falling from the sky, and the Captain was feeling no pain, (neither was his First Mate) so he decided to unzip the bimini. I yelled "NO" but it was too late. Soon, we all had pelican raisins in our drinks and all over us from the collection that had accumulated on the canvas shade cover. After a good laugh, bed was beckoning us, so we all hit the sack. And guess what, just as we were getting settled - wind again - thank goodness we were well anchored, but it sure did blow and rock the boat. After a leisurely breakfast the next morning and feeding the puffer fish cantaloupe, we pulled anchor and were on our way to La Paz 27nm.'s away.



It was a calm ride and we saw an occasional whale spout, a seal on his back sunning his tummy, and finally the harbor into La Paz. La Paz has a very tricky harbor entrance, and you need to stay in the buoy marked channel so you don't run aground. The channel follows the malecon (boardwalk) and it makes for a very impressive entrance into La Paz. This city is now the state capital of BCS (California Baja Sur) and is growing in population each year. Historically, Loreto used to be the capital of BCS until about 1830 when it was moved to La Paz following a devastating hurricane. With over 200,000 population, La Paz is also the largest city in Baja Sur. This is one of our favorite cities in Mexico and we were all looking forward to the wonderful restaurants, shopping and a real marina where we could plug into power (our first shore power since the Alley Cat arrived in Mexico in Nov. 2005), have internet access and long showers.



We stayed at Marina de La Paz from May 15th - May 19th. Our slip was only 10 slips from the Dockside Restaurant, so we had an American breakfast every morning and afternoon drinks and hors d' oeuvres on the deck looking at the other yachts and sailboats. This restaurant makes the largest plate of nachos I have ever seen, served on a large dinner plate and looking like a volcano it feeds 4-6 people easily..Yummy!



div>And soooooooo many large yachts! One yacht tender was larger than our 33' boat! Talk about feeling humble. They had the audacity to unload and load the owners and their guests in the empty slip next to us, they actually took the owners back in the large tender and had a small one just for their purchases. We did manage to talk to the crew and the boat was from the Grand Cayman's. They were all dressed in their whites and looking very cool. We found out that as soon as the owners leave, the crew hang around in shorts and tee's..

Our Captain was biting at the bit to hit the marine stores for spare parts, and all items we cannot get in Loreto. Since Dewain was an electrician in his previous life, they had plans to fix most everything electrical that wasn't working. Not surprising, but there is no West Marine Store located here (our favorite!) but lots of other marine stores and some of them they carry West Marine items so the guys were happy.

Now for us girls - I just wanted to window shop and see if I get could get the feeling of shopping in California. Nope, but La Paz has some very high end stores, lots of coffee shops, a very large mall, huge cinema, Wal-Mart, Sams Club and City Club, and can't forget McDonald's, Applebee's and Burger King. I am sure there are many more American influence stores, but we didn't go into them. We did find "Galeria La Paz" and both of us came home with treasures. I could have spent hours in that store just aahhhhing and oohhhhhhing...

Julie and Dewain have a favorite restaurant on the malecon that serves the "BEST" shrimp taco's - Shrimp taco's and beer it was. It was our first stop - Ben and I have been there before and we agreed that they indeed serve the best shrimp taco's we have ever had. One thing I can say is that there is a large variety of excellent restaurants. We found "a new find" two blocks from the Dock and ate dinner there twice. It's called Bandito, and it's an outside restaurant with seating under huge date palms. All the trunks of the palms have bandannas wrapped around them ( like bandito's) but the highlight of the restaurant is that the food is cooked on a grill under the hood of the front of a 1957 Chevy. They lift the hood and cook on the grill under it. Both nights it was packed, mostly with locals, and I would have to say, it was the best ribs and hamburgers I have eaten in Mexico.

We met a couple on a sailboat which had the slip next to us. They were from Colorado and took two months off to sail the Sea of Cortez. They were headed to Loreto after La Paz and said they would come by the house to visit with us. Well, as I write this log, they showed up and we are having them over for a shrimp dinner.

We stopped by to visit with the staff of our friend's (Dean Baker) tour business, Espiritu & Baja Tours. Business had been slow due to the Swine Flu scare (none in BCS) but they did have a tour out that day. Dean was in California, so we didn't get to see him this trip. Monday night we decided to just walk across the street and have Italian food at "Ciao Molino". Again, we have eaten there before and looked forward to an Italian meal. We were not disappointed.

Our plan was to head back to Loreto on Tuesday, May 19th by boat. Julie and I decided that we would take the bus back to Loreto as it was only a 5 hour trip! Tuesday morning we awoke to lluvia (rain). The Captain was not too happy, since the day before we had the boat all waxed and cleaned. The worker started at 9 a.m. and finished at 7 p.m. He offered to come to Loreto and work for us, but we aren't that fancy of a boat and sure don't have the funds to support him and his family. Since the tourism is down, everyone here is looking for work. We were glad to help him out for the day, and he did a good job. We told him that we would be back in the future and he gave us his phone number to contact him the next time we were in La Paz. Really a hard worker and a nice man.

Now...about the bus ride...

I have ridden a Mexican bus before on various trips to mainland Mexico and I am familiar with what it means when the term "chicken bus" is used. This time I was assured that this was not the case. In fact you can chose the level of comfort you want on a bus, by choosing different classes of service. The fare was $31.75 USD from La Paz to Loreto. Our bus had a bano (toilet), a/c, 4 t.v.'s, velour reclining seats and blue velvet drapes. So on Tuesday, we arrived at the bus station just before 9 a.m. and away we went. Our first stop after leaving La Paz was a military check point. Everyone got off the bus and suitcases are randomly pulled and the contents checked. I think they checked 6 suitcases, and then everyone got back on the bus. It stopped at a few rural spots on the highway to let people off and our first stop for snacks was the town of Constitucion. It has a population of over 20, 000 and is primarily a dairy town. It also produces a large variety of produce that is shipped to the U.S. This is where a lot of the imported "winter" produce comes from for the grocery stores up north. Anyway, back on the bus after 15 minutes and on to Loreto. We arrived in Loreto around 2:30 p.m. and found it was much cooler than La Paz where we had temps at 99 degrees. Juan Carlos, the owner of Mita Gourmet restaurant (across the street from "Casa Benito") came and got us at the Bus depot and thus Julie and I ended our trip.

Did we have fun? Yes...would I take a planned trip to mainland on the boat? Nope!!! There is not enough duct tape in the world to go around my mouth . Would I go back to La Paz on the boat? Yes....

Now for the guys trip back to Loreto....

They left La Paz around 10 a.m. and it was slightly raining. The forecast was for thunderstorms and they wanted to get ahead of them. It was pretty uneventful coming across La Paz bay but they did see some rain squalls behind them. Once they entered the Canal de San Jose, they saw "The World" ship anchored around Isla San Francisco. If any of you are not familiar with "The World" cruise ship, you purchase and design your own staterooms at a cost of over a million dollars. They have 165 staterooms. You pay a maintenance cost of $10,000. a month. Pretty hefty prices for the common people like us!

The weather was still really good with smooth waters. Towards evening, they lit up the generator and took out two rib-eyes we had purchased in La Paz, boiled some potatoes, did the BBQ bit, drank the rest of the beer, pulled in the fishing lines (no fish) and as they passed the end of the channel, they saw a magnificent rainbow. They said the sky looked like it was on fire. But alas, not all is perfect. The seas started to build as nightfall was upon them. They decided to just keep going and not anchor. As they passed the outside of Bahia Aqua Verde, the seas kept building. To ease their tension, they had a bag of popcorn and each a shot of bourbon. All the ice chests were strapped down, as they were sliding all around. About 3 a.m. the dolphin show began in the phosphorescent seas. They were racing towards the boat and then proceeded to follow the bow. I guess they were quite a sight with their bodies all lit up from the phosphorus. The winds diminished at they came around the backside of Isla Danzante and as they entered the inside passage between Danzante and Isla Carmen, they had to pay special attention as it was so dark. Carmen was soon lit up by the beckoning lights of Loreto and the seas calmed down. They anchored off the Malacon in Loreto, in front to the La Mision Hotel at 5 a.m. and decided to sleep until 8 a.m. Total non-stop running time from La Paz, 19 hours. The Captain and his First Mate had arrived back home!

Thanks to Jill and Cat'n Benito for sharing the wonderful experience of their trip to La Paz. The magic of the Sea is at our doors and yet, for many of us "Land Lubbers" who live here, we loose sight of the bountiful experiences that are so close to us. Learning to appreciate the land, by observing it from the Sea, that too is part of "Living Loreto!"