Blunt About Food: Baja 2018

Bahia de Gonzaga

Frank and Laurelle crossed off another "bucket list" item this year: Baja road trip!

Frank and "Truckamo" at Punta Cabras

We had both been to Baja California before, but not together. This time we shared visions of an adventure together in our trusty truck/camper rig, "Truckamo," which has been our home on several long-distance trips.

Frank's priority was checking out surf spots he had long dreamed of surfing. Laurelle's priority was exploring Baja's unique natural environment: the geology, the flora and the fauna of the southernmost reaches of the Sonoran desert.

Along the way we criss-crossed the peninsula, which is approximately 760 miles (1220 km) long and 25 to 150 miles (40 to 240 km) wide, depending on where you are.

We explored the Pacific and Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) coastlines, went whale watching, did some hiking and visited friends.

Sunrise Bahia de Los Angeles

Click on this interactive map of Baja to find many of the places I'll be mentioning in this blog post.

Baja is a long skinny peninsula, so you're never far from a beach. In fact, you can wake to the sun rising over the Sea of Cortez, drive a few hours, and later that day watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

Sunset Laguna de San Ignacio

Traveling in February, we encountered many cool, windy and even a few rainy days. At times the wind was so strong that we just hung out in the camper. At night we became accustomed to the sound of the pop top shuddering in the gusts. And, entering or exiting the camper, we learned to open the door cautiously and hang on tight before the wind slammed it open or closed.

Bahia de Los Angeles

Our first stop on the Sea of Cortez was Bahia de Los Angeles. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

We stopped to take in the view over Bahia de Los Angeles at a spot where crows and vultures were riding the thermals. We stayed the night at an eco camp called Archelon (among the white specks on the shoreline) which was once a sea turtle research station.

Breakfast view Bahia de Los Angeles

Surf Camp at "The Wall"

We drove a long way on a marginal dirt road to get to The Wall - Punta Rosarito - a Pacific surf spot known for the quality of its peeling waves.

We saw ospreys nearly everywhere we went in Baja.
This one we encountered on the drive out to The Wall.
Frank took this shot out leaning out the window.

Laurelle shot this picture
through the dirty windshield
as the osprey flew away with its fish.

The water was about 20 feet from our door
at high tide. You can just make out Frank
paddling for a wave in the center of the photo.

Our campsite at The Wall

Although the waves were not exactly "epic" during either of our stays at The Wall, Frank had some satisfying surf sessions. He also bonded with the other dozen-or-so other surfers camped nearby, and got extra points for playing guitar and singing at a Friday night campfire party. Frank plans to return to The Wall in a different season to see what it's like on a bigger swell.

Punta Conejo

Punta Conejo is another remote, hard-to-get-to beach on the Pacific coast. A bumpy dirt road leads to a ranch and a rag-tag fishing camp consisting of about 20 shacks. A beacon flashes at night from the point, and surfers camp among the dunes and surf - some of them staying for weeks at a time.

Punta Conejo

It turns out that Laurelle is not a huge fan of wild camping at remote beaches, but she enjoyed the stay at Punta Conejo more than at The Wall for a few reasons: the wind was a little less brutal; there was less visible impact from prior campers - perhaps due to the presence of a not-too-scary open-air outhouse; and the beach, being sandy rather than cobbles, was highly walkable.

There are some interesting sandstone formations
about an hour's walk south of Punta Conejo.

San Ignacio

Although dominated by coastline, our trip was not entirely about beaches. Smack in the middle of the sere Vizcaino Desert is the lovely mission town of San Ignacio, inhabited for centuries thanks to a fresh water oasis called Kadakaaman (arroyo of the reeds) by the Cochimi natives.

San Ignacio palm oasis

San Ignacio is also notable for its Jesuit mission founded in 1728, the 11th Spanish mission in the Californias.

The town is the jumping-off point for adventurers seeking a guided trek to the ancient cave murals of the Sierra de San Francisco, or to see the grey whales in the Laguna de San Ignacio.

Mission San Ignacio de Kadakaaman

Whale watching at Laguna de San Ignacio

Crossing the salt flats

Grey whales make one of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth. Every year they swim more than 10,000 miles round trip between their winter nursery lagoons of Baja California and the cold waters of the Arctic where they feed in the summer.

The road is now paved for about half the distance from town to the whale watching eco camps of San Ignacio Lagoon. First you pass palm oases with ranch houses and small settlements, then the road drops down and crosses the salt flats.

A salt evaporation pond

Antonio's Eco Tours was our host, which is among a handful of licensed outfitters on the lagoon, part of the larger Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve (click for map). All the outfitters offer basic accommodations and guided tours of the lagoon for to observe grey whale mothers and babies in a protected zone.

We parked for the night at the eco camp in order to be ready for the panga's departure at 9 a.m. the next day.

Pangas coming to shore

The tour was ~2 hours long, with probably 20 minutes each way spent motoring to the outer lagoon where boats are allowed to linger.

Getting the panga ready for boarding

According to the weekly count by the biologist observers, there were about 120 whales in the lagoon that day. Spouts were visible all around us, and several came close to our panga.

For unknown reasons, some whales who winter in San Ignacio Lagoon will approach boats and even allow themselves to be touched. Although we didn't experience the thrill of touching a whale, another boat nearby was so fortunate, much to the delight of its passengers.

Our boat did, however, observe three adult whales in the act of copulation (much to the delight and shouts of "cola, cola" from our skipper and our student interpreter), another important grey whale activity among those females not already pregnant. Our tour took place on the day before Valentine's Day, resulting in many jokes in both Spanish and English regarding whale amor.