The True Adventures of Fred & Martha (fictional names to hide their true identities) the by Malcolm & Kathy!

Kathy, I and our 2 Baja rescue dogs set out for a 6 month long stay in Baja and were happily camped at Playa Juancalito just 25km S. of Loretto, when we received an email from some Canadian friends asking us to look out for 2 recently retired friends who had suddenly upped and left for Baja without getting any hints or pointers from them.....The email header read " BAJA VIRGINS HEADING YOUR WAY...please rescue" 

Within a week a BC registered truck appeared on the beach looking for Kathy and I, appearing very tired and stressed the couple introduced themselves (to avoid embarrassment let’s call them Fred & Martha).  Fred & Martha had left their 5th Wheel in an RV Park in Loretto, as the only wish Martha had was to fly home as soon as possible and not “Face that ROAD again”!!

Over a couple of Margaritas their sad but interesting tale was told!

After very long driving days thru the US, they arrived at the TECATE border crossing at dusk.....they crossed into Mexico intending to find an RV camp in Tecate unfortunately for them there are none!!!  Upon finding out that this was indeed the truth they opted to drive to Tijuana approximately 70 km’s to find a Walmart!! Instead they found a Costco, after spending the night in the Costco parking lot, they left Tijuana in the early morning, where they encountered a crooked motorcycle cop who charged them with speeding (Fred & Martha were the slowest thing on the road) and after a substantial “Mordida” (bribe) they continued on their way!  Let’s pause a minute and discuss what they should have done! Experienced Rver’s generally use the Tecate or Mexicali route!

Had they had done their research on Baja they would have discovered “Baja Camping by Mike and Terry Church” or many other websites such as Vagabundos.com; Discover baja.com; Baja insider.com, where they would have then realized that the closest camping was 70kms S. on the road to Ensenada and they needed to go over three mountain passes.

They arrive early afternoon and camp on the US side at Potrero state park then walk over the border to get visitor visas stamped and paid for....also good for first timers to explore the route out of town thru the narrow streets before pulling their rigs this avoids mistakes with 4ways and traffic lights that attract the police!

A few words of caution:

• Never pull a rig at night on Baja roads (see pic below you will understand why!!)
• Never use the Tijuana crossing (corrupt border guards and police as well as dense traffic)
• Never pay a corrupt police official, even if you are at fault go with him to the police station to pay the fine and get a receipt. If the charge is false the policeman will usually back down and paying encourages bad behavior, also there is an organization in California S.O.S that will follow up on complaints with a badge number.

 

As the virgins continue on their journey (700kms later) they drive all the way through Baja Norte the last 50 kms in the dark to overnight behind a Pemex gas station in Villa Jesus Maria, Pemex camping is usually safe as a last resort, but never camp alone on a deserted lay by a definite invite for trouble!

The area that Fred and Martha were traveling is barren desert with many black cows (Signs for GANADO) on the roadside, heavy fog is possible (signs for NEBLINA) as you are driving down the pacific side, as well as many areas that were not repaired due to the hurricane of 06 where many of the roads are washed out with huge potholes, winding roads with no shoulders, and many Mexican highway trucks that run hard and fast overnight.

After safely spending the night they head off the next day to Loretto (450kms) on roads that were heavily damaged by “Hurricane John”, these roads are hard even in a car or someone with Mexican 1 Highway experience!

Most RVer’s heading into Baja tend to drive no more than 300-400kms per day, and always seek camping around 3pm as it is dark by 6pm.  Some directional and camping tips that we can recommend are:  The first camping area after Tecate is usually south of San Quinten at Playa El Pabillion or Rancho Celito Lindo, and also a great place to catch up meet Baja regulars and catch up on the news, the next stop is usually San Ignacio in the date palm orchards (how about 10 lbs of dates falling on the rig roof overnight). Just a little tip this would be a good time for the co-pilot to have a reference book of Mexican road signs, as many an unsuspecting gringo has launched their rig into moon orbit over an unmarked TOPE or REDUCTOR DE VELOCIDAD (speed bump), or broken a spring when hitting a VADO (water channel run off from an arroryo) that has washed out after a storm. This is to say nothing of road edges washed away by flood waters and large boulders on the road. Half way down Santa Rosalia hill, the steepest in Baja was a large boulder completely blocking the down lane on a corner. Keep your speed down so that you can stop your rig within your line of sight. At this point, it may be prudent to discuss the "left turn signal" anomaly of Baja driving. If the vehicle in front is indicating left it can mean I consider it safe for you to overtake, or I'm turning left. Brake lights, crossing the centerline or hand signals usually mean they are turning.                   

Anyways on with Fred & Martha’s adventure, after a margarita or two and much encouragement the virgins decided to pull their rig out to the beach the next day ....free camping...and give it a chance. We showed them the delights of small town Loretto, where to grocery shop, where to enjoy a good meal, and introduced them to the local hikes and excursions. Unfortunately we were unable to show them the 3 incredible canyon hikes in the Sierra Gigante Mountains behind the beach with their waterfalls, oasis palms, and great views over the islands in the sea of Cortes. The trails were thick with weeds and mosquitoes from the heavy rains of hurricane John....20 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. We look forward to exploring these canyons to see what changes the heavy rains have brought on our way home. Well the Baja Virgins next problem came at the internet café (about $1 per hour). Their telus email was difficult to access in Mexico, (check with your service provider such as G-mail, Yahoo and hotmail who have no problems). Oh just a another tip before we continue with the tale, be aware that many credit union debit cards do not work in the Baja...check before you leave, as for money, travelers cheques are a hassle to cash,  Credit cards are only accepted in large cities and Debit cards are the best and easiest to use to access pesos and U.S dollars create problems with rates of exchange so it is better to use pesos exclusively. In most small towns and villages it is impossible to use more than a 200 pesos note ($20.) so keep all your coins, and 20/50 and 100 pesos notes for purchases in small tiendas.  Use the 500 pesos notes from the bank machines at gas stations and city supermarkets where making change isn't a problem.
 
Drifted again just want to make sure we get all the tips in this tale so hear we go. The Baja virgins thought they were getting poor gas mileage but when paying for fuel with U.S. 100 dollar bills when the pump reads in pesos is an invite for trouble. Pemex official exchange is always less than the bank exchange and the gas jockey will have problems doing the exchange. It is best to know your truck tank capacities and only ask for 300, 400 or 500 pesos worth of fuel. No change needed equal no mistakes. However, regular Baja travelers know that certain Pemex stations take delight in trying to rip off travelers. 130 pesos was lost by the virgins at the Santa Rosalia Pemex....no Baja regular would dream of buying fuel there.  This station has been documented in Baja travel magazines many times as less than honest.  Pemex stations also have a habit of running out of fuel, and best to carry 2 five gallon extra cans, and also fill up when down to half a tank. Always try to keep enough fuel to make the next station just in case. BCAA Baja roadmaps-mark fuel stations with a G or a D symbol…

Okay back to Martha and Fred after a few days on the beach Fred said his batteries wouldn’t charge...after checking his solar 100 watt panel and his 2 X 6V batteries nothing seemed wrong ...Marthawas playing music thru her computer with inverter on...I noticed the fridge running on 110v...[20amp draw]..Solar gave 8amp!....found fridge control on auto seek....once set on propane only all ok...KNOW YOUR RIG

Fred had now mastered the art of margarita making, so 5pm happy hours were HAPPY!...after 2weeks of swimming, snorkeling, and trips to town they felt well enough to want to venture south to La Paz the capital of Baja. The 360km drive south was uneventful...our local knowledge of La Paz and the use of the truck route bypass eliminated the downtown topes, 4way stops and lights...we parked up on the back road at Playa Tecolote to walk in and check what had changed since last year....getting stuck in the sand with a rig on is no fun....we were lucky to get into our favorite sea front spot. During our 2 weeks with the "virgins" on Tecolote we showed them the back streets of La Paz...the MERCADOS [markets]…we ate at taco stands never graced by gringos and no one got sick and the food was MUY DELICIOSO as usual....when in Baja why eat at McDs when you can have CARNE ARRACHERA at the same price!......The GRINGO biased fish taco stands on the Malecon gave 2 pcs of fish for 13pesos...our back street stands gave 3-4 pcs for 10pesos!!!!....we signed up for SKYPE [computer i/net phone]...better than local phone with LADATEL at 50cents/min to Canada...Skype is .021cents/min!!!!....

This is our 6th full winter in Baja....and we LOVE it...La Paz is more home to me than Victoria!!!.....YES THE ROADS ARE NARROW but with planning and care should present NO HAY PROBLEMA SENOR!!!!......EH I’ve driven the Trans-Canada in Saskatchewan what could be worse?.....IF you plan to visit...talk with :Baja afficionardos'...read the books, surf the web...KNOW YOUR RIG and TRUCK.......virtually every food and service is available in the larger centers...BUT if you drive DIESEL...bring your spares...filters etc hard to find........FELIZ  VIAJE  [happy driving].

The Island RV Guide would like to thank Malcolm & Kathy for their great tips and story about travel in Baja…Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Baja Virgins” the continuing adventure in the May issue of the Island RV Guide.