El Rosario to Mulege

The first thing we did before we departed from El Rosario was top off our gas tank.  The stretch we were about to embark on was probably the longest day of the trip.  I noticed the lady filling up next to us get out of her car with toilet paper.  Rule # 7 while traveling in Mexico:  Bring toilet paper.  I bet if you brought an extra soft, 16 pack, Charmin double roll you could bargain it for a twelve pack of Indio.

When we left El Rosario, we did not see one gas station for about a 250 miles until Guerrero Negro (or G Negro on the road signs).  We had an extra jerrycan in the back, so we were pretty confident we were going to make it unless something sudden occurred.  And just in case were stranded for some reason, rest assured, we could count on flagging down a "Ángeles Verdes" or Green Angel, who could get us on our way.

This 250 mile stretch had character.  One thing I noticed was that instead of gas stations, there were a bunch of Llanteras (or used wheel shops).  Who cares if you don't have gas, you'll never run out of tires!

In my opinion, the 250 miles stretch between El Rosario and Guerrero Negro was probably my favorite "driving" part of the entire trip.  You start from the Pacific Ocean, cruise through a lush and beautiful section of desert in the middle of Baja, then you hit the Pacific Ocean at Guerrero Negro and then cruise back through the middle of Baja where there is this beautiful stretch of rock formations that go's on for 50 miles or so.  And after that, you hit the peacefulness of the Sea of Cortez.  And let me tell you, the Sea of Cortez side of Baja is absolutely stunning!!!  In some ways, the topography is similar to countries in South East Asia.  But that's for the next blog entry.

The 50 mile stretch of magnificent rock formations.

Taking it all in while looking for some surf.  Why?  Because it's out there, somewhere.

I was told once that Baja is one big desert with beaches along the way.  But that's not true.  That is entirely off.  Baja is full of different deserts, all having their own character and characteristics.  I never imagined deserts being so lush and grand.  There were some parts of the drive that rivaled the view of The Grand Canyon.  And the freshness of Baja, from that dry yet moist air, the way the light of the sun and moon shines in this part of the world, and all the vast, unpopulated areas.  Add a hint of sea breeze and all those gaps from my regular home life (minus Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory) were filled. 

An Oasis

Every fifty miles or so we'd run into these beautiful Oasis.  Full of trees and life, one could see that Baja is a very special part of the world.  With the Pacific on one side and the Sea of Cortez on the other, the desert's soil is full of minerals and vitamins most deserts do not have. Because of this, Baja is lush with life.  I know I have used the word "lush" a few times now, but that's my best way of describing Baja's beauty.  Simply, Baja is full of Lush deserts.

Tacos El Muelle.  B.D. recommended while in Guerrero Negro.

Half way to Mulege, we stopped at Guerrero Negro.  This town draws the line between Baja Norte and Baja Sur.  Besides being a big fishing town, I think it's also known for whale watching.  Whale sculptors and whale paintings are everywhere.  On a side note, just before we entered town we had to stop at the Mexican Agriculture Office.  For some odd reason, we had to pay ninety pesos to pass.  I don't know about that folks....

When I started surfing Baja a few months back, I was always vexed by Mexican Military Check Points.  They always picked me out of the lineup for their daily car search spree.  They were never pushy about it, they always asked politely.  Along with the politeness and a guy behind a stack of tires with a torrent pointed my way, I always obliged.  But as I got used to the check points, I realized that the soldiers providing the service were just kids.  They probably came from small towns in Mexico where there isn't much, and are doing everything in their power to not only move up in the world, but also provide support for their families, never leaving their roots.  With the small Spanish that I speak, I always try to actively engage with them, ask them how their days are going, if they need any water or snacks.  They always see my surfboard and know I'm not trying to get into any trouble other than big surf I really don't belong in. And I'm pretty thankful Mexico does this.  They are just letting everybody know that the military is present, so don't fuck around.  And I can dig that.  These mighty warriors above were sweathearts.  They look hard and probably are hard, but just as stoked as the next surfer passing by their point.

MC and a shaggy dog.

We ended this segment of the trip in Mulege, a town on the Cortez Coast.  MC Google mapped the distance we were traveling that day, and boy, Google was way off.  About a 100 miles off.  I think we drove an estimated 400 miles.  We even broke Rule #2:  Don't drive at night.  This was my first time driving in at night in Mexico, and from all the stories I've heard, this was a big no-no.  Nerves were starting to jolt, but the worst thing that could happen, well, never really happened.  We ended up at this pretty nice hotel in Mulege.  I forgot the name of the place, but it was really near the main square and basketball courts.  I liked Mulege a lot.  It is a very quaint town and appears very community oriented.  According to our hotel concierge, Mulege was safe enough to leave our boards racked to top of the car (which we didn't do.  "One can never be to safe with one's magic stick"  that according to Swayze, the Mexican Jedi).

Next blog:  Mulege to Cerritos...  Insta swell!

PS.  If you missed any legs of the trip so far, click on the link!

1.  Tijuana to El Rosario
2.  El Rosario to Mulege
3.   Mulege to Cerritos
4.  Four Days In Los Cerritos: Part I
5.  Four Days In Los Cerritos: Part II
6.  The Baja Ferry

Tijuana to El Rosario

I got an email from "MC" late October asking me if I wanted to take a drive from San Diego, through Baja and down to San Pancho in Mainland Mexico.  Apparently I didn't care about my job too much and said yes.  MC is working on making San Pancho her full time home.  And I'm trying to full time surf, so we had the word "full-time" in common, at least.

Somewhere in Ensanada.

We started the trip by crossing the Otay border around 8 a.m.  We bought our tourist visas for 290 pesos at the immigration office just across the border.  It's a funny process because you have to go to the immigration office, fill out a visa/immigration form, walk 200 yards to the  'bank', pay them a couple hundred pesos, then walk back to the immigration office and get stamped and approved.
 
During this somewhat drawn out process, Swazy, a long time border hopper, whispered to me in some kind of Jedi mind trick from Hillcrest,"Remember, the details and luxuries you enjoy in the U.S. do not apply to Mexico.  Enjoy the chaos.  Enjoy the simplicity.  Relax my young Jedi, your on Mexican time now".  I carried this mantra with me all the way to San Pancho.  Thank you my Mexican Jedi Master.

Banjercito, where you make your $250 deposit.

Passport stamped and visas approved and paid for, we then headed to the "Banjercito"to pay for the registration of MC's car.  The "deposit" was $250 dollars.  The reasoning behind this is Mexico wants to make sure they at least get some money out of a Gringo for registration reasons because most Gringos who cross with a car, stay.  I call this the Salsipuedes effect (Salsipuedes literally means, "Leave if you can").  So for now, instead of calling foreigners to Mexico Expats & Gringos, I'm going to call them Salsipuedes, and for visitors, I'll mention them as Sí se puedes, meaning "yes you can", or "it can be done" as in, if you put your will to it, you can leave Mexico and all it's beauty. Back to the Banjercito, if you have the strength to Sí se puede and cross back into the U.S. with your car, then you get your $250 back.  But if your six months late on your return, kiss that $250 good bye.  There are many other reasons that I'm not going to get into for this deposit, not just for Salsipudes, so don't think your special Gringos. 

"Get Lost" juice in Tijuana.

After we paid our deposit to drive in controlled chaos we proceeded to get lost in Tijuana for almost two hours.  I think Tijuana in English means "lost".  I always get lost in Tijuana.  My saving grace is that I always go west and find the Costco along the Tijuana River.  Once at Costco, I get my hotdog and diet coke for under $3 along with my mind and I'm on my way to San Ysidro.  One tip for those that get lost in T.J., go west.  You'll eventually find the Mexican 1 that will take you to the coast and out of Tijuana's grasp.

Senor and Senora Choppio

Chopipo.  Damn good stuff and B.D. recommended.

An hour and half south of T.J., we stopped off in Ensanada to top of our gas tank for the long stretch of desert ahead.  While at the gas station, the attendant tipped us off to what he and three other guys labled "los mejores tacos de pescado" in town and sent us to "Chopipo".  That spot still makes me want to go "mmmm".  Also while in Ensanda we found the best rates to change our Dollars to Pesos, which was around 12.5 Pesos to the Dollar.  I heard back in the day that the Peso was going as high as 13, but 12.5 was the best I seen it during the trip.  I really got ripped by my bank, which gave me 8 pesos to the dollar, but I only changed a quarter of the Dollars I had budgeted for the trip, so I wasn't that pissed, but pissed nonetheless because of the thought of banks and their bullshit charges, rates and what not.

O.K. kids, who is the Bull and who is the Matador?

Once we hit the open road towards the next big town, La Paz, I realized something quite important.  If you are a driver in Mexico, you are either a Bull or a Matador (this according to the Baja surfing Guide).  If you ever read a Hemingway book or witnessed a bull fight live, you understand that once the bull steps in the ring, he is dead.  The bull goes through this long procession of being stabbed by first, three matadors.  After they are done with the bull, the superstar Matador gets to show off and go at it with a half dead bull. I witnessed several bullfights while in Pamplona half drunk and half testosteroned out after running with those damn things to lay witness that it always ends up bad for the bull.

A two lane highway just became a four lane highway.  How cool is that!

On the one lane highways of Baja, Big Rigs rule.  If they want to drive in the wrong lane, no one is stopping them.  If they want to pass you, they'll do just that.  If they want to get hammered on some tequila and drive their rig like a stock car at the same time, they'll go right ahead.  So in essence, Big Rigs = Matador, Everyone else = Bulls.  We understood that quickly and made sure we didn't step into the ring.  

Once you pass La Bufadora, Baja highways becomes a one lane, Matador hungry, pass as you please, desert stretch and on and off dirt road autopista.  You run into small towns like the one pictured above.  The only things paved in these towns are the autopista (or highway) and the Pex Mex (gas stations).  We stopped at a lot of Pex Mex's to top of our gas tank as we didn't know if there would be any gas for hundreds of miles.  But Pex Mex's are pretty cool.  Seven out of ten of them have nice bathrooms (bring your own toilet paper), snacks, water and air condition.  I'm down with all four of those things.   

The Cactus Hotel

We ended this leg of the trip in the small town of El Rosario, which is about 220 miles into Baja from San Diego.  Just west of this town are a bunch of fun breaks that I didn't surf.  Yeah, I'm bummed about it, but it wasn't my car and neither was I the captain.  All good though, I talked to a couple of folks in town and they gave me on the dot directions on how to get to some sweet surf when I return back to these parts with some of the Kiwis in 2014.  Can't wait!


We ended up crashing at the Cactus Hotel.  Nice digs and 24 hour security so we were able to leave our stuff in the car and our boards racked.  I saw some folks parked in the lot behind in their campers and winnebagos.  So I guess you can even pay to park and sleep during the night at this place as well.  Anyways, this place is B.D. recommended, but keep your doors and windows closed because the mosquitoes are fierce. 

Dinner at Mama Espinoza's with some Salsipuedes.

We ended the day having dinner at "Mama Espinoza Restaurant".  I guess she is like 108 years old (no shit) and still runs the kitchen.  Foods o.k., Margaritas are huge.  This place has a million pictures of the Baja 1000 and three pictures of surfing.  I guess this Resteraunt/ Hotel is a big stop for the Baja 1000 and quite the rage when it goes down.  We ended up eating dinner with a couple Salsipuedes that live in Todos Santos full time and make their way back to the States twice a year to tie up loose ends and see family.  One of the Salsipuedes said that he and his wife took a vacation to Todos Santos, flew back to the States, packed their shit and moved back in a month.  Now that's what I call decisiveness!  My kind of peeps.  The Salsipuede said he loves it there and surfs La Pastora daily.  Once we get to that part of the story, you'll see why, and how I fell in love with that region of Baja and almost went Salsipuede myself.

Hey guys, I'm going to try and trace my steps from San Diego, through Baja and down to Sayulita in a handful of blogs.  I'm doing this for: 1.  Help others who want to take the trip and 2.  It was a fun trip and I really want to share it with you guys and gals.  Hopefully I'll be able to blog every third day, but who knows, since I got back, I've been totally running on Mexican time. 

Home

Met up with the Kiwi Hippies for a club weekend. Besides raging and almost destroying Panama Red's "Shop", we caught a few tasty chest high waves like this one. Panama Red is working on the full length video, so stay tuned.


Home from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

The Last Wave of The Day

This was the last real wave I caught since the flat spell began. This is the closest I'll get to surfing until the next swell. Which I think is Tuesday ;)

The Last Wave of The Day from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

Tubed for a lifetime...

This kat gets tubed more times in a day then I will in my entire lifetime.

Popotla

I discovered this little fishing village on a whim with a few friends after a local told us of a wave that was breaking near this village. We didn't find the wave, but we found this little tasty gem. It's on the dirt road just south of Baja Studios. It's what a fishing village should be: totally local, boats lined up against the shore line, fish ready to sell right off the boat, men and women wearing rubber boots, small kitchens cooking up that days catch, big birds waiting around for left overs and the aroma of fresh fish. I stop by here in the mornings before I surf, pick up some red snapper, camarones, lobster and maybe some pulpo if I can find it. I bring a cooler full of ice for my catch, surf, come home and fry up some red snapper, cook some fresh rice and boil some sabaw (pigeon for "soup"). My wife loves it when I come home from a good session in Baja ;)

Three Feet Til Sunrise

Three foot early morning wave just south of California.


Three Feet Til The Sun Rises from Kookingitup on Vimeo.