The Hixson Holiday Headlines: Baja Mexico

Baja, Mexico March 22-30, 2022

It has always been a dream for Larry and me to ride a motorcycle down the Mexican Baja Peninsula. We had ridden on his dad's motorcycle to Ensenada years ago for a quick overnight trip before we had the two beautiful daughters. So when Mike and Kit told us they were going again this year to see the grey whales, we jumped at a chance to go with them.

Looking at the map made the distances look close; however, it is a long way to the end.

We left Mike and Kit's home in San Diego stopping at the border at immigration in Tijuana to get a Mexican Visa....boy, that has changed! In the past we just sailed on through with no questions asked. Soon we were motoring down route one along the scenic route along the Pacific Ocean. It was gorgeous.

We passed a stately statue of Christ, somewhat like the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil...just not as big or as high in the sky on a mountain.

The sun just glistened off of the ocean.

Soon we were in the industrial town of Ensenada.

Mike guided us down the street lined with flags. We didn't stop because we had a ways to go to our hotel in San Felipe.

Mike opted to take the Route 3 through the mountains to the Sea of Cortez. Route 1 had turned into a lot of traffic lights and " Alto" (stop) signs making for a stop and go ride.

The road was nice and oh so scenic.

I have never seen Mexico so green with loads of wild flowers.

We made our first stop at lunchtime. You might think we look chilly. It was a very pleasant temperature.

Mi Pueblit Restaurant was quite tasty!

The decor was cute with large horse paintings on the walls. The food was authentic . I would call this place a keeper. It was off the main road. Mike and Kit had been here one time before so they knew it was a keeper.

If my memory serves me correct, I had a chicken taco and Larry had an egg and ham omelet.

Service was fast so we were back on the road in a jiffy.

We took a turn on Route 5 that headed towards San Felipe.

The green terrain turned desert terrain as we motored south.

By evening we were in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez.

We had a quiet night and a continental breakfast. Besides the toast and cereal, Larry loved the cookies.

Almost like a cruise ...no animal towels but a sweet flower on the TP.

It was a pleasant walk down the malecon to see the sights of this cute little town.

The next day's ride was full of natural beauty starting with a ride parallel to the Sea of Cortez.

After gassing up in San Felipe, we rode for about 75 miles. We made our first stop at Rancho Grande. There is really not many places to stop at....just a lot of fantastic scenery.

Fortunately, we found gas here so we filled up again.

Larry had a banana, crackers and lunch meat for a snack...no homemade tacos here.

Along the road there were numerous memorials for deaths that had occurred.

It is a different kind of beauty in this baron landscape.

As we headed back toward the west, the landscape changed from boulders to mountains to desert.

We were thrilled to see the Saguaro Cactus again.

I had previously thought that Tucson was the only place to have these unique plants....now I know better.

We stopped for lunch...but decided to just have a snack.

This was the only other gas available on our way to Guerreo Negro.

We did go through a couple of check points with armed guards....being on motorcycles was an advantage. They just flagged us through. If we had been a car, they would have pulled us over to take a look at everything.

The upper part of the Peninsula was call "Baja Norte". The lower part is called "Baja California Sur".

What an unusual greeting into the town of Guerreo Negro...a whale skeleton.

This area must be known for motorcyclist....This greeted us going into the town and there was one on the other end going out of the town,

We were so happy to see Guerreo Negro....at least our tushy was.

The Nautilus Restaurant is one of Kit's and Mike's favorites. We had a combination lunch/dinner here before going to our hotel.. service and food was excellent.

Kit and I fell in love with this mermaid's head. It was an unusual piece of art, but it wasn't for sale.

Kit loves the Mexican Margaritas....me too.

What a welcome site! We had spent two WHOLE days riding to get to Hotel Baja Oasis

in Guerreo Negro.

This was the scene across the street from our hotel...it reminded me of East Timor....

dirt road, tropical palm trees, dilapidated buildings.

Guerreo Negro has a high density of salt in the bay so engineers have created a salt lagoon.
Water is evaporated from the sea making this a big salt manufacturing area. It is a three year process.

We rode an hour and a half to the beach to see the whales. The beach was covered in these gorgeous shells.

We all loaded up in the tailgate of the truck and the drivers took us through shallow water out to the boat.

Our guide, Shari Bondi, got us situated and gave a little talk about the whales. What an encyclopedia of whale knowledge. Apparently the grey whales return to this bay to mate and have their babies every spring. This bay is more salty than the ocean making it a very easy for the newborn whales to learn to swim and learn the ways of the ocean.

Shari, a Canadian turned Mexican expat, has over thirty years of experience working with whales.

I am thrilled to have had this experience. We have seen whales numerous times from the shoreline and cruise ships from Alaska to Argentina...but to be able to pat one sounded so exciting.

We watched and waited our turn as another boat had an up close experience.

The whales kind of nestle up to the boat. They react to sweet talk. It is unbelievable.

While we waited Shari pointed out these blue jellyfish known as canon balls or

blueberries that were floating in the area. They do not sting as the ones in Virginia waters do.

The whales continued to appear

I am still in AWE of this incredible experience. Their barnacles are rough.

This baby was a little shy. It had not had the experience of human touch so it stayed some distance.

However, the momma put on a show.

We returned back to the shore after a three hour whale experience. We did not see any breeching, but were so thrilled about our up close experience. Today, March 26 was the last day of the season that Shari was taking a tour out. She told us that a couple of weeks earlier would have been an even better experience...the whales would have put on a breeching show and been even more active.

We returned to the headquarters and had some liquid refreshment as well as goat cheese and dried fish. It was a tasty treat.

Everyone on our boat, 8 adults and 2 children, were ecstatic over the days sightings.

It was a great time to just sit and chat with Shari about her many tales of whaling as an expert biologist who has had 30 years here on the Baja with whales. The lady even names the whales and looks for their return each spring.

After Margaritas and a nice walk on the beach, we loaded up in the van and headed back to the hotel.

Then we suited up for a two hour ride to La Bufadora Inn on the Pacific Ocean.

Baja Asuncion, Mexico

Shari Bondi shared her second job with us, owner of La Bufadora Inn....and yes, there was a bufadora out back! What is a bufadora? It is a marine geyser or blowhole where air is trapped in a sea cave which explodes upwards. Air is forced into the cave by wave action and is released when the water recedes. It is quite a site!

Shari's collection of shells and whale bones are fantastic.

It was worth the two day drive to find this gorgeous spot on our beautiful Earth.

This pretty picture was in our room...it definitely shows Shari's love for her daughter who is running the Whale Magic and Bufadora Inn business with her mom. Shari named her daughter, Sirena, which is Spanish for mermaid.

Shari has even named her boats after Sirena.

Our gorgeous view out our bedroom window.

Mike was checking out the bufadora.

In the evening we hitched a ride with our Grey Whale tourist friends to the Sunset Mary's Restaurant for a Lobster/Shrimp dinner. They were a lovely American family who were living in Mexico so it was fun to hear about their adventures.

Sunset Mary's really earns their name graciously.

What a marvelous end of the day!

Have you ever seen an outdoor flush toilet? Sunset Mary's has one.

Another funny story...Larry is a BIG breakfast eater and he was concerned about his next meal in the morning. He broke out his high school/college Spanish and was able to communicate to the restaurant owner that he wanted to buy a couple of eggs(dos huevos) from him. The owner gladly gave up four of his fresh eggs....we had seen chickens out back when watching the sunset. I was impressed that he was able to reach back in his mind and come up with that.

The next day we took off for a walk into Baja Asunsion....looking for the infamous weekend fish tacos for lunch.

We passed the fish factory and numerous fishing boats.

Kit is thrilled that the Mexican towns have started to collect plastic in these heart shaped collectors.

We saw one in in San Felipe.

Saw lots of homes with whale bone collections along our walk.

Another reminder of East Timor....a palapa.

Blooming beauties with a saguaro cactus

Sherri's dog always escorted us...to Sunset Mary's and our walk downtown.

We were on the right track....pescado (fish) tacos and camaron (shrimp too)! Here we come!

This is the place! Hooray we found it!

This cute stone seahorse adorned the walls.

Now this is authentic...just loving our adventure...dirt floors and all!

Each of us ordered one fish and one shrimp taco. It was yummy!

Larry and Kit went next door to get us something to drink....nothing was available in the restaurant.

After our meal we wandered back toward La Bufadora on another street and we came across a soft tortilla shop. Two ladies were in there making fresh tortillas. Larry had to buy a dozen. They made for a nice egg tortilla for breakfast the next morning.

We enjoyed beachcombing on the way back.

The flowers in Mexico were gorgeous!

Amaryllis and

huge bush sized geraniums were scattered along our walk.

La Bufadora looked mighty fine that afternoon.

In the evening we walked back into town to this quaint little restaurant that was directly on the inlet of the Pacific Ocean. We were the only patrons for the evening. It was fun to watch the sailboats come in to moor for the night. The meal was mighty fine.

The next morning we headed back north, the way we came. The Lynch's did not want to meander up Route 1 with all the stop and go traffic. We were thrilled to just motorcycle in any direction.

We stopped in this little cafe for coffee and Mexican pastry. Larry enjoyed the crusty novella cookies.

Soon we were saying adios to Baja California Sur.

Many signs indicated big dips in the road where flooding occurs.

We enjoyed a few curves through the desert....

and the unusual vegetation.

We look cold...but we were not. The trip really had some very nice temperatures....a little cool in the morning, but warm by late morning. I can't imagine coming here much later than this time of year.

We took a more leisurely ride coming back and stopped in Rancho Grande at Alfonsinas. It was down a long dirt road. Kit had told us that this was supposed to be a really nice hotel on the Bay of Cortez .It was a gorgeous setting; there were no electrical outlets in the room. There was actually only dim solar powered lighting. It was an unique experience...we enjoyed having an early evening.

Lunch, dinner and breakfast were included in the hotel.

The next morning we had a marvelous sunrise.

That morning we had breakfast with another couple who had traveled to Alfonsinia for a weekend getaway from San Diego on his and her motorcycles. They were a lot of fun to share stories with.

Soon it was time to mount up and head toward the Sea of Cortez and San Felipe. This morning was a little cool but it warmed up as the day progressed.

I still find it hard to believe that we have motorcycled for a week in Baja Mexico.

We crossed lots o mountainous terrain.

Can you tell the clouds were hiding the sun?

When the sun popped out, the water turned a deep blue color.

We stopped in San Felipe for gas...were we ever surprised that there was a long line to purchase gas. Surprise, SURPRISE!

Locals were filling up barrels to take out in the desert for a four wheeler race that was taking place over the weekend. It is hard to believe, but several stations were actually out of petrol because of this event.

After passing through another check point....

we rode into the most beautiful cloud formations to behold.

We stopped at Mi Pueblit Restaurant and stayed at the Hotel. Rain was coming....and it poured around 5:00pm.

Mike and Larry enjoyed sitting under the porch.

The next morning the sun was out....but not for long. I'm so thankful that Larry had packed our rain gear. There was a drizzle here and there, but we were comfortable.