Feb 26, 2011 - Whales in Baja California

A long overnight bus journey took us to Guerrero Negro, about half way up Baja California. Over the last few months we have mastered the art of sleeping in all sorts of places, so the overnight journeys aren't a problem, except that the buses get stopped periodically by the army searching for drugs in transit. Mexico has a massive problem with rival drug gangs fighting for territorial control, and there is a very noticeable armed police / military presence all over northern Mexico. Anyway, they stop the bus, you all have to get off while...

Feb 25, 2011 - Back to the Pacific

We drove a little under 200 miles today and it was a relatively easy day. We were laughing as we all pulled out from the beach. Dan & Carol had set an 8:30 a.m. departure time, but by 8:20 a.m. they were almost all alone at the beach. Dan said he thought he was the tail gunner when we all bailed like rats abandoning a sinking ship….we weren’t really anxious to leave Playa Santispac but it seemed everyone was just ready to go this morning. It was a little windy but the roads were pretty good. We stopped after about an hour to get Foxy out...

Apr 9, 2010 - Another travel day

We were on the road bright and early this morning with quite a long drive ahead of us to Guerrero Negro. Once again this is just a travel day with not much to report. The scenery changes on this section of journey as we head inland into the desert. We arrived in Guerrero Negro and set up camp at Mario’s which is a tour company, restaurant, and campsite. Mario’s is just south of the military base and agricultural spray when you enter town. The agricultural spray charges 20 pesos and you drive over a spray which wets the underside of your...

Feb 18, 2010 - Guerrero Negro - Whale Watching

Yesterday we went out in boats to see the Gray Whales. There are about 10 people in a boat and we took three boats for our group. The Gray Whales are protected by a bay here in Guerrro Negro and they come here every year to give birth and mate. Our tour was very successful as we were able to find several whales that wanted to be petted and play with our groups. Almost everyone was able to touch a whale. Even Marthica. What a wonderful and enjoyable experience. Our captain said we were very lucky and that a lot of tours did not get the close...

Nov 23, 2009 - MEX: sel pour les routes de Québec

Cette journée d’arrêt, toujours à Guerrero Negro, permet de poursuivre le lavage et le ménage. Nous allons nous promener encore une fois vers les lagunes, pas loin des immenses mares de sel qui est exploité commercialement. Il semble que ce sel soit celui qui est utilisé au Canada l’hiver, sur les routes. Moi je préfère voir le sel ici qu’au Canada, cet hiver… ;-) Un dîner mexicain de tacos et quelques courses à l’épicerie : Gérard cherche un produit genre Raid pour tuer les fourmis mexicaines qui veulent faire du camping avec nous. Il a de...

Nov 22, 2009 - MEX: Guerrero Negro

Le trajet Catavina vers Guerrero Negro se passe bien, la plupart du temps dans des vallées sur une route pas large mais où nous sommes seuls en ce dimanche AM. Nous arrivons au camping de Mario’s restaurant, à Guerrero Negro, vers l’heure du dîner. Nous sommes les seuls clients de l’immense camping et nous sommes traités aux petits soins. Nous avons 2 chiens blancs comme gardiens personnels et on mange des burritos délicieux chez Mario. Une promenade nous fait découvrir une ville assez développée, en raison du tourisme important généré par...

Jul 8, 2009 - Up the Baja

By now you all know that we made the trip up the Baja safely. Our first night we stayed in Guerrero Negro, inexpensive clean little place and had a great dinner at the Malarimmo. The picture posted is at Catavina. We got to the border about 3pm, and had an hour wait to cross. There was still plenty of daylight, and we weren't tired, so we drove on to Veronica's house to see the grandkids. That was a nice visit. The next day, San Jose.

Apr 2, 2009 - Guererro Negro, BCS

Thursday 4/2 – After coffee and breakfast burritos we headed for Guerrero Negro (Baja California Sur). Stayed at the Hotel Ballena – friendly, clean and inexpensive. Tanka made some friends there, too. After checking into hotel, we drove out to the salt mining area. We stopped at guard station on the way back and the guard gave us a huge salt crystal (which we've since given away - hoping to be able to stop there on way back for another one). We then drove out to the beaches where the whale watching tours head out from and stopped by...

Mar 4, 2009 - Back in Guerrero Negro

Today we drove west across the peninsula to the Pacific coast. Both Laura and I have been sick with colds so we are going to sit here for a couple of days until we are feeling better. After a week of temperatures in the mid 30s, it was a cool 24 degrees today. Very nice.

Feb 23, 2009 - Whale Watching

After the tequila antics we headed back to the campsite, had dinner and went back into town for ice cream. Shannon was still in a party mood so we stopped at "The Giggling Marlin" which was hopping. We had a great time dancing (no more tequila, however) and people-watching. We were sad to leave Cabo San Lucas but decided we'd try to do some whale watching at Guerrero Negro which is on the west coast about halfway up the Baja. Apparently from what people had told us, that was a great place to see whales. The first day we drove about 8 hours...

Feb 8, 2009 - Guerrero Negro

Mario’s – Guerrero Negro – February 3, 2008 We are back on the ocean front today at “Black Warrior”, where we will go whale watching tomorrow. Another group in the campground went today, and said they had a great time. The grey whales come so close to the boats they could pet them!! Anyway, a before breakfast start again, and then a stop a couple of hours down the road we stopped for brunch at a little restaurant. A great breakfast, even for a non-breakfast eater. Scrambled eggs with sausages added, and some kind of spice that was good...

Jan 13, 2009 - Gerrero Negro, Baja Sur

Woke up today to the sound of roosters crowing. Today we had to drive across the what the Mexicans call the Baja Central Desert. The Americans call it the “Baja gas gap”. It is 350 km drive across the desert with no gas stations or services of any kind. Actually it is not a separate desert but is part of the Sonoran Desert. The Sonora covers most of southern Arizona and the south east corner of California. From there it sweeps south into Mexico and then west to the coast in central Baja. The coastal area of California and northern Baja are...