On to La Paz, the capital of Baja Sur. Sadly, we found our favorite RV park in La Paz is closed forever. We took a quick tour of the Malecón before driving to free camping at Tecalote beach. La Paz was hit hard by the November 2023 hurricane Otis, and the marina still shows signs of wreckage.

At Tecalote we were in for another shock. On previous visits there were few campers: Only groups of Europeans in large fortress-like RVs and a smattering of others. But this time, nary a spot near the beach to be had. Apparently, the news is out. There were Canadians from at least 4 provinces, Europeans, and several US visitors. Some were spending the entire winter here in all manner of adapted buses and home-made campers as well as very deluxe models.

We parked off in the desert and managed to find a quiet, isolated spot.

 

There are signs of the hurricane along the beach

Nearby Balandra Bay now has timed entry because it’s too popular. However, it’s still lovely and with a kayak one can leave the crowds behind. Our little hidden mangrove bay is still there although the bird population is diminished.

Leaving La Paz we stopped along a bay for lunch and were joined by these birds.

Next stop south; Barriles. It’s one of a handful of cities nearly taken over by tourists. People from all over come here to spend weeks, or months. At the RV park where we stayed, some of the beach front spots are leased for years at a time, some for 25 years. People park their RVs here, buy a golf cart for local transportation and fly down every year to bask in the sun.

On a visit 7 years ago, we drove south from Cabo Pulmo after waiting in vain for the wind to die down so we could go snorkeling. Rounding a point, the coast veers to the west and the beaches are less exposed to the north winds. The uninhabited beaches stretched for miles; nearly all the way to the Cabos. We said at the time, “if we get back here, let’s plan to camp on one of these gorgeous beaches”. So this year, after thrashing our way through the awful traffic in San José del Cabo, we turned north to see what we could find. Oh my! Estate builders have been working overtime to line the beaches for miles with enormous houses . After a few hours of driving on a miserable dirt road, we found a relatively open beach. There were a few other campers and some fishermen, but we’d finally escaped the grand haciendas. On the horizon were about 30 commercial fishing boats all lined up. Perhaps where the Gulf meets the Pacific Ocean there is especially good fishing?

It is a lovely beach and we were treated to lots of humpback whales signaling to each other by flopping enormous pectoral fins on the water. They also did tail slaps. My 300mm lens is limited on such long-distance shots, but through the binoculars we were able to watch the show. Apparently it’s one way whales communicate with each other. Females slap their fins provocatively to attract males, or pairs of whales may pec slap to entice each other. Pretty sexy business: We were impressed and amazed at how many whales we saw.

All in all, a lovely place to spend a couple of days, but we must keep moving.

So back through both Cabos on a 4-lane highway to the Pacific coast where it became a sleepy two lane highway and another of our all-time favorite camping spots. OH, expletive deleted!! Now the 4-lane express highway circles around, doesn’t even have an exit for our camp beach, passes the once quiet and charming Todos Santos (now a tourist hot spot featuring endless T-shirt shops) and zooms on to La Paz. We were back in La Paz in less than 2 hours. Spent the night in the desert. Bah.

Back in San Ignacio again we met another camper who chided us for missing the Santa Ines beach RV park. It wasn’t much of a backtrack so we checked it out the next day after restocking our date bread supply.

We inflated our kayak and explored the endless beach. This time I remembered the little underwater camera. The snorkeling wasn’t great as the waves had muddied up the water, but it was still fun.

We met some gringos from the states who live here during the winter and asked them about the suspicious fishing boat that appeared every day just off the point. They said the boats were fishing illegally. They had contacted the authorities to try to stop them, but were told to mind their own business.

Overfishing in the Gulf is a huge problem. Vaquitas (a species of small porpoise endemic to the gulf) are the world’s most endangered marine mammal. There may be only 10 left. Their depletion is due to entanglement in illegal gill nets.

We return to our San Felipe camp west of town. It’s the staging camp for our sprint across the border. (We don’t like the idea of dawdling in border towns.) On the way into San Felipe, we found flower beds stretching for miles. Never have we seen such a display in this area. The November rains were a blessing for some.

At the wash where we made camp were more flowers and an insistent hummingbird begging me to take his picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all who have accompanied us on another Baja Adventure.