GUERRERO NEGRO
A bitter sweet goodbye leaving San Felipe and its stunning sunrises but we were ready to get on the road. We’d heard the ‘freeway’ was badly battered from hurricanes over the years but fortunately we weren’t headed far. Gonzaga Bay, a rural town a few hours south with a beachfront palapa was waiting for us.
The stories were true and the 5south was a long and bumpy ride. Many detours and white board rattling dirt roads. Fortunately this is exactly the terrain our home on wheels was made for, we arrived unscathed and ready for a cold cerveca.
We pulled into a small camp and full time fishing village for lunch only to find the cantina closed up. Fortunately we popped onto their $1 WiFi to locate a backup plan and shoot out a few emails.
Just down the road a new eco hotel, Alfonsinas, had recently opened. A gorgeous ocean view terrace with fresh squeezed margaritas and ceviche awaited. Next time we’ll be staying here!
Instead we drove on further to a deserted beach down the bay. An idyllic setting if it weren’t for the atrocious flies. The next morning we were reluctant to leave the camper as we could hear their swarms. We let Vince run his energy out and bugged outta there!
Filled up with gas and we were on our way over the mountains and to the Pacific. A very tough stretch of road, teeth chattering and truck rattling. We were in awe of the Californian RVs and semi trucks completing the same stretch.
We’d heard about a secret palm tree oasis on the coast and followed our GPS pin through the Federale check point and to the sea. The dirt road led us into the palms but we carried on to see if we could find camp near the waves. A perfect sand dune and beautiful rocky beach awaited us. An old German couple in a VW pulled up to chat, explaining how different their trip to Baja had been 20 years ago. Our next visitors were looking to trade gasoline for firewood which we gladly accepted.
Sunset was nearing so I busted out the fishing gear and walked out into the ocean. Nearly an hour later I was prepared to give up but low and behold I caught two! We put together a campfire meal of onions, corn, potatoes, squash and fresh reef fish. A perfect meal under an extremely vivid sunset.
We enjoyed the fire until the moon showed its rings and headed to bed. Cheers Baja, viva la Mexico!
The next morning we pulled off to walk through the sand dunes before arriving at Guerrero Negro. The town was small but we had work to do and the WiFi was fast-ish. Spent a night at the Hotel TerraSal determining our route south! Next up Mulege and Coyote Bay!
