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entry 10: la paz, baja california sur to mazatlan, mexico 12/07/05

As we were winding our way south through La Paz, road signs appeared with the word “Sorriana”. After a half mile or so we saw a shopping center with the same word on it and as we needed a few hard to get items, such as read/write CD’s and Skippy peanut butter, we decided to pull in. It was around noon on Sunday, and with church having just ended it made it the official shopping day of the week. The parking area, which was as large as any arena parking lot, was packed. So packed that it took us ten minutes to find a spot to park the bikes, but luckily it was next to the entrance and in the shade. I make a lengthy mention of this store, not because of its size (married to Lynne I’ve seen my fair share mega stores) or what it contained (I watched the bikes while Lynne went inside), but because it gave me a chance to observe the everyday family out shopping. Now keep in mind this was the first large shopping center we have seen south of the border and judging by the number of people packed into the parking lot this was probably considered a shopping Mecca. Because parking is at a premium there are parking attendants in each row that help with holding up traffic while people move in and out of spaces and a guy in a control tower that uses a radio to control other “officers” when gridlock occurs or when an able body parks in a handicap parking space. I did not spot a single car with just one person in it. In fact families of five to eight people would pour out of Toyota compacts and big Ram pickup trucks. One family that I watched come out of the store consisted of six adults, two toddlers and two full shopping carts. It took about ten minutes to load everybody and everything into a Ford Ranger pickup (no extended cab). Funny thing was, we caught up to that same truck fifty miles down the road - tooling right along! And as is usually the case, the little ones waved and smiled as we passed and the adults nod their heads.

One of the santos (saints) adorning the buildings in Todos Santos.

We stopped in Todas Santos for a few days and if you’re an Eagles fan (music not football), then you are familiar with the song Hotel California. This small town is actually the home of the real Hotel California. Todos Santos is full of artists and craftsman and is VERY laidback. Choosing not to stay at Hotel California did not keep us away from their bar, located across the street. The margaritas were pretty tasty and the bartender, Jesus, really made the evening interesting as he was a native to the town and a wealth of information, plus a very nice guy.

A note of caution when riding into small towns: Do not arrive after dark or six o’clock, which ever comes first. A not so good way of discovering why this is is to lock yourself out of your hotel room at 6:30 in the evening. No key, no money and no hotel staff to be found. I will gloss over the bonehead moves I made leading up to this event but let’s just say it took two hours and a friendly store owner who knew the hotel owners (who had gone to La Paz for the night, probably to go shopping at that big store) and by some magic he knew where they kept all the spare room keys.

Reaching the southern tip of the Baja peninsula led us into Cabo San Lucas – a huge cruise ship and vacation destination known for its great sports fishing, crystal blue waters and white beaches. We were putting around the narrow streets, sweating our rears off, looking for a hotel when some guy taps me on the shoulder and then runs ahead to get Lynne’s attention. Jay, a guy we had met in Mulege and again in Todas Santos, had arrived the day before and upon spotting our bikes had tracked us for three blocks, which gives you some clue on how slow traffic moved or how fast Jay could run. This guy had been traveling a week longer than us, leaving Utah around September, riding on a Kawasaki KLR 650. At dinner that night we found out he was working on a law degree but decided to take some time off before hitting the books again. Jay – thanks for sharing some of your trip with us!

Cabo San Lucas was also the place where we had our first flat tire. Actually Lynne’s rear tire must have picked up a thorn several days ago because it was a slow leak and an observant guy driving beside us on the way into town mentioned to her that the tire looked low. Now the ideal situation to be in when this happens is to have a BMW repair center three miles down the road that can do the job in an hour and charge you forty bucks for a new tube and labor. And that’s exactly how it happened. The dealership had just opened earlier this year and with the help of a Scotsman by the name of Dougie the whole thing went smoothly.

Sunrise Cabo San Lucas style.

San Jose del Cabo is about thirty minutes east of Cabo San Lucas but is not quite the tourist town. We spent a few quiet nights there and enjoyed an evening watching entertainers in the town square, including comedy acts, juggling, fire twirling batons, people on stilts and some magic. It was a good time.

Our last stop on the Baja was back in La Paz, where we planned on catching a ferry over to Mazatlan on mainland Mexico. We found a good hotel, Club El Moro, next to the beach at a reasonable rate and they let us ride our bikes through their courtyard so we could park them next to the room. Bike note: there was a curb we had to ascend on our way to the room and Lynne’s bike, with it’s lowered chassis, hit one of the retracting springs on her sidestand, knocking off the small post it attaches to. The stand still works ok, so we will see how it goes before having the piece welded back on. I like to think of it as customizing her bike for future curb hopping. The hotel manager, Oscar, was a great guy who was kind enough to let us use his office and lobby to work on the computer and fax some items. Thanks Oscar!

Another great thing about this hotel – we had a fountain outside of our room and as I stepped out of our room around 7:30 in the morning, five or six hummingbirds were taking their baths. Rarely have I seen one sit still, let alone a group of them. Their little bodies lack the fluffy down most birds have so they looked more like green and brown clothes pins getting wet rather than a bird bathing. The ritual was repeated every morning.

It took us several tries to determine the days of departure for the ferry - the sales office at the port said one day, someone showed us a schedule that had a different day, and the internet site for the ferry company didn’t show them going to Mazatlan at all! So we went to the downtown sales office on Monday fully prepared to leave that day or, if it was Tuesday (which it was), we would spend the extra day in La Paz. So the extra day turned into a laundry/work on website day and the next afternoon we set off for the ferry terminal.

The ferry terminal, located about 15 miles north of La Paz, is very much like you would expect at an airport or bus terminal. Basically people sitting around waiting for their ship to come in. It was clean, had a convenience store, phones and a couple of TV’s. We had to have our bikes weighed and Lynne asked how heavy hers was. It came in at 280 kilos or about 616 lbs. I didn’t notice what mine was, but I know the tools and spare parts must add another 20 to 30 lbs. If I remember correctly the total load limit (bike/passenger/luggage) is around 850 lbs, so with my 190 lbs added to the mix…well let’s just say those bikes are damn heavy! Now knowledge is power, unless that knowledge has made you very aware of just how big that whale between your legs actually is.

We had been on two previous ferry rides so we knew a little of what to expect - but after watching one of the two Harley riders boarding in front of us dump his bike while crossing onto the boat we both had big eyes. Four crew hands picked him up and he was not hurt, pride aside. We crept on with no problems.

Our vertical accommodations on the Baja Ferry.

The cost of the ferry ride, which included our bikes, two passengers and a private cabin w/shower and toilet, was $400. The ride is 18 hours long and covers around 300 miles. It started out smoothly and the sunset was colorful as it sets over the Baja. It quickly turned into something that was closer to an amusement ride when we hit the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean. By the time the 6:30 dinner bell rang both Lynne and I were lying in our bunks, green to the gills, watching the suspended curtains run back and forth, head-to-toe, as they swung with the rhythm of the waves. No dinner, thank-you! The boat did settle down sometime during the night and with more of an appetite we were up for breakfast (which was last night’s meal with eggs added). The boat landed, we got off with no hassles and with the help of some locals we found our hotel in Mazatlan.

The Baja was enjoyable and I would recommend the trip to anyone wanting to have the feeling of independence, solitude and adventure. There are so few large cities that most of the communities you enter are fairly quiet and rustic. Sports-fishing is big on the coasts but the interior is no place you want to get lost or stranded in. The people are friendly and helpful and always got a big smile when I tried my Spanish on them. We look forward to seeing mainland Mexico.

From Lynne – Thoughts as we leave the Baja

• Best stroke of luck – running into Maggie and Norman – and the Baja 1000 - in Ensenada.
• Surprising to us – the number of American retirees with their super-mega-huge RV’s in Northern Baja.
• Pleasant finding – a good road to travel on - Highway 1 – our route for almost the entire 800 mile stretch of the Baja. And the really pleasant folks we met along the way - interesting in their own right and interested in others as well.
• Not quite as pleasant – fairly homogenous scenic vistas. After the first hundred or so miles the sand/cacti views become a bit tedious.
• Favorite towns – Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo. Favorite larger city – La Paz.
• We loved – the climate. Although warm, the Baja, especially the west side is very low in humidity. We had no rain the entire three weeks – it was GREAT riding weather.
• Would like to return for – whale watching. There are several places along the Baja known for whale watching from mid-December through March when the grey whales come to calve in the warm waters. We were just a bit early on this trip.