¡Bienvenidos a México!

We did it!  We are finally exploring Mexico, and although it hasn't been exactly what we expected it has been nice to experience new places and a new culture.  Every night we got to bed excited for what tomorrow will bring.

December 9^th – Mexico GO (aka- My fingers smell like tortillas)

Once again we woke up early, and we woke up cold.  By 7:30am it was still an unbelievably cold -2 degrees on the dashboard. Now it wasn’t just the cold that caused us to wake up early, it was all the feelings we had felt yesterday.  We decided that we would feel a lot better if we rushed to the border and crossed it as soon as possible; however, there was one problem, Kendra was locked out of our banking app.

The app, and by extension her account is how we pay off our credit cards, it is the account where our savings get sent every couple of months to fund this trip.  By being locked out of this account we effectively only had access to the available credit on our credit cards (a bit of an aside from Kendra: Being locked out was a culmination of a few previous choices.  When we entered the USA we bought one sim card and phone plan and installed it on Paul’s phone. We have shared one phone with data/calling/texting for the past 3 months and used Kendra’s phone on wifi). Unfortunately, CIBC banking app does not allow you to nickname your cards like other banking apps do, so Paul had accidentally tried logging into his account with his password, but he was actually on Kendra’s card number. Needless to say he thought he was making errors with his password but the banking app gods viewed him as trying to hack her account.  Since we bank with CIBC, shared a phone, and had two card numbers saved on the app we found ourselves in this minor predicament.

 To unlock the account we needed to update the phone number to our American phone number.  Step 1 for us to gain access to our money, stored in Kendra’s account, was to reset her telephone banking pin, (she didn’t know what her telephone banking pin was because she had never used telephone banking before because she could go to the bank or do online banking).  Sadly and surprisingly, Kendra was unable to answer enough of the security questions correctly which did not help the situation (one question was asking what 3 accounts or services she has at CIBC, but she only has one and online banking was not one of the possible answers).  After about an hour, talking with 3 people and an additional 3 supervisors, Kendra was able to update her phone number to our American number so she could then reset her online password.  For those of you wondering, she does have push notifications set up for identity confirmation and to receive confirmation codes, but since she was locked out of her account everything had to be done securely through telephone banking or in-person at a CIBC branch, which was obviously not going to happen with us being 15 minutes away from the Mexican border.  Thankfully, due to Dave- the sympathetic supervisor, she was able to send pictures of her signature and her debit card to the supervisor’s direct email, and suddenly her phone number was changed!

Next she had to reset her banking app password, this was something she could do on her own.  Long story short, know what your last 4 digits of your card are before trying to log in, and when you get a new phone number, update it on anything you may have a phone number registered with.  Update: CIBC does not recognize Mexican phone numbers because the country code has 2 digits, so fingers crossed that our history does not repeat itself.

We arrived at our border, known as Tecate by 11am.  We had used the app iOverlander to study what we had to do and, in our opinion, executed it almost flawlessly.  The only issue was we didn’t know what building to go to first, thankfully Paul’s Spanish skills came in handy. 

We did run into one issue, one that at the time of writing we still haven’t resolved.  We were charged our Temporary Import Permit (TIP) and deposit twice after trying to pay it three times.  The first time the machine jammed, so the woman behind the counter said it didn’t go through.  The second time Kendra’s card was declined since both charges would put her above her credit limit.  Paul’s credit card was used for the third and final attempt to officially pay the TIP and deposit.  However, we later learned that the first time did work and now we are disputing an almost $700 charge on Kendra’s credit card (so the saga of unfortunate events with Kendra’s card(s) continues, but this should be easy- although Kendra has not updated her current phone number with her credit card company).

The second we crossed the border it was obvious we were in a different country.  Tecate was a bit more hectic with a totally different feel.

Before leaving Tecate we had two big tasks, first get groceries, as fresh food isn’t supposed to cross the border, and second get Mexican SIM cards for both of our phones so we can search information and properly navigate this country.  With relative ease we accomplished both tasks and headed south towards the Valle de Guadalupe, which is known for its wine.

The drive to the wine region was eye opening to Mexican driving culture.  Speed limits fluctuated from 40 km/h to 80 km/h for no obvious reason and the shoulder was used to allow others to pass you if you choose to go the speed limit.  Since we are convinced that if we don’t go the speed limit a police officer will appear out of no where and give us a ticket, we were using the shoulder a lot.

We knew we had reached the wine region when English became predominant and the words wine tasting were every 500 meters at the entrance of each vineyard.  As it was Kendra’s decision day she chose to go to a brewery (after the winery she wanted to visit had its gates closed).

The beer was good but near American prices at $5 USD per pint (yes the prices where in USD not pesos).  After a pint and some suggestions of what to do while on the Baja peninsula, a winery located a 2 minute walk from the brewery was recommended. 

The wine was REALLY good; but the prices where a little high for us.  Wine Tasting at all the wineries we could see were around 200 pesos per person, ($14 CAD per person) with the bottles at the wineries for sale ranging from $25 CAD to $70 CAD.

Maybe we were just being frugal but we found these prices shocking.  We decided to try to stay in budget we would we would only visit this one winery, but still bought a pretty expensive, but delicious, bottle of wine we will enjoy on Christmas.

The owner of the El Destino Brewery also recommended a place to purchase some delicious street tacos and without a doubt he nailed this suggestion.  For under $15 CAD we ate 6 fish tacos and 6 shrimp tacos, with drinks and waddled back to the van.  The food was delicious and it left our fingers smelling of tortillas, making our minds crave more tacos (while our stomachs screamed no).

As some may know most camping spots we stay at are “free”.  We find them on an app called iOverlander, and the app told us that between two wineries was a spot we could safely stay for free.  Although we were a little nervous to camp in the wilds of Northern Mexico, we decided to test our luck.  Thankfully we lived to explore another day.

 

December 10^th – Beers with a view

We left the wine region and made our way to Ensenada, a large cruise ship/port city on the Pacific Ocean.  It was beautiful, warm and a refreshing change of pace from exploring American cities.  We walked the tourist areas, and the promenade beside the ocean, while looking at all the stuff vendors were trying to sell but we didn’t need. One man encouraged us to “Check out my junk”, but we do not have the need or space to store any junk, so we continued exploring.

One of the must do’s, according to iOverlander and Facebook is to eat ceviche (one of our favourite foods) at a food stall near the water, but we had no pesos and it was a cash only business.  This started a wild goose chase to find cash.  First, we went to the bank, but there was no cash it its ATMs, so we are not too sure what the security guard brandishing a shotgun was protecting.  Next was an endless slew of ATMs that either didn’t work, looked sketchy, or only gave US dollars.  We did not want USD as it would require us to exchange them for pesos losing out on the exchange rate twice (CAD-USD, then USD to MXP). 

Google directed us to a bank that at least appeared to have money as it was full of people; unfortunately, we could not find parking anywhere near it, so Kendra jumped out and Paul started to circle the block.  Kendra took around 15 minutes to get cash, which surprisingly, due to traffic was how long it took to drive around the block once. Thank goodness we both had phones to find each other!

We left Ensenada towards a little tourist spot called Bufadora, which was a little peninsula just south of Ensenada where we decided to stay at an actual campground due to the view we would get.  It was beautiful and the sunset was worth every penny.

We even walked down from our campsite to the touristy town full of fresh fish and cheap beer.  We didn’t buy the fish but did buy the beer so we could properly watch sunset with a drink in our hand.  Corona has never tasted so good.

This campground gave us one final thing we needed, the encouragement that we could do this, we could drive as far south as possible.  The guy beside our campsite (a Swiss man with Ontario plates on a vehicle he purchased in Costa Rica) had started his trip in Ecuador, and had driven to Mexico.  His confidence that we would have no problems, and his stories of good vibes and no issues gave us hope that we could accomplish the same thing that he did.

 

December 11^th – Back to the Cold

Everyone we talked to suggested we drive the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja peninsula, (the east side), so we drove north through Ensenada to take a mountain highway to the other side. Our only stop was Costco, where we picked up sparkling water, wine and gas.

After about an hour of driving we hit our first military checkpoint, they waved us through.

After that excitement we decided to find a spot to camp for the night, the first spot we tried we couldn’t get to as a private property sign with a closed gate had been installed.  Our next spot to try was supposedly near a hot spring that we never found past a couple of washes (locations where streams or rivers are created when it rains).  These washes would be impassible when wet, and it was supposed to all afternoon and throughout the night.  We ended up finding a spot close to the highway and set up camp.

We had been told that that the people of Mexico will bend over backward to help people in need, what we didn’t realize is how many people would check on us to make sure we were okay. Between the time we set up camp and sunset 3 vehicles had stopped to make sure we were fine and that we didn’t need any help.  Each time Paul said no, we were fine, he then asked if it was okay to camp here.  They all looked surprised and said yes.  They were probably surprised because it was going to pour with rain and the temperature was going to get near freezing.  The mountains of Northern Mexico are as cold as the mountains of Southern California, who would have guessed… :P

 

December 12^th – Seeking Warmth

We woke up early because we woke up cold, for what we hope is one of the last times in the foreseeable future.  Paul had no plans to cook breakfast in the cold so we started our journey back to the coast.  Within a couple hours it had reached a more reasonable 8 degrees so we had breakfast at the side of the highway, where many Mexican people once again looked to make sure we hadn’t actually broken down on the side of the highway.  Once they saw we were cooking or eating, they would speed off.

Right before the coast we reached our first major military checkpoint where we were told to get out of the vehicle so they could properly inspect for drugs or guns.  Since we left all those in our other van, we quickly were on our way into San Felipe.  This was a major retirement town with more English than Spanish and more international license plates than local license plates.  We decided not to stay long.  We picked up some groceries and some water and skipped town.  We did not get gas.

We were told, and have read, that a half full tank of gas should be considered an empty tank of gas and to fill up when we see gas.  Paul saw we had a half tank and thought we’d be fine (and we were), he also felt the gas (at 1.60 CAD per liter) was too expensive, so we continued down the road looking for free beachside camping.

After around 70 kilometers we found exactly what we were looking for, the only issue is the winds were over 50 km/h.  We spent most of our time in the van playing games and looking out at the beach wishing it wasn’t so windy and so cold. We were also visited by 2 coyotes looking for a snack, but they went on their way when we had nothing to give them.

 

December 13^th – We got gas, we got stuck, we got here

We spent the morning discussing whether we would stay another night at our camping spot, but in the end, due to cold weather (15 degrees) and wind we decided to head further south.   The road was beautiful, but baron, with no communities.  We did pass a gas station, but Paul felt it was still too expensive at 1.75 CAD per liter.

After the last few days we were making great time to be in the state of southern Baja so decided to explore a small town known in English as the Bay of Los Angeles, best thing was there was a gas station there!

After an uneventful drive we arrived in the community with less than an 8^th of a tank of gas and filled up at 1.70 per liter… Guess we should have filled up in San Filipe.

The next stop was a restaurant to get some cheap local Mexican food, but for some reason they were  all closed, so we decided to find a free camp spot instead. 

On the bay, near the water there were many possible spots; however, the comments on iOverlander said you’d need 4x4, all except two spots.

We went to one spot and drove onto the beach, but Paul had concerns so convinced Kendra to return to the main road, and maybe pay for camping.  Paul was right to be concerned, as soon as they tried to turn around their front tires dug into the sand.  It didn’t matter if we were in drive or reverse, the tires would just spin.

We quickly got out our leveling blocks, dug a ramp out of the sand where we placed our blocks and with a couple good pushes where able to drive towards the rocky portion of the coast.  Unfortunately, where we were stuck was not the spot Paul was concerned about.

There was a bunch of soft sand on a small hill between the road to get to the beach and the beach itself the van just couldn’t get through the soft sand to crest this small hill.  The next 30 minutes was spent putting the leveling blocks in different arrangements and using rocks near the beach to make a “road” back to the hard ground.  It was stressful, and we were concerned, but finally we got the van out of the sand.

Our final issue to resolve is while trying to get the van off the beach we had buried a leveling block with the van in the sand, so another 20 minutes were spent digging under the tire tracks trying to find the block. Luckily our pooping trowel and our own persistence helped us uncover the missing block.

We had a late lunch, but we enjoyed every bite knowing we had gotten ourself unstuck and found all our levelling blocks.  We even found another campsite with 8 other campers just 3 minutes up the road where we had no trouble parking and setting up camp.  It was even free.

 

December 14^th – A long day of driving

Last night was spent around a fire with a few other campers (from Maine and Kingston, Ontario) at our campground and we looked for some advice as to what we should do in Baja from some seasoned Baja explorers.  In general, the recommendation was head south and not stop until we get to the Bay of Conception.  Although the bay was only 450 kilometers away, we knew due to low speed limits, that it would be a long day.

Only of few things of note happened on this journey, the first was that we went through 3 military checkpoints.  These checkpoints, although a little nerve-wracking, are designed to make Mexico a more safe place and allow the government to try to crackdown on the smuggling of drugs and weapons.  As we had neither we usually got through pretty fast.  The final moment of note was a suspected scam at the border of the States of Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur. At the border international placed vehicles are asked to “donate” 20 or 30 or 100 pesos depending on how the person is feeling, to have the underside of their vehicle sprayed with pesticides (however most say it is only water that is sprayed).

After reviewing what other travelers have said about this spot we learned that the proper way to get through it was to tell the person that you only have a credit card, and when done you’d be waved through.  We can say that if it was a scam, we were not scammed out of 30 pesos.

Unfortunately, we did not make it to the Bay of Conception, we were about an hour away before the sun began to set.  We probably could have made it if we didn’t stop for groceries and got confused by the units you purchase tortillas.  Paul asked for 20 tortillas, but they were sold by the kilogram and we definitely didn’t need 20 kilograms. Luckily the lady at the tortilla counter recognized we did not need 20 kilograms and gave us 1 kilogram.

We arrived to a camping spot by the ocean just as it became dark.  It wasn’t a good or bad day, merely a necessary long day to get to warmer waters. To put the speed limits into perspective, it took us 7 hours to drive 450 kms. We have decided on this trip, and may have stated before, that we are obeying all speed signs so there is no reason to have any unnecessary and preventable dealings with any police officers.

 

December 15^th – Arrived at the Beach

We woke up and opened the door to the van to be greeted by a beautiful view of the ocean.  This view got us excited to get up and go to the bay, we only had one stop to make.  The supermarket we went to yesterday only sold eggs in cases of 30, which was a bit too much for us so we stopped in the cute town of Mulege and successfully used Paul’s Spanish skills to get everything we needed, as well as a small stockpile of beer. Kendra was also able to phone her credit card and dispute the charge from the border, so fingers crossed it is dealt with (we should find out in approximately 15 business days if it has been refunded).

We had quite the decision to make once we got to the Bay of Conception as there was tons of campgrounds each with their own perks.  We settled on one at the south end of the bay labelled online as “Serenity”.  When we got to the gate to get to the road to reach serenity the sand did not look inviting to drive on and there was a cardboard sign that had no weather damage stating “Sand Too Wet, heading to the next town”. We decided that the sign was a sign to not go there and “settled” on a paid campsite called Playa el Requeson with clear blue water and a giant sandbar that we could walk to get to a little island.

We decided to purchase two nights at the beach and set up the awning for a couple beach days. 

A few of the other campers at the campground told us that this beach was known for its clams and that it was very easy to get them.  They even let us know how best to cook them.  Well, we couldn’t not try our hand and claming!  Very quickly we had a ton of clams and knew that every 10 hours we would need to switch over the water so they could self clean and not be sandy.

We couldn’t wait to feast on our clams tomorrow night.

 

December 16^th – Not what we would have hoped

We woke up, switched over the water in our clam bucket and got on our swimsuits.  Unfortunately, the wind was wild and the weather was cold.  Although we had hoped to finally swim in the ocean we spent most of the day in the van reading our books hoping for the wind to die down, unfortunately it never did. 

Near sunset we decided to walk across the sandbar to the island and do a little bit of exploration.  It was nice to get our feet wet and go for a bit of a walk, but in general it was too cold to truly enjoy the weather.  Rupert; to our surprise, decided to go for a swim and spent most of the evening pretending he was a puppy running around and jumping all over us.

As the sun finally set we started to cook our clams.  Paul made some garlic butter and together we tried different options to steam clams with our basic pots and pans.  The best option we could come up with was water in the frying pan, a couple handfuls of clams on a strainer, and a plate covering the clams.

 

December 17^th – Beach Camp 2

It was time to head further south, a familiar feeling and direction.  But we knew that we were close to at least one thing: warm weather, or no wind or warm water.

There are over 100 communities known as a Magic City.  These communities usually are quite historical with beautiful downtown cores.  One such Magic City is known as Loreto, a reasonably sized city with an airport that surprisingly went to many big cities in the US and Canada, including Calgary.

We loved wandering this community and debated for an hour whether or not to stay in an RV park in the downtown core, or get a hotel, or to try to get another beach campsite. Lucky for us these debates were over beers and delicious sandwiches.  Paul had the smoked tuna sandwich and it was to die for and Kendra practiced the limited Spanish she knows as she ordered the beers.

We decided to leave Loreto as we were half an hour away from an area known as Rattlesnake Beach, a beach where many of we had spoken with said was one of the best beaches in Baja.  Historically there was a campground at Rattlesnake Beach, but due to some problematic Canadians the campground is more or less closed.  We learned you can ask the guard at the start of the campground to stay for a night or two at most for 100 or so pesos, but decided to go to a spot on iOverlander just south of the old campground called Beach Camp 2.

The reviews for Beach Camp 2 was that it was accessible by most 2wd vehicles, but there was a couple sketchy parts.  We decided to test our luck and this time it paid off.  We arrived at a sandy beach with mountains behind us and islands ahead of us.  It was perfect.  We set up camp and marvelled that we had the place to ourselves.

 

December 18^th – Beach Day at Beach Camp

We hadn’t slept well as we had learned Kendra’s Uncle John was in the hospital with his family by his side.  We spent the night praying for good news, unfortunately things weren’t looking to good.  As a bit of homage to him we decided to do what we assumed he would do in our situation, drink some homemade wine (unfortunately we just had dirt cheap beer) and enjoy the sunshine. 

We finally were able to go for a swim in the ocean and sat outside to enjoy the heat.  We even tried our hand at suntanning, although we just ended up with pinkish skin, but definitely not as burnt as we have been in previous years.

In the early afternoon another couple found our Beach Camp so we spent the evening sharing beer, a fire and stories from the road.  All things considered it was a perfect day as we hoped for good news from back home.

 

December 19^th – Finding welcomed distractions

We woke up to read the news we had hoped not to receive Kendra’s Uncle John had passed away. Immediately our discussion turned into how we could get Kendra to the funeral and knew that we wanted to find a hotel to with wifi (and showers).

We packed up and decided to convoy out of our special beach spot with our new friends.  Our van lead the way, followed by their Ram Promaster (a house on wheels compared to our Grand Caravan).  There was one especially soft sandy point on the “road” back to the highway that the minivan was able to cross with very little difficulty; the larger van not so much.

We spent the next couple hours digging out their van, using traction boards, moving the van a foot or so, then repeating the process.  It took us about 2 hours but we were able to get their van out of the sand.  It felt like a welcome distraction to help the couple get out of the sand and we knew that that was exactly what Uncle John would have done as well.

We arrived to a good sized, non touristy city in the middle of Baja, no where near the cost and was able to find a well reviewed, cheap dog friendly hotel with a pool.

It was close to Tacos and drinks so we spent the evening stuffing our face and looking at pictures and swapping stories we had of Uncle John and the adventures we shared when he, along wither Aunt Barb and Kendra’s mom and husband visited us in Korea along with other life events in Alberta and Ontario.

Rest in Peace John, you were the type of person we both will try to exemplify.