LA to Lugui Baja, Mexico

Sandy Beaches, rolling hills, desert Cardon, blue waters, tecate, astro vans, datson trucks, cowboy hats, sunburned gringos, and broken seashells. These images and countless more are what make up the first leg of our journey, the easygoing Baja, Mexico.

We drove through the US / Mexican border around 6:00 am 1/9/08, no stops and no hellos, just through an open gate and viola we were in Mexico. After getting all the necessary paper work done in Ensenada we shipped off and spent our first night 15km of the Hwy. 1 on a rough dirt road that led to the wild and rustic beach of Punta Baja. We gazed with excitement as the rolling green hills smashed into the sea cliffs and left jagged rock along the shores. There was no one in sight for miles and we were going to spend our first night in Baja!! Three friends, three tecate ballenas, epic jurassic style scenery and a glorious sunset. La Buena Vida!

After leaving the rolling hills of Northern Baja we came upon the true Baja, desert, crumbly escarpments, cardon cacti and boojum trees. We stopped in Catavina and camped among the chalk stone boulders the size of houses in the middle of the desert. Climb On!! The next day was spent sending and getting shrugged off of some classic problems where the only thing fiercer than the spiky cacti or blazing sun was the sheer coarseness of the granite boulders. Great problems sent, great scars made!

Our next stop found us lost among fishing camps searching for abandoned lighthouses, yet none were found. We did however, find a hidden surf community where gringos set up winter camp and surfed the crystal blue rollers in a secret bay. Good people and good surf. To bad they ran out of tecate in the center hut.

On the road again, we passed through numerous Federales check points and the boyish looking soldiers waved us along after a few basic questions; "Drugas o Armas?" "No senor!" we responded. The island littered Sea of Cortez provides the next few days of camping with stunning views, beach boulders (I damn near broke my neck though, see flickr photos), conversational snowbirds, Rum - the pirates would be proud, and relaxation to the max.

We have been on the road for 10 days now and are still exploring Southern Baja as the small pueblo of Todos Santos with its wonderful surf and easy living atmosphere provides our current tree house accommodations. Next stop fiesta fiesta in Los Cabos as we plan to celebrate Anthony's birthday and treat ourselves to our first hostel.