An old copper mining town, Santa Rosalia has the feel of a hardscrabble industrial town not meant for the prying eyes of tourists. The narrow roads, minimal parking and lack of campgrounds keeps tourists in RVs or even large vans away, but not the Wee Rover. The small town reminded us of many we have passed through on this adventure, just everyday people living their lives, raising families, going to work and buying bags or boxes of tomatoes.
Two stops drew us to Santa Rosalia. The first was a prefabricated church designed by A.G. Eiffel (the same guy who built that big tower in Paris) made entirely of stamped metal squares painted white. It was constructed at Paris’ 1889 World’s Fair, after which it was taken apart and put on a ship for Africa. Instead, it found its way around Cape Horn and to the east side of Baja and Santa Rosalia where it is still in use today. The second stop was a French style bakery with homemade bread, cookies and donuts. How could we pass that up?
Right on the bay, Santa Rosalia has a busy port, railway and mine.Boleo Mine (copper).Eiffel’s prefabricated church.And inside. We loved the purple light from the stain glass windows.A French-style bakery.A peak in the back room where racks of bread are cooling.The town square decorated for Christmas with a hopping tomato market. The truck on the left came into town (not sure how since the roads are extremely narrow) with a load of fresh tomatoes. People were buying them by the box and bag full.
We have made it to San Ignacio, population 700! It is pretty much the dead center of Baja and it a great spot to rest and recuperate from our trip south, so far. The village is centered around a mission and a spring fed lagoon that is surrounded by date palms.
An oasis in the middle of the desert.
The little town square and mission from the 1700’s is just what one would picture of a small Mexican village, at least the one we grew up seeing in westerns. The people here have been friendly and welcoming and very understanding of our broken Spanish. We have been swimming in the lagoon just steps from our campsite (for $5 US per night we have a spot right on the lagoon with pit toilets and a short walk to town). We have been eating fresh dates from the trees, and homemade Mexican food from the street vendors near by. We have also made new traveling friends from the US, Canada and oversees. We may not leave for a while.
The mission right on the town square. The Wee Rover couldn’t miss the photo opportunity. Gorgeous inside, and as you can see still in use today.Outside steps to the balcony. Space saving or for a select population?On Sunday morning, we listened to the church bells call the town to worship.Our little oasis. A spring fed lagoon for swimming and lots of shade for lounging.And from the other direction. Very hard to take…harder to leave.Street vendor right off the square. Yummy food and a bit of wi-fi.And a new long sleeve t-shirt. Sam and Sarah from Minnesota in their Wee Schoolie. When we left, they were debating whether to stay a few more days or another week or two.Ron from Idaho and his slightly larger schoolie. He is making jewelry to sell.Ivana and Pavlo from Slovakia. They are 8 months into a 2 year trip.Sven from Germany and his adopted kitten, Bobbie. We have been leapfrogging with him for several days. We finally got to meet him here.
We had a nice small community of like minded travelers here. It was a nice change from boondocking on our own so much.
While in the Arctic we often made use of abandoned gravel pits for campsites. Well, we got caught out a bit when coming out from Mission San Borja because our planned campsite was a bust. We had to think quick because it was getting dusky and traveling on Baja roads after dark is not wise, so we found the nearest gravel pit on the map and headed off. The only thing was that this gravel pit was actually the top of a small mountain! We snuck in behind a pile of rocks and had a nice quiet night. The sunset was great, and the view the next morning was beautiful.
Peekaboo Gorgeous view. The surrounding area looks like a lush forest, but it is scrub…very deceiving to the eye.This is why you do not travel after dark in Baja. The sides of the road are great grazing for cattle, burros and horses. Two horsepower truck?
A priest, his burro, gorgeous cacti, and a dusty dirt trail, we felt like we were following along on his journey to the Mission de San Francisco de Borja. Was he excited? Scared? Hopeful? We crested the brow of the last hill and there was the mission. What was he thinking as he approached the mission? Did the Indigenous population welcome him? What was his stay like? Did he do good or harm?
Julio met us at the gate. Three generations of his family have been slowly restoring the mission for decades. In broken Spanish and English he gave us a tour of his life’s work. It was worth the 25 mile drive over bumps, ruts and water holes.
Our first glimpse.The remains of the original mission now covered by the Mexican government for protection.The front of the “new” mission.Painstakingly being restored by hand.An amazing structure looking forward…and backwards.Three generations of Julio’s family have been baptized here.Several hundred years of burials, priests and indigenous peoples.
So, Darrin and I have a conversation that goes something like this:
D: “I think we should stay off the 4 wheel drive roads until we get our Baja feet underneath us.” M: “Okay, sounds smart.” D: “Lets go down the paved Mex 12 to Bahia de los Angeles. It is supposed to be beautiful and there looks to be a good spot to camp on the beach south of town.” M: “Okay, sounds like a nice spot. The tour book says it is one of the most beautiful bays in Baja.”
So, we drive out of Camp Gorn, down Mex 5 to Mex 1 to Mex 12 and out to Bahia de los Angeles. The town is a bit closed up since it is still off season and they are still recovering from a hurricane, but the bay is beautiful. We find the camp spot and there are 2 couples from Quebec there. We chat for a few minutes in broken French and English, walk around, take a few pictures and decide we don’t want to stay, but on the way in we saw a sign pointing up into the mountains to Mission Borja. We check the guide book and it is a 2 to 3 hour drive up in depending how bony the dirt road happens to be.
D: “Let’s go? It’ll be fun.” M: “Okay, but you said no 4 wheel drive roads for a while.” D: “That was just to put out the idea that we should drive 4 wheel drive roads…reverse psychology and all that.” M: “Wait, I’m the one with the Psych degree…Okay, Let’s go. It looks like a grand adventure.” D: “I knew you wanted to go as soon as we passed the sign, so this is really your idea.” M: “Uhmmmmm….”
So, we travel in and in, and bounce and bounce, and up and up, and ruts and ruts, and we find an amazing camping spot amongst the cacti that looks straight out of Dr. Seus’ imagination. We are a few miles from the mission, which we’ll tour tomorrow.
I’m glad this good idea was mine😊.
The road signs can sometimes be hard to find…Up we go!Our Dr. Seus camping spot.Tom came by right after we set-up. He is currently biking the Baja Divide. He had started the summer in Tuk and was heading for Argentina. He was only the second person we saw all day.This horse and 3 cows were our overnight company amongst the cacti.Los Cirio are carrot looking cacti that are only found in Baja. The start straight and fat, get talk and lean, and then bend over and replant themselves. All three stages are in this picture. They really did look like carrots, or perhaps parsnips.This couple from New Zealand biked by while we were eating breakfast. We didn’t see any other vehicles until we reached pavement again.
There is a classic Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk is chased around by a reptilian creature called a Gorn. Well, after leaving Coco’s Corner we found a great camping spot where you could almost see the Gorn lurking around the rocks! We found some beutiful cacti, cool rocks to scramble on, and a nice quiet place to spend the night, but unfortunately…no Gorn!
As a teen growing up riding dirt bikes and dreaming of racing in the Baja 1000 Darrin couldn’t pass up a visit to the iconic Coco’s Corner.
Coco’s used to be a busy place on the main road (think bumpy, rocky, gravel road) between San Felipe and Rt. 1, but three years ago, the new improved paved road moved west and one now has to make a special trip several miles off the beaten track to visit. We are always happy to get off the main road, and I like to keep my little boy happy, so off we went…
Coco, 82, is a legend in Baja lore. His little store used to be a major aid station for the Baja 1000 race. Today, it is quite a colorful spot due to Coco himself, and the 100’s of bras and panties hanging from the rafters. (Coco said a lady friend of his hung up the first pair of underwear in 1990 because of his lack of decorations. That’s his story and he was sticking with it!) Unfortunately, I was going commando, so much to Coco’s dismay, I didn’t have a pair of undies or a lacy bra to donate. But, his disappointment was short lived when we gave him one of our traveling cards instead. After much debate about perfect placement, he added it to the wall of fame. So, I guess we are now a part of Baja history! Another awesome “off the beaten path” adventure!
Coco, my boy and 30 years of “decorations”.His decorating flair continues outside.The wall behind Coco and Darrin is our place of fame…We are right there on the wall!
Military check points are a normal part of travelling in many countries outside the US. They can be a little unsettling at first, given the language barrier, but they are there for the traveler’s and local’s protection. Here in Baja, they are looking for guns and drugs being transported. Since we don’t have either, the periodic inspections just make for another opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. The Wee Rover loves the extra attention she gets at these stops, everyone wants their picture taken with her!
At most check points, they just want to know where you are coming from and where you are going. At this check point, we shared pictures and candy. The Wee Rover’s first excursion onto the beach.A bit of shell art.
Our first stop in Baja was San Felipe. The northern most town on the Sea of Cortez, San Felipe is a common destination for Snow Birds and vacationers because of its proximity to the US. December is their off season, so it was the perfect, quiet place, to start our new adventure.
We pulled into the very tiny San Felipe RV park mid-afternoon and were welcomed by several Americans and Canadians, there were only 2 RVs currently staying in the park, who were grateful for some new entertainment. They gave us the run down on the town and even drove us around pointing out their favorite restaurants, grocery stores, and the only place in town where you can get Corona Beer (apparently a very important fact). We were given the royal treatment. It was a very welcome start to our Baja adventure!
Our first look at the Sea of CortezBlue skies, blue bay, and a colorul town with Sunday markets in process.Riding horses into town from surrounding ranches. My friend Dixie would have loved that.Our first street food, barbequed chicken, rice and beans. We were hungry and it was delicious.
