(I spent the entire month of January 2023 in Mexico, traveling down the Baja California Peninsula. This is the second in my series about the trip– check out other posts from this as well, all will include ‘Baja’ in the title, and will likely feature pictures of pristine beaches).
We drove off into the expanse of the desert again, en route to our second campsite. Back into the expanse of nothingness, with blazing heat coming in through the windows, and only the occasional rest stop for uber-fizzy Topo Chicos. (Did you know the Topo Chicos are way more carbonated in Mexico than the U.S.? I hadn’t but no lie, Mexican Topo Chicos are way more delicious).
There was always a backup line to get gas– remember, the number one rule of Baja is to fill up at every opportunity– so the picture below of the vehicles all parked in a row? Was the waiting line for filling up at the only gas pumps that were available on this long stretch of road.
Bahia Los Angeles, our next destination, wasn’t really on the way to anywhere— in fact, it was kinda out of the way. But our caravan hosts were hoping it would provide a few days of more peaceful camping before hitting our next destination (which was known for crowds). For those keeping track, this is where Baja cell service pretty much ended unless in a major city.
This part of the journey down the Highway 1 was one of the most picturesque stretches we drove— greener than most, there were cacti dotting the landscape and some beautiful cliffs plunging down toward the sea. There were even these strange, tall, hairy-looking, Dr. Seuss-like cacti that lazily bent toward the sky, that I just adored the sight of.
On arrival, I was surprised to find Bahia Los Angeles was not really big enough to be a town— it DID have a gas station and a few bars and hotels, but not much else. It was clearly there to serve the campers, and that was about it. We made our way to the end of a long stretch of stony beach, to the campground there named ‘Playa La Gringa.’
The campground was lined single-file with rigs that opened their doors to the cove side– and I mean, RIGHT onto the cove. The cove was not exactly warm, but was entirely clear— and chock full of rays, starfish, clams, fish, and other sea creatures. Due to the huge amount of rays, we employed the ‘shuffle your feet’ method of wading in to cool off, but mostly used paddle boards to access the water.
When I say ‘these pictures don’t do it justice’— believe me. The well-documented issue with water photos is how the blue overlay can wash out color— and this was no exception. The starfish in this photo was actually bright red, but looks brown. The bottom of this bay was so clear and transparent as to appear translucent, but certainly doesn’t look that way in the images, despite best efforts to capture it.
Mac was not wild about the idea of paddleboarding with me— so a few members of my caravan employed a combination of cajoling and trickery to get him onto the board. If I didn’t push into deeper water fast enough once he was aboard, Mac would bail– and leap right back to shore. He kept proving on this Baja trip that while he LOVES to run and splash in shallow water, he kinda hates deep water.
Pelicans were abundant — free food for them, absolutely everywhere, in the form of starfish and sun! And some idiotic campers were 1000% feeding the pelicans which was unfortunate for the wildlife– but DID allow me to capture some close-ups of these scraggly bird-beasts.
Gosh darn dinosaurs, I tell ya.
We all did drink tequila around the campfire every night– but no, this night was not the cause of my puking incident. That’s… in the VERY NEXT POST though, so keep on keepin’ on.
Other than the serene paddleboarding, the highlight of our time at Bahia Los Angeles was a short hike with some elevation, up the surrounding cliff walls to see the entirely of the watery landscape below— while the hike was not strenuous, the sun was rather strong at 11 AM when we set off from camp.
For a little scramble, the 360-degree views from the top were uncapturable, and indescribably broad— I hadn’t realized that our little cove we parked on was basically a rock jetty, surrounded on all other sides by water, and housed plenty of other coves within some rocky outcroppings. The flora on this hike were also strange, with trees that were hardy and unusual (I got obsessed, since I hadn’t seen greenery in a hot minute in the dusty desert landscape of Baja).
Our hosts came by one morning to say they had spotted a new restaurant-bar they had wanted to check out in town— one that hadn’t been there in previous trips. They were looking for a few folks to check it out with them, and I was pleased to join them and hopefully forego cooking dinner in the van. I left Mac back at camp with a few other trusted folks from our caravan, and off we went.
The place didn’t look like much from the dirt road that led to it— but once we were inside, we were blown away at the thoughtful interior design. Someone had clearly thought through each detail of the place. Later, we’d talk to the proprietor, who revealed that he’d used mostly natural materials found within a few miles of the location to create the visually-impactful thatching.
We ordered a bucket of drinks (Tecate Red, which is different than Tecate Blue, y’all), and ordered food from the menu— after a few days of limited options for vegetarians, I was thrilled to see a saucy French fry appetizer and ordered it. The freshly-fried steak-like-frittes tasted like heaven.
The waitstaff recommended their famous dragonfruit margaritas— and who were we to refuse? — expecting some kind of thin juice, I was surprised to taste fresh, thick pulp instead. These margaritas were so delicious, it was impossible to tell if there was alcohol in them. Based on our resulting buzz, there clearly was tons of alcohol in each.
Also, the resident restaurant dog looked exactly like Mac! Look at that mug. So similar, that a member of our caravan had sworn it was my pooch.
This random find by the sea was such a good vibe, and so indicative of the way Baja can sometimes exceed your expectations. This was an extremely pleasant way to spend an afternoon, day-drinking by the shore. While doing so, we noticed a phenomenon we’d seen in the Bahia Los Angeles area– VULTURES, drying their wings by perching on cacti.
Yikes.
Look, vultures of any kind are already intimidating. Now, picture them resting ON something intimidating like a cactus, and then ominously opening their wings and REMAINING VERY STILL. And staring down at you while you move, wondering if you are about to die from the desert heat.
Yep, creepy.
Not being avid fisherman, and with temperatures only climbing to the low 70s during the day, a few days at Bahia Los Angeles was plenty of time, and we were ready to head South to our next destination: the (quite famous) Bahia Conception. We tucked in for one more night, listening to the gentle lap of the bay.
The next morning– we set off for a gas stop before hitting the road. That’s when we saw there was an absolute pileup of cars at the nearest station: people were just sitting at the station dejectedly, looking at their phones. As we pulled up, they revealed the gas station had lost power. Mind you, we were at least an hour from the nearest town, and even that town didn’t have a legitimate gas station. That left these poor folks hoping and waiting for the station to reopen– but because we had all filled up before, our caravan (luckily) had enough gas to continue on.
Just a reminder to ALWAYS get gas– even if you think you don’t need it– in Baja.
Posted by Sun
