Ha ha, Baja! 3 2 1 Guadalajara

On November 22, 2010, I woke up in Mexico for the first time on my trip.  By request of many for my safety, and probably my own thoughts of danger, I caught a bus to Ensenada from Los Angeles to avoid the apparent dangers of Tijuana.   The first section brought me only to the next town.  I was shocked at how scary it was to ride on minimal to no road shoulder; especially after being cushioned by the plentiful space on American and Canadian roads.  I rode what must have been 40 km on this rather scary road, and another ten through dusty dirt-roads due to construction of a seemingly random series of bridge building projects.  arriving into the next town, I was feeling very lucky to be alive, after having what I thought were many glances with death; therefore, I decided to hitch-hike a short distance before settling to camp. 

that teeny tiny shoulder

This pattern of  "bike -- hitch -- bike -- hitch -- bike",  continued for the majority of the baja.

top speed: 72km/hr  (really fast!!)
decided name of Bike: Ballena

Giovani from Ecuador, the first other biker I met on the Baja
just out of Guerro Negro

This strange sight that Corona has started using whales as advertising
mascots may have been what inspired the name of Ballena.

Tomas, Jonas Nadi y Roberta
I hitched a short distance with this very non english family
it was very good for my spanish, and I learned of Los Cafres
an Argentine reggae band who I am listening to as I write this.

From where I got dropped by this family, in Santa Rosalia to arriving in the next town of Mulegé that day, two strange things happened.  One, I experienced a parade complete with cage of 10 or more live tigers and a shirtless man dancing on top, and I also met more fellow touring bikers than I thought I would see on the entire coast of North America.    I am sorry I have no photographic evidence of the random tiger concentration.

showing the contrast, (above) barren, to (below) 7 other cyclists
for me this was crazy.

plus me makes 8 cyclists

we all rode to a beach 40km out of Mulegé the next day
really nice

am I back on the island??
these broken islands make me think of home: beautiful

riding into the camp site

After this beach we got to, there was a decent amount of climbing, the down hill and beer at the bottom were refreshing.  I separated from the group after the beer, they wanted to do less of a day than I did; I was on a mission to catch Brendan, one of the group who had moved on before the rest of us.  

The first night brought me just past loretto, I was forced to turn in by darkness.  I found a little restaurant on the beach, where I hoped to grab a hot meal; the restaurant was closed, but the family who owned the place was around.  I asked if I might be able to stay on the beach for the night.  I was very willing to pay, however, they were quite insistent that I did not, and gave me hot chocolate too.  I believe that my exchange came later when the two children  of the family came around to share some popcorn with me (which I had wisely bought in Mulegé) and I helped them out as they practiced their english and I practiced my spanish.  

Francisco, Jesus, Maria, Yessenia and Ramiro
at Vistal Mar

real beauty of a sun set

From Vistal Mar, I rode about 100 km and still no sign of Brendan!  I knew that he could not be too much further ahead because he liked shorter days than that, so I though I would hitch hike a little to try and catch up so I could have a camp partner for a night.  I got a ride real fast with a road cyclist from Los Cabos (he was driving his truck, not his bike).  I was astounded that we did not see him even after 100km.  I asked to get out because I wanted to do at least a little more riding, and it turned out that I missed him by about 10 minutes.  I did however meet four other cyclists, one of which is a former FKSS alumni like myself!!  crazy small world.  we found a free place to stay that night thanks to the kindness off a taco restaurant owner.
The next day we made our way to La Paz: the final destination on the Baja.
Almost immediately after learning about the morning nets that some marinas have, I went to the clubhouse and made it known that I was available to crew to the mainland.  At the marina, I met travelers Matt, Nydia, Dave and Jo; all of whom, with myself made the crew of one Captian Jim's "Kanga".  We then made our way to La Cruz, just 20km North of Puerto Vallarta.

Good morning Marina

jo and nydia juggling in the sunset

There is Matty the Ausie

Jo is climbing the rocks at the mushroom rock

the famous (but fake) mushroom rock

buenisimo sunset

maybe too many sunset photos?

mosquito filled mangroves

nice camping spots!

this was just such a classic beach!  so nice, but there
was more than one observed stingray casualty

I decided to let jo try my camer under water!

there's Jo

Nydia and myself are not the strongest swimmers,
goodthing I had my dry-bag and mat was around to pull us back to the boat!

this is on the second night of the voyage, we had a really cool jazz show
to fall asleep to.  This was so nice!!

Tighten the Jib!!  Fly the Spinny! close the hatches!!

our beautiful spinnaker 

Jo wanted to have a swing into the ocean.  and swing he did.

a very content Jo in the row boat

We made a short hike to the reef reserve around a nearby point.  I tried my camera for a turn

spotted fish?

I bet this guy got tired of me following him around, or maybe he's used to it?

so, this reserve, it is supposed to be the only hard reef in the sea of Cortez

beautiful starfish

these little guys were cool!

two angel fish

on the way out of the water

after that snorkel, Kanga and it's faithful crew headed for La Cruz.  A trip, that at any other time would have been the best sailing trip to make.  unfortunately we did more than 48 hours of motoring.  When we finally arived into port, all of us were happy that the sail had ended.
Jo, Lydia and Mat were all headed to a place called Sayulita: a supposed surfer and hippie haven.  The three caught a bus there, and I rode the 25 or so km.  The town of Sayulita was a really cool experience, full of surfers and hippies of course (even though there was no surf to speak of)!  This town is where I was introduced to the magical Ballena, also known as gywoma: a 1.2L bottle of beer.  I met more Vancouver Islanders than I can shake a stick at, and many many other people from other places!  Sayulita was filled with good vibes, good people and good times.  I also met Alfonso and Kirsty who invited me to their family christmas here in Guadalajara.

dis be de reggae band
man they were good!

the sun setting in sayulita

my favorite camping spot is at the middle left: a secluded beach

Simon (Matt from the sailboat's brother), and Carolina from Chile

a view after a hike up monkey mountain

brad feeding the big-balled-bull

that peak in the distance in monkey mountain

leaf-like grass hopper

I caught a bus to Guadalajara, and for chrismas spent a wonderful time with a wonderful family!  it was a great way to spend christmas: smashing pinatas, drinking all sorts of neat things, and eating great food!!! Thank you so much to you and your family Fonz!!