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The next few days we eased into Baja time which generally means slowing down the clock. The morning ritual went something like this, make coffee, run the dogs on the beach, and then either fish off the point, go clamming in the shallows or in my case look for surf at some of the points to the south.

The fishermen of our clan pulled in some nice fish and a bunch of large clams that were immediately cut up and made into ceviche. Jan also hooked a decent size Sea-bass, which was delicious and ended up in our fish quesadillas.

One morning Mary and I found a nice right point with only a couple longboarders and fun lined up waves. We also scouted out some other potential surf spots for future  expeditions.

After few days we noticed an ominous group of storm clouds coming in from the west. We made a group decision to pack up and head further up the coast to hopefully skirt the storm.

Checking the Baja California Almanac , it looked like it was possible to access the paved road far to the north by following the dirt roads up the coast. This was a route Jan and I had discussed on an earlier trip and were itching to try.

We packed up the trucks, cranked down the rooftop tents and headed north up the rutted jeep trail. We passed miles and miles of untouched beaches which begged to be explored so it was really hard to focus on the trail. Of course having Mary jabbing me and saying “Keep your eyes on the road!” helped.

Around midday we decided to stop and set up camp at a picturesque spot near a lighthouse and a long stretch of beach. Since Alban and Paul had left 10 feet of snow in Austra they had no problem jumping in the freezing cold Pacific.

Next morning we continued up the coast before veering into the Baja desert.
Deep in the desert we startled a herd of wild burros that briefly raced along side our Landcruiser.  The leader of the herd was all white which was pretty cool. They quickly disappeared behind some rocks so we missed our photo opportunity.

The jeep road which had been fairly good up to this point took a turn for the worse when it hooked towards the coast. The super narrow, muddy trail was sandwiched between a large hill and a deep river that emptied out into the ocean.

I tried to get traction by putting a tire on the drier hill side which immediately started the Landcruiser sliding sideways towards the river. Not a good idea  . I straightened out, gunned the motor which kicked up gobs of mud and slipped past the narrow section.

Michael followed me in his large Tundra, which was amazing considering how much wider his truck is. Jan and Jeff engaged their lockers which seemed to help a bit but nevertheless it was a scary section of trail.

We ended up in a small fishing village, blood slowly returning to our knuckles, and followed the trail back into the desert.

After close to 4 hours and 60+ miles of offroad driving we hit the paved road north of Catavina.  We aired our tires back up and headed north towards San Quintin.

Day two of our Baja adventure had us on the road towards San Ignacio by 7:30AM. This was due  in part to the the chilly morning temperature and someone’s car alarm that went off before first light. Not pointing fingers but let’s just say it wasn’t a Toyota.

If you haven’t already deduced by reading the previous day’s antics, driving in Baja is quite the experience.
There is no margin for error. You have narrow roads with steep drop offs on both sides, cows wandering across the street, sections of washed out roads, major resurfacing projects not to mention tight non-banked curves and semi-trucks. Throw in the occasional military check point and you have a pretty good picture of what I am talking about.

Around lunch time, the desert scenery gave way to a large group of lush palm trees and a large tropical pond. We had officially arrived in the sleepy Baja town of San Ignacio.

Everyone was pretty hungry from the 5 hour drive so we found  a great little restaurant right on the main street and enjoyed some great local food.

After lunch, we stretched our road weary legs by walking around the central town plaza and checking out the 18th century mission known as Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán. The mission is very impressive with walls made of volcanic stone and beautiful surrounding gardens that permeate the air with the fragrance of orange blossom.

We hopped back in the vehicles for the final stretch towards the water where we would camp for our grey whale eco-tour. The dirt road out of town was fairly easy but we aired down the tires to make the ride a bit more comfortable.

Our designated campsites at  the Kuyima eco-camp were located right on the edge of the water with beautiful lagoon views.

Each campsite was ringed with sun-bleached shells and surprisingly we even had access to a hot shower. OK, the shower was from a bucket filled with solar heated water but it felt great after the long dusty drive through the southern Baja desert.

Since Kuyima main effort is on ecotourism, their focus is not on tourist dollars but to sustain the environmental quality of this amazing ecosystem. This did mean no camp fires so it was somewhat of an early night once the temperatures dropped.

We fell asleep anticipating tomorrows boat trip where we would see the grey whales on their southern most stop.