Baja Cape (part 2) and More Van Woes

Our first afternoon in Los Barriles was spent playing on the beach. The waves were a bit smaller than in Cabo, so we were able to get out into the water a bit. We headed back to the campground and had shrimp in garlic and olive oil (mojo de ajo in español) with chips, guacamole, and tequila in fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Yum.

Who buried Quinn?

Who buried Quinn?

We found out from our friends Brian and Lisa, who spent Thanksgiving in Los Barriles, that there’s a turtle hatchery in town where baby turtles are raised and released into the wild. We went in search of it, but unfortunately they had just done their release the previous day. After lunch of paella at a local Spanish restaurant, we reluctantly packed up to head back to La Paz for our sea kayaking trip the next day.

As we were raising the top on our van for the evening, we heard a sharp crack. One of the steel mounts for the actuator motors had snapped. On the advice of Chris from San Francisco, who was camped next to us, I removed the offending pieces and went to the campground office. The owner made a quick phone call, and within a total of 2 hours a couple of guys showed up, took the broken parts, and returned with them welded back together. I re-installed the part and we were able to set up camp for the night.

We met for our snorkeling and sea-kayaking trip at the tour outfitters’ office in town. A motorboat took us on a two-hour speed boat ride to a sea lion rookery where we were able to snorkel with the sea lions.

Next stop was a beach on Isla Espiritu Santo for a short-sea kayaking tour of the bay. This is the same beach where Ed, Annette, and I camped 16 years ago while on a multi-day kayaking trip here. We enjoyed the warm sand and the beautiful turquoise waters.

Near Isla Espiritu Santo

Near Isla Espiritu Santo

Quinn enjoyed the bouncy boat ride

Quinn enjoyed the bouncy boat ride

Sea Kayaking was also a hit

Sea Kayaking was also a hit

Pelicans on a boat in La Paz harbor

Pelicans on a boat in La Paz harbor

The next day we had planned to return to Los Barriles and get another shot at seeing the turtles. We were just heading out of town when the van started to act funny, losing power under acceleration. We turned around and headed back to the campground in La Paz. Suspecting dirty fuel, I spent the afternoon replacing the fuel filter.

After the repairs were done we decided to take the van for a test drive. It seemed better, but we won’t really know until we can get it on the highway. We stopped at the local Autozone where we tried to find a replacement spare fuel filter. We came close, but it wasn’t quite the right part. We stopped for an early dinner at a local seafood place that was packed. We were the only gringos in the place, and we enjoyed shrimp, beer and margaritas, live music and salsa dancers. Seems like the thing to do on a Sunday afternoon!

On Monday after a leisurely morning we drove to the La Paz ferry terminal to board a ferry to Topolobampo (isn’t that the coolest name?) on mainland Mexico. After an uneventful but crowded ferry ride, we made the short drive to Los Mochis, where one of our guidebooks promised a campground. It was almost midnight when we arrived, and the campground looked deserted. We found a nearby hotel where we paid for a room for a secure place to park and a bathroom.

On the ferry

On the ferry

The next day we headed out on the long drive to Bahia Kino to meet our friends Debbie and Brian and their daughter Maya who had driven down with Brian’s sister and her family to celebrate the holidays. We turned off the main highway (Mex 15) toward Kino on a little used back road – most visitors arrive from the north and use a different road. This turned out to be a mistake, as the road was by far the worst we’ve seen on our trip thus far. It’s one of those roads that had been paved but you wish it hadn’t.

As soon as the road improved enough to allow us to get above 20mph we discovered that the van was again very sluggish. We limped the last 50km into Kino unable to go faster than 40mph. We were very happy to arrive at the condo we had reserved where Brian was waiting for us with some cold beers. We all enjoyed a Christmas Eve dinner at a local seafood restaurant.

Christmas morning in Bahia de Kino

Christmas morning in Bahia de Kino

Merry Christmas!!!

6 Responses to 'Baja Cape (part 2) and More Van Woes'

  1. Chris says:

    Merry Christmas! I hope the van pulls through…

  2. Jim Sparks says:

    What a nice way to enjoy Christmas. Everything seems so peaceful if you did not have the van worries. It still exceeds being stranded by snow at an airport. Merry Christmas to all of you.

  3. debbie says:

    So glad you made it!

  4. Marcia says:

    Merry Christmas!

  5. Kathy Antreasian says:

    Beautiful beaches! Love that blue blue sea! Merry Xmas and Happy upcoming Birthday to Quinn!

  6. Bobbie staggs says:

    Sounds like you had a good Christmas in spite of it all! Hope Santa found Quinn ! I wondered if Quinn would go kyiking. See he did! Merry Christmas and happy new year!