The most exciting and moving part of our journey yet. The practical details and the exprience itself are interwoven. It is still early to come to conclusions, but one is crystal clear – 10 days are too short. And if the stars align for us as planned next winter we will go for a longer period and go south all the way to the bottom – Cabo San Lucas. Here before you is the amazing journey:

We crossed the border at Calexico / Mexicali east.

We arrived at San Felipe just after sunset. It was our first drive in Mexico. We felt a bit anxious because of our lack of familiarity. The roads are narrow, but this section wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated. It  passes through endless salt flats, occasionally elevated above them, and in parts with no shoulders at all.

In San Felipe we didn’t find the campground hosts but met other travelers who showed us where the beach was (for boondocking). We spent the night and headed off early in the morning after fueling up the truck.

Second stop – Camp Rancho Grande in Bahia De Gonzaga. We met a sweet Israeli family and we all agreed it felt a lot like Sinai (in Egypt). It was only a two hour drive along the coast until the beautiful white sanded bay spread before us, surrounded by mountains on the calm and smooth Sea of Cortez. Within walking distance is a small town, colorful houses side by side, mostly well built, some garnished with whale bones. In all that town we saw one man sitting outside his house playing ball with his dogs. The first day the sea was quiet and peaceful but the next day was stormy. In both it was beautiful and inspiring. But we are here for the whales, so after two days we packed ourselves and continued south.

After a 4 hour drive through a cactus nature preserve with amazingly beautiful cacti of all sizes (highway 1), we arrived at our:

Third stop – Guerrero Negro is a small town that was developed by a salt company and lies close to the famous lagoon on the Pacific Ocean where the whales come every winter to mate and give birth. The lagoon is safe from the Orca whales. In deeper waters the orcas approach and bite the mother’s tail and while she turns to see what happened the others attack her baby. The lagoon is not deep enough for that whole trick and that is why the gray whales are all over the lagoon happy and safe. We found them to be very fond of all the attention they are getting from tourists like us and they love to approach the little boats to get petted while calls of excitement fill the air. We took 3 tours, mostly because the first two days were windy and the whales couldn’t approach as close.

We first arrived at Mario’s campground  just before the town itself. They have a very nice restaurant and their own whale watching tours. We stayed 2 nights for the convenience of full hookups, but quickly realized the only reliable part is the sewer. The water is not potable, and the electricity is unreliable. it is quite small and crowded, especially in comparison with the wide open beaches all over. All the other travelers had dogs too so it was a bit stressful and tight. So after 2 days of trying to figure some power troubleshooting and online work, we left to stay by the lagoon.

Fourth stop – Laguna Ojo de Liebre. South of town, a dirt road through the salt flats leads to the lagoon. At the end of the road is a restaurant with a company that takes tours to the whales all day long (unless it is too windy). Beyond the restaurant, after paying 100 pesos (about $5) there are lots of camping spots. We saw the whales spouting and breaching from the beach. We took our second tour from there, but it was still too windy for the whales to approach us.

On our last day as we were packing and getting ready to leave we saw the water was flat and there was no wind. We decided on the spur of the moment to go out for the third time. Thank God we did. These gentle giants came so very close, surrounded the boat, rubbed against it, rose up for petting, seemed really amused by our excitement and made real contact with us. The peak was when one came up and I was so excited that I gave her a kiss and a hug. I couldnt quite get over this for many hours, actually days. There were babies, and adults, males and females. We saw their mating dance where two males woo one female. It was an out-of-this-world experience. It is almost incomprehensible, this encounter with such a huge creature that goes out to the great ocean, swims all the way to Alaska and back, sweeps krill and secrets from incredible depths, then swims up so gently and quietly to to receive a pet, rolls over to show us its belly, gets closer with its huge eye to see us, then spouts right on us. It feels like they love human contact. These whales are at the lagoon each winter and the best time to see them so close is between January and March. If you go (you should, flights are available to that area too) plan a few days extra so you could pick a day with no wind to go out on the tour. It makes all the difference.

Fifth stop – Bahia de Los Angeles. We drove back north through highway 1 and turned right to route 12 that leads to one of Baja’s prettiest vistas. The road itself is in very bad shape, but if you go slow you will arrive at one of the most beautiful bays of the Sea of Cortez. We arrived at Campo Archelon owned by Antonio – a great guy. He has hot showers, a restaurant / cafe with amazing food including vegan and GF (a first here) and really good internet. There’s a beautiful beach, a pretty lighthouse about a mile away, and great vibe with lots of working travelers sitting all day with their computers in the cafe. We heard that in the summer at La Gringa close by you can swim with whale sharks. We wanted to stay two nights, it was so beautiful. But a storm began on the second morning and we saw on our weather app that the weather is better up north.

But then we had a new drama – there was no more diesel in the only gas station in town. After a lot of help from Antonio, Elan managed to get some from a hotel down the road. They hold tanks for their generators. We filled up a few gallons and headed off a bit late with lots of hope , half a tank of diesel and no cell service.

We made it back to Gonzaga bay, where we filled up and then drove 45 minutes north on route 5 to Puertocitos. We read about the hot springs in town and decided to give it a go. We made it there just as the sun was setting on a sleepy deserted town, and at the bottom of the hill by the water we found the campground. The guard  charged us  600 pesos to enter (about $35) and the dogs had a bit of time to run around the beach before the dark.

We woke up very early like we always do and after sunrise headed for the hot springs. We didn’t know what we were headed for and oh, the wonder – steaming pools between the rocks going down to sea. There was a woman there who explained that the temperature of the pools depends on the tide. In high tide water from the sea mix with the spring water and reduce the heat. The pools closer to sea cool more than the ones further up, so you can choose the heat you want. Timing was perfect for us to take all clothes off and enter the big central pool. Outside temperature was really cold but the pool was perfectly warm for us to sink into long minutes of pure pleasure with the colors of the sunrise and the smell of sulphur, all kinds of birds flying by and peaceful silence all around. That was the perfect and nourishing ending of a great unforgettable adventure. We are definitely planning on coming back next year, just trying to find a cheaper car insurance.

Conclusions –

• It’s better to arrive before 3 pm to campgrounds, mostly beacuse that’s when a lot of places close.
• It’s better not to drive at night , even though Baja is not considered dangerous. There is no cellular service in most places and no shoulders on the side of the road in case something happens.
• Take an extra gas/diesel container with you, and fill up everywhere you find your kind of gasoline – they sometimes run out of it in their stations.
• There are places without ATM, and a lot of campgrounds, shops, restaurant and gas stations accept only cash. Bring enough cash with you. American dollars are fine too.
• Potable water – buy there or bring with you. The water from taps is not potable.
• Electricity – it is unstable if you connect to hookups and don’t use if you don’t have a surge protector.
• Tools and essential parts – there are no RV stores anywhere but Cabo San Lucas at the southmost point (about 20 hour drive from the border).
• Internet and cellular – the only places with cellular reception were San Felipe and Guerrero Negro. Our Starlink worked great there but we saved on battery power and used it only a few hours a day.
• Dogs – if you arrive with your pets beware of coyotes around dusk and dawn.

  
  We made it to Guerrero negro as our southern most destination; it is on the border between Baja North and Baja Sur. We heard from travelers how amazing it is further south, but can’t say for ourselves because we didnt have time this visit to make it there. We met a couple from a small place by La-Paz called La Ventana. They said it is beautiful there and you could swim with all kinds of whales and sharks. Generally we met a lot of really great people on this too-short part of our journey.

Blessings until next time

Thank you for being here

with love

Elan and Michal