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WHAT FOLLOWS IS A DESCRIPTION OF A 28 DAY SOJOURN DOWN THE MEXICAN BAJA PENINSULA IN THE SPRING OF 2008. SARA, CHARLIE, OUR ONE YEAR OLD SCHNOODLE PUPPY AND I WERE ON THE ROAD WITH FIFTEEN OTHER RECREATIONAL VEHICLES, TWENTY EIGHT FELLOW TRAVELERS, SEVEN DOGS, AND TWO CATS. THE IMPRESSIONS AND ANECDOTES ARE OUR OWN AND IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER BECAUSE THAT IS "THE BAJA WAY."


THE BAJA WAY OR MANANA-

(A paradise where nothing works quite right) This land IS a paradise but a traveler to the Baja of Mexico must be prepared for a much laid back approach to life. If Gringo visitors (that is what the locals call us) expect everything to work properly, for life’s little tasks to be completed on time, without delay or difficulties, they are in for a very frustrating visit. The Baja Way is best described by the author of the book BAJA HAHA, Fred Hoctor, with the following: “Jim Ruch, staff man for Secretary of Interior Rogers Morton, long straightened me out about the meaning of the word manana. He told me about a workman on his mother’s ranch near La Paz, whom he had berated for stalling several weeks on a job. Each day the workman told him ‘manana’. As Jim’s ire rose, the workman smiled and nodded sagaciously. ‘You know, Senor Ruch,’ the unperturbed Mexican offered, ‘we have finally figured out what is wrong with Gringos. You think manana means tomorrow. It does not mean tomorrow. It means not today.’’’ Just as a visitor to the Caribbean with let’s say a flat tire, is often greeted by a local with the phase, “No problem man.” (Of course not; it is no problem to him.) The native Bajian will often respond to a wild eyed Gringo with who has run out of petrol or has an abscessed tooth with “maybe manana”. Maybe tomorrow. And that is exactly what he means, and then he will tell you a great place to get fish tacos for lunch or proudly introduce you to his family.

On one of our planned stops on the road to the tip of the Baja, I saw an old man sitting in a rickety, home made chair, under a giant Elephant tree, in the front yard of a rural homestead. His brown, weathered face was under a straw hat as he lazily watched the sparse traffic pass by in the blazing sun. His chair was positioned just inside the huge ring of shade by less than a foot. A few hours later, after a side trip to an onyx mine, I returned to the same spot, to see the same man, with the same expression, under the same tree, still lazily watching the almost non existent traffic pass by. Only one thing had changed. He had moved his chair a few feet to the left to stay within the circle of shade. Like a human sun dial, he moved with the movement of the sun and was subtly sending a message to all passing Gringos on the highway, “Slow down, you move too fast, just let the morning pass.” This is the Baja Way or “Manana.”

The Baja Way can be encountered at restaurants, banks, tire repair shops, food stands and numerous other places on the peninsula. But probably no other location illustrates the Baja Way better than the countless government controlled Pemex gas stations that dot Highway 1, the only road south or north for that matter. We arrived at one station extremely low on fuel, in a panic, only to see lines and lines of vehicles waiting at the pumps in both directions. After a long walk to the station, we were informed that yes, they had plenty of fuel, but no, they could not pump it because the electric generator would not run, and no, they were not sure when the generator would get fixed because it was siesta and no one was working on it, but they were sure that it would be sometime soon, “Manana” so just relax, (You crazy Gringos) and get a fish taco at the stand across the street; my cousin Rosita runs it and they are the best in town. The line at the taco stand was a tiny bit shorter than the gas line. But there is a big shade tree by the stand. “Manana” You get the picture. It is the Baja Way.

THE RV CARAVAN-

Throughout history the advantages of caravans have been known to travelers. In the 12th and 13th centuries Marco Polo used caravans to cross Asia on the silk routes from Venice to China. Since the Middle Ages camel caravans have been used to transport desert gold (salt) across the Great Saraha Desert from Timbuktu and are still used to this day. During the 1800’s countless caravans called wagon trains wound their way down the Oregon and Santa Fe Trail to settle the great West.

All these caravans had a common purpose, to travel from an origin to a final destination and offer the same benefits to their participants; direction, protection, provisions and companionship. It was the first two that we were most interested in. We had no idea where to go on the peninsula. What were the “must see” places and how do you get there? Not speaking a word of Spanish is truly a significant disadvantage to any traveler south of the border. Most caravans provide a leader who speaks Spanish and is very familiar with the customs and traditions of the area. A caravan was starting to sound like a good idea. It was protection of the group provided by a caravan that appealed to us the most. We had heard horror stories of “Gringo Rvers” who were stripped of all their possessions by “banditos” as they parked on the beaches at night. What if we had a breakdown on the road? Who would help us? The caravan offered people who could protect and help each other. A group of strangers banding together and traveling as a unit was the way to go. With visions of the “wagons in a circle”, we scanned the RV magazines. They are filled with ads and offers for trips ranging from a few weeks to as much as 50 days to such exotic places as Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada and Alaska. There are even trips abroad to Europe and Australia where the RV’s are rented and waiting for the adventurers. These arrangements are not inexpensive. RV caravans can range in price from about a thousand dollars to over 10 thousand, depending on the length of time, destination and amenities along the way. But all RV caravan have something in common, a wagon master, and a tail gunner. Both are usually a couple, experienced Rvers, who know the route and have made the trip several times. We found Baja and Back Caravans and sent in our deposit. We were Baja bound. http://www.bajaandback.com/

In February Sara and I met our wagon masters, Jim and Polly, our tail gunners, Julie and Doug, and our fellow travelers at an RV resort in San Diego, CA. Over the next two days, all 30 travelers went through an orientation process. We went over the rules, (Rule #1 was the wagon master’s word was LAW.) We had our rigs inspected and our CB radios tested. Each rig was given a large decal on both the front and the back with a number. We got 13. From now on, we were known to all in the caravan as “BB 13”. Guess who was BB 1. We were provided with a huge binder, The Baja and Back Bible, which was a guide book covering all aspects of the trip. It included the trip itinerary, maps, fuel stops, location of parks, local history, descriptions of desert flora and fauna, geology of the area, possible side trips, recommended restaurants and markets and how to order, driving tips, pictures of tricky turns, daily procedures, highway signs, food shopping tips, the all important “Bubba Breaks” (I will explain that later), currency exchange rates, telephone tips, tipping tips. Well, you get the idea. This was going to be a blast. Oh, and the most important information of all, most Mexican public restroom have absolutely no toilet paper, so bring your own and don’t flush it, but put it in the basket near the stool because the water systems can’t handle it. By the way, this paper is sometimes deposited in the waste barrel next to the fuel pump at the Pemax fuel stations, an unfortunate discovery I made later when attempting to check the oil in my truck.

TRAVELING THE ROAD OF BAJA

One might wonder why you travel the road, not roads on the Baja. Well, that is because, with a few exceptions, there is only one main road south and one back, appropriately called Highway 1. It is approximately 1100 miles, (make that 1770.2784000000001 kilometers) to the tip of the peninsula (Cabo San Lucas) from the US border or 2200 miles round trip (3540.5568000000003 kilometers) and everyone, I mean, everyone traveling the Baja is on it with you. There are 2 wheelers (motorcycles), 3 wheelers (motorcycles with side car) 4 wheelers,(cars, vans and light trucks) 6 wheelers (medium duty trucks) 8 wheelers (light trucks with a 5 wheel RV) 10 wheelers (dually truck with 5 wheel RV and Class A motor homes) 14 wheelers (Class A motor homes pulling a toad or car) 18 wheelers (semis) and the dreaded 20 wheeler (fuel semis with a two trailers carrying thousands and thousands of liters of flammable fuel). And as caravan member, you learn this lingo very fast. Why? The wagon master is “calling” the traffic over the CB radio to all the caravan members most of the way to Cabo San Lucas. It goes something like this: This is BB 1 (wagon master) to the caravan. “We have a red 4 wheeler followed by a 6 wheeler truck overloaded with firewood, then a mighty big, blue 18 wheeler approaching. The 18 wheeler is hugging the center line”. “BB 12, (one of us in the middle of the caravan) will you relay to the tail gunner at the end of the line?” “Copy, BB1”. The tail gunner in turn would call traffic overtaking the caravan. While the whole process sounds confusing, it literally saved lives and was one of the most valuable aspects of caravan travel. At almost all times you are constantly in radio communications with the front and the rear of the caravan and know what to expect coming over the next hill or bend. You also know what is trying to pass and when. You literally have 29 sets of eyes looking out for you. What a life saver.

Another thing a caravaner learns quickly is the nature of a Mexican Baja left hand turn. A left hand turn signal in the States means I am turning left. But on the Baja, a left hand turn signal can mean two different things. I am turning left OR it is safe for you to pass me even if you can’t see a damn thing for the next mile due to the hairpin curves and hills ahead, but trust me, nothing is coming and you can pass. An arm flung out the window with hand pointing to the ditch means, I really am turning left, not to be confused with a left turn signal AND a left hand out the window that means, there is something coming in the opposite direction but what the hell, I think I can make it, so I am still going to turn left between you in the back and the on coming double fuel tanker in the front which you can’t see yet. I hope I make it and I am sorry if I don’t because we are all going to die.

Besides calling other vehicles, the wagon master calls holes in the pavement (pothole polka), cows, goats, horses and donkeys in the middle of the road (a common occurrence), trucks so overloaded that they are leaning into your lane, traffic lights that are not any color due to power outages and most importantly, the dreaded Baja TOPES.

A tope is a speed bump the size of a dead horse which is used to control the speed of the traffic. It is Mexican radar but more effective because it slows every vehicle to a crawl without a squad car, officer, or electricity and can be installed anywhere. Ignore a tope and you don’t get something, like a ticket, but you can lose something like your whole transmission and the rear springs of your vehicle. They are like small mountains. There are fake topes, painted yellow stripes but no bump; regular topes, painted yellow bumps; and “stealth” topes which are unpainted bumps. Most of the topes have huge gouges in them as if someone had tried to chew their way through them and one could only wonder what part of the traveler’s vehicle was ripped off in a horrendous crunch. Curva Peligrosa are “dangerous curves” and Vado is a “dip” in the highway which can be filled with water during the rainy season or dry, but deep enough to snap your head back without warning.

As we traveled down Highway 1, Polly and Jim would call traffic, point out passing landmarks, give us impromptu history lessons and explain the meaning of signs and road makers. We received information on local customs and traditions, how to recognize the various Mexican coins and paper bills, order food at a stand or restaurant, identify fruits and vegetables at the markets, and were given Spanish lessons for all the important phrases. We are also taught how to get fuel at the government controlled PEMAX station without getting ripped off and countless other bits of information that made our Baja Adventure exciting, safe and rewarding.

We began each day with a general information meeting at 9 AM. The schedule for the day was discussed; sign up sheet were available for various activities and individual questions answered. We would then mount up and wait for a radio roll call. “BB 2, ready to roll, BB 4 all set, BB 13, don’t forget your lights, BB 7, you forgot to put up your steps. BB 14, pull out in front of me; I will block the road for you.” And we were on our way. We rarely drove for more than 5 hours and would take regular “Bubba Breaks”. If you haven’t guessed, it was a time to pull over, stretch our legs, walk the dogs, use the on board bathroom on our individual RVs and discuss who needed fuel. Several rigs carried fuel cans and if someone was running low on fuel, it was shared so that the group could continue without having to stop for one rig. We often would eat lunch during the Bubba Breaks.

The Transpennisular Highway or Highway 1 is referred to as a “minimal roadway,” constructed to just accommodate two passing trucks, (eight feet wide plus mirror), with about a foot of clearance between trucks. In some areas there is no center striping and usually no shoulders. The original construction had a thin layer of asphalt rolled into place and the surface has rapidly deteriorated from the weather. In typical “Baja Way” it has been patched and “resurfaced” with more thin layers of asphalt until the thickness of the road has slowly increased as the shoulders have sunk. Almost the entire highway has a white edge striping and God forbid if you wander off the edge where the drop ranges from 6 inches to several feet. There is no room to recover and the periodic concrete abutments built INTO the edge of the roadway for drainage culverts will send your entire rig hurdling into the surrounding desert like a rocket ship. Even the posts lining the edge of the highway are constructed out of solid concrete. You don’t want to hit one of those and several people have, witnessed by the naked rebar sticking out of the ground.

Once we had arrived at our RV park for the night, everyone would get set up and often have a Margarita Party, followed by a pot luck BBQ with everyone bringing a dish to pass. On some occasions the group would have dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We often stayed at beaches on the Sea of Cortez for two days at a time and had free time to just lounge it the sun. Travel days were limited to about half of the total time we were on the caravan.

END OF PART I BAJA PARADISE WHERE NOTHING WORKS QUITE RIGHT………PART II WILL COVER THE DESERT IN BLOOM, OUR EXCITING GREY WHALE WATCH, FOOD, THE DOGS OF BAJA AN ATV ADVENTURE AND SEVERAL OTHER EXCITING TOPICS.





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