Baja Border Crossing

We went to the Discover Baja Travel Club office so the others could get their tourist permits and we also picked up another book there. Between us we have:

* Camping Mexico's Baja by Terri and Mike Church
* Moon Handbooks Baja by Joe Cummings
* The Baja Adventure Book by Walt Peterson

On a tip from the woman at DBTC, we stopped at the Costco in Chula Vista which offers a service to change dollars to pesos. The rate was 10.5 pesos per dollar, which was better than the '9 something' rate that Kai had received at her bank in AZ. When we stopped at the border to get our tourist permits stamped for 180 days, they did a cursory search of our vans but we were on the Mex 1 toll road within 15 minutes.

Donna was feeling nostalgic and wanted to stop at the Rosarito Beach Hotel where she drank margaritas 30 years ago. It was elegantly decorated with beautiful tile work, gaily painted beamed ceilings and wall murals. We walked out on the pier to view the lovely, long sandy beach stretching north and south. There were several horse riding concessions on the beach and the horses looked hot and tired. I wouldn't have wanted to stress them more by making them carry us while plodding through the sand.

The hotel was a favorite getaway during the prohibition era when people came down to party and enjoy the casino that used to be on a nearby island. It looks like the hotel/spa is still a popular vacation spot for middle class Mexicans. We sat in the bar near the entrance to the pier and enjoyed lunch and Mexican beer.

The toll road ended at Ensenada and the 2 lane highway became rougher, though in better shape than we expected. There are no shoulders on the roads and not many places to pull over. Sometimes, especially on the winding mountain roads, it was hairy when the Mexican trucks blasted past us from the opposite direction.

We drove through an agricultural area between Maneadero and Santo Tomas where people had roadside produce stands offering fruits and vegetables. I saw piles of papayas the size of footballs. We made the mistake of not stopping, thinking we would get another chance the next day... wrong. From then on, we only had access to small markets offering a meager selection of mediocre produce. I could feel myself
going into withdrawal from the lack of abundant fruits and vegetables.

It was getting late when we stopped to gas up at the Pemex station in Santo Tomas and we had agreed that we would always be off the road by dark. We consulted the map and camping books to decide where to stay for the night. We chose Malibu Beach Sur campground out near Puerto San Isidro, which was recommended for rigs under 24 feet and is in a rather remote location. We headed west for 10 miles on a semi-paved pot-holed road, then 3 miles on a washboarded dirt road before reaching the camp sitting on a 15 foot bluff overlooking a nice beach. We hurridly unpacked our chairs and went to the beach in time to pop a cold beer and enjoy the sunset.

We were the only gringos there with 2 or 3 groups of Mexican campers and later that evening they got out their karaoke machine and sang Mexican ballads. I enjoyed listening to them as I savored my first night in Baja.