We cross lots of very dry creek beds – Have seen no water
in any of them yet. Also, along this bit of coast, lots of Marisco or seafood
restaurants. Quality varied from ones I might possibly have stopped at, to ones
I would definitely not stop at for any reason !!
The first couple of hours was spent winding down beside
the Pacific – Sand dunes, little vegetation, and still quite cool. Then after a couple of hours we started
climbing – Only up to about 500 metres, but we basically then stayed at about
500 meters for the next 6 hours or more, and despite the lack of altitude, it
was pretty impressive and varied scenery.
But first off, at the top of our first steep climb, there
was our first (and what turned out later to be our only) Military Checkpoint
for the day. And very pleasant he was
too – Just a joke about my steering wheel being on the wrong side, and I was on
my way. I am noticing that the younger
soldiers inspect everything, whereas the older ones know what / who they are looking
for, and wave most touristy looking people straight through. Interesting that one sign for the checkpoint
was in metres, and the next was in miles !!!!
Then it was winding down the other side, and by now the
day was warming up. We came into a
little town called El Rasario and it was really a nice little town – At least,
compared to most of the others.
Reasonably clean – But lots of topes !!! After El Rosario there was a lot of flat
farming country, with green crops of something (sorry, not good at working out
the different crops, unless it’s obvious, like pineapples or something !!) and
after that there was very little habitation or farming or anything for the rest
of the day. After El Rosario the road
went out in a southeasterly direction into the middle of Baja, then down
through the centre before eventually turning back towards the pacific
coast. And the this middle bit was dry,
and with virtually no places to pull off the road at all. Road was pretty narry, and in places rough,
so difficult driving at times when big trucks were passing you, of locals doing
100 miles an hour.
But the scenery was stunning – Quite different from
anything I have seen anywhere else.
Obviously very arid, but it alternated between enormous plains, then a
mountain pass, then another plain, another pass, and so on – but all between
about 300 – 500 metres. I stopped to
make my lunch at the top of one pass and even though we were still only at 500
metres, it felt like we were on top of the world – An amazing view for miles in
every direction. Put my shorts back on to as it was up in the 30’s again now
!! Then the scenery also kept varying
between sandy scrubland, sections with LOTS of cactus’ (where I also saw the
hawk perched up in one cactus and stopped to take some pics), and then into the
Valle De Los Cirios. I haven’t found out
what Cirios means yet, but it was a kind of national park, and certainly had
some dramatic scenery. (Later - Cirios is Long horned sheep ???) After a section
of flat topped mesa shaped formations, we got into a rocky section which was
really weird – Where had all these rocks suddenly come from ? Then just as we thought we had left the rocks
behind, there was an enormous hill of rocks right in front of us – Like some
giant had collected them from the surrounding countryside and piled them up
there. Weird.
After that it was back to sand plains, and a couple of
major willy willys / minor tornadoes depending on scales – Whatever, I was glad
they were off in the sandy areas away from the road. It was also starting to
look very grey and ominous cloud wise, although as we came back closer to the
coast, the temps dropped quite dramatically and it fined up again.
I had picked a little town called Santa Rosarita as my
stopping point and got here at about 4 pm.
It was 15 kms off the main highway, but I was pooped, so went in after
it had said there was camping. When I
got to the village it was just just a collection of shacks and houses near the
beach, and not exactly an “RV Park” in sight !!
So I went into a little shop and enquired in my best phrasebook spanish
as to the availability of camping, and they said Si Si and pointed down the
beach. So I drove a little way down
towards the beach, and still saw nothing, so asked again, and got the same Si
Si and pointing at the beach. So I drove
out onto the lovely little beach where all the fishermen were with their boats
and mending their nets, and asked them also, and they all said Si Si too, and
pointed anywhere. So tonight I am on a
beach, the only gringo within 100 kms, and got a lovely spot watching pelicans
diving for fish off the beach.
Almost as soon as I parked half a dozen kids came over
and started chatting and talking about soccer and World Cup when they saw “Rio
de Janeiro” written on my car. They all
politely introduced themselves, and wanted to shake hands, and we had good fun
for a few minutes, so I took their picture, and then gave them all a sweet, and
they went off back to their soccer ball on the beach.
Later, while I was cooking my spaghetti for supper, just
at sunset, a BIG 4 WD came down the beach with those big spotlights on the roof
all lit up, like you see in the movies.
He parked in the dunes behind me, and when this big guy came over, I
went out and said “Buenos Noches” etc, and he said it was fine I was camping on
the beach, but he would be driving around all night to prevent theft of or from
the fishing boats !! Okay !!! Not sure
if he is a cop of just a vigilante, but
since it got dark, there have been quite a few cars and bikes tearing
around on the beach, and every so often the big guy goes off, and they others
all disappear !! Could be an interesting
night !!
Pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0070ColonetToSantaRosalita?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWI0dTM89zrKQ#
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