Blogs and Vlogs:
We've been having some great times on the Pacific Coast! A few of the most notable locations so far have been Todos Santos, Sayulita, and the Manzanillo area.
Todos Santos was pretty neat - very artsy, great food, and nice beaches. Todos (and especially neighboring town Pescadero) have pretty high gringo ratios, but it seems like this tourism certainly stimulates the economies of these towns, creating happy, culturally as well as actively diverse communities. Many people go to Todos Santos to surf, but as I already mentioned there's a pretty large emphasis on art as well. Not only art like the kinds you find in galleries, but apparently there is a completely free cinematography school that offers classes in filming, editing, production, directing, etc. Another interesting thing we learned about Todos is that CU is supposedly opening a campus in the town! That's right, Colorado Universities in Mexico. Another place we stayed for a couple of days was Sayulita. This is a definite surf spot. It's super touristy, which should be no surprise because I'm sure you've heard of as many people going as have I. The tourists seem to be comprised of 3 different categories: Retirees, families, and surfers. Especially surfers. The town reminded me of a Whistler or Park City but of the surfing variety (and almost equally as expensive!). To us, though, it wasn't really as friendly as its' snowy equivalents. There seemed to be a lot of attitude, the "I'm too cool for school" sort. And because there are so many people and so few waves, getting on them and getting in the way of the locals makes them pretty unhappy. They'll hiss at you and tell you to get off the wave. On the other hand, it's relaxing; a beautiful sandy and mellow beach amidst the thick Mexican jungle, it feels a bit like paradise. We also went for a walk through the jungle one day that took us to a very secluded beach that you can see from Sayulita. On the way back we took another trail that lead us along the cliffs overlooking the coast, a really awesome experience. The drive from Sayulita through Peurto Vallarta (only about 30 minutes away) was beautiful. It was a huge surprise to me that Puerto Vallarta turned out to be one of my favorite locations so far, at least in terms of the towns we've seen. It's a beautiful landscape, charming city amidst lush, dense mountains and beautiful blue and turquoise pacific waters. It really was the charm of the city, though, that took me by surprise. I'm always a sucker for cobblestone and Mexican architecture, but PV also had large leafy trees shading the streets . . . just really nice. We drove through Puerto Vallarta and continued southward until we made it to a beach named Boca de Iguanas where we camped for a few days and tried to surf the new boards we just bought in Sayulita. Apparently it's not the best time for surfing. Lots of waves but super inconsistent and choppy. The boeach, though, was consistently nice. Secluded, there was only one restaurant we found, a campground, drink vendors, and a few private looking homes lined parts of the beach, but you could easily get away from everything. Frankie was free to roam and play in the shallow beach when we went further out with the boards to get our butts kicked. After 3 nights we left Boca de Iguanas to find what feels like much needed hotel in Manzanillo. Onward toward Pascuales tomorrow to watch some big wave surfing! Where to begin? First, internet has been spotty which explains why I haven't posted in a while. But we've been through a lot! First, as it turns out, Mexican mechanics are awesome. After 8 straight hours of this guy busting his ass, we were finally back on the road in San Felipe. The town was nice, but in my opinion not worth raving about. There was, though, an AWESOME place to view the Cardon cacti. There will be another post dedicated specifically to them ;)
After San Felipe we took a day driving, eventually making our way to Gonzaga Bay. It's a beautiful and secluded bay owning to the fact that the road to Gonzaga was only very recently finished. In fact, the road thereafter quickly turns to washed-out dirt, taking 4 hours to travel 40 miles (although we did stop to meet Coco, a man who owns a little shop with Coke, beer, and panties all across the ceiling). And be warned, if you don't want to take the road past Gonzaga, the only other option is to drive back to San Felipe and take the road to the highway back to the Pacific side. Once we made it back onto the highway we drove. We drove a lot that day through hot, dry, super windy desert. We had plans of getting to Santa Rosalia, but instead we stopped when we came across the oasis of San Ignacio. The town is lush paradise due to the river that runs through it, a beautiful place to camp, and with it's quaint town and gorgeous old mission, I'd recommend it as a stop to anyone traveling through. From San Ignacio we made our way around the Bay of Conception, named so because it is where whales migrate annually to conceive. And it is BEAUTIFUL. Miles and miles of Caribbean-ques empty beaches with plenty of palapas for camping. We stopped to swim which was a great idea. We ended up staying much longer than anticipated (actually until we were kicked out by the lady at the gate because we had not payed the full 50 pesos to enter). Later that day we made our way to Loreto, our current location. So far the beaches aren't nearly as nice as Bahia de Concepcion or Gonzaga, but the town is adorable. Colorful, quaint, happy, clear colonial influence but still distinctly Mexican. There's a boardwalk where the people walk or run and where we watched the full moon rise last night. Beautiful. And we're off! Crossing our first border, from the United States into Mexico, with a dog.
Has anyone ever crossed the border from the US into Mexicali, Mexico??? Holy cow! It's virtually non-existant! I couldn't believe it. Here's how it went down. We got to immigration, got into one of 3 lines, went through the gate thing that goes kind of regulates the lines but never stopped moving. As we got to the lady at the other side of the gate I asked, "Do I stop here?". She just smiled and waved, saying "Pasen, pasen!" And as we drove away all I heard were remarks of "perro," I'm assuming referring to Frankie's baby blues. I'm still laughing about the whole situation. Here we are worried about the dog's shots and documents, licenses, vehicle importation permits, the over-packed car, the fact that I have no mode of definitive exit from the country, etc, and these ladies don't even give us (or anyone else, for that matter) the time of day, much less check our passports! Unbelievable. But more importantly, awesome
Traveling with a beater, a constant learning experience.
A photo says a thousand words?? This pic in particular offers a pretty accurate summary of the trip so far, 6 mechanics in 4 days! While traveling with a beater is tough, it is certainly a constant learning experience! So far the most valuable pieces of information we've come across concerning cars, mechanics and driving are as follows: 1. Utilize truck-stop mechanics. They are super helpful and the entire service is dedicated to helping you out on-the-spot, so it's quick; 2. These same shops can help diagnose your problem and will send you in the direction of a good and reliable shop nearby in the case that they can't actually fix the vehicular issue at hand; 3. There are awesome looking junk yards right off the highways in Mexico that I'll definitely be utilizing some time in the near future to look for a new transmission; 4. Semi-trucks are as sketchy as you think! According to our truck-stop mechanic, Jeff, they routinely skip routine maintenance and go without fixing their truck's problems. His advice, drive as fast as you can and pass them asap. That's it for now, but we'll be using our first Mexican mechanic today, interested to see how that goes!
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Section dedicated to helpful resources, websites, and other information:
Apparently There is a Rise in Vigilante-Style Local Self-Defense Aimed Against Mexican Cartel and Gangs.
Have a read, this article does a pretty great job explaining a new complication to what is becoming a seeming epidemic of violence in Mexico. We've been hearing rumors that traveling through certain states, namely Guerrero, is a bit scary; desolate streets, road blocks in and out of every town, empty beaches. While security measures and violence are not aimed at tourists it is still a bit nerve-racking to be potentially entering an area of new volatility, especially when that potential for instability is armed. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139462/patricio-asfura-heim-and-ralph-h-espach/the-rise-of-mexicos-self-defense-forces Baja Ferries and Crossing the Sea of Cortez, a Semi-Pet-Friendly Experience.
I had done quite a bit of research on crossing the Sea of Cortez and if we could bring a dog. All signs pointed to yes; other blogs were proof that it had been done as long as you had a cage for your dog, Baja Ferries website had a pets option to enter the number of pets you would be bringing (although it wouldn't allow me to enter a number of pets going to Mazatlan, but since there was an option i figured it was an internet glitch), etc. But upon entering the Baja Ferries ticket office in La Paz we were told that pets are in fact NOT allowed to travel to Mazatlan (I'm guessing they had recently changed the policy because half of the Baja Ferries staff was just as confused about the fact that dogs couldn't go to Mazatlan as we were, in fact a few of them told us when we asked that dogs could go). But alas, when the time came to actually buy the ticket we were told that dogs to Mazatlan were a no. But dogs are allowed on the ferry to Topolobampo. So we got on the ferry to from La Paz to Topo that night. Frankie spent the night outside in his crate on one of the back decks. We weren't allowed to visit him, but he was fine and super grateful to see us when we were able to see him and leave the ferry. We got in at around 7 the next morning and drove to Mazatlan that same day. It took us another 8 hours, but we were still ahead of the schedule when compared to the original plan which would have gotten us into Mazatlan at around 11 am the next day. All in all it was a decent experience. Some tips for the ferries: pack a BACKPACK (not a suitcase, even a small one because they will make you check it) for the ferry ride; you can get a cabin but if you don't just make sure you have blankets because it's chilly; there's food provided, on our ferry we received a late dinner; you DO need a Vehicle Importation Permit to cross to the mainland. You buy one at the ferry terminal because there is a Banjercito, but you MUST have US dollars to purchase it. For those traveling with furry friends, BringFindo is an awesome resource if you're looking for a hotel.
I came across a site that has a search engine specifically designed for pet-friendly hotels. Almost identical to Travelocity, Orbitz, etc, bringfido.com allows you to enter data such as location, how many adults, how many children, and dates, but also offers a 'pet' option. You can actually enter into the search engine how many pets you will be traveling with! Then they find you all the options in your specified destination that will meet your needs AND which are pet friendly. So cool. http://www.bringfido.com/ A little tid-bit I found to be useful for wilderness survival. Thanks unofficialnetworks.com!
I have found myself (and I know others who have found themselves) in the situation where a snow-cave is essential to make it through the night. All you need is a shovel and the knowledge of how to go about building a safe and practical design. The following link from unofficialnetworks offers the information you may find super-dooper-useful one day: http://unofficialnetworks.com/build-proper-snow-cave-130370/ Get out and ride! Biking is sweet.
A website with a list of the Top Trails By State in America, bike reviews, etc. Mostly I like it for it's awesome trail lists and ideas. Give it a look and find a trail near you! http://www.singletracks.com/ Introducing: the Cardon Cactus
I think these cacti are super cool so I've done a bit of research. Here's what I think are the most interesting tid-bits: The cardón cactus (Pachycereus pringlei) is the world's largest cactus. There are about 1200 species of cactus, all of them native to the Americas. The cardón is nearly endemic to the deserts of the Baja California peninsula. Some of the largest cardones have been measured at nearly 21 meters (70 feet) high and weigh up to 25 tons. These very slow growing plants are also extremely long-lived, and many specimens live well over 300 years. ''Cardo'' means ''thistle'' in Spanish. It is said that when Hernando Cortes attempted to establish a settlement in Baja in 1535, the many spiny cacti earned it the name ''Isla de Cardón'', because at the time, they believed the peninsula was an island. The cardón grows best in the deeper soil of the alluvial fans of arroyos and other waterways. The cardón can be found between sea level and about 950 meters (3200 feet) in elevation from near El Rosario in the north, to the tropical Cape region at the southern tip. The cardón occupies only the relatively frost free regions of the Baja deserts.
The cardón has adapted to the arid conditions of the Sonoran Desert as many cacti have. It has a columnar form to present greater surface area to the morning and evening sunlight, and less to the harsh sun of midday. The branching pattern of the arms maximizes the efficient capture of solar radiation. The cardón needs no leaves -- it is a true ''cladophyll'' -- a plant that performs photosynthesis through its skin, rather than through leaves. Modified epidermal cells in the skin of the stems, called ''chlorenchyma'' do the work of converting sunlight to energy. Water loss during photosynthesis is reduced through crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a method of photosynthesis that the cardón shares with many of the cacti and succulents that inhabit the dry areas of the world. The stomata on these plants open only after dark, allowing the cactus to absorb carbon dioxide during the cooler night hours, making these plants very water efficient. http://www.loscabosrestaurantguide.com/cardon_cactus.htm |