Baja Sur and Return to the US

Last week we wrapped up our Baja adventures and crossed back into the US after two months in Mexico. It was starting to get pretty hot and we felt as though we had gotten our fill of beach and desert experiences. It was a great trip though and as with each of our trips, it’s now time for the trip highlight report! 

Best Overall Place: Todos Santos - while it didn’t always feel like the most authentic Mexican experience, we really loved the feel of this Pueblo Magico and there’s no question that it has some of the best food in all of Baja. The climate was also perfect there as there was a steady ocean breeze coming off the Pacific keeping us cool in our casita on Calle Las Brisas. I also really enjoyed taking Spanish classes which really improved my Spanish due to the daily immersive one-on-one classes. 

Honorable Mention: Loreto - we were big fans of the other Baja Pueblo Magico town that we visited but only spent three days here which probably wasn’t enough time to fully experience all that Loreto had to offer. The views of the mountains and the Sea of Cortez were truly stunning and we found the people to be incredibly friendly in this town. Compared to Todos Santos, it felt like there were fewer gringos in Loreto which scores big points in our book. Loreto apparently has world class fishing so next time we go we’ll have to head out to catch some marlin and yellowtail. 

Best Beach: El Tecolote/Balandra - La Paz is known for having incredible beaches and the adjacent beaches of El Tecolote/Balandra were some of the nicest that we’ve ever been to. Picture turquoise waters, beautiful sunsets, uncrowded beaches and rugged mountains and you’ve just transported yourself to these beaches! We also really liked that we could boondock at Playa El Tecolote for a couple nights for no charge. 

Favorite Restaurant: Eataliano and Tiki Santos, both in Todos Santos - we went to both of these places multiple times and we should have gone more! Eataliano makes some of the best wood-fired pizza we’ve ever had which is a little surprising considering it’s in Mexico. Tiki Santos has incredible seafood in a great outdoor palapa restaurant tucked away from the busy downtown area.

Best Experience: snorkeling in Cabo Pulmo - we went to Cabo Pulmo to experience a less developed, pristine part of Baja and it lived up to the hype. We really loved camping at Playa El Arbolito where we spent a good amount of time snorkeling with the colorful fish and other sea life.  

Best Fish Taco: Taqueria El Viejo in Los Barilles - on a tip from a friend, we checked out this spot and it had the classic fish taco with an absolutely amazing toppings bar which is usually what the taco is all about, right? 

Favorite Place to Run/Walk: Puerto Viejo in Todos Santos - Ginny and I went hiking on this trail and I did multiple trail runs as the view never got old looking out over the Pacific and the surrounding mountains. Honorable Mention: trail between El Tecolote and Balandra - Never saw another soul and great views of the nearby bays. 

Best Boondocking Spot: everywhere in Bahia Concepcion - this area was chock full of great spots to park our van up for the night. The best spot had easy beach access and a palapa right outside the van to give us plenty of shade. 

Best Wildlife Viewing: dolphins at Dolphin Bay - on several occasions, we saw large pods of dolphins swimming by our campsite at Dolphin Bay in Bahia Concepcion. Absolutely magical!

Most Dangerous Activity: driving on Baja roads - most highways in Baja are just two lane roads and some sections have little to no shoulder. Almost all roads have tractor trailers moving goods at especially high speeds at all times of day. And you’re often needing to pass them. On top of that, high winds prevail in many areas which are particularly noticeable when driving a tall roof van. All mixed together, it’s a perfect recipe for many white knuckle moments! Fortunately, we didn’t have any incidents but were thankful to get back to the US where there’s a little more space on the road. 

Most Challenging Situation: refer to previous blog post for details, but getting stuck in the sand in La Ventana was a drag…it’s small potatoes when many people fear run-ins with banditos or cartels as part of their Mexican travels. 

Biggest Nuisance: aggressive dogs - there’s a strong watch dog culture in Mexico so it’s fairly common to have dogs barking at you from behind a fence when you walk by. Every once in a while, there would be an aggressive dog on the loose so Ginny started doing her daily walks with a walking stick to fend off the aggressive dogs. By the end of our time in Todos Santos, she could tell you where all the dogs were block-by-block in a 2-mile radius. 

We crossed the border back into the US last week. After a couple days in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego, we spent last weekend in San Diego visiting friends. I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Sunday which was my fifth time running the race. I ran a 2:53 which was slower than I was hoping for but  good enough for the fastest time for ages 40 and up and finishing 24th overall in the race. The second half of the course is pretty desolate with very little crowd support and that’s where my pace slowed leading up to the dreaded 163 hill at mile 22! I told Ginny this was the last time I’ll run this race which she was happy to hear as the finish line area has gotten increasingly crowded. The highlight of the visit was seeing old friends - see photo below from visiting our friend Molly at work at the Zoot offices in Carlsbad.

We flew to the east coast on a red-eye Tuesday night and we’ll be visiting my family in Massachusetts for the next ten days. If you’re in the area, please reach out as we’d love to see you!