Winter In Baja – Part 1
With nervous anticipation I inched up to the checkpoint staffed by Mexicans in military uniforms holding automatic weapons. I’d been dreaming about this adventure for years but never pulled the trigger. With Terk the Truck Camper dialed in and ready to go we were finally en route to explore Baja. The only thing standing between us and beautiful beaches, fish tacos, and cheap cervezas were the border guards. Here goes nothing!
Crossing into Mexico was a pleasant and painless procedure. My Spanish is very rudimentary and the border guards “say” they don’t have a lot of English, so I Spanglished my way through the inspection and parked the rig to walk into the office for the Forma Migratoria Múltiple paperwork that I needed to legally explore Baja all winter. Unfortunately a sign printed in English said “No internet, come back in 1 hour”. Two hours later standing with a group of gringos all waiting for the wifi to come back, slightly silly because all of us were traveling with our own Starlink satellite internet systems, I decided to take off to the other border crossing in town where I waited for the officer to return from a break and 5 minutes later I had my documents. Time to roll south!
Baja in a Truck Camper Part 1 Film
It had been a hectic December so my first stop was San Felipe where I could post up in a beachside campground, set up the Starlink that I’d borrowed from my brother, and catch up on work. I spent nearly a week in the seaside town working each morning, going out for hikes and runs in the afternoon, joining my camp neighbors for margarita happy hours, watching a police boat chase ending on the beach in front of our campground followed by a drug bust on the property, and sleeping to the sounds of waves lapping at the shore.
It was a productive week but being so far north in Baja the weather was still a bit chilly. Sick of running the camper heater each morning I packed up and headed south in search of warmer temperatures and more Baja beach vibes.
It’s a long drive from San Felipe to the border of Baja California Sur and I spent the day sneaking peeks at the Sea of Cortés between giant cacti and along winding roads, all while trying my best, but often failing, to avoid truck busting potholes. By the time I reached Guerrero Negro I’d wanted to go further but my hands were sore and my torso was cramped and road weary, so I turned off the highway and drove past the small airport to a free boondock spot in the sand dunes.
My first night wild camping in Mexico was a success, although the wind was howling so everything in my home was coated with fine sand. In the morning I drove into town for a grocery resupply, refilled my water tanks, got gas, and then carried on to the destination I’d really been hoping to reach, San Ignacio.
In San Ignacio I checked into Paraíso Misional, a campground that I’d seen in Instagram posts and YouTube videos about Baja. The town is a lush green oasis on the desert peninsula and the campground is an inviting space just a 5 minute walk from the town square. I tucked myself into a nice spot under the palm trees and set up camp for a few days.
After spending most of my first week in Baja alone my social side must have been feeling restless. The second day in town I started talking with several other campers and mentioned that I’d read about a picturesque restaurant bar on the town square that I was planning to check it out for happy hour that evening, was anyone else interested? Little did I know how that simple invite would change my winter in Baja and create lifelong friends.
We ended up with 15 people, all strangers, sharing a table, cold drinks, and good stories. A few of us headed back to Dennis and Crystal’s trailer and proceeded to sing karaoke late into the night. The next morning was a slow start, but the Baja Crew 2024 was initiated and about to be unleashed on the world.
Over the next few days several of the couples and solo campers in the new Baja Crew peeled off and continued south. Reece and Sabrina moved to a lakeside campsite outside of town for some respite, but me, Dennis, and Crystal were having none of it so we walked over to their casa with a bottle of scotch and kept the fiesta going. To see some of the Baja Crew’s shenanigans watch Reece and Sabrina’s YesCamp YouTube video.
Eventually I was the last man standing in San Iganico and after one final day of working from the camper I ended my week-long residence in the oasis and rolled south. It was Friday and I learned through our group chat that a beach bar on Playa Santispac was hosting a karaoke night, so I rolled by OXXO to resupply my Tecata rojas and made my way to the Bay of Concepción. Most of the Baja Crew was already there so I backed into a waterfront campsite and cracked open a cold one.
The weekend was full of happy hours, karaoke songs, and lots of time out on the water with paddle boards. After a fun few days some of the crew took off toward the next town and I joined Reece and Sabrina as we bounced down the bay checking out beaches, landing at Playa Burro because a waterfront bar was showing the Sunday afternoon NFL games. We stayed a few days while I worked from my camper and the Nomadico Coffee Shop, spent the afternoons paddling around nearby islands, and had an outdoor movie night with a projector on the side of the Yeskamp rig.
I wanted to stay longer on the Bay of Concepción but my pantry was nearly empty, the water tank was running low, I was in need of a shower, and I wanted to restock my Tecate rojas supply, so after work I drove a few minutes south for Taco Wednesday with Reece and Sabrina then we all rolled into Loretto, did our chores, cleaned up, and reconvened with Dennis and Crystal at the El Zopilote Brewing Company downtown.
We bar hopped our way to cheap tacos and sunset at the beach, watched the moon come up over the water, and found ourselves in a dive bar where Mark and Scott met up with us. By now it’s probably no surprise that although it wasn’t a karaoke bar our crew somehow talked the proprietors into letting us take over one of the TV’s in the corner. With a microphone and access to the bar’s laptop we sang ourselves silly late into the night to our favorite karaoke hits. Actually, while I’d like to think that we talked our way into the shenanigans, it might have had something to do with the 2,400 pesos we spent on tequila shots. Either way, we had fun. I think.
The next morning was a very slow start in the campground. I went for a short jog along the beach, did some cleaning in the camper, the walked down to a beachfront bar to watch the NFL games with Reece and Sabrina. While planning my Baja trip I actually thought that I might stay in Loretto for several weeks, even a month or more, but after just a few days in town and I was already packing up to leave. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Loretto, but the Baja Crew was en route to a big vanlife campout that we’d heard about so I pointed Terk the Truck Camper toward La Paz.
A few people in the Baja Crew had purchased tickets to Escapar a la Baja and it wasn’t hard to talk the rest of us into it. After a quick resupply at Walmart in La Paz I turned off the highway to Tecolote Beach in search of my friends. Dennis and Crystal had posted up in an epic spot in the bluffs, met the neighbors, and saved us spaces. I put the truck in 4 low and rolled my way up a small hill to set up camp with a view of the water. That’ll do.
Escapar a la Baja was a multi-day campout event with music, art, vanlife tech talks, games, happy hours and late night parties. In addition to the Baja Crew created in San Igancio we picked up more members from Canada and the States traveling in truck campers, vans, and a converted bus. For several days we shared breakfast beers, paddled out on glassy water, and wandered around checking out the wide variety of rigs. As the sun set we attended happy hours, failed at speed dating (at least I did), and danced the night away at the main stage to karaoke sets and night raves.
After 6 sloshy days the Escapar festival wrapped up and I packed up camp for a reset. I needed a shower, a detox, and to catch up on work, so instead of searching for another free beach spot or paying for a campground I reserved a small AirBNB apartment just outside of town. Once checked in I dropped off all of my laundry at a nearby washing service, took a long hot shower, and sat alone in my quiet room for several hours in silence. Ahhhhh…..
I spent a productive week in the AirBNB working and feeling like a normal human being, but by Friday I had to check out. It was Carnival weekend in La Paz, as well as Super Bowl Sunday, but more importantly the Baja Crew was reassembling at a nearby campground with a pool. Oh, and someone mentioned a karaoke bar downtown. Here we go again!