Date:         Thu, 6 Jan 2011 20:12:17 -0800
Reply-To:     Markus Mumper <markusmumper@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Markus Mumper <markusmumper@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Feb Baja trip to see the Whales!
In-Reply-To:  <AANLkTikqUYZYZt0DaJEBSXcxtLXVGzka_HLd0d+fHNXv@mail.gmail.com>
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My wife and I and some friends did that trip a few years ago.

We left our van (required Vanagon content) in San Ignacio though and went in
our friends Ford pick up to go to this whale watching camp. We stayed in the
tents described by Mark below.

The road was very washboardy and it was difficult to find the proper speed
for semi-comfortable, non vehicle tearing apart travel. For those who are
into it cacti make a few stops on the way to the coast to discover lots of
amazing plants.

When we went on the pongas to visit the whales (yup, visit) they would come
right up to the boats, the mothers would push their babies to us and we
would pet them. One mature whale came under our boat upside down, straddled
us with her fins and rocked us in an out of the water. I think she was
scratching herself, freaked me out actually. At least the camp had all the
beer you could drink included in the price and I drank heavily upon our
return to land to calm the nerves.

This trip (at least our experience) is way recommended, we had a great time
with lots of little adventures.

Markus and The Girl ('87 Westy in Pismo Beach)




On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 3:32 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:

> After a great trip last year, we are doing it again this year, in late
> Feb. 1 or 2 other VW vans are coming with so far. We are going for a
> week, Sun-Sat from/to San Diego. Other people interested in traveling
> along should send me a PM for more details. You don't need Syncro, just
> a reliable VW van with 5 good tires. We will cover about 1300 miles of
> mostly paved Baja road. Below is my posted report from last year.
>
> Mark and Anne
>
>
> mark drillock wrote:
>
>> Just returned from a whale watching trip to Baja. 1400 miles, 4 people
>> in a passenger Syncro, friend and family, camping each night. The whole
>> Baja desert was beautiful and lush from all the rains this year. The
>> main road was pretty good, a few washed out bridges with bypasses until
>> repaired. I have not seen things so green there in so many places in a
>> long time. Dry lakes that are far from dry right now and seemingly
>> dormant plants are bursting out with new life. The wild flowers are
>> going to be something really special in the next month or so, some
>> already happening.
>>
>> We went to the main Grey Whale calving lagoon area on the Pacific near
>> San Ignacio, in 2 days of driving from San Diego. We camped and did some
>> minor sightseeing along the way but mostly pressed on, arriving
>> afternoon second day. Taking our chances, we drove out from the town
>> many miles out a shaky dirt road to the lagoon, hoping to find a
>> suitable camp near one of the small businesses that run whale watching
>> boat tours during the calving season before the whales migrate north
>> again. Arriving at the lagoon shore after what seemed like a very long
>> and desolate dirt stretch we soon saw a couple options but didn't care
>> much for the looks of the first few camps. With the sun getting low in
>> the sky we went a little further, hanging our hopes on the small wooden
>> signs advertising whale watching outfits up ahead. After a couple more
>> rough miles of now sagging hopes we came to a place where I was
>> determined we would camp no matter what. A young bilingual Mexican woman
>> came out of a tidy looking building and waved us over. She said if we
>> wished to camp to follow her and she walked a ways over to a spot right
>> at the water's edge, following a drive path lined with seashells to a
>> camp site ringed with them as well. She pointed out the restrooms and
>> showers and said meals were available by arrangement in the cafe and
>> whale watching trips could be done in the mornings and afternoons. We
>> had the only vehicle camped that night but we found out that other
>> people were there inside the cabins and tents they also offer, mostly
>> for people who arrive by shuttle van picked up in the town. We somehow
>> had lucked into a special place run by special people.
>>
>> http://www.kuyima.com/whales/camping.html
>>
>> We ate breakfast in their rustic cafe with about 20 whale viewing
>> gringos, before the 9:00 whale trip in one of their boats. The customers
>> were divided up among the small boats with our group of 4 getting
>> assigned our own boat and guide while other boats carried 8. The boat
>> ride was 2 hours total, with a 15 min zip out to the viewing zone. We
>> saw many many whales, some within arms reach of the boat. At times we
>> could see 10 or more in our close field of view. There were more whales
>> in all directions, some doing various stunts for no apparent reason. It
>> was magical. I kick myself for never doing this before, in all my Baja
>> trips.
>>
>> After watching the whales we had lunch at the cafe, then packed and
>> headed back north a few hours to another town where we spent the night,
>> 2 of us camping and 2 getting a room. In the morning we grocery shopped
>> and filled our big water jug at the purified water machine inside the
>> market.
>>
>> A couple hours later to the north we turned off east to Bahia de Los
>> Angeles for an afternoon of beach/sun on the Sea of Cortez, a night and
>> intended early departure. Arriving there, the beauty and solitude soon
>> overtook us and we dug in for a little longer stay. We had a long white
>> sand beach to ourselves, with islands and colorful skies to look at. It
>> was mesmerizing and delightful. There was an older VW camper van along
>> with a mini RV parked at the next cove, with Wisconsin and Washington
>> plates. It cost $5 per vehicle to camp for each night with no amenities
>> provided. During the days the wind blew at times but after the sun set
>> things calmed down and we sat out on beach blankets and welcomed the
>> nights, gazing out at the water and up at the stars.
>>
>> I could fill in many more details of things we saw and did but you
>> really need to be there to get it. GO!
>>
>>
>> Mark
>>
>