If we're being honest, I was pretty anxious about our first few nights camping in Baja.
My Spanish is terribly rusty and we've all heard the horror stories about being out in the boonies of Mexico. We're also in the off-season; we were the sole inhabitants of our first campground. Our month in Oregon and California had been a monumental learning experience and pretty tough as we adjusted to our new lifestyle. But we knew that Mexico was going to be tougher. New country, new language, new money, and so many unknowns.
Consequently I was worried. I dislike being worried; it makes me grumpy and less tolerant of normal family (and kid) shenanigans.
Not surprisingly, things are typically less bad than you fear and we found this to be exactly true for our family. After a while we got the hang of the Pemex gas stations, the banks, and how much to tip the volunteers bagging your groceries. And some of my spanish came back so we can do some basic communicating. It ain't pretty, but we can get around.
Here is a mostly up-to-date route map.
Frankly, not a whole lot changed for the kids between the US and Mexico. We're still doing school in the morning, driving during nap time, and hunting for campgrounds in the afternoon. Emma has had a tough time with the food (the kid absolutely refuses to touch beans (beans!! Who doesn't like beans?!) and is sick of tacos) and Ben can't understand why the hotels don't all have pools. Just about every cheap motel along I-5 on the West Coast in the US has a pool; he thought they'd extend south of the border as well.
I love desert landscapes; the area around Catavina was lovely. It's a lot browner and less interesting down here near Los Cabos but it's the end of the dry season; things will green up soon enough. Ben and I have been sorely disappointed not to have seen a single rattlesnake, however.
Ben made friends with two boys at our first campsite. They didn't share a single word in common but little boys have no trouble bonding over critters, especially if they're dead. We had a mouse run through the campsite and the boys (and dogs) spent a good half hour trying to track it down.
The camp dog brought us a dried and very dead sting ray.
Weirdly, I think they look like tiny little human faces on the bottom. Sorry little buddy. I hope you had a good life.
Our first campsite was actually the most pleasant weather-wise. Not surprisingly, things are gettin' HOT as we move south.
Next up: The Whale Sharks of Bahia de los Angeles
Overlanding Through Baja
As we've moved along, friends and acquaintances have offered up advice in regards to navigating Baja. Not sure if they apply to all of Mexico but here are tips that we've learned so far.
For reference, 17.5 pesos = 1 USD
Gas Stations
Grocery Stores
Police and Military
Camping
Thanks all I can think of for now. I'm sure we'll come up with other tips in the near future and will post accordingly.
xo,
Sonja
My Spanish is terribly rusty and we've all heard the horror stories about being out in the boonies of Mexico. We're also in the off-season; we were the sole inhabitants of our first campground. Our month in Oregon and California had been a monumental learning experience and pretty tough as we adjusted to our new lifestyle. But we knew that Mexico was going to be tougher. New country, new language, new money, and so many unknowns.
Consequently I was worried. I dislike being worried; it makes me grumpy and less tolerant of normal family (and kid) shenanigans.
Not surprisingly, things are typically less bad than you fear and we found this to be exactly true for our family. After a while we got the hang of the Pemex gas stations, the banks, and how much to tip the volunteers bagging your groceries. And some of my spanish came back so we can do some basic communicating. It ain't pretty, but we can get around.
Here is a mostly up-to-date route map.
Frankly, not a whole lot changed for the kids between the US and Mexico. We're still doing school in the morning, driving during nap time, and hunting for campgrounds in the afternoon. Emma has had a tough time with the food (the kid absolutely refuses to touch beans (beans!! Who doesn't like beans?!) and is sick of tacos) and Ben can't understand why the hotels don't all have pools. Just about every cheap motel along I-5 on the West Coast in the US has a pool; he thought they'd extend south of the border as well.
I love desert landscapes; the area around Catavina was lovely. It's a lot browner and less interesting down here near Los Cabos but it's the end of the dry season; things will green up soon enough. Ben and I have been sorely disappointed not to have seen a single rattlesnake, however.
Ben made friends with two boys at our first campsite. They didn't share a single word in common but little boys have no trouble bonding over critters, especially if they're dead. We had a mouse run through the campsite and the boys (and dogs) spent a good half hour trying to track it down.
The camp dog brought us a dried and very dead sting ray.
Weirdly, I think they look like tiny little human faces on the bottom. Sorry little buddy. I hope you had a good life.
Our first campsite was actually the most pleasant weather-wise. Not surprisingly, things are gettin' HOT as we move south.
Next up: The Whale Sharks of Bahia de los Angeles
Overlanding Through Baja
As we've moved along, friends and acquaintances have offered up advice in regards to navigating Baja. Not sure if they apply to all of Mexico but here are tips that we've learned so far.
For reference, 17.5 pesos = 1 USD
Gas Stations
- All the gas stations are government owned: Pemex. That might change in the future but as of 7/2017, they are all controlled by the government. The price of gas at the station is occasionally posted on signboards (but not always).
- You don't pump your own gas; there is always an attendant, often in an official uniform. Reminds us of Oregon! :)
- Know in advance how much money you want to spend on your fill up. For example: "Buenos dias, senior. Tengo 600 pesos. La gasolina Magna, por favor." It's not graceful, but they'll know that you have 600 pesos to spend on the green Magna gas.Or, if you want it filled all the way, simply say "lleno, por favor".
- Before they start pumping, make sure the gas pump is zeroed out. In many cases the attendant will point to it to show you that it's at zero. Chris always gets out of the car and watches the procedure.
- We got scammed with a credit card several years ago in San Jose del Cabo; consequently we always pay in cash.
- We tip the attendant 20 pesos if he or she cleans the windows. Often there is a person (who doesn't work for the gas station) there cleaning windows and we'll do the same amount for them. Same goes for any person cleaning windows in the parking lot of the grocery store, oxxo, banco, etc. They're poor people working hard to make ends meet and it costs you almost nothing, even if you don't really need your windows cleaned.
- There are places in Baja that don't have any/many gas stations (especially between El Rosario and Guerrero Negro). Make sure to fill up when you have the chance.
Grocery Stores
- The person bagging your groceries is also a volunteer. A 5 or 10 peso tip is gratefully appreciated.
- Imported food, especially from the US, is expensive. You can find your Lucky Charms, Snickers, and Pringles, but they'll set you back a bunch o' dinero. I've yet to find a good Mexican chocolate bar substitute so far. Any suggestions?
Police and Military
- There are three types of police here in Baja: the military, the federal police, and municipal police. So far we've encountered several military checkpoints and a few federal stations but no municipal checks. They've been very straight forward.
- At check stations, we roll down all the windows (so they can see the kids in the back), and remove sunglasses/hats. And we are very, very polite.
- Usually they ask: Why are you here? Where did you come from (this morning), and where are you headed (tonight)?
- Thus far (knock on wood) we haven't had any problems with the police. It's unlikely that the military or Federales will give you trouble or ask for a bribe. This typically happens at the municipal level. We'll update this post if we have any interactions in the future.
- If you are asked for a bribe, many gringos prefer to be polite and act dumb (or pretend not to speak Spanish). "No se', senior". "I don't know". Also, Chris keeps only small bills in his wallet. If we did end of paying a bribe, we'd want the officer to see small denominations of cash, rather than a thick wad of bills as he opened his wallet to extract money.
- Randomly, a helicopter with federal police just roared down the beach, about 20 feet off the ground. There has been quite a bit of drug cartel activity here in the last months (of which we'd been completely unaware!) but we've seen none of it and have felt very safe.
Camping
- If you plan to do any camping in Baja, purchase the Traveler's Guide to Baja and download the iOverlander App.
- There are a million campsites in Baja. There are deserted beaches with no amenities to fancy RV parks with swimming pools and laundry facilities. Our campsites tend toward the less luxurious end, often only having a pit toilet and a palapa. We didn't do any free camping in Baja, preferring to stay in sites that had a few other people in the vicinity but I'd probably be ok with free camping in the boonies, especially if I was traveling in a group with multiple vehicles.
Thanks all I can think of for now. I'm sure we'll come up with other tips in the near future and will post accordingly.
xo,
Sonja