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