Tropical Travels

After San Javier, we drove down to La Paz to sort out vehicle documentation for the trip to the mainland. A whole morning spent queuing, being sent for copies, etc, etc, and we are now fully legal and booked on a ferry to Mazatlan tomorrow afternoon. After a brief taco-and-sandcastle stop on the beach we drove into the hills to stay at a ranch near St Bartolo.

We were one of only two camper vans in this beautiful spot. Time and again this has been the case on the Baja, where tourism seems to be suffering from the US economy and border-town drug-related violence. It doesn’t help that several of the bridges on the only route South into the Baja are still impassable after last week’s terrible weather.

We had heard great reports of the beaches and coral reef at Cabo Pulmo and decided spend a couple of days down there. Taking yet another dirt track to cross the Tropic of Cancer, we visited this remote village, which lived up to all our expectations, with fabulous snorkelling right off the beach, humpback whales leaping clean out of the water and even a great little restaurant.

Having driven the length of the Baja Peninsular, we are now back in La Paz awaiting the ferry, hoping that tomorrow’s forecast storm doesn’t affect our 16 hour crossing too much. The plan now is to spend a little time in the colonial town of Mazatlan and then meet up with Tony’s parents further down the coast in Bucerias.