Hola! Bienvenidos to all
Today we start our blog adventure with our very first stop of this crazy adventure we decided to embark on: the Lovely Mexico
On New Years Day, we began our journey, starting from our home town of Chico, CA to San Diego.
Baja Mexico
The next morning, we woke up at 5am to get ahead of the insane line of cars the internet fearmongers us with at the infamous San Ysidro border crossing to get into Tijuana, Mexico.
Because we went so early in the morning we were first in line and made it through in about 20 minutes without any issues other than a border officer, who was unable to tell us anything about the Mexico side other than giving us unsolicited advice to be afraid of getting strong-arm robbed in Mexico. I can say with certainty now that he needs to actually visit Mexico for once in his own life to realize how much more there is to the country other than cartel violence.
Once we entered into Tijuana, we accidentally drove right past the Aduanas and Migracion (immigration and customs) building and found ourselves already in the city with zero entry permits. That was a most ridiculous experience, and as it turns out, getting into Mexico without any paperwork is incredibly easy. No worries, though, I was in charge of navigation and found our way back to the border Aduana, got our tourist card and passport entry stamps and on we went!
Getting through Tijuana was no worse than getting through 30 minutes of Los Angeles or San Francisco traffic, and once we were on the main highway to Ensenada we were home free.
The oceanside route was beautiful with the vast Pacific Ocean to our right and the entire coastline was gilded with wealthy residential and commercial areas scattered throughout.
Once we reached the Ensenada area, we turned Eastbound toward the town of San Felipe where we stopped to set up camp and enjoy our first evening right on the beach. We had the most magical evening, eating fresh seafood fajitas in a restaurant overlooking the Sea of Cortez, and sleeping under one of the best nightskies we have ever seen.
The sky was Completely saturated with stars and we spent over an hour having some photography fun with Prakash's camera equipment (pictures to come!)
Our night of sleep was dreamlike with cool winds coming through our rooftop tent windows, the stars visible through the upper window and the sounds of gentle lapping waves to sing us to sleep.
In the morning we were woken up by the salmon and marigold hues of the sunrise filling the inside of our tent as the sun peeked up from the Sea of Cortez horizon. We went for a lovely morning walk along the beach, collecting shells and memories, before packing up to go on to our next spot.
From San Felipe, we drove along the Cortez coast for a short distance before once again crossing diagonally through Baja to reach the western coastal town of Guerrero Negro. The road to Guerrero Negro was filled with amazing views of the Sea of Cortez coastline, desert landscapes, valleys of cacti, roadside tamales and coconut water for our bellies, and open road.
And of the cacti - who knew there could be so many unique types all living together in the same areas. Such diversity of desert fauna, it was a treat to watch the local ecosystems change and merge and diverge again as the drive went on.
The town of Guerrero Negro, in our opinion, is very underrated. At first, it appeared like we had driven into a bit of a ghost town, only around for its whale watching tours. The deeper we delved into the town and spent time with locals, though, the more its lovely coastal community spirit came out.
The town was initially a saltmine whose industry so successfully that an entire town was built around it. Guerrero Negro saltmines is the largest in the world and is the sole provider of industrial salt for all of Central and South America, at the very least. They extract nearly 10million tonnes of salt per year because of how easily the dry oceanside ecosystem allows for salt to be harvested. In the town, workers in the saltmines are given homes, 50% discounts off all foods and homegoods, and education for their children. They have a lovely neighborly energy to them because of this.
Here we went whale watching (Guerrero Negro is part of Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, the largest nature and wildlife sanctuary in Mexico and Central America, about 2.5 million hectares) and found a local guide to take us to his favorite spots in town, including a beautiful section of the salt flats, and a bakery where his baker friends let us grab freshly baked goods straight from the oven in the main kitchen.
We also had some of the best tasting seafood at a small yellow-walled family owned restaurant (literally, father is the cook, mother is the cashier, and daughters are the waitresses) called Danny's at the recommendation of our very friendly guide. No regrets. Highly recommend.
Guerrero Negro saltflats
Once we had our small taste of the town, we continued on, back across Baja to the Eastern border, where we wild camped in our jeep at a spot along the coastline of Bahia de Concepcion (Bay of Conception).
We found a secluded, beautiful spot, set up camp by the ocean, started a fire and waited for yet another night of stargazing. Prakash captured some magnificent shots of the Milky Way here. Once again we awoke to a sky filled with the colors of the sunrise and I caught a photo of our drone in action against the landscape.
From here our next and last stop of the Baja segment was La Paz, where we would load our jeep and ourselves onto the evening ferry to take us over to Mainland Mexico.
As we reached Mazatlan the following morning, we were greeted by beautiful sunrays, dolphins, whales, and birds. What a beautiful way to start the day
Mainland Mexico
Once we reached Mazatlan, we only spent 3 days in Mainland driving across the country as we plan to spend much more time here on the way back.
Our general route was from Mazatlan, Sinaloa to Nayarit to Puebla to Chiapas to Veracruz to Tabasco, where we crossed into Guatemala at the bordertown of El Ceibo.
We stayed in the towns of La Barca, Cordoba, and Tenosique.
The landscapes changed so drastically from one region to the next, such fertile vibrant lands filled with all types of major crops.
The agave fields (to make tequila) were Massive, very much akin to the vineyards of Sonoma.
Here are some of our favorites:
Other noteworthy reflections we had of Mexico was how kindhearted and softspoken nearly every single person was, from gas station attendants to locals in bars and restaurants, to hotel and shop owners.
Being able to atleast partially communicate in Spanish helped quite a bit too as it allowed us to joke around and have more in depth conversations with everyone.
The food was so delicious, and their level of spice easily matches the spice we are accustomed to in Telangana, India. In fact, at one point, Prakash said he did not miss Indian food while we were in Mexico. This is a MAJOR statement coming from him hahah.
And the last favorite story was when he slowed down his speed after seeing a cop car parked only to realize it was a life-sized cardboard cutout.
We did not get a picture of THAT gem but did snag a photo of mannequin construction workers holding the flags to slow us down.
Off to Guatemala and on!
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