Trip and daily expenses

The day starts with a Kijote Coffee

Following is a list of typical daily expenses here in La Ventana:
All prices in Mexican pesos (in January 2010 the exchange rate is 12.4 pesos to the US dollar)
Coffee at Kijote Coffee $20
Breakfast $50
Lunch $50
Dinner $100
Campsite $90
That's $310 pesos (or $25 US) per day

Extras... Beer $20
5 gal. water $13
Gas $7.41 per litre ($1.89 US per gallon)


The cost to drive the Xterra (which gets 23 miles to a gallon) was about $350 US - that's one way - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to La Ventana, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
If camping is not your style then click on accommodations on the Best of La Ventana page.
Warren

Cabo Pulmo

Cabo Pulmo, Charlie and the humpback whale

Met up with paddleboard Charlie yesterday at Cabo Pulmo about two hours drive south of La Ventana. He was out on the water half an hour before me so when I saw him from a distance he looked like he was walking on water and there was all this splashing going on around him. The mobulas (rays) were jumping at a rate of one or two per second.
As I didn't feel safe in the surfski with falling fish all around me we left the area and then Charlie pointed out the two whales in the distance. It was a mother humpback and her calf. The calf was breaching and when they saw us swam in our direction to check us out. They came within 20 feet and as they swam underneath us the water lifted and I was thankful for all the remount practice I've been doing.
Warren

Accomodations in La Ventana / El Sargento

The La Ventana main campground on the Sea of Cortez and Isla Cerralvo in background
The website " Best of La Ventana" has a complete list of accomodations in the area.



After a hard day of long slow distance training (or "establishing my minimum heart rate")

The Drive

Driving from the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, BC)...

From the LA freeway





To the dusty streets of Baja
It takes four days of approximately 12 hours each to drive from the Pacific Northwest to southern Baja (La Paz area). Two days on the I5 to San Diego and two days on the Baja Transpeninsular from Tijuana to the La Paz area.
Leave North Vancouver on a Saturday morning (this avoids running into weekday rush hour traffic in Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Los Angles or San Diego. Night number one is spent in Redding, California area. Night number two is spent in San Diego area. The Oceanside rest area ( Alliso Creek ) is recommended as this is close to the Mexican border crossing and allows an early start for day three. I’ve entered Mexico at the Tijuana border crossing on two occasions and the Tecate crossing once. Border crossing details are found on the Baja Friends, Baja Insider, Baja Nomads ,Mexperience.or iKitesurf webpage. Mexican auto insurance is mandatory and can be bought online from Baja Bound. Night of day three is spent in Guerrero Negro and the Hotel Malarrima is recommended. The final day of travel gets you to La Paz or you can continue to La Ventana (another 40 minutes) if it’s not dark yet.
Things to remember when driving in Baja:
never drive at night
if the slow moving truck in front of you signals left it may mean he's saying it’s safe for you to pull out and pass or it may mean he’s turning left in which case it’s not safe for you to pull out and pass
the army road checks are nothing to stress about - just be polite
take the speed limit signs seriously
don’t drive at night.