Dec. 4: Through the Valle de los Cirios

We spent the night at Rancho Santa Inez which was Vida's favorite stop so far. The ranchers allow overnight parking. There is lots of room for RV dry camping at $7/night with flush toilets in a beautiful, quiet, off road natural area. The owners also offer a cooked meal before leaving for the night.

After a very good rest, we were on the road again by dawn. We stopped for gas and a stretch at PEMEX stations which is the Mexican national oil company. There are many new PEMEX stations along the highway and the service was very good at all of them. There may not be a store assicated with each station, but usually there is a taco stand or a mini super mercado nearby. The most spectacular PEMEX we saw was a super station in La Paz with a car wash and notable for it's over the top glittering modern facade.

 

As we left the station at the village of Jesus Maria, we we passed by a military vehicle which lead the way through a long stretch of the Desierto de Vizcaino to the Vizcaino junction military inspection point. At each one, a soldier would ask us a few questions and then send us on our way. At this one, an inspection of our trailer was requested. The young soldier was assertive, but very polite and friendly. He stepped just inside the doorway and looked around, then stepped out and said, "Very pretty." He then came over to the truck passenger door and asked me what Vida's name was and again said, "Very pretty." We have been told that the young soldiers are curious about how we live and that it is a long day out in the middle of nowhere for them. It is fairly simple to communicate by having a few words en Espanole and by listening carefully. There was also a brief agricultural inspection and undercarriage spray (substance unknown) at the border between Baja Norte and Baja California Sur.

The scenery is beautiful through the desert and has special preserved areas such as the Vizcaino Biosphere preserve. Features also include rugged mountains and the Volcan las Tres Virgenes which last erupted between 25,000 and 35,000 years ago.

There are many mountainous passes and curvas peligrosas which require the drivers full attention for hours on our route. As we near  the Sea of Cortez coast, we are suddenly seemingly launched over the hill and into space as we head down the long, steep and twisty grade named Infierno into Santa Rosalia.

 

It is usual for vehicles to drive over the centre line and then samba quickly back into their respective lane when oncoming traffic appears on these 19' wide roads. There was not much traffic on our way down and we didn't see any bad drivers, although we heard that things got busier during the holidays. The speed limits are posted in kilometres and in multiples of 20 (20, 40, 60, 80).

We ended the day in Loreto after a long day and a hard search down dark, narrow streets for the campground.

http://www.loretoshoresvillasandrvpark.com/Loreto_Shores_Villas_and_RV.html

 

It was Friday night in this small beach community and we enjoyed shower, a Tecate beer from the mini supermercado with our supper and then fell asleep to music playing, dogs barking and roosters crowing through the night. We woke to a beautiful sunrise and were shortly on our way again.