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| Mission Nuestra Senor San Ignacio de Kadakaaman founded in 1728 |
Our two night stay in Guerrero Negro was more productive than you would have imagined. First; we had some of the best fish tacos to date, second; the super mercado was great so we stocked up including fresh caught "dry pack scallops" or Callo in Spanish $120 mx for a kilo. Third; we met up with some very nice like minded travelers which you will soon learn more about them. And last but not least we crossed the state line from Baja California to Baja California Sur
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| View from plaza |
which is about the same latitude as Corpus Christi TX. and we are headed further south to San Ignacio on Mex 1. This stretch of Mex 1 was narrow with little or no shoulders-"I'll take No Shoulders for $500. Alex!" We were in no hurry "55mph arrive alive" as we drove through little villages like Segunda Etapa, Vizcaino even Los Angeles, around noon we were waved through a military check point just before entering San Ignacio.
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| Plaza restaurants |
This pretty little town located on a river with lush fruit trees, palms and bushes was a welcome oasis in the dry, desert landscape. The town's Colonial plaza is clean, quaint and shady with large old growth trees for shade. At the foot of the plaza is the,
Mission Nuestra Senor San Ignacio de Kadakaaman, say that fast three times ! We drove through town looking for camping and or just rubber-necking at the wonderful old colonial buildings that dot the narrow streets along the hillside and by the rivers edge.
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| Father Land Cruiser and 4Runner son in plaza San Ignacio Plaza |
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| Salt crusted pond Mesa el Alamo |
We spied the road leading to
Laguna de San Ignacio where our whale watching adventure was to begin but first we headed back to the plaza for a cold drink and maybe something to munch. As we passed one of the 3 hotels in
San Ignacio, we spotted our new found
iKamper friends
Linda and Jerry getting out of their
Toyota 4Runner. They were checking into the hotel and we agreed to meet for drinks at the town plaza, as soon as we parked they were right behind us "No Vacancy". Who would have thought!! We ordered cervesa
Linda and Jerry had rita's and we sat and talked for about a hour or so. The
WeOverlander Team plan was to drive that afternoon to
Antoinio's Ecotours for camping and Whale-watching 53klm through
Mesa el Alamo to Laguna de San Ignacio on the Pacific side. Since their plans changed from vacancy to no vacancy we invited them to join us as their focus was also to experience the whales, they happily obliged.
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| Sea Hawk Laguna de San Ignacio |
The road was beautiful except for the very bad corrugations the last 10klm. We viewed the salt marsh and large salt flats in the distance we could see the Laguna. When we made it to the coastal camps we enjoyed viewing sea hawks feeding their young and even an occasional wild horse.
Antoino's Ecotours is one of the last stops along this path of coastline and we both wrangled our rigs side by side and inquired about camping and whale watching.
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| Duel iKampers at Antonio's |
We definitely scored big time-whale-watch tour and a campsite! We camped together forming a "V" to block the wind and quickly set up our home base for the next two nights. That night's menu was Pho with fresh "dry packed scallops", cilantro, fresh jalapeno, mushrooms and spinach. Believe me it topped the charts, sipping tequila and slurping hot bowls of Pho with our new found friends under the stars just off the coast of
Laguna de San Ignacio.
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| Trixie running to catch the Panga, Jerry in shorts, Linda wearing sun hat |
The next morning, 8am we boarded our Panga (boat) a guided whale watching tour expertly skippered by a
San Ignacio native with decades of experience. We were among 4 others, 8 in total and set out to
Bocca San Ignacio on the
Pacific Ocean where the whales feed and play. With our multiple layers of clothing we kept warm as the panga headed out on the laguna in the morning chilly air.
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| Gray Whale Laguna de San Ignacio |
Before long we spotted whales port side, starboard, aft and we relished in their presence. Further on more whales and even more whales were spotted. As they were in a playful mood our skipper brought our panga within viewing range and then the whales came closer and closer so close you could smell their briny, fishy stank breath and touch their barnacled spongy skin.
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| Trixie petting her new friend |
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| Smiling Gray Whale |
The whales would turn and look right at you while they blew their hole getting you wet! We were simply amazed as these large Gray Whales enjoying the touch of humans and longed to have you respond to their playfulness. There was sounds of elation and laughter coming from all, as our skipper gave us just what we came here to experience-close encounters of the Gray Whale kind!!
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| Baby Gray Whale surfaces |
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| Linda gets a shower |
On the ride back to camp I sat in silence as the sights and smells of these creatures we encountered will be for ever imprinted on my mind as a unique experience. We were all humbled to have been there at that moment, at that time. That night over dinner and drinks we couldn't stop talking about the day's experience as we all fell fast a sleep in our
RTT's under a sky full of stars and Gray Whales dancing in our heads. Up early the next morning
Antonio's always has free hot coffee all day long and yours truly did his best to drink it up.
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| Large Gray Whale looking for some pets |
With both of our rigs parked side by side we commanded attention as we looked very official. Our kits were very similar right down to solar panels, drawers and the exact same Dometic fridge, not a common sight. I must admit hooking up with
Linda and Jerry was one of our highlights of overlanding this past year. Pulling up stakes we decided to travel further together as we head back to
San Ignacio to camp for the night then pushed on east to
Mulege via
Santa Rosalia on Mex 1 on the
Gulfo de California (Mar de Cortez).
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| Whale Bones Antonio's Eco-camp |
We camped in
San Ignacio next to the river as it started to rain right after dinner. For dinner we pooled our fridges and ate beef tacos with tomatillo pico de gallo, fresh guacamole and re-fried beans then we all crawled into our respected
RTT's and said a
Walton's good-night!
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| Sunrise Laguna de San Ignacio |
In the morning we broke camp, collapsed our
RTT's and hit the road in a caravan heading towards
Mar de Cortez on MEX1.
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| sunset Laguna de San Ignacio |
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| Morning sky Campo Antonio's |
Hope to see you on the Trail!!
🚙.... 🚙.......
