Baja California
The ferry leaves at 5 pm, but the company asks us to arrive at 1:30 pm.
Like the previous time we are separated. Jean Pierre must join the group of passengers, Christophe with the camper goes through sanitary controls.
Boarding at 14:00 for the passengers who join the boat along the docks. Then, before boarding, control of the temperature and then fumigation.
Once on board Jean Pierre awaits Christophe more than 1 hour in the hall!!
Getting on board for the camper is complicated, you have to park it between two containers and the staff is not very helpful... It is not as well organized as in the Greek ferries!!
We pick up our cabin (with a window) and then visit our boat: nothing special.
Our evening meal is included in the ticket .... Evening meal? It is served between 4 pm and 5 pm (before the departure of the boat)!!! It’s not a four-star hotel or even a cafeteria.
On the menu: thin slices of pork, rice and red beans and as a translucid gelly ... Unforgettable, knowing that everything is served in a "doggy bag" and without knife or fork for meat ....
We leave on time and the night is quiet ... in bed early because wake up time is at 6:00 am for a cup of coffee (the cruise is fun)
To disembark, same procedure as last time : passenger on one side and the camper on the other side to go through sanitary controls ... We meet after 1 hour 30 minutes.
La Paz/ playa Tecolote: our favorite beach in Baja California. We stay there for a week.
It is very busy on weekends and deserted the rest of the week. We are alone every night. We go to the beach restaurant to enjoy grilled fish and garlic prawns.
On the 8th in the morning, we wake up on a deserted beach. Usually fishermen or walkers are already present. We are surprised and we ask the restaurant owners and boat rental companies ... beach is closed from 8th july for 8 days because of the increase in Covid cases in the department of La Paz!!!
What to do? We decide to leave, there is no point in staying because we have to get water and food.
The road is blocked by a control that confirms the departmental rules.
We take the opportunity to find a garage to have the oil changed in the camper.
Los Barriles: to wait for the opening of the beaches in this department we look for a campsite to stay and choose the Playa Norte RV park 100 km to the south.
On our arrival nobody at the reception ... 4 pitches are occupied out of the 60 that the campsite counts
We sit on a place by the sea while leaving a note at the reception. We meet the manager the next day who gives us a good price due to low season and pandemic.
We stay there 4 nights. Superb location and very beautiful campsite but desert ... a feeling of emptiness.
La Fortuna: the closing of the beaches being extended we follow the coast to the south to reach a beach very frequented by surfers.
Here we are in another department and the beaches are open. We stay there a few days admiring morning and evening surfers of all levels. Very good atmosphere.
La Paz: We go back there, hoping that the beaches will reopen
Bad luck, the decree is postponed for a week. We inquire at the "Check Point", which does not give us hope for an early opening.
We take advantage of being in a big city to have the motorhome washed, it needeed it (salt and dust), to fill the gas cylinders and buy some parts to repair our road companion who suffers a lot.
Todos Santos: we decide to join this spendid beach also famous for its surf spot.
In the evening the municipal police arrive and tell us that the beaches are closed. We are surprised and learn that we have returned to the department of La Paz.
We ask them to stay because it’s dark ... trading is on ... In the end we give them 20 euros to stay a
week!!! what do you call it? .... YES " racket".
La Fortuna: we are back for more than two weeks.
Every four days we go to San José Del Cabo to get water and food. We discover a hyper-marche
"Chedraoui Selecto" .... a concept for foreigners ... several corners arranged by theme and fed with imported products.
All of southern Baja California is an American base. Thousands of American and Canadian vacationers winter here to enjoy the warm temperatures. The majority of shops and restaurants are intended for them.
All along the coast there are hotels or luxury residences as well as golf courses at exorbitant prices.
Not having a sunumbrella, it takes us more than two hours to find a store to get one .. incredible
During our stay we meet "Léa and Bruno" a couple of young Swiss campers on a "surf" trip.
They are testing all the spots in Central America. They have just arrived and will be on the road for a year and a half.
We spend good times with them and learn the rules of surfing with Bruno.
El Tule: we make an apartment exchange " RCI " for two weeks
We choose a residence in the "Los Cabos" hotel area and book an apartment where we enjoy the nice air conditioning (average of 38° outside)
To top it all off, we can park our camper on the car park reserved for customers...this was the obligatory option.
We spend part of our stay on the sandy beach reading and admiring the waves coming aground ...
La Paz : last week before our return
Before reaching the campsite to prepare the camper we rest on the beach Tecolote for 3 days. We leave this paradise with regrets ... but we will return soon
We are in Mexico: logically the beaches are open from 7 am to 7 pm .... in theory, because many Mexicans stay after closing time until sunset or later.
We feel "Mexican" and decide to stay the night ... no control!!!
Two days to clean the camper and prepare suitcases under a blazing sun (39°), and the campsite’s swimming pool is as hot as outside ...
Back to France: our trip lasts 24 hours from door to door La Paz/ Mexico City/ Paris/ Montpellier
Coming from a country classified as "Orange" we should have been controlled by presenting among other things two attestations (including the famous compelling reason) .... Apart from the covid test requested when boarding Air France flights, no request ...we returned to France without any control ...
Amazing ...
ROAD BOOK 101
MAVROS ODYSSEE