The Baja 1000 is a famous off-road race, where intrepid drivers on both motorcycles and dune buggies race through back roads down the spine of the Baja, making a loop at the south end before heading back north again.  Cyclists have also taken to riding the Divide, an adventure that is a bit too rich for our blood.  We met a young man last year who had just completed the North/South portion of the ride and was off to complete “The Loop”, which included cycling off road around the tip of the Baja South from La Paz to Cabo and then back again – quite the adventure!  While not being tempted to complete this off-road feat, having a week between rentals afforded us the opportunity to drive the loop in a bit more civilized fashion in our van. 

We began with the drive over to Los Barriles, a now familiar road that we had driven with our good friend Nadya when she took us on our epic rock-climbing trip not too long ago.  On this day, we were heading over to Barriles for a day with a different kind of flavour.  The first stop was at the very popular Pickle Ball court in Barriles.  No, we are not taking up this ever-growing sport (not yet at least!), but it was a place to meet up with friends from up north who were staying nearby.  We have known Alix and Gordon for many years but haven’t seen them since before the pandemic, so a chance to catch up just couldn’t be passed up. 

Having enjoyed both the good company of friends and a great lunch, we ventured further to the town of La Ribera where we had a rare hotel stay booked for the night.  A chance encounter with a local earlier in our stay in La Paz had awakened our curiosity about this little town situated just 30 minutes from Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park.  It is a typical little town with a paved road running along the outskirts and dirt roads within.  Having gotten excellent directions from the owner of Hacienda de Palmas Hotel, we quickly navigated to our destination, a lovely little place with sweet rooms, a relaxing courtyard and friendly hosts.  What a delightful little oasis! 

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We settled our things in our room and made our way down to the beach to check it out.  It was a breezy afternoon and with the red warning flags whipping in the wind, it was no wonder the beach was deserted.  Even so, we enjoyed strolling down the deep sand and watching the waves break on the shore.  We even found a little “fixer upper” on our way!  The next few years should prove interesting for this area as a rather large development is underway along the waterfront.  A big hotel chain has bought up a huge chunk of land and they are in the process of either creating a fantastic resort or totally ruining a wonderful little spot – it all depends on your point of view.

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Our stay in La Ribera had been planned strategically as a jumping off spot to either go snorkelling at Cabo Pulmo (a premier destination) or heading inland to check out the other hot springs near Santiago.  We had been watching the weather report closely, hoping for a warm calm day for snorkelling, but it was not to be on this occasion.  Oh well, it was off to our second choice, the Santa Rita Ranch.  A long and dusty road, complete with the occasional cattle sighting, led us to this very special place.  The road in is not for the faint of heart, although Jim managed quite nicely in the van, with me only occasionally hanging on for dear life to the “holy sh#*t” bar. 

What we found at the end of the road was just the most delightful place.  The owner, who spoke no English, was ever so kind and with our limited Spanish we managed to arrange for entry to the hot springs for us both as well as a spot to camp for the night.  The van parked, we quickly changed into our swimsuits, grabbed the towels and hiked the short distance to the springs.  While there were several people already in the water, there was lots of space for us to join and we thankfully sank into the pool, soaking up the heat from the water – what total bliss! 

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When it eventually became to warm to stay where we were, we explored other pools further up the river.  We sat, enjoying the warmth of the sun on the nearby rocks and after a time, I took the plunge into the much cooler waters here.  There were plenty of small spots like this to accommodate the many people also enjoying this day so that we still felt as if we were in a very private space. 

After my little swim, the wind kicked up and we moved to a place away from the water where the wind could not reach us, again enjoying the quiet serenity of our surroundings.  Much later we headed back up to the van to make our dinner and get ready for a quiet evening.  However, upon reaching the van, we discovered that Jim’s keys were missing!  We looked through the backpack that we had brought with us, checking all possible pockets but to no avail.  No keys!!!  Oh wow, now what?  No keys, no cell reception.  No way to get help way out here.  We were facing a pretty dire situation.  With little hope, Jim walked over to the friendly owner (remember – no English) to see if by some miracle the keys had been turned in and guess what?  They were!!!  He had quite the chuckle as Jim pantomimed looking for our keys and then pulling them out for him.  We were so relieved and thankful that someone had noticed them where they must have dropped and turned them in.  Whew!!!   After that excitement, we were happy to make our simple dinner and enjoy a quiet night in camp.

Early the next morning, we got up to try and get to the hot springs right at 8:00 when they opened so that we could once more enjoy a good warm soak, hopefully with it all to ourselves. With excitement, we made our way though the gate and along the short walkway only to be disappointed by hearing voices coming from the springs.  Oh well, we thought, we can share.  But as we rounded the bend to the water, we were surprised by the sight of 8 or so people enjoying the pool totally in the nude!  What???  These people were part of a group camp that was separate from our small camp.  They were taking part in an organized tour, so I guess they had been given access to the pools early.  As it turned out, they had been there for over an hour by the time we arrived.  A friendly group, they weren’t at all embarrassed by our arrival, jokingly warning us not to sit too close to the way out or we’d get a bare butt in our faces!  We got over the shock of the situation and adjusted our gazes to avoid body parts we didn’t necessarily want to see as we picked our way to a place in the pool where at least we could enjoy the early morning warmth of the water.  One by one the travellers got out, dried off and headed back to their camp for breakfast.  One fellow stayed on for a bit longer, but as he was the lone participant wearing a swimsuit we were fine with his company.  After sharing with us some of his adventures, he too wandered back up to eat with his group and we were left for a time to enjoy the hot springs as we had imagined we would.  It was just so wonderful and so relaxing.  The waters were full of minerals, turning our silver rings black, but we didn’t mind.  Instead, we did our best imitation of a sloth for as long as we could before finally heading back to our van (with the keys in hand this time) and our own breakfast.  What a lovely, lovely stay!

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Leaving Santa Rita Ranch, we drove back out though the tiny town of Jorge, taking note that even though there were fewer than 20 homes here there was still the regulation church and town square.  How sweet!

From Santiago it was not too far to Cabo San Lucas.  We are not normally inclined to spend time in the busier cities such as this, but had a special reason to go right to the heart of the most touristy section of town.  We wound our way carefully to the waterfront where we parked and found more friends from up north!  I had worked with Monique for many years and so it was wonderful to meet up with her and her husband, Mike down here – well worth the effort of getting into town!  We strolled with them along the waterfront of Cabo, marvelling at the sheer number of tourists and vendors hawking their wares.  Compared to the relative quite of the La Paz waterfront, this place was just frenzied!  However, it was enjoyable for an afternoon and having the opportunity to catch up with old friends again made it a trip worth making.

Having said our goodbyes and leaving Mike and Monique to enjoy the rest of their stay in Cabo, we headed out on the highway bound for Todos Santos where we were hoping to spend the night in the van before hiking the following morning up to where we would be able to see the grey whales out in the Pacific as they made their way south.  We got to the trail head, just short of the town of Todos Santos, but were just not feeling it for an overnight spot.  It was a bit too noisy and close to a hotel.  When we sleep in the van, if not in an actual campground, we like to stay in more out of the way places where we can be assured of quiet and feel secure.  Not finding that here, we searched our phones for a better location.  For overnighting like this, we use an app called iOverlander, where people report places they have stayed in their vans or campers.  We found what looked like a possible spot in the town of Cerritos, just a short drive back down the highway and so we made our way there.  Unfortunately, the campground where we had hoped to stay for the night was full.  We were becoming a bit concerned, having not secured a place to park for the night.  Making our way down to the water’s edge, we parked on a quiet side street and walked onto the most amazing beach, where families were packing up for the day after spending time playing and surfing in the waters nearby.  We couldn’t bring ourselves to leave until after the sun went down.  Leaving the van parked where it was, we thought we would grab a light dinner at a nearby restaurant before deciding what to do.  The first place we came to was closed for a party, so we walked another block to Casa Maya Restaurant where we enjoyed some delicious margaritas and a wonderful charcuterie board.  The manager was Canadian and so helpful.  She recommended that we move the van into the campground that butted up against the street we were parked on.  Grateful for her advice, we left and drove up the street looking for the entrance to the place.  With little in the way of lighting, we were unable to find it and so took our chances by parking back where we started.  As it turned out, there was another BC van parked there as well and so we felt safe and slept surprisingly well.  The next morning, we drove around and found the entrance to the camp ground down a street we hadn’t seen in the dark the night before.  For 100 pesos we had a place to stay for the night which included bathrooms – quite the luxury for van campers!  We happily set up and then took our things down to the beach to set up for the day.  With our great beach tent and chairs, we were able to mark out our territory which was a very good thing as the beach become more and more crowded as the day progressed.  It wasn’t our intention to spend the ENTIRE day sitting in one spot, but that’s pretty much what we did.  Between watching the little kids playing in the sand and shallows, surfers of all abilities in the waters offshore and grey whales spouting and occasionally breaching in the distance we had all the entertainment we needed.  Once in a while we would go for a little walk, for example to climb up on the rocks above us or down the beach, but for the most part, we were content to have this simply wonderful beach day. 

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We topped off our day with dinner at the Barracuda Cantina, where we couldn’t eat the night before.  We enjoyed the best fish tacos we’ve had so far and their very tasty margaritas.  What a great way to finish off our stay in dazzling Cerritos.

For our last day away, we had a special luncheon planned in the town of El Triunfo.  This old mining town, about an hour outside of La Paz is home to several museums, one of which we visited on this day.  The Cowboy Museum celebrates the history of the cowboys, or vaqueros, of the Baja.  We enjoyed wandering through and viewing the many displays depicting the interesting history of cattle ranching in this region.

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From here it was a short walk to the Bar El Minero where we joined our friends Suzanne and Lise as well as my brother Mike and his wife Leslie for an amazing lunch of Paella in the beautiful courtyard.  Wonderful company and great food made for perfect ending of our journey around the loop. 

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