February 10, 2014  Bahia Concepcion, Sea of Cortez

Over the last few days our cruising has been a bit different.  We are finally slowing down considerably and can allow a few days here and there, picking our weather windows to proceed north.  Unfortunately the wind usually blows from the north, meaning we are going into the waves and getting salt spray all over the boat.  Though it is way more comfortable going down wind instead of up into the wind that will have to wait until we turn south in a few days.  On calm days we motor north to put the miles on.

About ten days ago we headed north from Loreto to Bahia Concepcion with a couple of overnight anchorages en route.  Bahia Concepcion is a huge 25 mile long gouge a third of the way up the inside of the Baja Peninsula.  About an hour inside the huge inlet is a wonderful area with five viable anchorages big enough to hold a handful of boats in each one. 

Looking southwest towards a couple more
anchorages in Bahia Concepcion

We chose Bahia Santispac for our first few nights, arriving just after Jim caught that wonderful tuna I wrote about.  There were seven other boats anchored – very usual - but Bahia Santispac is destination not only for cruisers but for RV’ers as well.  The beach was lined with about 40 RV’s ranging from the small 20’ trailers and vans to the huge diesel pushers in the 35’ to 40’ range.  Many of the larger ones towed a ‘toad’, which is a small car or four wheel drive for ‘town’.  Others towed a utility trailer behind them where their ATV’s were stowed and brought out for beach runs.   Sprinkled along the beach were a few open palapas with thatched roofs, which were used for either storage or as part of their outdoor living space.

Bahia Santispac was home to many Rv's.  Many of the owners
knew each other and spent hours socializing daily.

Some had set up camp from October to March to avoid the frozen north while others were part of a caravan just stopping over for a few days before heading to another destination.   We met RV’ers from as far away as New York, Florida and Alaska.  And loads of Canadians as well.  We spoke with one lady who even went to the same elementary school as me and a part-time Santa, complete with white hair and a beard, who lived near Sooke, BC on the outskirts of Victoria and knew the old store in Metchosin that my aunt and uncle ran in the early 60’s.  Small world!!!

Sharon and Ted's set up complete with dune buggy,
small sailboat, bikes, outdoor kitchen space, wind screens, etc.

On Tuesday morning we took the dinghy to shore to hike up a close by ridge overlooking the bay.  En route we got to talking with two ladies having their morning coffees in their lounge chairs.  Sue and Suzanne are best friends from Mulage, a small community 10 miles to the north.  Each Monday and Tuesday they head to Sue’s little 1969 trailer for a couple of days of quiet away from their busy lives.  Both widows, they would put the energizer bunny to shame!  After a few minutes of chatting Sue offered us a ride into Mulage on Wednesday, which we quickly accepted so we didn’t have to hitchhike. 

The 'hill' we were to hike near Bahia Santispac

After visiting we took off on a three hour hike to the top of the hill where we had a great view of the anchorage and coastline to the north.  There was no distinctive trail from the gravel roadway so we carefully clambered up until we found some rock cairns showing us the way windy to the summit. 

Looking at glorious Bahia Santispac from the top

Looking southwest at Bahia Concepcion from the summit

 

This cairn was considerably larger than the small piles
of stones we used to find our way up the rocky hillside

A gentle breeze kept us cool as we hiked along the entire length of the ridge hoping for an alternative way down.  When we were faced with a steep cliff leading to the highway at the end we turned around and made our way back along the uneven ridge, marvelling at the various cacti as we went.  Unfortunately we don't know the names for them but we can appreciate them none-the-less.

Getting down the last part was very challenging and we were both relieved to reach solid ground again without any major scrapes or bruises.  We rewarded ourselves with lunch out at one of the two beach restaurants that the locals frequented.

On Wednesday morning we met Sue around 10:00 and headed into Mulage 10 miles away where she dropped us off but not before agreeing to meet in Mazatlan at the end of the month where Jim and I are heading for Carnival.  Sue and Suzanne are flying over to take in Carnival as well so we’ll spend time together then.  They are also heading for Atlin, BC then back to Vancouver Island next summer in Sue’s truck and truck trailer so we will be able to show them around a bit in our home town.

Mulege was a pretty little village of about 2,000 people. The narrow streets, designed for donkeys and carts, were hardly big enough to handle larger vehicles and parking was at a premium.  There was a pretty tree-lined town square and brightly painted buildings.  It's past goes back to the 1500's where it was discovered by Spanish explorers who had also discovered Bahia Concepcion.

One of Mulege's town squares.  Jim's hiding in the shade.
We love these 'winter' temperatures - mid 70's all day every day!

a close up of bougainvillea

Part of Mulege’s housing is built on a little river with an extensive flood plain to handle the runoff from hurricanes. The Rio Santa Rosalia was an important river providing much needed water for agriculture, which made the original settlement possible.  Sue's house was built very close to the river, which had a huge runoff constructed of concrete under the highway bridge to handle summertime torrential rains.  In fact Sue’s house was built in this area.  She knew that there was the possibility of flooding, which has happened every few years for centuries.  Her practical little 600 square foot home was finished in December and she is now building a very tall storage building, with two interior levels.  Like her house it is constructed from cinder blocks.  When she leaves for the summer she’ll store her furniture and appliances on the top level just in case of flooding. The neighbourhood she lives in is full of gringos who have accepted this possible condition and have built accordingly.

A colourful well kept hotel in Mulege
- and no pot holes in the road!

Jim and I wandered around town, which was quite clean with only a few of the usual potholes in the middle of the roads.  There was no garbage strewn around nor graffiti.  Granted some parts were unpaved and some houses were more rundown than others but that is the nature of Mexico.  Having said that, in all cases we have found the people to be welcoming, friendly and happy no matter what their economic situation.

Eventually we found a nice little internet café/restaurant with a very homey atmosphere.  There was a gringo book exchange and small couch covered with a colourful Mexican blanket next to two long tables for six.  We guessed they were pretty popular and had large groups stopping in often.  Besides serving meals and fresh squeezed orange juice they also had bakery treats (which we enjoyed the next day).   After a while Suzanne stuck her head in the restaurant door with a smile on her face. 

An angel named Suzanne took us to her home for the afternoon

Seems she had been driving all around Mulege looking for us because she wanted to invite us to her home for the afternoon – to use her free internet and free long distance phone service so we could make long distance calls if we wished.  We were blown away by her hospitable nature and, after treating her to lunch, took off with her to the north side of the river.  About a mile from Mulege, close to the open ocean, were a cluster of colourful cinder block homes on a small hillside with Suzanne’s amongst them.  From this vantage point we could see the little river as well as south towards Bahia Concepcion.

View south east from Suzanne's home with the Rio Santa Rosalia
in the foreground

It was a delightful house full of her love for local art, colourful furnishings and a great outdoor living space. 


Outdoor living is just as important as indoor in this climate

She gave me fresh oranges from one of her many orange trees and pointed out the dozens of papayas that were ripening at the top of palm tree. 

Suzanne's orange trees and papaya above.  They were great
oranges - very juicy!

From the kitchen/bedroom mezzanine overlooking the
dining and living room areas out towards the river.



A very good friend of Suzanne's was an amazing
artist and Suzanne had many of her pieces displayed.
This is a 7' tall shell collage that was unbelievable.

A close up of the shell collage



Suzanne's outdoor patio table was also a work of art

A light and airy living space dull of colour and light

The afternoon flew by while we visited, used her internet and phone.   As Suzanne had plans to attend a friends 82nd (I think) birthday party that evening she dropped us off at Sue’s where another friend offered to drive us back to Bahia Sanispac as she was staying with her family in one of the RV’s.  Though we only knew Sue and Suzanne for a few hours we felt like we had made more life-long friends through cruising and we look forward to chumming around in Mazatlan as well as in Victoria with them.

Quite a view from Suzanne's deck

On Friday morning, February 7, Jim and I celebrated our unofficial anniversary of meeting 24 years ago.  Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself spending part of my life cruising in Mexico with Jim as my husband. I feel incredibly fortunate to be living this adventure with him and look forward to more crazy adventures in our future.

Imagine the work that went into this piece of Mexican art!

Another sun filled morning awaited us. While on shore after breakfast we heard from some RVer’s that strong northerly winds were going to start blowing again on Saturday and we did not want to get stuck in Bahia Concepcion, nice though it was, as we had to make it Mazatlan by February 25th.  So we celebrated our day by quickly pulling up anchor at 10:00 a.m. and leaving Bahia Concepcion behind, heading for the town of Santa Rosalia, seven hours to the north.  Jim is writing the next blog update about Santa Rosalia so you’ll get a different take on things.