12 days in Baja part 1

Uncle Grumpy

Advanced Member
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Jan 5, 2007
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72
Finally getting around to my trip report.
We go to Baja to fish and relax and make friends.
We left San Clemente early on the 26th driving through the hellish smoke on the way down. Crossed the border with no problems getting our visas but when I started up the long hill along the fence I had Juan Ley on my butt with his lights on. The MC cop looked like the model for the crooked Baja cop stereotype. Paunch, shined up badges, dark mirrored shades, gold tooth etc.
He wanted to shake my hand before shaking me down.
According to him I'd exceeded the speed limit on the long steep down hill stretch.
I had been very careful about going through there but I could see what was up. I already had a twenty in my hand.
He said "The fine is $150" and I replied "Okay, I'll follow you to the station and pay it"
He came back with "Hey relax, you are on vacation"
By this time he'd seen the money in my hand and he said
"40 dollars", I said "20", he said "ok; drive carefully".
Good thing I had the Sindicatura sign in the back window.
Back on the road we stopped in San Quintin and had a great lunch at
Mariscos Capi.
After lunch we're back on the highway stopping only for gas and bumper stickers at Baja Cactus until we made it to Rancho Santa Inez for the night and a meal with Mathilda.
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Up early the next morning we had another great mariscos lunch at Santispac before setting up camp at Playa Coyote.
I had not been down in that area for over twenty years and it's still very beautiful but seems pretty fishless.
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For whatever reason, over the years I'm the one the bugs liked and SWIMPAL got off biteless; but not this trip. That first night, Sherry got completely chewed up by both mosquitoes and the pinche jejene and I was essentially untouched!
The next morning a nice local family set up for the day next to us.
We learned that they lived in TJ for half the year and Mulege for the remainder.They treated us to an amazing meal of Almejas Brujas;
Individual foil packets full of diced clams,shrimp,ham,onion,chile,garlic and cheese. Que Rico!!!
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No fish and bugs so we are out of there after the second night.
Hit the road up to Punta Chivato where we are all alone on the beach right at the point until about 9 pm when three truck loads of local joven jooligans arrived and set up about 50 feet away. They kept us up all night with drunken chatter and blasted out at dawn leaving behind a mess of tecate cans and butts.
I got up the next morning and trolled the yak around the point and was shocked to find a panga with 4 guys. They looked surprised to see me as well. Two guys in the boat and two guys in the water with masks and snorkels tending the danged gill net they'd spread all over the cove. I sadly watched them pick all the little 8" cabrilla out of the net.
I obviously had very little luck fishing around Chivato but we made a new friend with Vicente, a local scallop diver working alone off the beach or out of a small tin skiff. We talked at length about the pirates and he bemoaned his governments lack of care for the area.
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