Baja Cave Paintings+Whales 2023
In March 2023, Rena and I joined our friends Terry and Bruce Turner for a driving trip to Baja. We visited the cave paintings in the Sierra de San Francisco and the whales at San Ignacio Lagoon. We also planned to do a 10-day kayak trip around Isla Carmen, but that was canceled due to unseasonable wind. Instead, we visited other areas near Loreto including San Javier and Agua Verde.
Our driving route went through Mexicali since Mexico Highway 5 has been improved in recent years and is quicker and easier to drive than Highway 1 through Tijuana. Highway 5 meets 1 north of Guerrero Negro. It is a long drive to Loreto - 850 miles - and some of it is still on slow narrow 2 lane roads, often with no shoulder and a drop off.
Our visit to the cave paintings went very well. This area of Baja contains paintings more than 6,000 years old and they are some of the best in the world. This is a Unesco World Heritage site. It was my 3rd visit to the area. Previously I visited the more accessible paintings in Santa Teresa Canyon. Our visit this time was to San Gregorio Canyon and required us to ride mules part way on the 5-day camping trip. It also required a special permit. Some of the sites we visited included La Palma, Arroyo Casimiro, San Gregorio 1, and San Gregorio 2. We also visited the ranch of Francisco Arce. See following link for a photo report of my first visit.
https://adventureplus.smugmug.com/TravelForeign/Baja-Caves/
The whale watching visit was outstanding. Each year hundreds of whales make the trip from Alaska to San Ignacio Lagoon to give birth. This is an opportunity to have one of the great wildlife experiences of the world when the grey whales approach your boat to play around with you. The mother whales push their babies toward the boat so that you can touch them. Each generation teaches the next to engage in this behavior. But only at a few choice locations.
The kayak portion of the trip was canceled due to winds. It was a windy spring in Baja, unlike the trips that I did there many years ago. Instead we visited local sites around Loreto, spent time with my friend Harry Morgan, and soaked in the hot springs near Agua Verde. We had a pleasant relaxing time and had a chance to experience Baja in a more relaxed way. Harry was an amazing encyclopedia of information on anything we were interested in doing.
ITINERARY
0 - Thur Mar 16 - Terry and Bruce drive from Astoria Oregon and spend the night in Redondo Beach.
1 - Fri Mar 17 - We drive into Baja in 2 vehicles via Mexicali We need passports, Mexico auto insurance, tourist cards, and pesos. Camp on beach at La Palma RV park near Gonzaga Bay.
2 - Sat Mar 18 - Drive to Guerrero Negro, buy groceries for cave excursion, drive to village of San Francisco, and finally to Guadalupe. Meet our guide Ramon and camp near his ranch. High clearance road at the end.
3 - Sun Mar 19 - Pack gear on burros. Hike and ride mules toward San Gregorio. Camp on mesa, accompanied by Ramon, a second guide, Juan, and a park guardian, Memo.
4 - Mon Mar 20 - Continue to San Gregorio Canyon, and camp in an orange grove near the ranch of Francisco Arce.
5 - Tue Mar 21 - Visit 4 places - Petroglyph site, La Palma paintings, Tortuga paintings, and Arroyo Casimiro.
6 - Wed Mar 22 - Visit Francisco and his family at the ranch in the morning. Visit two caves in the afternoon, Gregorio 1 and 2.
7 - Thur Mar 23 - Hike/ride back to Guadalupe. Say goodbye to Ramon. Drive to San Ignacio town. Stay at Posada Motel and eat at Rancho Grande restaurant.
8 - Fri Mar 24 - Drive to Antonios at San Ignacio Lagoon. Road is OK but part is unpaved and slow. Arrive in time for 8 a.m. whale boat. Eat breakfast after and dinner in evening. Camp at Antonios.
9 - Sat Mar 25 - Second whale watching tour at 8 a.m. On both days, only the morning tour happened as high winds caused the later boats to be canceled. Drive to Loreto. Meet friend Harry Morgan who helped us get kayaking permits. Buy water at Las Parras. Spend night at Rivera del Mar RV park in Loreto. Eat dinner with Harry at Orlando’s restaurant.
10 - Sun Mar 26 - Drive to harbor at Puerto Escondido 18 miles south of Loreto. Pack kayaks and launch about 1 p.m. Plan is to do 10-day circumnavigation of Isla Carmen. A repeat of trip I did in 2019. See
https://adventureplus.smugmug.com/Kayak/Isla-Carman-Kayak-2019/
We encountered windy conditions after leaving protected harbor. Paddled along the coast for awhile and thought about doing a different route. Finally decided to return to Harbor. Drove back to RV park in Loreto.
11 - Mon Mar 27 - Rest day, laundry, enjoy Loreto.
12 - Tue Mar 28 - Cancel kayak trip. Harry gives us a pickleball lesson in the morning. Walk around Loreto. We watch an outstanding film called “La Recua” which was narrated in person by Trudy Angel. She was the producer of the film. It recreates the historic mule treks from near Loreto to La Paz that took place 100 years ago.
13 - Wed Mar 29 - Visit the mission at San Javier in the mountains west of Loreto. Also visit the Santa Domingos ranch, Franciscan ruins, and a cave called La Serpentine.
14 - Thur Mar 30 - Drive the high clearance road toward Agua Verde, a small community on the coast south of Loreto. Spend the night at La Cosme Hot Springs en route. Soak in hot springs and meet a fun group of people from British Columbia.
15 - Fri Mar 31 - Finish drive to Agua Verde and camp on beach. Make sure the person you pay for camping is the owner! Dinner in small local restaurant right on the beach.
16 - Sat Apr 1 - Hike to the isthmus and a scenic viewpoint from camp. Camp same place.
17 - Sun Apr 2 - Drive to Loreto. Lunch with Harry. More fish tocos. Spend night and eat dinner in Santa Rosalia.
18 - Mon Apr 3 - Visit San Ignacio. Camp in desert near Papa Fernandez at Gonzaga Bay
19 - Tue Apr 4 - Visit San Felipe, cross border at Mexicali. Camp at Domelands south of Anza Borrego State Park.
20 - Wed Apr 5 - Do short Anza Borrego hike and visit Agua Caliente Hot Springs. Drive back to Redondo Beach.
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Read MoreOur driving route went through Mexicali since Mexico Highway 5 has been improved in recent years and is quicker and easier to drive than Highway 1 through Tijuana. Highway 5 meets 1 north of Guerrero Negro. It is a long drive to Loreto - 850 miles - and some of it is still on slow narrow 2 lane roads, often with no shoulder and a drop off.
Our visit to the cave paintings went very well. This area of Baja contains paintings more than 6,000 years old and they are some of the best in the world. This is a Unesco World Heritage site. It was my 3rd visit to the area. Previously I visited the more accessible paintings in Santa Teresa Canyon. Our visit this time was to San Gregorio Canyon and required us to ride mules part way on the 5-day camping trip. It also required a special permit. Some of the sites we visited included La Palma, Arroyo Casimiro, San Gregorio 1, and San Gregorio 2. We also visited the ranch of Francisco Arce. See following link for a photo report of my first visit.
https://adventureplus.smugmug.com/TravelForeign/Baja-Caves/
The whale watching visit was outstanding. Each year hundreds of whales make the trip from Alaska to San Ignacio Lagoon to give birth. This is an opportunity to have one of the great wildlife experiences of the world when the grey whales approach your boat to play around with you. The mother whales push their babies toward the boat so that you can touch them. Each generation teaches the next to engage in this behavior. But only at a few choice locations.
The kayak portion of the trip was canceled due to winds. It was a windy spring in Baja, unlike the trips that I did there many years ago. Instead we visited local sites around Loreto, spent time with my friend Harry Morgan, and soaked in the hot springs near Agua Verde. We had a pleasant relaxing time and had a chance to experience Baja in a more relaxed way. Harry was an amazing encyclopedia of information on anything we were interested in doing.
ITINERARY
0 - Thur Mar 16 - Terry and Bruce drive from Astoria Oregon and spend the night in Redondo Beach.
1 - Fri Mar 17 - We drive into Baja in 2 vehicles via Mexicali We need passports, Mexico auto insurance, tourist cards, and pesos. Camp on beach at La Palma RV park near Gonzaga Bay.
2 - Sat Mar 18 - Drive to Guerrero Negro, buy groceries for cave excursion, drive to village of San Francisco, and finally to Guadalupe. Meet our guide Ramon and camp near his ranch. High clearance road at the end.
3 - Sun Mar 19 - Pack gear on burros. Hike and ride mules toward San Gregorio. Camp on mesa, accompanied by Ramon, a second guide, Juan, and a park guardian, Memo.
4 - Mon Mar 20 - Continue to San Gregorio Canyon, and camp in an orange grove near the ranch of Francisco Arce.
5 - Tue Mar 21 - Visit 4 places - Petroglyph site, La Palma paintings, Tortuga paintings, and Arroyo Casimiro.
6 - Wed Mar 22 - Visit Francisco and his family at the ranch in the morning. Visit two caves in the afternoon, Gregorio 1 and 2.
7 - Thur Mar 23 - Hike/ride back to Guadalupe. Say goodbye to Ramon. Drive to San Ignacio town. Stay at Posada Motel and eat at Rancho Grande restaurant.
8 - Fri Mar 24 - Drive to Antonios at San Ignacio Lagoon. Road is OK but part is unpaved and slow. Arrive in time for 8 a.m. whale boat. Eat breakfast after and dinner in evening. Camp at Antonios.
9 - Sat Mar 25 - Second whale watching tour at 8 a.m. On both days, only the morning tour happened as high winds caused the later boats to be canceled. Drive to Loreto. Meet friend Harry Morgan who helped us get kayaking permits. Buy water at Las Parras. Spend night at Rivera del Mar RV park in Loreto. Eat dinner with Harry at Orlando’s restaurant.
10 - Sun Mar 26 - Drive to harbor at Puerto Escondido 18 miles south of Loreto. Pack kayaks and launch about 1 p.m. Plan is to do 10-day circumnavigation of Isla Carmen. A repeat of trip I did in 2019. See
https://adventureplus.smugmug.com/Kayak/Isla-Carman-Kayak-2019/
We encountered windy conditions after leaving protected harbor. Paddled along the coast for awhile and thought about doing a different route. Finally decided to return to Harbor. Drove back to RV park in Loreto.
11 - Mon Mar 27 - Rest day, laundry, enjoy Loreto.
12 - Tue Mar 28 - Cancel kayak trip. Harry gives us a pickleball lesson in the morning. Walk around Loreto. We watch an outstanding film called “La Recua” which was narrated in person by Trudy Angel. She was the producer of the film. It recreates the historic mule treks from near Loreto to La Paz that took place 100 years ago.
13 - Wed Mar 29 - Visit the mission at San Javier in the mountains west of Loreto. Also visit the Santa Domingos ranch, Franciscan ruins, and a cave called La Serpentine.
14 - Thur Mar 30 - Drive the high clearance road toward Agua Verde, a small community on the coast south of Loreto. Spend the night at La Cosme Hot Springs en route. Soak in hot springs and meet a fun group of people from British Columbia.
15 - Fri Mar 31 - Finish drive to Agua Verde and camp on beach. Make sure the person you pay for camping is the owner! Dinner in small local restaurant right on the beach.
16 - Sat Apr 1 - Hike to the isthmus and a scenic viewpoint from camp. Camp same place.
17 - Sun Apr 2 - Drive to Loreto. Lunch with Harry. More fish tocos. Spend night and eat dinner in Santa Rosalia.
18 - Mon Apr 3 - Visit San Ignacio. Camp in desert near Papa Fernandez at Gonzaga Bay
19 - Tue Apr 4 - Visit San Felipe, cross border at Mexicali. Camp at Domelands south of Anza Borrego State Park.
20 - Wed Apr 5 - Do short Anza Borrego hike and visit Agua Caliente Hot Springs. Drive back to Redondo Beach.
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