I don’t know what it is but there are certain places I get excited about when I’m traveling in my VW bus. Places like the state of California and San Fransisco come to mind because of their ties with the hippies and surfers. Baja California also makes its way onto that list probably because the name itself contains California but it’s also one of those classic sojourns that you want to do in a Volkswagen. Colin, a friend of mine from Vancouver, had some time off so he agreed to meet me in San Diego and the two of us were going to drive the 1500 km’s to the tip of Baja and back again.

I picked up Colin at the airport in San Diego and we immediately began the trip into Mexico. We were both anxious as we approached the Mexican border, not being sure what to expect. In the lineup we slowly inched forward and, when it was our turn, were given the green light. Onward we went, looking for the customs officials, when suddenly we were back in traffic again. Where were the customs officials? Had we made a wrong turn? Would La Policia be chasing us down for sneaking into Mexico? As it turns out Mexico does not work like other border crossings, it’s a random selection. Had we gotten a red light we would have been pulled over and required to produce our passports.  For more information on border crossings and the proper way to drive into Mexico please visit this link.

We were now officially in Mexico and officially lost as well. Maps make everything look clean and sterile but we were released into a mosh of traffic and it wasn’t long before we were in the wrong part of town. Eventually we pulled over, asked some directions and were sent on our way. Word of advice, don’t wait for someone to let you in when you’re trying to merge or you’ll be there all day. We were both now happily plugging along towards Ensenada where we would camp for the night.

There are two highways heading south, the original Baja California highway and the toll road. The pretty much run beside each other and while the original highway is a little worse for wear it wasn’t unmanageable. It’s also more scenic than the toll road running perpendicular to the Pacific Ocean it’s just not as fast as the 4 lane toll road. Look for signs that say “Autopista Escenica” or Scenic Road for the free road.

The drive from Tijuana to Ensenada is lovely and very refreshing after driving through hectic Tijuana. For some reason we managed to get lost again in Ensenada and were up in the hills surrounding the city when it got dark. We decided to just keep taking roads that led down assuming that we would either get back on the main highway or drive straight into the ocean.

Our first campground on the far side of Ensenada was not the easiest to locate being down some dirt roads and past what looked like an industrial area with shopping plazas. Just as the first, “Where the *expletive* is it?” passed my lips we saw the sign. The place was simple enough, renting out cabanas mainly with a few spots for people to park overnight. nothing fancy but no worries, we just wanted a place to have a couple of cold ones from the cooler and some shut eye before the long day ahead. It was quite chilly at night, this being February, but we bundled up, listened to the ocean and watched as a Mexican family lit off fireworks a few feet away.

The next morning came early and after a feed of oatmeal and coffee we were rolling again. Today’s destination, La Bufadora, or The Blowhole, was located about 20 kms south of Ensenada. La Bufadora is the second largest blowhole in the world and can shoot water as high as 80 feet in the air. You have to leave the highway but the drive over the hilly peninsula towards La Bufadora is pleasant enough and with one road you won’t easily get lost. It’s worth the side trip if you’re not in a hurry to get somewhere and the only real issue with navigation is getting past all the vendors stalls to the actual blowhole itself.

From La Bufadora it was a straight shot to San Quintin, traveling through the lovely rolling hills of the country side, before reaching our final destination for the night. Surprisingly Baja California is not all desert and scrub and this part of the drive is actually quite pleasant. We found a small campground on the far side of San Quintin called El Pabellon with a whale skeleton at the front gate and friendly owners.

The campsite was pretty basic at $10 but we didn’t need hookups, just a place to park. The bathrooms were clean and the showers warm even though there was a hint of salt in the water. We parked the bus in the shade of some trees and made our way onto the massive expanse of beach that’s located here. It stretched for miles in each direction and we were starting to feel like we had finally entered Mexico.  That evening the owners provided us with some wood so we made a fire, broke out the guitar and enjoyed a few wobbly pops.We had to call it a night fairly early as we had a long haul the following day heading through the “gas gap” to Guerro Negro.

The gas gap is aptly named as there is a stretch of road just past El Rosario where there are no gas stations for 250 kms. Not a huge deal for most modern cars but in a 1973 VW bus we had to be careful. Fill up any jerry cans you might have before hitting this stretch of road.

From San Quintin you start to head inland towards the town of El Rosario, a great little place to stop for a coffee before rolling into the desert. We found a small restaurant with a Starbucks sign outside of it which gave us a chuckle. While I’m no fan of their coffee we just had to check it out. According to the proprietors they were legit although I didn’t see any “barristas” with nose rings, wool hats and bad attitudes working behind the counter.

The stretch of desert beyond El Rosario is some of the most stunning I had ever seen. Having grown up in Canada, a country lacking deserts, that’s not saying much but it was still pretty amazing scenery. You climb upwards outside of El Rosario and eventually end up driving up and down through valleys before eventually leveling out again. Keep an eye out for the biggest cactus you’ll probably ever set eyes on in this section of Baja California. It was on this stretch of road that I shot VW Reality, a funny little video that started out as a goofy fluke and ended up getting over 25,000 views on youtube.

As you enter Guerro Negro you’ll start to notice a large landmark coming over the horizon that marks the border between the north and south of Baja California and a milestone of our trip towards the southern tip. Part 2 is located here.

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