Stranded in Paradise

After a very cold night we all decided that the quickest route back to the coast was in order so we decided to go via the toll road, but as it was somewhat further and still took us 3 days to to get there. Both nights we headed for a lake and found camp sites at both (though the first was actually closed so did not cost us anything). The second was in a beautiful setting on the banks of a river leading into a lake. A few locals were there for the day and one large group were singing local songs to a guitar, a good setting for a couple of beers before the sun set. At this point we thought it would take another 2 days to get to the coast, but a superb new road with some fantastic bridges and tunnels meant we could make it in a day.

After a few days of hard driving we spent 4 days in Mazatlan, during which I spent birthday 63 on the beach. We also finally managed to replace the two tyres we tried to replace in San Diego, they still had to order the tyres, but this time they only took 40 minutes.

After this we moved slowly down the coast, spending one night among the palm trees on an empty camp site, one at The Little Rig RV site on a beach and 2 at the Boca de Iguanas. The latter was full of Mexicans in tents as this was a holiday weekend and we got lots of advice as to where was good to go (and where to avoid). A walk down the beach took us to a small 6 room Boutique Hotel and as we arrived for a beer so did the chef, returning from Toronto (-22) for the winter. He said his specialty was Sri Lankan curry so we decided to stay another night. The following day we walked down for lunch and discussed the curry with chef and after an afternoon in the sea (yes, even me!) the curry was superb. The Mexican owners also told us the story of how the Hotel came to be. From a large wealthy family in Guadalajara they fell on hard times and decided to make the family's seaside home a small Bouquet Hotel, it was finished 2 years ago and now have a thriving business.

As we were stopped I decided to check the front breaks and just as well as one of the pads was almost to the metal. Checking everything out whilst it was jacked up I found some play in one of the track rod ends.

Next day we headed for the nearest Toyota garage and found that unlike USA and Canada (where they only have petrol Land Cruisers) in Mexico they don't have Land Cruisers at all! They suggested we go to the main dealer at Gudalajara, which was just off our intended route so off we set.

As we wouldn't make Gudalajara in time we headed for Ajijic (Ahihic) on Lake Chapala (our intended stop anyway) about an hour south of Guad. We arrived in the dark, could not find a camp site, spoke to the local police who suggested there was an area by the peer where we would be OK. We stopped for a beer at a restaurant by the peer, they said it was fine to camp out in front of them (on the water front), so we stayed for dinner and camped outside.

The play in the track rod end was increasing, I was not happy about driving further and so contacted Specter Off Road in LA via Skype (we had met 2 of their guys on Harley's in Death Valley and visited them in LA to buy spare filters and break pads). They had single track rod ends or sets, so I ordered a set and according to the tracking info should arrive tomorrow and I have a recommended mechanic ready to fit when they arrive.

In the meantime, the day after we arrived a local 10 day festival started so the place is very lively. Each Day there are fireworks at 6 am, followed by church bells and the inevitable barking dogs. There are bands (of varying abilities) roving the streets at all times of day and night and on the first day there was a parade that ended on our corner and the band kept playing whilst the horses danced. We have met loads of people, made a few friends done a bit of cycling and had a good rest (still camped outside the restaurant) We have also listened to some superb music, including a Portuguese Fado singer in a bar down the road and a local string quartet practicing in the back of the restaurant (we had planned to eat in a different restaurant, but they were so good we ate there again).

 Camped by the river.

 Fabulous new toll road back to the coast

The beach at Mazatlan

 A beer in the sun at The Little Rig RV park

 The view from the bar at the Boca de Iguana, having a drink before our Sri Lankan Curry

Sunset on the Lake Chapala

The horses let off steam after the parade and before they start dancing

 Camped outside the restaurant

 Horse dancing in the street (the Tuba player is using the wall as an acoustic aid, the rest of the band is just out of shot)

Our dining room for the duration of our stay, there was a large choice of good food at a very reasonable price

 Allondra, our waitress, very pretty, very attentive and very shy. Joseph, the head water is American and we asked him if she speaks any English. He said she was so shy she hardly spoke Spanish

 The Peer just after the sun has gone.

 Surfing Pelicans

There are apparently lots of crocodiles around, but this is the nearest we have got! so far!!

The Adventure Starts and the Plan Changes

After the madness of Tijuana the solitude of the Baja. The next few days were a mix of coast and cactus covered desert, some winding through the hills and others dead straight across the desert with for the most part very little other traffic on the road and the temperature slowly increased as we moved south (up to 40 at times).

The camp sites varied from run down to very run down, some showing signs of the hurricane a few weeks ago (the worst in 100 years - but hurricane season is over now), but the best was a beach south of Loreto. We spent one night in Loreto (where the Spanish first landed and built the first Mission) and got the bikes off for a change for a tour round and then moved 25 miles south, the site we were aiming for was closed, but we were told of a beach we could camp at (free) about a mile down a track. When we arrived there were more R.V's than we had seen in Mexico so far and found a good spot on the beach. Chatting to the neighbors it appeared that they were all from Canada or USA and many of them had been spending the winter there for many years. Next day, as we packed up to move on, another RV arrived to take up his 'normal' spot.

From there we moved down to La Paz (at the bottom of Baja) and the port to get the ferry to the main land and stopped at a beach for a beer, they told us we could camp on the beach and we found 2 other overland Land Cruisers there already (1 Swiss and 1 German). The Swiss couple left next morning but the Germans (Hans and Bente) were staying another night before taking the ferry.

The next day we booked on the ferry to Los Mochis, the next day (we intended to book for Mazatlan but we would have had to wait 4 days and at this point we were still thinking of making the bottom of Argentina for February) and accidentally booked a cabin, but this turned out to be a good move as the ferry was supposed to leave at 1600 and arrive at 2200, but actually left at 18.30 and arrived at 02.30 the next morning.

When we got back to our pitch on the beach we found we had booked on the same ferry as Hans and Bente  so we went together. They have been in the Americas for 6 to 9 months for the last 7 years, leaving their vehicle to fly home (to Turkey) so have a wealth of knowledge (and good 4x4 tracks).

The ferry terminal was absolutely chaotic, going from queue to the next to check vehicle permit, security check, port taxes, weigh bridge, army check, fruit and vegetable check, pesticide spray and then found ourselves back out of the port and having to start again!. Finally they formed us up in a queue on the opposite side of the harbor and eventually started to load about 30 minutes before the boat was due to leave. 2 hours later we were actually on the boat, but was still another hour before it finally set off.

The crossing was very calm so after a couple of beers we had dinner and found that our cabin had 4 bunks so we all had a few hours sleep. Unloading was less chaotic, but still took a couple of hours, so was 04.30 by the time we set off! A few miles down the road we found somewhere off the road to stop for a few more hours sleep.

Next day Hans and Bente were setting off for the Copper Canyon on about 300 miles of mostly 4x4 tracks, Bente showed us photos of the route off someone else' blog and we (or at least I) couldn't resist. We had been debating for some time whether the original plan was too much as we were now 3 weeks behind schedule and Hans saying 'you are retired, why spend all day driving' finally sealed it, so off we set to the Copper Canyon and for the next 4 days we did exactly that 'spent all day driving'.

The first 2 days we did 52 miles per day at an average of 8 miles an hour , but was good fun, except that the altitude was up to 2,400 m and the temperature down to 12 c in the day time (and on the last day -4 at night!). 3rd day we did over 60 and on the 5th the road turned into Tarmac for the last 60 miles.

We finally made the Canyon today and tomorrow plan to take the motorway back to the coast (which should be back to 30 and sunny).

We still plan fly home from Buenos in April, but will take a more direct route so we don't have to rush and will have more time to go further south on the next phase.

                                      
Camping on the beach at La Paz

 

On the way to the Copper Canyon

A decent road at last!

Camping in the wild at the side of the road.

The Copper Canyon

The Landing Point of the Longest Zip wire in the world, 2600 m

One of the jumps on a mountain bike track!

 Hans and Bente

The Cable car (taken from the car going the other way)
Takes the same route as the Zip Wire

Frozen solid! -4 at 2400 m, time to head back to the coast and 30+

Into the Mad House

We have been to some pretty chaotic places before, but nothing really prepares you for the culture shock of  passing from San Diego into Tijuana. The crossing itself was easy, in fact too easy. After a cursory search of the vehicle they waved us through and at that point we could have gone! I asked one of the guards about a stamp for the passport and they waved us over to an office. That was done in minutes and we asked about the car and they said it was done on the other side. We set off and after a little while we were approaching a toll booth on the motorway, so we did a u turn between some bollards (probably illegal) and stopped at a police station on the other side too inquire about registering the vehicle. After all we had heard about the Federales, we must have met the nicest one in Mexico, he made 3 or 4 phone calls and drew us a map of where we needed to go.

Turns out that you do not need papers for the vehicle unless you are going into mainland Mexico ( we are going down a peninsular called Baja California and crossing by ferry to the mainland at the bottom) and the border we went through did not have the appropriate office to do so. the guard that told us to go to the other side meant the crossing on the other side of Tijuana! But even then the office was a little way from the other border.

We also needed car insurance for Mexico, had been told we could buy it at the border, but again we must have gone through the wrong border. Whilst wandering through Tijuana we saw an AXA sign so stopped for insurance, whilst inside I heard the cruiser horn blow and went out to find that someone had creased the whole side of her car against the front bumper whilst trying to park. Turns out she was the niece of the lady I was buying insurance off!!!! We could hardly see the mark on our bumper, but the damage to her car was immense!

Now insured we set off again in search of this illusive office and with the help of the Federales map and my GPS we found it. But because the cruiser is so old the VIN number did not come up on their computer and they had to contact Mexico, which is 2 hours ahead and was closed. Apparently we could have done it at the point where we take the ferry to mainland Mexico, but as it was already dark we decided to find a Hotel and come back in the morning.

We had an excellent room once the hotel engineer had got the water running and changed the batteries in the TV remote (we haven't seen a telly for weeks) and went out for a meal.

Next day we retraced our steps (courtesy of the GPS), registered the car and set off for the motorway almost 24 hours after arriving.

Tijuana is absolutely massive and a complete shambles, with cars and people everywhere and when you get out of Tijuana the roads are merely a suggestion, in many places there is a dirt strip as big as the road on either side, with stalls and shops at the far sides, with cars driving in both directions on each side and diving on and off the road without warning and in the main take absolutely no notice of speed limits or lines, single or double. A few weeks ago we thought we were on the set of mad Max, now we appear to be in it!

Only pictures I managed to take were these from our camp site on the beach, the rest of the time my hands were shaking too much to take any, not really, after driving around Tijuana a few times I was ready for anything!

High Tide at High Noon

After The Grand Canyon we had a few days of extremes, 46 degrees in Death valley (at -175  feet) on one day, rising up to almost 10,000 feet and down to 16 degrees as we went over the pass into Yosemite the next. We were back up to 4,000 feet by the time we camped on the way out of Death Valley, so not quite so hot and we dropped back down to 5000 feet in Yosemite so had warmed up again.

After a couple of days and a short walk in Yosemite we drove to Stockton (not far from San Francisco) where we had arranged to replace the alternator at Valley Hybrids.They replaced my 60 amp alternator with an 80 amp one from a petrol version and also gave the cruiser a good check over and tightened one wheel baring. The new alternator is a big improvement and is now putting plenty of charge into the leisure batteries.

As we drove into San Francisco we drove into a thick mist and the temperature dropped from a warm 32 degrees to a chilly 17. We drove over the Bay Bridge, vaguely saw the Golden Gate Bridge through the mist, followed the GPS to 3 camp sites that no longer exist (up and down the famous hills where so may car chases have taken place) and decided we had had enough of San Francisco so drove out again and found a camp site about 40 miles south..

Monterey on the other hand (once the capital of California in Spanish time) was delightful and fortunately the mist cleared whilst we were there, but the mist was to plague us on and off most of the way down to LA and the following day saw very little sun at all.

A couple of days later we found ourselves at the weekend again and all camp sites full, but found that we could camp on the beach for $10 a night. This was a huge area with lots of dunes where any form of 4x4 was allowed to drive over as long as they had a  high flag (so they could be seen from the other side of a dune). To access the camping area it was necessary to drive about 3.5 miles along a narrow passage way along the beach front. This was easy as the tide was out and we drove down the wet sand by the water and pitched up between a couple of trailers. That evening numerous vehicles from quad bike to specialist 4x4 trucks with big engines went roaring by in the dark, with banks of LED lights to light there way, all with flags flying high and sometimes up to 4 deep and you could quite believe you were on the set of Mad Max 4 (or would it be 5?)

The following morning  there is a lot of discussion about where high tide would reach, potentially beyond were we were pitched! We were ready to make a quick getaway if it came up to far, but in the end just about reached the back wheels, but by that time only an inch or so deep. the next day high tide was supposed to be 6 inches lower, but the waves were a lot higher and had to evacuate up the breach a couple of times whilst we packed up, until one wave came up as far as the running board whist I was stood on it as I was getting in to reverse up the beach (which I did without problem). By this time the beach was carnage, with vehicles up to their axles all over the place. We skirted round the back in the soft sand (which was good fun) but when we got half way along the narrow section the sea had gone up to the fence and the only way out was to basically head out to see to a sand bar about 100 meters out and back on to the beach further down. Half way through all this I realised I should have put the go pro on, but there was no way I could stop and probably missed some of the best footage I would ever get. I did consider going back but Chris wasn't too keen.

Whilst in Death valley we met a couple of guys on Harley's that worked for a land Cruiser Specialists in Chatsworth (just north of LA) that told us they kept stock of diesel parts, so after lunch at Santa Barbara (where apparently the rich and famous go to get away from LA) we made a slight detour to Chatsworth and stocked up with filters and brake pads. After which we soon realised we would not get very far in the traffic so back tracked to Malibu and found a very reasonable camp site (given the location) over looking the bay.

The next day we made it to San Diego, through the worst traffic we have encountered on the trip, up to 7 lanes in places and when it wasn't stationary cars would overtake on all sides and some would weave across all 7 lanes!

So here we are at San Diego, waiting for a couple of tyres to be delivered so that we will have a full set of Coopers, which will hopefully last until we ship back. We met up with Susan, who we met in Canada and told us to look her up when we got here, and we have all ridden our bikes round the bay and imbibed rather more than perhaps we should over the last 2 evenings.

                                          Death valley

                                                    Yosemite

                                          Monterey

                                          Coast of California                                         

                                       

                                          High Tide at High Noon