After relaxing for few days at Raoul’s ranch, socializing with likeminded people and absorbing some first-hand tips and tricks around Baja, it was time to hit the road. From here, we had two options, heading east toward the sea of Cortez and carry on south or heading west toward the Pacific Ocean and start our adventure there. We both voted for the west coast and just like that, we started our route in Baja, Mexico. First stop was grocery shopping at Ensenada, getting some Pesos from ATM and follow Raoul’s recommendation for our first ever fish Taco in Mexico.
Ensenada is a big city on the west coast of Northern Baja and it is not normally a place we like to stop so as soon as our bellies, diesel tank and fridge was full, we were out. For the first night, we decided to stay in a paid campsite on top of a cliff on the highest point of a small peninsula south of Ensenada. We were the only ones there and the views over the Pacific Ocean was wild and insane. The sunset colours on the edge of that cliff promised us that Baja won’t disappoint.
The next morning, we were ready to head south and get away from the proximity of the border. After driving for few hours south and staying on the Pacific side on highway one till El Rosario, the highway turns east. We followed the highway to our next destination, La Catavina!
We heard so much about the beauty of the Catavina desert, and it indeed exceeded our expectations. We arrived there at the golden hour just before sunset by chance and managed to do few drives in the dirt roads between the insane Cacti. Some of them we haven’t seen before! Just before sunset, we stayed in the Catavina only campsite. We could easily stay in between Cacti and spend the night but I think, we weren’t in the area long enough to feel comfortable do the wild camping, so we opted for a campsite. It was a family run massive place with almost no facility on the edge of the desert and again we were the only ones there. The sunset views with all the Cacti in the horizon was second to none. It was hot in Catavina and we didn’t have the same nice breeze that we had on top of the cliff on the ocean side to cool us off, but we were happy sweaty people that night! A quick shower in the campsite owner house helped us to go to bed easily and it cooled us off after the sunset and we had a quiet peaceful night in the desert.
The next morning, we woke up early to drive more dirt roads in Catavina and see more strange Cacti. There are just so many dirt roads to choose from, we followed few and stared at the strange looking vegetation for few hours till it got really hot for us to tolerate so we inflate the tyres again and got back to Highway 1 and headed south. A bit further south from Catavina, the Highway 5 which runs on the east side of the peninsula, join highway 1 and we were seeing a bit more traffic on the road but not much at all. Baja is really wild and empty and the option to explore the wilderness is limitless there, especially in the northern Baja. After continuing south for a while, we headed east to Baja de Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez side. We heard so many good things about it and had few points for wild camping on our list.
We got there around 3 to 4 pm and it was hot. The wildlife scene was beautiful, and you didn’t have to wait long to see it. But it was really hot and we weren’t sure if it worth the long offroad drive to the recommended spot if it stays hot and we had to leave the next day. So we stayed for one night on the coast, closer to the township to check the weather. Guess what, it was hot. Completely different from the west coast so the next morning, we headed back inland to go west. Even though it was hot but we had a peaceful pastel pink calm sunset with the prime viewing of the Pelican’s diving for fish from our camp window! Nothing to complain about!
We drove back toward highway 1 and the west coast. We tried few dirt roads which took us to the ocean with not a soul around and set up awesome camps, crazy sunrises and sunsets, lots of treasure hunting with shells and bones scattered along the long wild stretch of the beach. Baja is awesome!
And did I mention the food in Baja. Literally since we crossed the border, we almost didn’t cook at all unless we were camping in the middle of nowhere for few days. The food and especially seafood is so good in Baja. It is cheap and tasty. So different from what we normally get out of here as Mexican food so exploring the options for lunch and dinner is as fun as exploring all the dirt roads and see where they end.
Our last stop on Northern Baja was an incredible spot in the middle of white dunes next to a massive marshland close to Guerrero Negro. We had another epic wild camp spot before crossing into Baja Sur or Southern Baja.
We cannot believe how quickly we got adopted to Baja and how much we truly enjoy this wild place. We would have back every year to Baja if we were living in the USA, close to border. It’s spectacular.
In the next post, we continue south and explore deeper into Baja. Till then take care and have fun.
Here are few more photos from our epic camps in Northern Baja.
