I don't even know where to begin. This trip encompasses many words: thrilling, risky, and adventurous don't even begin to describe it. I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat by now wondering what this trip was? Well to be honest, I didn't even know any of the details until we landed in San Diego and packed up our suitcases into an RV. Destination? Baja, Mexico.
Of course my Mom was thinking ahead so we stocked up on our favorite foods (clementines and avocados anyone?) before crossing the border. Yep, that night I crossed the mexican border by RV for the first time ever! We began our 550 mile trek to a little town called San Ignacio. On the way there we stopped for some beautiful scenery as we drove down the Baja coastline. In case you are unfamiliar, Baja is the stretch to the left of mainland Mexico and at the very tip is beautiful Cabo (see map here). San Ignacio is about halfway down this stretch.
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The first day was lots of driving to get to San Ignacio. On the way there we got bombarded with security stops where the Mexican police had to "check" our RV. Besides those annoying interruptions, the weather was warm and the land looked like a mix of California with the rugged mountains to the left and ocean to the right, combined with Arizona because of flat stretches sprawling with prickly cactus. It was a scenic drive.
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That night we landed in San Ignacio and parked in an RV camp and woke up the next morning to be driven in a small van 1.5 hours to the destination: whale watching. It was amazing in so many ways. I personally enjoyed that we were in the middle of nowhere, passing salt formations and abandoned scallop hills on the way that aroused feelings of being on desolate Mars. The actual place that we stayed at was right on the ocean with about fifteen wooden huts with simple mattresses and sleeping bags on the inside. There was no electricity and they got some power from wind mills and solar panels on top of the wooden huts.
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The workers were friendly as ever along with the group of people we would be whale watching with. They had come from New York to Texas all to explore this sacred act of nature: mother whales raising their infants and putting on fat before taking the couple-thousand mile trek all the way up to Alaska for the summer.
It was a small group of about 22 people total and the atmosphere felt warm because everyone was so accommodating. From the moment we walked in, everyone talked to us, interested in why young adults like ourselves desired to do this trip.
And of course, being a foodie, I must comment on the food. They were overly amazing about it. There were vegetarians, koshers, and of course paleo me, and somehow we all figured out how to eat a delicious mexican-style meal. Breakfast consisted of eggs mixed with potatoes, habanero peppers, and bacon and a side of white rice (and beans if you like them). One day lunch consisted of zucchini with tomato sauce (with a delicious cheese sauce if you wanted). And happy hour was the best: home-made guacamole with home-made chips-- it was literally the creamiest I have ever had! So mouth-watering. My favorite meal though, was the dinner we had the first night: scallops right from the bay cooked with some tomatoes, onion, and zucchini-- simple, local ingredients, but so delicious.
But back to the whale watching. The first day we arrived we headed out for two trips. You can see how close we got to these whales in the picture, but really they don't do it justice. It was breathtaking. I kissed whales about ten times. The same mom whale and her baby (who we named Scarface because of a propeller gash on his head) found us on three different trips. Out of over 300 whales! The amazing thing about these grey whales is that scientists have found them to be the friendliest whales of their species and they don't know why. We don't offer food, we just enter their natural habitat and they instinctively know to come up to us because we will offer our love-- either in the form of kisses or scrubbing the barnacles off with a brush (see the picture!).
The Baby's eye.
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It spouted whale snot right in my face!
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I got to kiss the whale!
If whale watching seems boring, trust me, I have a short attention span and it wasn't! Every time one of these twenty to thirty foot whales came up to our boat which was about the same length, everyone got a jolt of adrenaline. "Will it come a bit closer so we can touch it?!" We all would innerly scream. And usually it would. And if it didn't, it was teasing us and would swim under the boat to jostle us around, all in good nature.
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My favorite picture--William got to scrub the whale's barnacles with a brush!
And if that really doesn't seem like enough, they also had kayaking, octopus fishing, and poker (which we played in the baking sun) amongst socializing too. We were only there for two days and for children that was enough, but I would have liked to stay at least another day. Even for the stars it would have been worth it. They freckled the sky, twinkling like gems. And the best part at night was the absolute silence. No cars. No humming of electrical wires. Just air.
Our trip didn't end there though! We drove back to San Diego, having a bit of a traffic jam at the border, and stayed at the Torrey Pines Lodge. It was an old hotel, but the golf course and restaurant made it worth while. We ate a delicious lunch and dinner there with locally grown food (classic California fare) and the golfing was a neat experience as well. We started at 7 am so the sun wasn't out and I was a bit worried. But around 9:45, that sun crept out, the temperature warmed up quite a bit and all the holes we played neighboring the ocean were amazing. The 18 holes didn't drag on like they sometimes do at poor courses. At this one, it felt just right.
Overall, I am so thankful we took this trip and it was a surprise! If I had known beforehand we were staying in huts, I probably wouldn't have been too enthusiastic. But that's just judging before you get there, which I often do because of my expectations. Staying a hut was enjoyable for me and a camping experience without having to pitch your own tent (plus soft mattresses). It is unfortunate that Mexico isn't the safest right now, but we didn't encounter any trouble along the way, besides the annoyance of the military checks. For the beauty we encountered with the whales, I would definitely persuade anyone to do this trip in their lifetime, even if you are not a whale person. Their enormity is incomprehensible until your hand is on their head and they spout a five foot jet stream of whale snot right at you. Nothing except being there could top that experience.
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