The ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan took about 13 hours and after disembarking, we headed for our campsite near the beach, just outside of the Centro Historico. Mazatlan is a Mexican resort town along the Pacific, with a 21km malecon (boardwalk) along the sea front-which was full of people walking, and statues and installations for the carnival in February. We spent a day wandering around the central old town district- where we enjoyed the mercado (market) selling wonderful fresh produce and  many local food stalls. The old town was beautiful-with its historic square, cathedral and buildings-which were beautifully lit at night. Wandering down to the sea front-we saw the cliff divers-who dive off  45 foot rocks into shallow water about 5 to 6 feet deep, surrounded by jagged rocks! They wait for a crowd to gather before they dive-and who can blame them for wanting maximum tips for putting their lives in danger each time they dive. They also wait for a large wave to come in before executing the perfect dive, as this makes the water a little deeper.

 We met a wonderful  Englishman called Michael, who invited us to his house in the historical district that evening. We had a great time in his beautiful home-which had 3 levels of outside terrace overlooking the other buildings-drinking margaritas and eating the most wonderful shrimp pasta. Time flew by and before we knew it-we were wandering the streets of Mazatlan looking for a taxi at midnight (that`s really late for us!) When we got back to the campsite-the gates were locked and we had visions of having to scale the walls, until thankfully we managed to rouse the owner who let us in!

We met some great people on the campsite-in particular Marj and Dave (in their late 70s and early 80s) from Vancouver island, who were travelling in a small van with their cat and who had explored Mexico during their Winters for the last 39 years.  Fi and Ken were a Brit and US combo-who had previously travelled extensively by bike, but were now in a ford camper. These two were great fun and we shared a lot of stories and laughs with them. We hope to see them again in Mexico, as we are all heading South. They are looking for somewhere to relocate either in North, Central or South America.

Gav did some checks underneath Ruby and found that  the universal joint (UJ) was worn on the front prop shaft. He took the prop shaft off and we hopped in a taxi to a mechanics who used our spare parts to replace it for us.

After Mazatlan, we headed for the fishing village of San Blas. This was a stopover before heading into the mountains towards Guadalajara, however we also wanted to do a boat tour through the mangrove marshes to see birds, crocodiles and turtles. At the edge of town was a viewing point where tens of crocodiles, large and small, were taking a break and basking in the sunshine. We also found the embarkation point for the boat tours-which we arranged to do at 7am the following day.  We camped beneath some coconut trees, taking care not to position the roof tent directly below the ripe coconuts. However, whilst Gav was cooking, I heard a big "thump "and a big Yorkshire voice say" bloody hell, I was nearly hit by a coconut"! We got up early from our campsite and drove to the meeting point for our boat trip, however no one was there! We waited half an hour and there was no sign of life, so we decided to move on rather than stay another night, particularly as this place was full of jejenes (tiny biting sand flies) which manage to bite you in numerous places, even though you are smothered in repellent!

 It  has been great to drive in Mexico so far, except for the numerous speed bumps (called topes) which are everywhere and range from small to huge. As we approach the topes, I (Jen) starts to yell "TOPES TOPES TOPES" and Gav hopefully slows down. If we don`t see them, as they are not always obvious, we almost take off as we go over them at speed (well the speed of an old landy!)

We stopped for a night in the town of Tequila , known for its production of the famous spirit. Near the foot of the Tequila Volcano, the outskirts of town are dotted with fields of blue agave, the liquor's main ingredient. The production process can be observed at several distilleries in town, all of them  offering tours and tastings. The popularity of the drink and the history behind it has made the town and the area surrounding it a World Heritage site. It was also named a "Pueblo Magico" (Magical Town) in 2003 by the Mexican federal government, because of its culture and historical interest. It was a lovely little town-with an attractive main square dominated by its beautiful stone church, where many people come to sit, eat or listen to music from the street performers. There are many cobblestone side streets and attractive stone buildings.

The Toltex Indians discovered tequila as a drink more than 200 years ago. Agave plants thrive in Tequila, where conditions such as altitude and climate are perfect for its growth. It takes the agave plant 8 to 10 years to mature and be ready for harvesting and distilling. Agave is harvested in the traditional way in a very labour intensive manner. The worker, called a jimador, uses a special tool, like a sharp, pointed shovel to remove the spikes from the agave and extract the heart of the plant. The heart of the plant, with the spines removed resembles a pineapple and is called a piña. To actually make the tequila, the green outer leaves are sliced off, leaving the large agave "pinas" or pineapples to be processed. The average worker can prepare only 200 plants a day because of the intense heat and the difficulty of the procedure. The white creamy core contains the juice necessary for the preparation of tequila. One plant can produce 5 bottles of tequila.

We went on a great tour at the Jose Cuervo distillery, called La Rojena. This is oldest distillery and the tour showed us the agave hearts being chopped up and taken to the ovens, the labs where the tequila is tested to be sure that it meets the factory's strict standards, and the barrels where the spirit is aged; up to one year for reposado tequila, up to five years for añejo and up to eight years for the special product.  It was really interesting and peppered with small samples of various tequilas. We had also booked a private tasting for the end of the tour and headed into the tasting room with our guide. We know nothing about tasting-so were eager to learn, whilst trying desperately not to look out of our depth as we swilled the tequila around the bottom of the glass and sniffed it! We had 3 glasses of tequila to taste and then a special one which was very old and expensive! The 3 glasses contained: white tequila, which spends 15 days in stainless steel tanks before bottling; a rested tequila, left for at least 2 months in wooden barrels and an aged tequila which is left for at least a year in wooden barrels. By the time we got to glass 4-my memory fails me so I guess it was very old and very special!!

Well what a laugh we had! We first had to swish it around the bottom of the glass to see the colour and the body. Then we had to sniff it-both at the top and bottom of the glass. Finally we sipped it-holding it in our mouths for 3 seconds, inhaling, swallowing and then exhaling quickly, for the maximum taste. I (Jen) was trying very hard to appear cultured, so didn`t finish all the tequila in each glass, leaving some in the glass ,before moving on to the next. Very dignified. All was going well, or so I thought, until Gavin told me later that by glass 3 I had my chin in the glass whilst my nose was elsewhere sniffing into the thin air! By glass 4, I had decided not to leave a drop-knocked back the whole glass- before finishing Gavin`s and then going back to the previous 3 glasses and finishing off every drop!

We also saw some cultural dancers called Danza De Los Voladores (Dance of the flyers). The ritual consists of dance and the climbing of a 30-meter pole from which the dancers then launch themselves tied with ropes by their feet, descending to the ground, upside down whilst playing instruments! Brilliant!

Our next stop was Guadalajara, Mexico`s second largest city. We visited  the city’s historic centre and its most obvious attractions, such as the twin-towered cathedral and the labyrinthine Mercado San Juan de Dios, Latin America’s largest indoor market. The stately Hospicio Cabanas,a former orphanage with fiery murals by  Jose Clemente Orozco, is Unesco-listed and we were highly impressed by the artwork on the ceiling and walls. We spent an afternoon in the suburb of Tonala, sampling the delights of its weekly market. On the Sunday, we did a wonderful self guided walking tour which took us past lots of street art and parks, where people were undertaking all sorts of activities such as hula hooping, yoga, acrobatics, cycling, skipping etc. On Sundays, the major streets are closed for a period to cars and there are literally thousands of people cycling, jogging, skating, skateboarding or on scooters along the streets. They call it recreational Sunday and it was brilliant to wander among the local families who were so enjoying their day. We enjoyed a local specialty in Guadalajara -torta ahogada -a sandwich bathed in spicy sauce, filled with deep fried pork and fresh onions) and it was delicious!

Next we are heading towards Morelia and the butterfly sanctuary of El Rosario.
 
 

We spent 5 days in Los Cabos and whilst it was the most touristy place we had  visited in Baja, we had a really good time here. We found two wonderful taco places to eat at, one was at a lovely lady`s tiny shed in her front yard-where she sold the most wonderful variety of meat tacos for about 50 pence each! The other sold delicious fish tacos-possibly the best we have tasted in Baja! We have loved Mexican food so far and I (Jen) have been working my way through the hot sauces and salsas-sometimes at a cost!

We spent a day at our favourite beach-Playa Maria-where we snorkeled and enjoyed watching the procession of small boat tours who anchored near the beach for their clients to snorkel, paddleboard and kayak. We also took our binoculars and saw a number of humpback whales blowing and breaching. It has been common to see whales every day from our beach camp spots, and we never tire of watching them!

We went to the cinema and watched The Greatest Showman, which we really enjoyed in our luxury seats where we were almost lying horizontally! We really enjoy doing normal things, such as the cinema, the longer we have been travelling.

We also hired a small boat (panga) and a captain for 5 hours and did a fishing trip, something that Gavin has been waiting for, for a long time! It did not disappoint! We caught the local bus down to the marina at 6am, meeting our captain, Jose, at 6.30pm. We boarded our boat and first stop was for fuel and for live bait! We were one of many fishing boats heading out from the harbour into the beautiful sunrise, past the iconic land`s end and arch at Cabo San Lucas. The arch is a distinctive rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, which is itself the extreme southern end of Mexico`s Baja Peninsula. Here the Pacific Ocean becomes the Gulf of California.

 We had 4 fishing rods between us, cast out of the boat as we were sailing along and it was not too long before I  noticed a twitch on the rod and yelled" I think we`ve caught a fish". Gav reeled the first one in-a dorado-and it was the smallest of the 8 we caught in total, so we put it back in. A short time later all hell broke loose as 2 of the rods were bending and the reels were whizzing around! It was my turn to reel it in, I stood up to begin the process and nearly toppled overboard! The captain got me a harness which I  put the end of the rod in and I sat down whilst frantically reeling the fish in. It was massive-about 18 pounds worth, and I had to get Gav and the captain to pull it onto the boat. Then a second came in, and a third and a fourth and by the end of the trip we had caught 8! It was really exciting but very tiring and Gav told me at one stage I was so slow reeling it in that I looked comical! On the way back to the marina, we were lucky enough to see a whale breaching (coming right out of the water) fairly close to the boat and the captain waited for a while so we could watch it blowing and swimming.

Jose asked us how many fish we wanted to keep and we said 2, which he filleted for us-so much fish! He was delighted to take the rest and we also gave him a good tip-as he had been captain fantastic! We proudly took our fish to a nearby restaurant and asked them to cook it for us, which they did in 3 ways.It was delicious-one was lightly battered with beer batter, one was in mango sauce and the other with lime. It was truly the best fish we have tasted this trip and made even better by the fact we had caught it about 2 hours previously! We gave away some more fish to the staff in the restaurant as we had so much of it!

After Cabo we headed to Todo Santos,  a small coastal town at the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, on the Pacific coast side of the peninsula. It  is located very near the Tropic of Cancer, which we crossed. Handicraft shops, art galleries featuring landscape paintings of local scenes, upscale restaurants, boutique hotels and restored colonial buildings have contributed to the gentrification and redevelopment of the town.  We camped on the beautiful beach at Las Playitas. We had heard about the daily release of baby turtles by a voluntary organization, who incubated them in a greenhouse on the beach during Winter. Three species of Sea Turtle (Leatherback, Olive Ridley and Black) nest on the beaches of Todos Santos.

Sea Turtle nests rely on the heat of the sand for incubation, and when sand temperatures drop below 26° celcius for any part of the incubation period, malformations and death can occur in the developing turtles.  This is where the Incubation Greenhouse came in!  All nests that are laid after October 16 are relocated into the Incubation Greenhouse where average sand temperatures are 29°celcius. Hatchlings incubated inside the greenhouse are healthy, vigorous, and lack the deformities that are common in fall and winter nests.  The incidence of flipper deformations, crooked beaks, blindness and dwarfism is significantly decreased when fall and winter nests are incubated in the Greenhouse.

The turtles are released at sundown. We all  got a bowl containing half a dozen baby turtles, each about 2-3cm wide. The volunteer drew a line in the sand near the sea, and this was where we were going to release the baby turtles, which had all just been born that day! It was amazing, gently shaking them out of the bowl, which also contained sand, and watching them instinctively head towards the sea. The waves would come in and take some of them off into the sea, whilst some of them immediately swept back onto the beach, before they tried again and again! It was amazing to be part of it.

We settled down for the night on the beach by ourselves and all was quiet. That was until a car pulled up at 1.30am. There was loads of space on the beach but guess where the car decided to park? Yes-right next to us! The music went on, very loudly and a group of youngsters enjoyed themselves until about 3am when they left!

After Todo Santos, we went back to La Paz where we stayed in a gorgeous hotel for a few days, located right on the beach. We relaxed for a few days-with the views of the sea right outside our window. We caught the Baja ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan over night,  leaving Ruby in the hold whilst we had a cabin. We slept like babies and arrived in Mazatlan about 13 hours later.

We have spent a wonderful  5 weeks or so in Baja but are now ready to experience the delights that we know mainland Mexico has to offer!
 
 

We spent a couple of days in San Diego, before driving to the border to cross into Mexico, at Tecate. We had heard that this was a much quieter border than the closer one of Tijuana, which is the busiest border crossing in the world. We stopped at the USA customs to inform them  we were leaving the country and they took our USA entry cards which had been stapled into our passports. What we should have done next, was leave Ruby whilst we walked through the border to get our tourist card for Mexico and to sort out our temporary import permit for Ruby. Instead, we drove straight though the border, thinking we could park there, but we got waved through into Mexico. We ended up driving around trying to work out how to get back-but obviously we couldn`t go back into the USA, so we parked in the street and scurried back in case we got stopped as being illegally in Mexico!

The process was then easy. We filled in the paperwork for our tourist cards, went next door to pay the fee, returning with proof of payment in return for the cards. We then got our temporary import permit for Ruby and away we went. Tecate is on the Baja peninsula, the second largest peninsula in the world, and our plan was to drive the whole way down to the South of the peninsula before catching a ferry to the mainland. Our route would take us through both the East and West of Baja, so we would experience both the Pacific coast on the West side and the sea of Cortez on the East.

Our first stop was Ensenada and we found a campsite that overlooked the Pacific ocean for a couple of nights. It was a beautiful spot and we enjoyed watching the sunsets and pods of dolphins swim past. We also had our first fish tacos of the trip and they were delicious-we know we are going to enjoy Mexican food!  We then headed towards Bahia de Los Angeles, stopping for the night by the beach in San Quentin. The drive was beautiful-passing mountains and going through the desert with the numerous huge cacti , until we saw the gorgeous blue water of the bay of Los Angeles. We found an idyllic campsite on the beach and we parked Ruby next to our own palapa ( open side dwelling with palm leaf thatched roof) which are very common on Mexican beaches. We spent a couple of days here, watching the wildlife and walking along the beach-it was wonderful. We met a lovely couple from Germany-Sylvia and Marita and we were to bump into them again soon.

After a night at Guerrero Negro, we drove to Mulege, a pretty oasis town on the shores of the sea of Cortez. We found a great campsite along the palm and mangrove lined Rio Mulege where we had a private spot surrounded by banana trees, palm trees and other fruit trees. Soon after we arrived, Sylvia and Marita rolled up and we had a great time with them here for the next few days. We joined in the daily game of bocci, played by longer term residents at the campsite-Eric, Don and Lee and it was so much fun. It was similar to boules-however here we played it all around the campsite with an obligatory bottle of beer or two in hand! When any of us achieved a direct hit on the target (small white ball) we all had to yell "Bocci............" at high volume! We also had a night with them in town watching the local Frank Sinatra-this was also great fun and we had a good old dance. However, Gav and I had 4 margaritas and struggle to remember the rest of the night!!

After Mulege, we drove to Loreto  via a scenic coastal route along Bahia Concepcion, with its beautiful beaches and then through the mountains. Loreto was a pretty town-with a lovely town square, the oldest mission in Baja and cobbled streets. It also had a lovely malecon to walk along and gaze out to sea.

We headed to La Paz, the capital of Baja Sur, for Gav`s birthday and Christmas. We spent a lovely few days here wandering along the sea front, eating excellent food and going to the cinema! Our highlight was an amazing boat trip, on boxing day, to swim with whale sharks. After Jen eventually got her wetsuit on the right way, we jumped off our small boat with our snorkels on, led by our guide-and suddenly we were face to face with a huge whale shark! Whale sharks are the largest fish species in the world, the largest measured one being nearly 42 foot long!! Our guide estimated the one we saw was about 20 foot long-it was huge! Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and are not known to pose a threat to humans.

It was absolutely amazing to watch it feed-looking at its huge mouth and little eyes as it did so (a bit like watching Jen feed!) We also got the chance to swim alongside it and just simply hang out with it for a little while. It was incredible and one of our best experiences on this trip to date. We went with a brilliant company called La Paz VIP tours and our wonderful guide, Anna, got into the water with us and led us to the sharks. We were always meant to be at least 6 feet away from them, but at times, we were a lot closer and Gav and I would start to swim away from it as we thought we were almost touching it-whilst Anna would grab hold of us and push us back closer to it!

After leaving La Paz, we spent a wonderful few days wild camping at El Sergento, where hundreds of kite surfers took to the sea and Punta Arena De La Ventana.  At the latter, we had the beach to ourselves for 2 nights, and we watched the rays swim close to the shore both mornings. Gav  got the chance to fish from the shore here, however it was still chicken for tea both nights!

We camped next to the beach for New Year-at Los Barilles-another stunning beach. We watched a super moon rise  over the horizon on new year`s day-it just appeared over the edge of the sea and was magnificent. The next stop was Cabo Pulmo and another wild camp next to the beach. Cabo Pulmo is a  national marine park and was designated a UNESCO world heritage site on 1995. Bahía Pulmo is home to the oldest of only three coral reefs on the west coast of North America. Estimated to be 20,000 years old, it is the northernmost coral reef in the eastern Pacific Ocean. We took a great snorkelling tour from here-and went out to 5 different places where we jumped in to snorkel.  We saw a variety of amazing fish, swam with a shoal of at least a thousand Mexican look down fish and also with seals. We loved it and also got the chance to snorkel again the following days from the shores of our camp spot at Los Arbolitas and from our camp spot at Playa Maria near Los Cabos. The snorkelling is fantastic here, the water is crystal clear and there are numerous different types of fish swimming close to shore.

So next stop is the tip of Baja, Cabo San Lucas, before we start heading North  on the West Cape towards Todo Santos and eventually La Paz again, where we will take our ferry to mainland Mexico. We have loved Baja so far-it is very relaxing, we have mostly camped next to the beach and the wildlife is superb. a great start to 2018!