February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019

The Gray Whales are ahead of us so we need to get moving to intercept them. From San Diego we drive south hitting the border with Mexico. Despite this being the busiest border in the world with an astounding 30 million crossings per year, our passage is uneventful. Our first stop in Tijuana is Mercado Hidalgo, a large open air market. There are fruits and vegetables of all types; most we would never see in the US. Popular is a Beavertail cactus that is de-spined by a couple speedy machete workmen. We try a small slice. Tastes a little like asparagus. Also popular are peppers, fresh and dried. I steer clear of the very hot Habaneros. Many of the more exotic fruits come from the southern areas of Mexico that are more tropical. Interestingly one stall also sold a dozen different kinds of brown Mole sauces. Our guide bought us a couple of the exotic fruits to try.

The road south first follows the border fence west toward the coast. Surprisingly we don’t see any of the migrant groups that the media is touting. The road then hugs the coast for many miles. Like San Diego the shore is crowded with beach houses. In the major port of Ensenada we stop for a homemade lunch of meatball soup and spiced meat with rice.

From Ensenada the road turns inland following a valley. The terrain of Baja (Lower) California is surprisingly not much different than our state of California. I guess Mother Nature didn’t know about the border. Baja has the same rugged coastline and interior ranch land mountains. It even has the occasional vineyard.

Eventually the road veers back to the coast, although now very deserted. We stop for the night in San Quintin. We are just in time for sunset. For dinner we have fish with Margaritas and Pacifico beer.