Old 300 year old olive tree - Mision San Francisco JavierI have to admit that I had very little desire to visit the Baja peninsula, or at least until Herb announced that he was going, with or without me. I couldn’t let him do that. We are two halves of a trip planning whole, neither of which half can survive - or more correctly thrive - without the other, but together we are awesome. He is the big picture man, while I dive into the weeds and get lost for weeks in the minutia of every potential trip stop. Then Herb closes the deal by implementing my plan (handling border crossing papers, Mexican car insurance, 4WD rescue stuff, etc.), while I, left to my own devices, would still be wandering around lost in San Ignacio.

Plus, you hear really bad things about Baja - like Tijuana being the murder capital of the world or policeman pulling you over and looking for a bribe. So basically, rather than sitting home worrying the whole time he was away, I decided to go with to protect him. He found that quite amusing.

So was the trip good? The answer probably depends on what day we asked ourselves that. There were times we looked at each other and said, “What the heck are we doing here” to “This is so incredibly awesome!”

Optical Illusion - our impressions of BajaIt kind of reminds me of that famous optical illusion where you are asked whether you see an ugly old woman or a pretty young girl.

The answer is both, and that is exactly what Baja was for us. There were times that ugly old woman made us want to turn around and hightail it back to the states, but just then that beautiful young girl would make an appearance, luring us on.

Which one you see can be quite revealing as to the type of traveler you are. I have some work to do to put that old lady to rest and become a less timid traveler, so that I may live up to the late Anthony Bourdain’s wise words:

"Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."

A brief summary of highlights:

• Kuyima Eco Tour’s gray whale watching boat tour in San Ignacio Lagoon
• Camping on Playa El Requeson on the Bahía Concepción
• Loretto - Strolling the Malecón (waterfront esplanade) to the Plaza Juarez
• Side trip from Loretto to the Misión San Francisco Javier, the crown jewel of the Baja missions