March 12, 2015 - Puertecitos - Bahia San Luis Gonzaga

We started our day by walking over the hill so Tobey could take a final dip in the hot pools. After all, who could pass up something that, according to their sign is “relaxing, medicinal, curative, and a blessing from God to you!”???? I’m sure it definitely helped him be relaxed for our drive today.

The picture below is looking back at the camping area at Puertecitos as we walked back from the hot springs.

Our drive from Puertecitos to Bahia San Luis Gonzaga was only 48 miles today over a wider, better paved road which actually had pullouts so we could stop and take pictures of the Sea of Cortez along the way! We saw these dark spots in the water and got the binoculars out to see what it was. There were hundreds of birds on the water catching fish. One of the Americans living in San Felipe told us that the grunion are running and the birds go after them.
We are camping on the beach and negotiated a good price – $50 pesos a night (about $3.50USD) without a palapa. We quickly leveled up and headed down the beach to get lunch at Alfonsina’s Restaurant. Alfonsina’s is located near the end of the land in the picture below before you get to the dark island – a little more than a mile down the beach.

We walked most of the way on the beach before cutting up to the road. At the far end there are several “permanent” homes and these folks had a Baja dune buggy.
Tobey had the fish tacos and I had shrimp burritos. Mine was definitely better! Lunch was pricey for what we got – $267 pesos ($19 USD) for 3 tacos, 3 burritos (they are small) and 2 soft drinks.

After eating we walked over toward the island. At low tide there is a small sand spit which allows you to cross over without getting very wet. We talked to a young man who was just coming back from the island. We asked if he had hiked the small trail you can see in the picture. He had just taken his little brother over to show him the trail, but told us that it is really a coyote trail. He said the coyotes often cross the spit at low tide then get stuck on the island when the water rises.


One of the fishing boats was coming in and we were able to buy a kilo of corvina for only $50 pesos ($3.50 USD) which gave us four large filets. We spIit one for dinner tonight - it was so good – and we were stuffed! We will go back tomorrow and see what the catch of the day is. Hopefully, we can stock up on some to take home! (We added fishing poles to our list of things to pack next time.)

Walking back to the RV we stayed close to the water because the sand was so soft – and hot! We had to watch our step because we spotted jellyfish along the shore.Our neighbors helped provide the afternoon’s entertainment. They returned from fishing and proceeded to clean their catch. The pelicans and gulls were quite intent on their actions. As they finished cleaning each fish, they would toss the head and spines out toward the water and the birds went nuts going after the carcass. The gulls pecked at the remains, then the pelicans would saunter up and grab it up and try to get it in their gullet as they flew back into the water. More than once, a gull would chase after the pelican and there was a tug-of-war in the water over the fish. We watched for more than an hour! We are easily entertained!

Who knows what wild adventures tomorrow will bring?

GPS: 29.7839N, 114.39468W
RV CAMPING – BAJA CALIFORNIA