Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We said a sad farewell to Punta Lopez Mateos and drove across to the Eastern side of Baja California, to Puerto
Escondido. We stayed at an RV park for one night as we needed a shower and had to recharge Winnies batteries and
get water etc. We also had a lot of cleaning to do trying to get all the sand out of everything! Barry dropped by
to get some water too as he´s moved to a free beach 4 km north.
We tried the showers but there was only a trickle coming out and the toilets wouldn't flush. The water pump had
broken! Wonderful! So we went for a walk down to the waterfront and to the little harbour. We found a small internet
place and had a decaf latte and a toasted bagel with cream cheese! We also got chatting to a lady who told us about
a free beach just down a dirt track next to our RV park called Rattlesnake beach, and also about some superb canyon
walks nearby. You always get the best tips from other travellers because neither Rattlesnake beach nor any of the
canyons are marked on any maps!
So the next day, we drove down the track which was very bumpy and half way along, we met a car coming the other way.
Fortunately it was just at a spot where there was a passing place. The driver told us that we could park up on the
left side of the beach, as the person who owned the land had already gone back to America. Normally, all the RVs park
up on the right side. So we found the spot which was perfect, the only place where you get a direct view over the bay
and we also had the place to ourselves. So we ended up staying for the next 3 nights.
The next day, Barry picked us up at 8 am and we went to the first canyon (Canyon de Tavor) along with Ben and Mona
from Canada who were staying on the right side of Rattlesnake beach. We spent just over 2 hours scrambling up and
over rocks and climbing up a place called "the chimney", which involved crouching down low to squeeze through rocks
and then tried to climb up some large rocks using bits of tree trunk. But we couldn´t make it as the rocks were too
high so we turned around and came all the way back.
We said goodbye to Ben and Mona who were driving further north that day and then went with Barry to try and find the
"Wow Canyon" (so called because you say "wow" when you see it!) We had to drive along an extremely rough track.
Winnie would never have made it, and we don't know how Barry´s little Suzuki made it either! We got shaken and bumped
all the way along to the start of the canyon. Then we set off for more rock scrambling, wading through deep water and
some pretty hairy traversing of rocks that meant a long drop and a very hard landing if you slipped!! Kirsten and I
did this part by shuffling along on our bums!
Canyon de Tavor and Wow Canyon.
But we managed to make it back in one piece! Then we filled up Kirstens
plastic drinking container with water and put it in the sun for a couple of hours, and later had a much deserved
shower outside Winnie!
On Thursday 19th we walked all the way back to the harbour for another coffee and bagel and then spent a lazy
afternoon in the hammock reading - our muscles were aching from all the rock scrambling! Then we had another home
made shower, but this time another RV came along just as Kirsten was underneath. So Helen had to cover her up quickly
with a towel! So we weren't alone in our little spot anymore, but we didn't mind too much as we left the next day and
drove further north to Loreto and stayed at a different RV park from when we were there on the way south, which was
more central so that we could go for a walk around the town.
Hummingbirds in Loreto.
Later that evening, we had a visit from Nik and Barbara from California. They were staying at the Motel at the RV
park and we'd chatted to them just after we arrived. We showed them the photos from our website and gave them a few
tips on the best places to go whale watching and spent a really enjoyable evening with them. We met them again the
next day and found out that Nik is a writer and is being made an offer to do a film based on one of his books! So
Hollywood is knocking on his door and he may be famous soon!! (see website: www.channelingbikerbob.com)
We left Loreto and drove back up to El Requeson beach, nearly running over a yellow snake on the way! We wanted to
pull off the side of the road for lunch but after the snake we didn't think it was a wise idea! We stayed on the
beach for 2 nights. During the nights it got very windy and we even had some rain, which meant we had to get up to
close the sky lights and to retrieve our mat from outside at 4am before it got blown away!
