Mexico Day 133: One last dose of Baja magic

Bahia de Los Angeles to San Felipe, Baja California //

There’s a lot of humming and hawing around our camp this morning. The sea is calm and inviting, and the company is even better. We don’t want to leave.  

Commitments with family in Arizona mean we need to be across the border in two days’ time. While we could squeeze in one extra day, we ultimately decide that it’s time to rip the Band-Aid and face the inevitable. That means packing up this morning and making our way four hours north to one final beach before crossing the border tomorrow.  

Today’s drive is easily one of the most beautiful stretches in all of Baja. Highway 5 winds its way through the most unique desert I’ve ever seen, dense with giant cardon cacti and thousands of Dr. Seuss-esque boojum trees. Once the highway nears the coast, views of the Sea of Cortez and the rocky, rugged cliffs that meet it stretch on for as far as the eye can see. Highway 5 is a much less traveled route than Highway 1, and so with the exception of a passing car every now and again, it feels as though we have this wild stretch of the Baja coast all to ourselves. I think back to 133 days ago when we were headed south on this same stretch of highway in the deep, black dark of night, something we’ve never done before and haven’t done since because we were so excited to reunite with our dear friends Josh & Darci. That is the day this entire adventure began, and now, 4.5 months later, it’s hard to believe the end is here.  

For the third year in a row, we pull onto the same beach, north of San Felipe, for our last night in Baja. We join five other travelers, Americans and Europeans, who most likely are doing exactly what we are. Because it’s an easy 2.5-hour drive from the border crossing at Mexicali East, this is where many campers like us spend their last night in Mexico. Camping options become fewer the further north you go, and it’s advised not to camp near the border as crime and illegal activity become more prevalent.  

I immediately recognize the three white vans that we park beside. They were also at Paraiso Misional in San Ignacio a few nights back. We soon meet Hayley & Joe who walk over and strike up a conversation with us about our truck camper. For well over an hour, we go on to have a great conversation. When they learn that we spent nearly three months in mainland Mexico, they radiate with excitement and want to hear what it was like. In that moment, I realize how much I’m going to miss these interactions. We’ve met a lot of people in Baja since ferrying back two weeks ago, and every single person has been so stoked to hear what mainland was like. I’ve been equally thrilled to have the opportunity to share about our experience. Once we get back to the US, these conversations will be fewer and farther between, and when they’re had, I imagine they’ll largely center around questions concerning our safety, rather than shared enthusiasm for the immense beauty, in people and places, that Mexico has to offer.  

It is both fitting and wonderful to spend our last night in Mexico getting to know more awesome people. When the sunset turns the sky to dreamy pastel hues of blue and pink, hunger causes the four of us to wrap up our chat and return to our campers. While enjoying an easy and delicious meal of taquitos and fresh guacamole, we breathe in the smell of the salty air and the feeling of soft sand beneath our feet. A tinge of sadness lingers inside of me but isn’t able to make its way to the surface. It is overshadowed by the immense feeling of awe and appreciation for everything this country has given us; an entire season that I’ll remember fondly and vividly until the day I die.  

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