Camping on the Beach

What a great adventure to have so near the end or our trip! Friends Vince and Cindy decided to take a road trip from El Sargento to Bahia Los Frailes south of Cabo Pulmo. They invited us to come along for three days of camping on the beach at Los Frailes. The trip began with a drive on the east cape road, a small dirt road beginning near Buena Vista just south of Los Barriles. Of course Vince and Cindy know all the little tiendas along the way and which ones even offer warm snacks. Our first stop produced empanadas for a quick lunch. The next, in La Ribera featured ice cold Pacificos "en papel." I watched closely after Vince made that request. What happened was this: a beer koozey was quickly fashioned out of an old page of newspaper! And it worked. My beer stayed cold in the 80 degree weather until the last drop was gone.

In Cabo Pulmo we stopped to visit a friend of Vince's from several years back. This fellow was a German expat with a new hobby of making guitars. He showed us three that were in progress, his first three ever. What a curious thing to try while living in this remote area where wood is rare and mail order non-existent! We were ready to leave Cabo Pulmo when Vince decided to make one more loop through the town saying he'd really like to see Juan out wandering around. And sure enough, Vince found him on our second pass through. Juan was one of the first residents of Cabo Pulmo, starting the first dive shop there. Juan offered to let us camp near his old stone house when he heard we were going camping. Vince thanked him, but in the end decided to stick with the original plan.

Driving a little further south on the east cape road, we found Los Frailes,shaped like a giant letter "C" defining what might be called a cove. At each end of the "C" there was a rocky point. Given that the Baja Pennisula runs mainly north and south, with the Sea of Cortez lapping the eastern shores, this beach cove was oriented a bit peculiarly. Facing the ocean, the left tip of the "C" was due east, the ocean to the south and just before you completed your turn inward to the shore toward the other point, you would find the western sky. This unusual orientation gave the beach protection from the winds which usually blow from the north. It promised to be a sweet get-away. The curve of the "C" held a gently sloped sandy beach. About one third of the way down the beach from the east was a string of palapas offering shade. Another 50 yards down the beach a fence line running perpendicular to the beach defined the boundary of the National Park established to protect Cabo Pulmo's reefs. Just beyond the fence sat a nearly abandoned fish camp. Fishing pongas still launched from the camp, but it appeared as if no one had stayed in the ramshackle abodes that defined the camp.

Vince explained that the palapa side of the beach long ago was a camping area, but then all the campers had been asked to leave, and for many years the area was closed to campers. It had just recently opened back up as a free camping area, but word was only starting to get out that it was open again. That explained the fact that although there were two parties of day users on the beach when we arrived, we were the only overnight campers. By the time we unloaded Vince and Cindy's giant cooler for happy hour, we had the entire beach to ourselves. Snacks before dinner included some yummy fish salad Vince had made from the Amberjack and sierra left-over from our fish fry the night before. After the hot drive and a cool cocktail, everyone needed a dip in the ocean to cool off, which was quickly accomplished. Without much fuss at all Vince and Cindy quickly had a kitchen established near the palapas, complete with propane lantern, stove, cooking surfaces and table. Vince seasoned up some Mexican steak, fried it and chopped it, while Cindy heated her famous beans and prepped a fresh salsa. It was roll-your-own-tacos night and it was tasty!

When bedtime rolled around, Vince carried a couple of queen-sized foam mattresses from the car. Bruce selected a spot on the beach for our "bedroom" and Cindy supplied a "bed in a bag" complete with pillows and Mexican blankets. We slept at ocean's edge under the stars. That middle of the night bathroom break came with a short walk through the sand and a limitless view of stars. The moon rose so bright I was happy it awakened me so as not to miss out on the sight of the moonlit mast of the lone sailboat anchored in our cove. When dawn broke over the Sea of Cortez, I had only to open my eyes and roll my head side to side for a complete showing of the entire sunrise and it's reflection on the few dotted cloud.

At dawn Vince walked maybe 50 yards from out campsite to stand outside the National Park boundary and cast a line out from shore. Bruce and I joined him while Cindy enjoyed a long walk. We were entertained by flying manta rays breaking the water's surface and one sea lion who seemed to be swimming laps from the park border to the end of our little cove. Although Vince only caught a fish to be used as bait, we enjoyed the sights of flying fish, spouting whale and swimming sea lion.

After breakfast we walked to the east bend of our cove with our snorkel gear. A rocky coastline promised clear waters and possibly good snorkeling. I figured we had already seen the best snorkeling Baja had to offer during our stays in Cabo Pulmo and in El Sargento, but I was soon to be proven wrong. Here, off the rocky coast, we found deep clear water inhabited by many kinds of fish we'd never seen before, as well as by some of our favorites from Cabo Pulmo. Here they were not only bigger, but they swam in larger schools. I've still not found the right words to describe my favorite fish. Their length was of a shorter porportion than say that of a trout, making them look a bit rounder, but not as round as an angelfish. The top portion of their bodies was silver and gold striped, with the bottom portion assuming a total silver color. The colors seemed iridescent in the underwater light, with the sunlight highlighting the upper portion of their bodies. It looked as if the sunlight was indeed captured and reflected off of the top portion. They usually were found in small groups do six to eight individuals averaging about two inches long. Whenever I saw them I felt like I'd just caught a glimpse of scattered sunlight. Here I snorkeled in the the midst of a whole school of these beautiful creatures. I swam surrounded by 20 or 30 of them averaging 4 or 5 inches in length! I could only stop and marvel at the wonder of being in their midst. I got to see schools of other larger fish as well, but those bits of sunlight were by far my favorites. The swim back to our sandy beach took me through some murkier water where it was difficult to see much of anything. What I could see, however, were shafts of sunlight filtering through and reflecting off the water-born sand. It reminded me of watching Northern Lights, so elusively beautiful.

As the day progressed, so did the murkiness of the water. By afternoon we contented ourselves with lazy sunbathing punctuated by cooling swims in the ocean. For dinner on our second night, Bruce made chicken fajitas featuring fresh and local peppers, onions and cilantro with the ubitiquous handmade tortillas. Our second night on the beach was as glorious as the first, sleeping at ocean's door under the star-studded skies.

The third day of our trip began much the same way as the second: fishing, walking, watching flying manta rays, but missing the sea lion. We marveled that we still had the beach to ourselves although two more sailboats had joined the one in our cove. Before breakfast, the day had warmed so that we all had taken several dips in the ocean. We decided to break camp before lunch allowing time on the drive back for stops at beaches that looked inviting.

The first stop was at the point just north of Cabo Pulmo where Juan had told us we could camp. The waters and warm rocks looked inviting, so in we dove. We dried ourselves and our suits basking on the rocks before heading down the road. The next stop, at a beach named Las Barracas offered a sandy beach with off shore rocks which might give some interesting snorkeling. And that it did. Nothing to compare to the show we enjoyed at Los Frailes, but still some interesting fish. This stop marked the northern boundary of the National Park, so now we had snorkeled at the heart of the park in Cabo Pulmo, the southern end of the park in Los Frailes and now the northern tip. Again our beach was secluded, so much so that I was able to peel out of my wet suit and into dry clothes before the dry drive back to La Ribera.

At La Ribera Bruce and I were able to stock up on enough groceries to get us through most of our last week in Baja. We had decided to spend it in Buena Vista just south of Los Barriles. Our yurt is only one block from the ocean, but a grueling 1.5 mile walk along the soft beach sands is required to get to a grocery store. It was positively wonderful that Vince and Cindy didn't mind waiting for us to shop in La Ribera before dropping us off at our yurt, concluding our wonderful tour of the east cape.