There is a place in Baja California where you can pet gray whales. That’s all we needed to know: we were going!
However, much to the displeasure of my parents, whale-petting seems to be available only in Mexico. (Apparently they prefer to have their babies in the pristine San Ignacio Lagoon rather than the more conveniently located filthy open-ocean near the shores of Los Angeles, where I live.) But, just as the whale-parents, who want their young to stay safe as long as possible in the enclosed and clean lagoon, before leading them out into the open sea for migration, I knew my parents were only concerned with my safety. Mexico has been in the headlines lately for crime, and they didn’t fancy the idea of their daughter going to a place whose reputation on this side of the border is becoming more “thug-like” by the day. (Reminding them I already survived living in downtown Los Angeles for 4 years did nothing to assuage their fears.)
But, petting whales was far too great an adventure to pass up! And after a good deal of research – blog reading, talking to the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles, checking on car insurance with AAA, and reading pages from the American Consulate’s website (advice for travelers) – my boyfriend and I decided we felt safe and well-prepared for our foray into Baja California.
We drove from Long Beach (just South of Los Angeles) to San Ignacio (about halfway down the peninsula that is Baja California): 17 hours. Then another 4 hours from San Ignacio to Campo Kuyima, the tiny camp on the shore of the lagoon where we had made camping reservations for our trip. It was a pleasantly uneventful trip, for the most part: the main highway through Mexico looked brand new, and showed none of the bad road conditions we had been warned about. It is only one lane in each direction, so passing cars and 18-wheelers became the biggest stress of our drive.
There were ______ military checkpoints between Tijuana and San Ignacio. After reading some other blogs, we decided to have a 6-pack of Cokes on hand, as “signs of friendship” if we felt we needed it at any point during a military inspection, but we returned home with the full 6-pack, which will now never be finished off, as neither of us even drink Coke. At most of the checkpoints they simply asked where we were coming from and where we were going. “Vacación?” “Sí,” we would reply. A couple of times they had us step out of the car so they could look inside, but each time they sent us on our way with a smile within a few minutes.
Go to the top of the road first, then turn left.
Veer right.
Stay straight toward San Ignacio - you're on the right path!
