As promised, the second half of answering your questions about driving the Baja peninsula.
Is fuel readily available?
Most overlanders know the importance of monitoring fuel levels because you never want to have to make the long walk back to a gas station, fuel can in hand. We generally stick to the rule of re-filling around the quarter tank mark in the truck. Even though we can still go well over 100 miles at a quarter tank, we never want to take a chance of passing up a gas station and hitting a trail running on fumes.
Prior to crossing the border into Mexico at the Mexicali II crossing, we stopped at the gas station and topped off the tanks. This was more of a tactical move in order to avoid having to stop in the busy town of Mexicali. We did not fill any of our Jerry cans until we made it to our first gas station in Mexico because we had read that carrying extra fuel would be taxed or an additional fee. It was not until our first fuel stop south of San Felipe on MEX5 that we re-fuels and filled the backup Jerry cans.
Each night we would discuss our route for the next day and figure out how many miles we would be traveling. Based on the route and starting fuel levels, we would decide the optimum time to make a pit stop. With the use of the iOverlander app, we were easily able to anticipate where we would be able to find fuel along the route. Starting each day with a look at the map was helpful to identify the long stretches of road between towns where fuel may be harder to find. Although we never felt the stress of having a fuel light blinking, I would recommend sticking to one rule… when in doubt, stop to fill-er-up!
We had read that there is a stretch of road somewhere in Baja that has no fuel for 200+ kilometers. We did not notice if we had driven this stretch because we tried to fuel up anytime there was doubt that tanks may be running low. You certainly wouldn’t want to get half way through and realize you wont make it. There were locals along the side of roads in some more remote areas offering fuel, but I’m sure it would come at a premium.
The cost of fuel was generally consistent around the entire peninsula of Baja with a fluctuation of about +/- 20 pesos/liter. The average cost during our visit was $23.20/liter (Mexican pesos/liter). Roughly translated, this was equal to about $4.40/gallon (US dollars/gallon). Most gas stations accepted credit cards, which made it easy to shell out a couple thousand pesos at a time to fill up our 38 gallon tank. We only came across one gas station on our route that did not accept credit card.
Gas stations are not self-serve pumps like in the US. An attendant will help pump your gas, clean your windshield and check your fluid levels under the hood, if needed. The attendants were all very good about making sure we saw that the pump showed zero prior to starting our fill (no sneaky dealings here). It is customary to tip these attendants for their service, usually 10-20 pesos, but feel free to tip based on your own discretion.
How much cash should I carry?
Prior to crossing the border into Baja, we had picked up five hundred US dollars worth of pesos. At the end of the trip, we felt we should have brought more in terms of cash, probably closer to eight hundred. Gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and RV parks took credit card, for the most part. We only came across one gas station that would not take credit card. We used cash when dining out as a group, at convenience stores, at the small roadside taco stands and when shopping for souvenirs. We found that some of the souvenir stores were happy to knock a few pesos off of the price if we paid in cash.
Don’t worry if you need end up not bringing enough cash. Money exchange stores, “Casa de Cambio”, were prevalent near the border crossings and, although none of us needed to stop in a bank, they were easy to find in the larger towns.
Will I have cell service? What about WiFi?
Cell service in Baja was certainly sporadic through out the entire peninsula. Depending on your US cell service provider, the service can vary. The TelCel network in Baja seemed to be limited to 4G as the highest wireless connectivity. Members of our group had AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile as US providers. The folks with AT&T had the widest range of service and strongest signal, Verizon was a close second and T-Mobile was pretty spotty.
Along the main highways cell service was mostly available, depending on proximity to a more populated town. Service would dance in and out as we wound through mountain passes, crossed wide open desert plains and got further into seclusion. The strongest signals being near the bigger cities, like Ensenada, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas.
With the addition of our WeBoost cell booster antenna, we were able to find some connectivity when traveling the more remote areas of the peninsula. This, however, would not be suitable for folks that would need a more reliable connection for working remotely. If you need to be working while on the road in Baja, I would have to recommend that you stick to the more populated areas for more reliable internet.
WiFi was available at many restaurants and cafés throughout Baja. I was surprised, at first, to find WiFi access at a small Mom & Pop taco shop in Mulegé, which came in incredibly handy to download more books onto my kindle. After driving so many miles along the remote stretch of MEX1 across Baja from Guerrero Negro and into Mulegé, the concept of WiFi was no longer on my radar. Although our cell phones were capable of accessing the internet through our cellular data plans, it was nice to utilize WiFi to update some of our other devices that don’t have cellular data plans.
All in all, cell service and WiFi access was better than we had anticipated. We all felt that we had enough cell service to fulfill our needs the majority of the time.
Where do I go grocery shopping?
Grocery shopping was certainly an adventure! The hardest part being that, since I am not fluent in Spanish, translating everything to understand what you are buying was a slow process. The obvious things, like produce, was no problem, but shopping the meat department was not exactly what I would call my idea of a good time. The variety of available meats was not as plentiful as some stores you would find in the US. I can only assume this would be due to that fact that the US provides options for various cuisines, where in Baja, most locals would be shopping to cook for more of the Mexican style dishes. The larger cities, like La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, had larger stores with a wider variety of choices in everything from meat, to cheese, spices, snacks, and baked goods.
If you are traveling in Baja California Sur and you come across a store called El Comer or Fresko- STOP IMMEDIATELY! These grocery stores existed as if Whole Foods, Costco, Home Depot and Target had a baby. Everything from delicious baked goods, deli counter and fresh caught fish to washers & dryers, and full home decor. I would absolutely allow extra time to wander every aisle of these stores to check out all they have to offer.
A few things we found that would have been nice to know prior to our first grocery shopping trip-
-Things like string cheese and Cheez-Its don’t exist in Baja. If you have a favorite food that you just can’t live without (like extra crunchy peanut butter), pack extra with you, just in case.
-The fat content in the dairy products was apparently different and we found things like milk didn’t keep as long. Milk was available in only whole or skim options, Greek yogurt was a little more runny that the US versions, and cheese varieties were much more limited.
-If you’re looking for sour cream, it’s the one labeled “crema acidificada”. Believe me, we went through three or four other products before landing upon the one we actually wanted.
-The bakery department was the biggest win, once I figured out how the whole thing worked. Don’t mind me and my blonde moment here, but in my defense, the first time I shopped the bakery, the place was a ghost town. No one to ask and no signs to direct. Anyway, the bakery is set up for you to select single items at a time. First, you’ll need to grab a tray and some tongs, then you get to wander the aisle of wonderful baked goodness. The hardest part really is trying to keep from choosing one of everything! Once you are satisfied with your bounty, head to the counter where someone (should) be available to bag your goods and provide you with a barcode to be scanned at the front checkout. This is kind of like a self-serve deli counter. I learned the hard way that if there is no barcode on the item, they simply won’t sell it to you. Maybe it was the language barrier, but I was told twice that the item needed a barcode, I couldn’t just tell them how much the labeled price was for manual entry at checkout.
Wine and beer?
Wine and beer was readily available almost everywhere you looked. Beer was mostly limited to Tecate, Corona and Pacifico. Some stores had craft beers, but certainly not the selection of beer available anywhere in the US. The Modelorama convenience stores dotted throughout Baja provide an excellent stopping place to load up on cases of beer at a time.
Wine was also more limited in variety, but shopping for a bottle to go with dinner provided a great opportunity to try something new. Stores like Walmart and Fresko had more to offer of the varieties seen readily in the US, and many of the smaller stores carried more labels from some of the surrounding South American countries. Because border crossing regulations limit the amount of alcohol you can carry across the border, it is harder to stock up on these types of goods from home. But, part of the adventure is trying new things!
Will I be able to find camping?
Camping was easy to find all along the peninsula of Baja. We primarily used apps like iOverlander and Overland Bound to search for camp. Because none of us had ever driven Baja and with the size of our group, we found that using these apps helped to guide us into places that we could better anticipate any foreseeable issues. Space for all four rigs (including two trailers) and trying to avoid getting too stuck in the sand (not that we couldn’t recover ourselves) were two main points of consideration when looking for camp. We found that using these apps were helpful in gauging how far to drive each time we chose to move and finding places that others felt were safe to stay. We feel that next time we travel through Baja, we will try to venture away from using more of the pre-marked camp spots on some of these apps and search for new places of our own. I would simply advise, choose more than one option and be flexible. We had alter plans more than a few times upon arrival of a desired camp, whether it was already occupied or the access roads had been closed.
When looking for a place to camp, make sure to keep an eye out for private property signs or fences. If no signs or fences, it is generally okay to camp. Some places posted as private property can be okay to camp, but expect to “pay rent” to the landowner. We had to “pay rent” just once along our journey, which was about 10 pesos per vehicle (although we talked him down to 30 pesos and a soda). Right around dusk, a man claiming to be the landowner drove up and chatted with us for about 10 minutes. Kindly asked for his payment and then went about his way. Sometimes you may get lucky and no one will come asking for payment, but I would say it’s always good to keep some small change handy, just in case.
RV parks are also a good option to utilize during a tour of Baja. They offer a good reprieve from the rigors of camp life and an opportunity to clean-up and recharge. Hot showers, water refills (with using our own water purification), power hookups and a quick rinse of the vehicles help reboot the drive for adventure. We found most of the RV parks to be quaint and beautiful, with the park owners being the first ones to welcome us into their establishments. We stumbled across a wonderful new RV park in El Sargento where the owners even ran into town to pick up pizzas for us and sat with us during dinner, sharing stories well into the late evening hours. That is one place we will be sure to go back and visit.
Why is there so much trash?
Trash is an obvious issue that plagues the beauty of Baja. Garbage lines the roads and highways for miles. Remote beaches scattered with loose bags, plastic forks and piles of empty beer bottles- remnants of past visitors. It was difficult to determine if this is a problem from careless tourists or locals giving into the lack of local waste management.
During our thirty five days in Baja, I only recall seeing three garbage trucks and one location we could best determine was the dump. One town was participating in a community clean up and in the more remote areas, trash was managed with weekly burning of garbage piles. As you can guess, with a total of 55,366 square miles, one garbage dump and a few burn piles aren’t going to cut it.
In my opinion, the trash issue could be a contribution of both tourists and locals. Perhaps as the locals build their weekly piles for burning, a paper towel or two may innocently escape in the wind. Maybe tourists don’t understand how to manage their trash when they travel places that don’t have trash cans everywhere and, unfortunately leave their trash bags behind for someone else to manage. Either way, please keep in mind the “leave no trace” principles and try to leave nature better than you found it. I would hope the next time we visit Baja, the roads will be free of trash and the beauty of Baja can shine.
Our time in Baja was nothing less than magical and a place we anticipate to visit time and time again. Six weeks was certainly not enough time to even scratch the surface of what Baja has to offer and we plan on digging deeper into the wonder of the desert peninsula with a longer adventure sooner than later. I look forward to sharing more about Baja and uncovering it’s mysteries in the near future.
(Since the time of our travels, safety has again become a heightened concern with traveling into Baja. This post is reflective of our time spent and with the group of people we traveled with. Please do your research and be educated on the places you’ll be visiting. If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t go.)
