Guerrero Negro Stop 4

February 2nd
The parkers left at 6:30 since it was to be a very long day – 247 miles that was expected to take 8 hours. Top speed limit most of the time is 50, as though you could go that fast. At 7:30 we left with Norm & Lois and John & Judy. The first part of the journey we led. We had been told to be sure and have plenty of gas when we left the first town about 30 miles from our campground. None felt they needed any so we continued. Soon we saw the Cirio or Boojum trees we had been told about indicating the desert. They were described as upside down carrot tops and that is probably a good description. We went through desert areas with lots of volcanic rocks and hills and every type of cactus imaginable. Near a junction there was an onyx shop we had been told about. The elderly gentleman who could speak no English had chimes and carvings of white onyx. We had to help him out. We think he indicated that he had done the carving himself. He was living in this house in the middle of nowhere with next to nothing. The main room had the carvings and chimes hanging from the ceiling; the other much smaller room had a small bed and something to cook on. We traveled on through interesting country. When we got to Guererro Negro we went through another checkpoint where we had to pay 20 pesos to have the underneath sprayed for bugs. We were entering Baja California Sur, another Mexican state. We also had to change our watches back to Mountain time. Nearly all of us were early and got chastised and later fined by our sheriff David. We were only a couple of minutes early and had seen others going in so we thought it was okay. We decided we will not be early again! Our campsite was at Mario’s Tours, Restaurant and Campground. He does a little bit of any and everything. Since we had no electric, Winston had to drive the motor home back out and go to another site. It wasn’t real good even then. They have used HUGE scallop shells for the driveways. They are so pretty and seem to work. We had our dinner in Mario’s Restaurant. It is a circular building with gravel floor and palms for the roof.

February 3rd
It was another get up early morning. We had to be in Mario’s Restaurant ready to go on our first whale watching trip. Twenty-one of us went in the first group. After an explanation about the grey whales (that are black colored except the barnacles growing on them make them appear grey). We drove through the salt processing plant of which Mexico owns 51% and Japan’s Mitsubishi owns the other 49%. After about 20 minutes of fast drive (the only kind Mexicans know), we arrived at a small landing area that had about 6 boats. Ten got in our small boat with the Mexican boatman. He knew next to no English. As we took off a porpoise jumped right beside us. Off the wooden boat went as fast as he could go so we could into the lagoon area. This is a World Heritage area that protects the whales as well as the many birds – over 100 kinds. The lagoon is large emptying into the Pacific Ocean. We suddenly slowed down, the bow dropped and we could see blows in a number of directions. Our other boat, as well as two others from another company, was nearby. Our guide went here and there trying to get us as close as possible to different whales. We saw mother and calf a number of times and would watch them swim under us and come up the other side. A couple of times we could not help but wonder if they would come up right under us. They breached and turned their tail for us. Often there would be two swimming together side by side. What an awesome sight to see! They were as long if not longer than the boat. Suddenly the guide said lunch (it was 10am) and handed everyone a bag lunch with sandwich, orange and canned drink. Because of the diesel fumes I decided to wait on food. Turns out I wasn’t the only one bothered by the smell and the constant circling. We joined our other boat and a mother and her baby entertained us. We stayed for about two hours. Coming back was even better since I love to watch the seals. We passed a large boat loaded with salt ready to go out to an offshore island where it could be transferred onto larger boats to be shipped to other countries. This boat had one huge seal on the back. He was just as proud as he could be, holding his head majestically. Then as we went by the side on the second rung of the ladder was a baby. Not much farther on there was a large round container (buoy) and the top was filled with seals. They showed off for us so we could get good pictures. Then again we slowly headed for port and got a nice picture of pelicans and then osprey on one of the nests that had been placed to try to get them to breed here. We were back to the ramp. Our flotation devices quickly came off since many of us had worn more clothes than was probably necessary but they did feel good when we were going at some speed. Back at the campground after a rest we headed to the salt works tour. It certainly was interesting. Mario’s van took us way out to where they were scooping up salt that had been allowed to dry and was at least 18 inches deep. The salt was fed into areas by huge pumps and allowed to dry about 6 months before it was ready. They used graders to push the salt around. They had huge machines that took it up and loaded it onto 3 huge dump containers pulled by a huge tractor like machine. They filled all three sections and drove to another area where it was dumped and washed and put on conveyor belts that led a long distance to barges. The barges then carried it out to an island about 25 miles off shore where the larger boats could get in. It was strange since we were driving on salt that seemed like dirt and when you walked on it you felt like it must be ice. We all inched carefully until we realized it was not slippery. Most of us got a chunk or two to take with us. The lady guide told us to wash it in salt water until it gleamed, allow it to dry and then spray it with acrylic and we would have a souvenir. We drove back through town which is much different than most we had seen. It is a company town and has a store for the workers as well as some better looking homes than most. The salt works is open and working 24 hours with most workers having a 6 hour day. They even build all of the equipment including the graders and trucks. The operation is huge. We got back in time for our driver’s meeting.