It took about 5 minutes to cross the border. We were expecting a sequence of car inspection, passport inspection, and tourist card verification, but instead we stopped, a man pointed at the door to the Earthroamer, and Jason let him in. He took a quick look inside our refrigerator, and said we could go. We drove out. Before we realized it, we were in Tijuana, headed to Ensenada. That was it? We thought. But wait! We hadn’t changed any money or picked up our free but seemingly necessary tourist cards! I cursed myself for being naïve. I had clear instructions, but we both assumed there would be signs that prompted us. Now we were in a concrete maze of bridges, barriers, and roads. The road signs were confusing, and our navigation system wasn’t helping. We exited the freeway and tried to make our way back to the border. Eventually we made an obvious wrong turn. A taxi behind us started honking incessantly. Thinking he wanted to get by, we hurried to get out of his way. But instead he pulled up along side us and asked where we were going. We told him. He motioned for us to follow, and with no better options, we did.
The taxi took us through a convoluted series of wildly illegal maneuvers. In the middle of one intersection, 3 taxis suddenly converged on us blocking our way, and blocking the entire intersection. Their intent we realized, was to also “help us” get back to the border. The original taxi guide, fearing he would lose us, stopped, jumped out of his car, and gestured angrily to the other 3 cabs. They moved away and we continued following him. We made it back, and gratefully gave him $5 for his troubles. Unfortunately though, we now had to wait in line for 30 minutes to cross the border back into the US.
During the wait in line we wondered if we really even needed the dang tourist card. We reasoned the US immigrations wouldn’t ask for a Mexican tourist card. In fact when we reached the gate and questioned the US immigrations officer, he said, “Actually I have no idea where you get a tourist card.” He pointed to a spot where we could make a U turn back to Mexico. We asked there too where to get the tourist card, and the man at that gate didn’t know either.
Re-examining the instructions I had from Discover Baja, I read there was a blue building where you would go if you had something to declare. This was where you could get the tourist card. Sure enough, there was a blue building with a small parking lot. We stopped to investigate. The tourist cards were purchased at a small office officiated by one grouchy Mexican man. No other tourists were around. Because we were staying for less than 7 days, the tourist card was free. However the official refused to give a card to Cyrus because Cy only had a birth certificate and not a passport. This was unexpected and annoying because we had researched in advance the necessity of getting a passport. According to what we had read, it was not necessary for children under 16 years old traveling with their parents to have a passport. This man did not agree, so we skipped getting the tourist card for Cyrus. The man told us there were numerous checkpoints where we would be fined $500 if we did not have a card. Given the lack of other tourists at this office, we were skeptical. Clearly there were tourists driving across the border now, but we were the only ones getting tourist cards. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.
Driving from the border to El Rosario took about 5-6 hours. We stopped for breakfast and groceries in Ensenada. The fresh tortillas and ripe avocados looked delicious! Driving was quite nice on the toll road.
The three tolls were about $2 each or 31 pesos.
Once in El Rosario, we asked at a gas station how to get to Punta Baja. Punta Baja was a rocky point that stuck out into the Pacific like a spur. On our map it looked appealing. It was a 30 minute (11 mile) drive on dirt roads from the main intersection in town. The signs were scrappy and barely visible, but we were able to figure it out. One other vehicle was there when we arrived but left shortly after. We set up camp on a bluff overlooking the tide pools, about 30 yards from the ocean.
No one was in sight, and we had and the whole ocean, beach, and cliffs for ourselves. It was desolate, windy, and magnificent! We hiked around the beach finding stones and looking in the tide pools. Whales cruised by, spouting. Cyrus found a sea hare wedged under a rock, exposed to the air. He rescued it and put it in deeper water.
The wind was howling, making us glad we were not in a tent. Safe and snug in our ER, we enjoyed a cozy meal, a glass of wine, and a lovely evening.
