A Week Alone on Baja's Beaches | Todo Bien EP.03
Welcome back everyone to week three of Todo Bien! Time is already flying by and we hope that you are enjoying the new series as much as we are! Before we get into the BTS of Episode 3, we recommend you enjoy it in video form first.
MAK & Owen enjoying a fire at camp
This week picks up where the following left off. We were damn near out of food and water so we made a bee-line for the small Mission town of San Ignacio.
Owen in the square of San Ignacio, 120mm film
San Ignacio is a must stop if you are making the journey south on MEX 1. There is plenty of camping near both the Oasis and the towns square. We always stay in a camp ground close to the square because they have showers and we can easily walk into town for dinner. Which is something else I recommend. We will circle back to that in a moment.
San Ignacio is known for its mission on the square. It is a must see in our opinion as it’s an incredible example of Mission construction that can be found all over Baja.
Restaurant Rancho Grande on the square of San Ignacio, 120mm film
As mentioned, we recommend going into town and enjoying dinner at any one of the taco stands around town as they are all delicious. Then enjoy one of the best Spicy Margaritas anywhere in Baja at the restaurant in the above image, Rancho Grande. In the below carousel of images, you will find a picture of us enjoy said margs.
After two days in San Ignacio, we were ready to head back out to the coast for some more beach camping. Thus far in our travels we had yet to sit still for more than two days. So we went out in search of a quiet place to spend a week sitting still.
Setting moon over camp, 120mm film
We found a lovely spot on Bahia de Conception where we were able to enjoy the water, birds, and solitude. The light and terrain in this part of Baja fells magical. There were so many interesting things to explore.
Our home for a week on the Baja coastline
I love camping around giant Cardon cacti because they make our whole home feel so small next to them. We found that we would wander in the evenings just to take them in under the golden light. Not a bad place to sit still for a few days to catch up on work, right?!
Whilst wandering around we had the pleasure of capturing some truly Magnificent Frigate birds. Before this spot, we’d never seen a Frigate resting on anything because they seem to be in perpetual flight. They’re such fascinating looking birds! So naturally we were pretty excited about this!
Kurt & Ilana, a couple we met a few weeks earlier in Baja and ran back into when we were sitting still at our remote beach camp spot.
After being alone for days, we heard voices coming down the road. Naturally, we poked our head out of the door. Turns out it was our friends Kurt & Ilana! We were running into them for the second time after sharing a lovely evening around a cozy camp fire. Biking the Baja Divide Trail, their path south took them past our camp spot. Coming from a small island in the Sea of Cortez, they were dropped off by a small boat and had to peddle right past our camp to get back to the main road south.
We all laughed so hard when we reunited! What are the chances?! They were in need of a break, so they decided to hang out with us for a while on the beach. We chatted and waded in the water for an hour or so before they had to continue on their way. I live for these kinds of moments on the road.
We had the pleasure of sharing our camp a few days later with some more new friends.
This is Andy Best, he is a wildly talented photographer and is a fellow full time Four Wheel Camper traveler. He lives out of a slide in FWC. We have tangentially known each other for a few years now just because we circulate in the same communities. All this to say, it was surprising we hadn’t met yet. But as is the way with travelers, we’re moving targets.
But this time, we finally made it happen. Andy is working on a film and wanted to interview us to include in it, which is wildly flattering. We saw that the other was in the area and coordinated a few days of camping together.
Our time together was nothing short of wonderful. Being that we do similar things professionally and creatively we had a lot to talk about. So we enjoyed days of long walks and deep talks peppered by him filming us with his incredible camera set up… which we enjoyed playing with. We also enjoyed spending time with his delightful wife and daughters. Their girls were so sweet, we had the best time looking for shells together.
Sadly this didn’t make it into the episode. Because Andy was pointing the camera at us, we hardly picked up ours. Owen and I can be a little shy with our camera when we are around others. I think we also just really like being present with our company. Our time with the Best family was just that, the best.
On a particularly calm day, the water looked clear enough to go out spearfishing. Because the winds are so strong in Baja the shallow bay easily gets churned up, but not on this day! I went out with the spear, Owen just swam with me to keep me company and try to get some footage. I wasn’t really expecting to get anything because the bottom was silty and had little feature to it. Without anywhere to hide fish don’t tend to hang out. As we were heading back, I found a tree branch and this one lone fish was sitting under it.
It was a lovely Barred Pargo, or more commonly known, Snapper! It was good eatin! That evening I cut my hand, deeply, while fileting the fish. I won’t get into the gory details but the area around the cut is just now starting to get its feeling back after nearly 9 months!
We came to realize there was a small family homesteading near our camp. The family consisted of a husband and wife, three kids (two teens, one child) and a grandfather all living off the land. The parents fished for conch out in the bay, the kids kept the goats… there is a joke in there somewhere… and made goat cheese! All of which they sold in local markets. At one point or another during our stay, we met them all.
First we meet the kids. They came to our truck when we drove in to camp on the very first day. They were sweet and offered to show us some “pinturas” or pictographs in the area. We agreed on a day. On our agreed day, they came to our camp. The brother took a dirt bike to lead the way and the sister hopped in the truck with us. Together we drove deep into the desert until we reached a narrow canyon. They took us to see the most incredible pictographs. They were all over the walls for a long stretch up the canyon. The subjects in the pictographs is what made these so special, all sea life that can be found right there in Bahia de Conception. It was so cool! We had such a lovely afternoon with them. There were few coherent sentences exchanged, but a whole lot of laughter.
After we were done exploring, we drove them back to their home. We bought half a kilo of cheese from them. It was divine.
A few days later, we met their parents out on the salt flat while returning from a town run. We had to pull over to let them pass on the dirt road. I waved to them and asked across our cars if they were our new friend’s parents. They said they were so we introduced ourselves. They were sweet and got out of the car to shake our hands and check out our truck. More experiences I live for.
All this being said, it was a lovely stop on our journey ever further into Baja.
See y’all next week!
MAK
We’re immensely grateful to our sponsors for making our creative endeavors possible. Their unwavering support has played a crucial role in enabling us to bring captivating stories to life and share them with our audience. Without their generous contributions, we wouldn't have the necessary resources to embark on our journeys, capture breathtaking landscapes, and document compelling human experiences. Our sponsors' dedication to our vision and their commitment to promoting authentic storytelling in the digital age is truly commendable. Every step of the way, their belief in our work has fueled our passion and allowed us to continue creating meaningful stories. We owe our sponsors a profound debt of gratitude, as they’re essential partners in our mission to inspire.
Presenting Sponsors
We’ve now been living out of a flat-bed Four Wheel Camper for 5 years. FWC builds comfortable and durable campers that can fit on any truck. We can confidently say that our FWC is the most comfortable and livable rig we’ve had in all our years on the road! If you reach out to them, tell them MAK & Owen sent ya!
Power and power management are key to living and working full time from the road. Our mobile lives run on a Redarc Manager 30. It’s a state-of-the-art battery management system that charges and maintains auxiliary batteries by incorporating AC, DC and solar inputs. We’re not sure where we’d be without it!
Supporting Sponsors
When you go to travel through Mexico by car, you need Mexican car insurance. Baja Bound is our all time favorite car insurance. We’ve used Baja Bound for every single one of our trips south of the border. We’re proud to have them as a sponsor for Todo Bien!
If you’re looking to get into overland travel, inspiration, education, or gear Overland Expo is our favorite event series that happens all around the US every year. We love attending as there is always something new to learn, innovation to see, and incredible people to meet!
Our entire life is powered by Dakota Lithium. They make the best lithium batteries and are an essential part of our power system that enables us to work from the road! Dakota Lithium makes the biggest capacity batteries for the footprint which enables us to have twice the power in the same footprint.
Tires can be some of the best insurance when you are out in remote places. We love and trust our Toyo ATIII’s to get us in and out safely, no matter the terrain. They’re amazing in mud, moon dust, loose rocks, slick rock, you name it!
