Day 6 - Papa Fernandez, Somewhere along the east coast of Baja
Jorik was up with the first light at around 05:30 and I heard the drone being fired up for some footage from my sleeping bag. We dragged our creaking bones out of the tent and the day looked like it was going to be spectacular. No concerns about poor weather for the day, but our fuel situation was dire. Betty was already on reserve and Gurtrude wasn’t far off. The old boys that we had met the afternoon before had mentioned that there was a market about 3km’s from the turn off to Papa Fernandez on the main road and that fuel shouldn’t be a problem for our range of about 200 miles (including jerry cans) all the way down to Cabo San Lucas. So, feeling a little apprehensive, we packed up and got ready to head down the 1 mile track back to the main road. Having already had some trouble getting into the campsite the afternoon before, the short ride promised to be a bit of a challenge for us, and well worthy of some drone footage. Jorik got the drone sorted to follow us as we headed out, which it did, for the first few metres over the hill towards the main settlement. However, when we stopped to check how it was doing, whilst it was hovering right above us, the camera hadn’t tracked us. Jorik is still getting used to the settings on the drone, so he made some adjustments, and we got ready to tackle the rest of the dirt track. We pressed on and whilst concentrating on the terrain, didn’t think to check on the drone until we reached the Highway. Needless to say, when we pulled up, there was no sight of the drone. It had crashed into a tree and Jorik could tell from the camera that it was on the ground somewhere between the camp and the road. Fortunately, the drone has a ‘find me’ function so he could trace it back to where it had crashed. Due to my low fuel levels, I stayed at the road and Jorik braved the dirt track on his own to recover the drone. It was undamaged and he gathered it up and headed back to me. It took some time, and I did start to get worried that he might have come off again and needed help picking up his bike, but I had faith that he would be fine and after about 20 minutes, I heard the puttering of his bike come through the hills back to me.
Back on the road and heading south for our next destination, Mulege, we did indeed find the market and a fuel station about 3km’s down the road. Result! Tanks full, water bags full, we pressed south. For some reason my eyes were extremely heavy, and I was struggling to see properly. Whilst we hadn’t slept great, we did spend enough hours in our sleeping bags for me not to consider that I was exhausted, so I was not entirely sure why I was struggling to keep my eyes open. Every time I took some water, I seemed to get clear vision for about a minute and then my eyes would get ridiculously heavy again. We had to pull over and I expressed my concern to Jorik that something wasn’t right. I took an anti-histamine tablet and hoped for the best, but asked Jorik to take the lead as I was really struggling to concentrate on the road. Whilst cruising along, it dawned on me that I hadn’t been drinking enough water and I suspected that I was actually dehydrated. I also hadn’t had a proper piss in a day or 2, so I started sucking on my water and finished it in no time. We had to pull over again so I could top up my water bag from 1 of the jerry cans, which by the way are shit. Not only have 2 brackets broken off, 1 on each of our bikes, but the spout that is supplied with the jerry can is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot. So having wasted a load of water in filling my water bag, we got ready to press on when 1 of the BWM riders that we used as a blocker coming out of LA in the heavy traffic, whizzed by us. Just the 1 mind you, I hope the other is alright, or maybe they were already ahead.
Our route took us back across Baja to the western coast towards Guerrero Negro. Parts of it being across desolate landscapes along straight roads. The roads are pretty good in general, but various sections have mad potholes that could easily put an end to our trip by smashing our shock absorbers. You really have to bring you’re A-game when riding and concentration is key at all times. I kept sucking away on my water and by the time we had cross Baja again and stopped at a roadside taco stand for some lunch, I was feeling much better. I even managed to take a welcomed pee, which gave me confidence that my water levels were returning to normal. Interestingly, Jorik hadn’t had the same problem and he put it done to my body being in shock due to the lack of beer, rather than a lack of water, prick!
The wind picked up as we neared the western coast, and we passed through some mild dust storms before heading back towards the eastern coast and our destination of Mulege. It was also a little chilly along the western coast and there was a fair bit of cloud cover. As we hit the central part of Baja and the mountains, the weather cleared up and the heat went up again. Thanks to our fantastic riding gear from the guys at Fly Racing, we were fine in the changing conditions. The mountains were great and as we approached the eastern coast, we passed through some gorgeous passes and twisty roads, ideal for biking. A couple of times it got a little hairy and I certainly had to grab a fistful of front brake to avoid a crash, but it was all good and gave us a sharp reminder to stay alert and read the situation with caution at all times.
We dropped down to a town called Santa Rosaria on the coast. Again, it looks a bit like a Mad Max movie in some of these locations, houses and buildings left to rot and rust away. We stopped in the town for a welcome break and as we only had about 1 hour left to travel to Mulege, we could afford to take in the scenery. We stopped next to another biker, who was riding a BMW touring bike 2 up. I would have expected that as 2 more bikers pulled up next to him, he would have had a chat to us, but as soon as we stopped, he got on his bike and pulled off, rude! Oh well, maybe they are not looking to meet other people and just want to do their own thing, but still a bit odd.
We arrived in Mulege in good time and whilst trying to find the hotel we were looking for, we pulled over in a little square in the centre of town to take stock and look at the map as the hotel wasn’t where we had though it would be. Whilst stopped, a jeep pulled up a very nice American couple had a chat with us as they were interested in the bikes. The told us that the Hotel Hacienda, which is what we were looking for, was just around the corner and a good hotel, cheap. That is our kind of hotel. They invited us to have dinner with them in their RV, but we wanted to just chill out and walk around the town to do our own thing so we politely declined. Once set up in a the hotel, we had a quick (very cold) swim in the pool and then headed out to explore the town. We had been advised by the Americans that Danny’s Tacos was the best place to eat, but we couldn’t find it so ended up going to a very nice hotel/restaurant for a couple of beers and dinner, which was very nice, albeit a little expensive, again! Having had some chow and a coupe of beers, we called it a night and were asleep by 09:30 after a long day.