The boulder fields of Catavina offer a unique bit of Baja. Set smack in the middle of a 180-mile gas-free stretch between El Rosario and Villa Jesus Maria, the hamlet of Catavina is easy to pass by. Our advice is to spend the night. The boulder fields and an astonishing array of cactus combined with stunning sunsets make for a pleasant stop along the way.
64. That is the number of different campsites we experienced between October 14, 2018, and April 7, 2019. If you’re doing the math you’ll notice we moved on an average of every 2.8 days. When you consider we spent nearly two full months lazing in Los Barriles the numbers are too exhausting to calculate. A truly crazy busy last six months saw us traveling through eight states (two of them twice) and up and down Baja twice. It was also an amazing winter filled with friends both old and new, many places both old and new, and grand adventures. However, we are, needless to say, road weary by now.
Here is our annual, and this year exhaustive, list of where we stayed from the day we left Coeur d’Alene to our arrival at our new camp in the Sierra Nevada’s. Because of the number of stops I’m breaking this down into more than one blog post. We begin with the fall adventures from our departure in CDA to our arrival in Los Barriles.
As we prepared to leave Los Barriles northbound we started asking THE question that was a concern for all of us who wintered south of the border; Return to the United States on Mexico1 – that narrow hell of potholes the size of VW Bugs, speeding truck drivers, and winding miles, or take on the as of yet still unfinished Mexico 5 where 22 miles can take hours?
As we headed south towards Baja we knew we wanted to do some campground research along the way. Although we have camped on five continents, it never hurts to view other campgrounds with open eyes when planning improvements for Camp Coeur D’Alene.
With this in mind, we specifically chose to stay at some vastly different types of campgrounds to experience each end of the spectrum, checking out bathroom facilities, camp stores, and pricing options. While we didn’t garner any huge new ideas from what we were already thinking it sure was fun!
We spent 87 nights in Baja, camping at 19 different campgrounds (4 of them multiple times) 87 nights. Nearly 3 months. Here is a list of where we stayed so match up with the stories of our time that have been flowing as we traveled. I’m working on a follow-up blog but the writing is coming slowly. Baja, although wonderful, took a toll on us in more ways than one.
Estero Beach RV Park ~ Ensenada, BC
We had stopped at Clam Beach en-route and planned to stay, but after driving on the toll road 40minutes into Ensenada and with darkness approaching, we opted for the closer option of Estero Beach. Pricey at $40 night (negotiated down), we were irritated at paying so much, and yet in our two nights there we recovered from our traumatic border crossing, spent a couple of hours streaming Netflix, and during a break in the storm on day two dipped in the steaming hot tub. Just what we needed. Close to downtown, it offers nice facilities, laundromat, pool, hot tub, beach walk, and even a museum. We ended up staying here again for our final night in Baja before crossing the border.
