We couldn’t hit the road again without taking out a pedal boat. Almost immediately upon setting out the wind came barreling in. It took me half an hour to make back the hundred yards we’d given up. The campground even sent one of their employees over on his four-wheeler to watch over us for our one-hour rental. They clearly thought there was going to be a retrieval needed at some point.
About a hundred miles or so south of the border is San Felipe, a gathering ground for Californians with an ATV and a week of vacation. Which sounds snotty when I say it, but really I don’t mean it that way at all. It’s a nice quick getaway no different than driving out to the Mojave to race around in the sand.
We spent a couple of nights at the beach just a few miles north of town. Entire gringo communities have sprung up here, with RV parking or tent camping on the beach, and a mix of nice houses, tumbledowns, and RV parking pads with palapas dotting the dirt roads that wind every which way on the hill overlooking the ocean.
The tide here is huge—the ocean goes from breaking right at your feet to disappearing a few hundred yards away. This makes for fun exploring at low tide. The kids found hundreds of sand dollars and assorted shells. However, Lowe was really more interested in the car chassis and engine that washed up with a barrel chained to it. Hurricane detritus perhaps.
The wind was howling—goggles saved the day.
“Papa, do you have your sharp knife? Will you cut this for me?”
As a father I’ve come to realize that my most important asset is my pocket knife.
After a couple of days we continued on in to town. We found and settled into a seemingly abandoned RV park just a block from the malecon. There was no office, nobody stirring in any of the apartments running along the side of the park, and no shadows moving in the windows of the other three RVs. Eventually some bodies creeped out of the RVs and made their way over to investigate us. We had a nice chat with the first couple and then as they were leaving they let us know not to leave anything lying around. They had shoes stolen. The next couple warned us that just the night before they had a bucket full of clams snatched from their picnic table. They were all just trying to be helpful, but all we really wanted to ask was, “Why exactly are you all staying here?”
Because frankly, the place was a dump. No, literally, there was a pile of garbage in the corner that looked like it had been there for months. The beach out front was not a place you’d like to spend any time at, and the town, well, let’s just say it was uninspiring. San Felipe left us feeling a little sad and depressed, and we went to bed that first night knowing full well we’d be on the road by nine in the morning.
As we ate breakfast in the morning we looked out the window and spotted a homeless man eating food out of our garbage bag from the night before. Boy, just in case we needed a slap in the face to show us just how fortunate we are. Ali got together a plate of food and a drink, and I brought it out to him, much to our kids’ amazement. The man sat down at the picnic table outside and had a good breakfast while Lowe stood in the window staring. No matter how many times we told him to stop he just couldn’t.
We explained to the kids that some people don’t have enough good food to eat.
“But why?”
“Well, because they don’t have any money.”
“But why don’t they go to the bank and get some?”
“Well, honey, the bank only gives you money if you already put some in there.”
“Why the bank won’t give the man any money?”
Okay, so one life lesson leads to another, leads to another, leads to another.
In case you’re wondering, the Baja 1000 off-road race was earlier this month.
A local construction worker smiled as Lowe walked past, then ran to catch up with him in order to set a big brick in the back of his dump truck.
Bottom line: When visiting San Felipe, stick to the beaches outside of town for camping.
24 Comments on “San Felipe”
Lucky and blessed people, the winter wind is starting up and you are in perfect position to head down to La Ventana, the kiteboarding paradise. I don’t know if you have been there, it’s quite the sporting party scene with great camping, food and kiteboard and windsurf instruction. Yeah a lot of Yankees but not your ATV crowd. It’s fairly easy to learn with a week’s worth of lessons and the gear is minimal and travels well. Get the stoke and you will never regret it. The kids will want to try for sure, they could definitely start windsurfing lessons if not kiting at this time. Season runs from now through February.
Yes, San Felipe can be a sad sight. It seemingly caters mostly to the off-road atv and dune buggy crowds and maybe even that has gone thin. Nice pics though. The three palapas is an art shot.
I was in and around San Felipe during the Shrimp festival in November, I did enjoy my time there. You can tell the area is in an economic slump. The people were friendly and you can’t beat the warm weather despite the wind. Several members of our group had a great time taking ultra light rides ($40 for 15 minutes – you can’t do that in the U.S.!). However, I was surprised how much garbage was on the beach and road sides.
Great photos as always. My wife and I are interested in getting our teeth brought up to date. Mexicali/Calexico would be closer for us this winter. I have been checking the internet but wonder if you would recommend any dentist in aprticular after Ali’s recent experience.
Thanks
Sorry we missed you when you came down the coast.
Ron and Lolli
Fort Bragg, CA.
Shoot us an e-mail and I’m sure Ali would be happy to give you some info.
There’s high pressure parked over SoCal so that means wind on the Sea of Cortez….
I am certain the water is cool now.
You got to get your boogie on and head south pronto!
The road to Gonzaga is good now but between there and Hwy 1 is still rough and you just need to go slow.
I would head straight to Bahia Asuncion where it is warm still on the west side and then jam it on down south of Mulege and East Cape…
Hopefully you’re going to ferry it over to the mainland.
Peace,
Frank
I just really enjoy being allowed to travel with you on your journey. You are amazing people on an wonderful journey. Vaya con Dios!
I have enjoyed following your travels but am having a little troubled to understand why you would endanger yourself and your children by visiting such impoverished and primitive sites. I think you ought to spend a few bucks on flotation devices for your very young children if you plan further open water events…..don’t mean to rain on your parade but you have a choice, your children do not….am I missing something?
In answer to your question—yes.
Okay, seriously, these comments sometimes bring up a good point. Looking back on my life I think I was probably thirty years old before I visited a place that would be considered impoverished. Think about that. For thirty years I lived in a bubble, oblivious to the world around me—the world outside of my Disney World upbringing. Michael’s comment above seems to imply that it is my duty now to shield my own children from these very basic facts of life—that there ARE impoverished people in the world, that not everyone gets to eat an unlimited supply of healthy delicious food, or sleep in a warm bed beneath a dry roof at night. I think what my children get out of visiting these “primitive sites” goes far beyond what they get out of normal Mickey Mouse Mall culture. And beyond our kids, seeing these sorts of things is a good reminder to Ali and I of just how good we’ve got it, and that we can always do more to help as well. I hope that helps you to understand.
Exactly, Pat!
Michael,
Yes, you are missing something. I think you have not been paying attention and you should move on and find a different blog to follow. Leave the Bums to those that like their philosophy and enjoy how they live. I don’t happen to live the same way they do, but I would never follow their blog and then complain about it. Unless, of course, I were just nasty and looking for something to complain about.
Great stuff, as usual, reliably so, in fact.
I had to look up palapas. A palapa (a Spanish word of Malayan origin, meaning “pulpous leaf”) is an open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
And malecon – Malecón is a word used in Spanish-speaking countries for a stone-built embankment or esplanade along a waterfront.
My wife and I often visit impoverished and primitive sites in Mexico – because a good many of her relatives live in such places, and we enjoy their company. THEY worry about US living in the USA (Texas), because of the violence in American life.
That beach buggy brings back some great memories 🙂
Every time I see those things I get an itch to buy one. They look like a lot of fun.
Building one from scratch is even more fun and a great opportunity for some extensive father/son (and daughter) bonding (should take about as long as rewiring the bus after the fire). Borrowing the engine from the 356 would also be a perfectly good way to get arrested (or killed, whichever comes first):-)
Beth,
Go easy on Michael. I wouldn’t say that he was complaining. He seems genuienly concerned, and voiced that concern. I thought Pat’s second reply 😉 was right on. Michael, Ali and Pat wouldn’t put their kids at risk, just like no caring parent would.
There’s a reason many of us refer to it as San Sleezy.
Very Nice to meet y’all on the beach @ Pete’s! We went through a checkpoint at the same time on 1. You guys were headed back south on the Pacific Side.
Nice meeting you too. Thanks for the beer.
It is sad to hear that San Felipe has taken a turn for the worse. It at one time was nothing more than a fishing village and US sport fisherman started coming down. Hotels started to pop up and more people started to come down to the quaint little town. When I was a kid my family would go down there 3 or 4 times a year. This was in the 70’s. It was starting to become an RV/Off Road destination back then. It was a nice place back then. You could let your kids walk about town with not a worry in the world. I even remember our family rolling into town and a Hollywood Movie production had taken over, I think the movie was “Force 10 from Navarone” It had Richard Burton in it and I remember him being in the cabana next to us…this is a larger funny story that I can’t share here sadly. I suppose the town was too dependent on the US tourist dollar..bad economy here no money goes down there. Very sad. Fond memories of San Felipe from my youth. Thank you for sharing this with us. Kris
Glad to find your blog, the photos are incredible. San Felipe is actually a great town, but it’s been in an economic downward spiral for 5-6 years now. Through it all the people of San Felipe are still very friendly. By the way, the RV park you drove into has been closed/abandoned for years. Kiki’s would have been a great spot for you. Have fun traveling Baja.
Ted
I see that this blog was from about 10 years ago so I don’t know if anybody will actually read this but I was saddened to hear about the downfall of San Felipe from 1976 to about 1986 I spent a great deal of time in San Felipe I was one of those off-road racer people that were mentioned I raised a lot of races in San Felipe and most Baja races if done originated from San Felipe went through San Felipe I loved it there and dinner time you’re getting fresh shrimp right off the boat meals cook right there at your table and a nice restaurant there on the beach I spent two months of the year in San Felipe it became one of my favorite places to and as far as they mention of homeless people in getting food out of garbage cans you don’t need to go to San Felipe for that you can just go to Los Angeles and see the same exact thing I would not want to see San Felipe as it’s been described here not that I had any plans to visit there in the near future I have a lot of fond memories of my time spent in San Felipe that I would like to leave intact again thank you for your inside information about San Felipe