People

The most pleasant surprise of the whole Baja experience was the people. This coming from an admittedly anti-social type. For months before the trip, I was genuinely concerned about the general security (or lack thereof) of camping out in the boonies, the soldiers and the legendary banditos, even to the point of almost canceling the trip because I didn’t want to do something irresponsible to my family. So what a relief it was to interact with both the local gringos and Mexicans and discover that, in general, there are a lot more happy people in Baja Mexico than anywhere I’ve ever been (including Idaho). It was so cool to pull into a new campground and literally within minutes be talking to some dudes about their catch of the day and the weather and the ramp and so on. I think having Steve’s boat along helped a lot, as it seemed to be the holy grail of many a do-it-yourselfer and sparked a lot of conversation.
I’m sure if a person tried a little, they could find themselves in a threatening situation, but by default the people you see at the grocery store, the gas station, even on the road are friendly and happy to help. A silent little game we’d play while driving the highway was to wave very flamboyantly to see how big of a wave we’d get back. It seems like that’s all most people were waiting for, because they’d smile and make a big old wave right back. That game ended pretty abruptly once we got crossed the border to San Diego….
Once we got down near Cabo, we noticed that it was the tourists that were not so friendly (and some of the staff that were undoubtedly sick of the tourists) and we grew to dislike the tourists more than the locals. I know what you’re thinking, and no, at that point we were not tourists.
Actually, the most annoying idiot in all of Baja happened to be sitting right behind me at Simons while we ate dinner. Some fly-fishing fluffy haired super sportfishing shirt wearing Jackson Hole elitist who, according to him, single handedly “discovered” the best eateries in the East Cape like some kind of modern day Ponce DeLewannabe. Never mind the fact the he’d only been to Baja for three years and was only fishing for one day on this trip because he was ‘looking for property’. Riiiiiiiight. I think he could only afford one guided day and was waiting for the wind to calm down so he could flip his fluffy little fly at some imaginary Roosterfish while undoubtedly babbling about some bigger fish he supposedly caught last year. Steve told me later that this flake reminded him of one of his favorite sayings: “The louder he spoke of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Good stuff. Anyway, I’ve gotten distracted here.
One last little item I will not forget; The little girls at the grocery store. We’re talking about children that are my daughters’ age (maybe 5 to 8yrs) working as baggers and general help. Very polite, never say a word, just a smile and bag the groceries for you, helping carry them out to the truck, load then in the back and then pausing just briefly to see if crazy gringo is going to tip……of course I’ll give ‘em whatever I’ve got because my heart is just, well, let’s not get too emotional here. Too many macho guys reading this blog. Let’s just say I never would have appreciated it without having kids myself. I accidentally gave a $10 peso coin (shoulda been $1) to the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen. She almost let out an audible squeal on the spot, then looked at me like “Mr., you’ve been in the sun to long”....but wasn’t about to give it back and I wasn’t about to try, so we both walked away happy.
Matt going solo
The patient panguero
Rick and Wendy with a real nice fish....It's HER fish

Kevin loaning us poppers for the trip South.One of many a roadside taco stands
He took the wave bait
Steve and Rick, kickin' it

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