Happy Christmas from Hermosa Beach, LA

We have reached LA after travelling more than 42,400 km (26,350 miles), for our flight back to the UK :( We are staying at Hermosa Beach, birthplace of surfing. It is a nice area and we are staying in luxury, a mini suite with a sea view!

Our Xmas day so far, we went for a walk along the beach, made use of the hotel launderette and now watching John Wayne on TV.

Our journey north towards the border took us through a picturesque giant bolder field.

We had a cold and wet ride to the small border crossing at Tecate. The signs directed us to a queue, which took us straight into the US. Mmm, we hadn't officially left Mexico yet! We were stamped in but then the fun started with the bike. The 'senior' customs official didn't have a clue and said that we didn't need the import form that our freight company in LA said we needed. Without it, we would have problems exporting the bike! After about 2 hours they decided to give us the form but they had no idea how to complete it.

We now had to go back to Mexico to officially leave, so parked in the US and walked back in. In about 2 minutes we had our passports stamped but then had to cancel the bike permit. Unfortunately, they needed to take a photo of the bike so I had to go back to the US and ride it back into Mexico. I tried to walk back across the border but got accosted by a US soldier so had to walk back through passport control. Eventually I rode back to Mexico for the photo and then we had to go back through the original queue back into the US! It all goes to show that after all we had heard about Central American border bureaucracy it was actually the US border control that caused us the only problem!

Faces Everywhere!

Whoever designed this plug socket must have been having a bad day!

Grey Whales and Bahia de los Angeles

Guerrero Negro is a long, sandy town that has the largest salt making facility in the world. However, it is better known for having one of a few lagoons along the Pacific side of Baja California where Grey Whales migrate from Alaska to give birth to their young. We were at the start of the season and on one of the first boats out.

The weather was very good with little wind and calm waters, although one of our group succumbed to sea sickness in the swell. We saw Dolphins, Sea Lions and several Grey Whales! The boats are not allowed to follow the whales, they have to wait for them to come to the boat.

Another boat got the first action. These Whales are famous for sticking their heads out of the water (called spy-hopping) right beside the boat, as you can see below! Luckily our captain was more responsible - this boat could have neen swamped if the whale created a wave.

We soon got our chance, with first a fin and then she came up to have a look at us!

We also saw a barge of salt on it's way and some Sea Lions basking on a buoy.

There are loads of Ospreys nesting here as well. Nesting sites have been provided on top of poles.

We had a lovely ride through weird cactus covered desert landscapes to Bahia de los Angeles on the east coast, set in a beautiful bay overlooking several islands. We stayed in a Palapa right on the beach. It is basically an open fronted shelter with a palm leaf roof and it included 'cots', which are like a canvas camp bed.

We went to sleep to the sound of the waves and woke to see a small pod of Dolphins swim across the bay.

Desert Mountains and Beaches

Riding up to an old Jesuit Mission in the mountains we shared the road with mountain bikers in a race; the finish line was at the Mission. It was a beautiful ride through the mountains and small streams.

Loreto is a small quiet town on the sea. We spent a few days there mainly chilling out. We met this Golden Retriever on the beach who was owned by a Venezuelan family who lived nearby. She loves to be on the beach so they leave her to it....we were asked to just take her home when we were leaving!

There was a Christmas boat parade one evening, with goodies being given out to the children. Dee didn't seem to qualify after hovering about!

Leaving Loreto we headed north through Santa Rosalia, which has an interesting mining history where the structures and buildings are all still in place. There is also a church designed by Mr Eiffel (again).
Passing through some roadworks reminded us of Argentina (they dig up the whole road).

We stayed in Mulege before cutting west across the mountains to San Ignacio.

Bahia Concepcion has some lovely beaches, but alot are taken over by "snowbirds" - longterm motorhome campers mostly from Canada. After exploring, we chose a spot (mainly as we saw dolphins there). There was no shade next to the sea, so we made some from our hiking sticks and travel towels!

San Ignacio is a spring fed oasis full of Date Palms. We spent a couple of days hiking some rough desert trails full of lots of different cacti and surrounded in volcanoes. Oh, and we tried Date smoothie, Date pie and Date empenadas! It is a very peaceful place :)

A group of offroad riders arrived at our hotel - this desert terrain is really popular with Americans for a week or two's holiday.