Driving Baja California – Part Ten
Updated July 2022
This is part ten of the “Driving Baja California” series. Click on the Travel menu at the top for the other parts.
After a week of fun and relaxing in Cabo San Lucas, it is time to begin the journey back north. Heading north on the Baja Peninsula does not need to be an exact repeat of the trip south. At the tip of the Baja Peninsula, highway 19 goes in a large circle before joining back on Highway one to Tijuana.
San Jose del Cabo
The next town after passing Cabo San Lucus is San Jose del Cabo. We travelled there one day by bus from Cabo San Lucus before heading north, or you can make it the first stop on the return journey without returning to Cabo.
Los Barriles
About 100 km from Cabo San Lucus is the town of Los Barriles. This is one of the nicest places in Baja with the nicest campground. It is beautiful here. The campground is filled with all kinds of flowers and many palm trees, and there are lots of birds. It is like a garden. The town is right on the Gulf coast, and it is just a short walk to a beautiful white sandy beach with the sparkling blue water of the Gulf of California. (click photos to enlarge).
In the hills around Los Barriles are some of the most beautiful houses I have seen in Mexico. I think that many rich people retire here.
Windy Los Barriles
The Gulf side of Baja always seems to be quite windy. So many people come to Los Barriles to go surfing. I thought the wind would die down in a few days, but I have since learned that it is windy along the Gulf Coast from November until the end of February.
We stood on the beach and watched the surfers for a while. There are several kinds. In addition to the regular surfboards, some put a sail on their board and rely on the wind instead of the waves. They can travel great distances in any direction, not just on a wave heading towards the shore. This is called windsurfing.
Another type of surfing is accomplished by attaching a kite to the surfboard, which is called, appropriately, kite surfing. I watched this for a while and was fascinated by their movements. They travelled at high speed and did somersaults and all kinds of fancy moves. They travelled much faster than the other surfers.
Flowers
Flowers are everywhere in Los Barriles. Here are a few photos of them.
The Elephant Tree
North of town, we saw a strange-looking tree. I took a photograph of it, looked it up on the internet, and found out that it is called an Elephant Tree. They grow only in the SW USA and Mexico and never grow very tall. Instead, they have fat branches that look a little like elephant legs, which is how it got its name.
Summary
Although there is nothing special to do in Los Barriles, it is a wonderful place to spend a few days. Just relax and enjoy the sun, the flowers, the many birds and the beach.
Driving Baja California Part 11
In part 11, we try boondocking on the beach. Click here for Driving Baja California part 11.