Before we left for Mexico, we read as many descriptions of Baja as we could find. There were a few common themes across all the sources – the beautiful arid landscape, the generally good weather, and the lack of people.
What we’ve found, however, is way more folks than we were expecting. We got used to the absence of humans in northern BC and Alaska, but here in Baja, every spot that’s good for anchoring holds at least a small fishing camp. Usually consisting of 10-20 simple shelters, these camps serve as temporary homes for the fisherman that tend the numerous lobster pots that dot the Baja coastline.
The advantage of all these fish camps is that it gives us a chance to meet the fishermen if they stop by our boat as they roar back to shore in their pangas.
In Punta Baja, we met folks on one panga who traded us a pair of lobsters for a half bottle of Jim Beam. The next day, a second panga swung by to drop off a fish they had caught trolling as they were tending their lobster pots. That one wasn’t even a trade – it was just friendly folks sharing the wealth at the end of a day of fishing. We did convince them, though, to take a couple of cold beers with them – we were happy to see the beers already finished before they even made it ashore.
Everywhere we’ve gone so far in Mexico, we’ve been met with nothing but smiles and friendly people!
