· 

Roadtrip through the desert: From Santa Rosalía to Tijuana

When I entered Mexico in December 2018 I never thought I'd be in this country so long. Since I am so fascinated by its diversity, however, I decided that my Mexico tour should not end yet. In order to stay longer in Mexico I had to renew my tourist card which gave me permit to stay in the country for up to 180 days. This length of stay was shortly before the expiration, so that I set off as fast as possible to the next border, which in this case was to the USA. I didn't wait five minutes at the gas station, which is right next to the marina in Santa Rosalía, and already I was travelling with Kenny, a Danish photographer, who wanted to cover the missing 1,000 kilometres to the border in the next two days.

We quickly made our way north, but did not miss to stop a few times to enjoy the landscape and take some photos. The small village San Ignacio was our first stop where we had lunch and a look at the Misión de San Ignacio de Kadakaamán. The village is a little oasis as in the middle of nowhere as it is surrounded by green landscape thanks to the river flowing by.

Although almost the entire peninsula of Baja California and Baja California Sur is desert-like landscape, the rock formations, hills and plant species changed a lot during our journey. We also had to pass a few military guard posts where a lot of cars where inspected. As queues formed at some of these guards as well as at a construction site, ice cream sellers were immediately on the spot, who used their chance to earn a few pesos.

Both Kenny and I were really fascinated by the huge amount of different cactus species and other types of plants which survive in this desert.

Before going into Tijuana we made a short detour driving for a few kilometres along the "Ruta del Vino" (Wine Route), which extends about 100km from Ensenada to Tecate in the Guadalupe Valley. Here 90% of Mexican wine is produced, with more than 150 wineries. el Valle de Guadalupe

Before reaching the most popular Mexican border town Tijuana, Kenny and I had some very good fish tacos including a Taco Gobernador (The Governor Taco, including fish and cheese) in Ensenada. The last 100km from Ensenada to Tijuana passed by fast and there are two roads you can choose to drive, the faster toll road which runs directly next to the sea and the more serpentine scenic road within the mountains. We decided for most of the distance to go on the toll road which actually had no real toll this day as the toll stations are often blocked here during the weekend by different kinds of people who collect money for social purposes instead.

Video of the Roadtrip through the Desert

Write a comment

Comments: 0