Entering Baja
Tacos de carne al pastor
After four nice days at Zzara's place, it was time to take the road again and start cycling South. A couple of kilometers outside Tijuana, I heard a scary noise coming from my front wheel. I passed a road bump a bit fast. One the front racks went touching the spokes and got badly folded into the wheel. Fortunately, no spokes were broken and the rack was still usable. After an hour or so spent at unbending the rack and remounting it, I could start cycle again.
Jesse was waiting for me in his wonderful house near La Mision. It was late already, and the sun had already set fire on the ocean. Jesse knew from my CouchSurfing request that I was coming by bicycle, and was not too keen on the idea of me cycling at night. He gave me a call to know where I was and soon arrived to pick me up with his huge truck for the last three or four kilometers.
Jesse, Kathy, Howell, and Ebony invited me for a delicious diner at their place. We had a wonderful evening and excellent food. Kathy had been touring alone on her bicycle in France forty years ago, so we had a lot to talk about. The next morning I woke up and discovered the beautiful view on the beach from my room. We had breakfast on the terrace and watched the surfers on the beach. It was already midday when I left their house.
Coco con chili, salsa Valentina, y limon
I kept cycling South along the coast, enjoyed a coconut with powdered chili and salsa Valentina, cycled above a thick layer of fog under which I could hear many sea lions, and passed Ensenada in a thick fog. That evening, I asked the guards of the camping Las Animas if there was a place where I could pitch my tent for free. I ended up sharing some delicious Chinese food with them, and sleeping right outside the camping gate.
The next day, I cycled on about 5 or 7 kilometers on a very bumpy track to pass important road works near Santo Tomas, in a beautiful country of orchards and vineyards.
It was Halloween night when I arrived in San Antonio del Mar. I first went asking for a place to camp at the school. A teacher was closing the gate for the night and advised me to ask at the Delegación, the police station. The police officer told me that I could camp anywhere in the square, just outside the station, but that I should be ready to receive some eggs since the local kids will be fighting all night long.
I tried the kiosk in the middle of the square, got visited by a six or seven of kids fully loaded with eggs and flour, and decided to opt for a quieter place, just under the roof of the police station. I woke up at night a bit scared as kids started throwing stones on the building, but fortunately, it didn't last.