Slow Baja Winter Expedition 2024 - Day 3

 Day Three

The Mision Santa Maria Hotel (formerly El Presidente) from the beach

Ron had left our group early morning to get back to the U.S. and we soon after left Ensenada with Matt and his navigator Mike. We were heading south in an effort to catch the rest of the Slow Baja Winter Expedition. Having no idea how far south they were, we mentally prepared to see them at Rancho San Ines, just south of Catavina, which was our Slow Baja camping spot for the night.

After passing through the gauntlet of working towns on Highway One such as Colonet, San Vicente, Camalu and eventually San Quintin, we decided to take a little detour. Wino had told us his family would go to the "El Presidente" hotel in San Quintin every year when he was young for a family vacation so we decided to take a trip down memory lane. It's now Hotel Mision de Santa Maria and looked much as it did many years ago. We even "bumped" into the ex-governor of Baja California at the hotel.

Getting back on the road, we headed for El Rosario and the famous Mama Espinoza's restaurant. We knew this was a Baja Beisbol drop location so after lunch, we headed to the town baseball field to drop some equipment. Our timing must have been perfect as it turned out the rest of the Slow Baja Winter Expedition was not tens of miles in front of us, but they were pulling into town at the same time.

Now that we were reunited, we all headed south on our way to Cataviña and our campground for the night at historic Rancho Santa Ines. This is one of the most remote areas of the Baja peninsula and is a lush desert of cardon and boojum trees along with house-size boulders. Truly amazing.




Famous Mama Espinoza's Restaurant
Painting of Doña Anita (Mama) Espinoza



Baseball equipment dropoff in El Rosario - Baja Beisbol!

  
Click here for your Mexican Auto Insurance

Abandoned Pemex station south of El Rosario
The unique Cataviña desert

 
Historic Ranch Santa Ines





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