I arrived at the border late in the evening... and was waved across without incident. As it was past midnight I decided to push on to Ensenada for the night and get my tourist visa the following morning. I had an idea that it would not be wise to proceed South, without one.

That next morning I arrived early, a totally useless action. It was shortly after 10 a.m. before the office opened. No crowds, no long line up, just some official who for whatever reason, had nothing better to do than make my visit less friendly....

The hint of trouble started when he asked me where I was staying. I mentioned I was renting a house. Obviously it was just the type of thing the he was looking for. “I’m going to make sure you remember me” he says. (oh God, I’m thinking, here we go) he follows this up with “as a tourist you have no rights. Nothing..! You must get an FM-3 renters visa.”

I blink. Unknown to my new found worthy advisor, I had an FM-3. My accountant had asked, I leave it with him for business purposes. Yes that might seem odd but the more you live here, odd things like that become normal. Anyway... the last thing I wanted was for this tidbit of information to come to light. I played dumb and hoped this guy’s rant would run it’s course and I’d be on my way. The worst was leaving my U.S. passport while going to a nearby bank to pay the fee. I rushed off mindful that there was a computer on his desk that seemed active. What were the chances it contain trouble for me?

Fortune, however... smiled on me and other than a few more grumpy words from my would be benefactor, I was on my way. 300 miles down the Baja highway there is a large boulder field, with many small dirt roads leading off into it. As you approach mile marker 364, look for a large boulder with a “triangle” painted on it. The road (just a bit more than a path really) is right besides it. That would be on the left side of the road as you are going south (5 miles North of Catavina). This is truly a great spot to camp and rest.

I stopped there to relax a bit with the thought of perhaps spending the night. After an hour or so and a nice lunch, it was time to hit the road. To my surprise there was no gas at Catavina... that is other than some nuevo Mexican bandito selling it at exorbitant prices from 5 gallon jerry cans.

I pushed South, the next gas 120 miles away. Since I had the bug to get home I decided to keep going. Around ten p.m. I approached Guerrero Negro. The almost half way point down the peninsula and a usual spot for custom checks. I wondered if it’d be open. Often in the past you could just slip by. These days it’s become a mandatory check point efficiently manned and operated.

As I pulled to a stop, I was quickly asked for my papers. As one official fed that into a computer on a pedestal next to my van.. another group proceeded to check me for what produce and related, banned articles I might have on board. I lost my apples and potatoes but not my dignity. They were very professional and reasonably friendly. However as I was pulling forward for the required vehicle insecticide spraying I glanced to the right and noticed a not so happy scene. There a group of four young people were being led out of a building. Their faces long and obviously very unhappy. It was easy to surmise that they had “not” bothered to get tourist visas at the border. I suppose they thought they might be able to get them here. Now they had to go all the way back to Ensenada if they wanted to return and head further South.

I breathed a sigh of relief that I had followed my hunch and went through the visa hassle and the difficult official. As to the young people ... their options were not all that bad. After all they had the top half of Baja to explore on their way back. From experience I can tell you there are many many wonderful stretches of coastline and beach along the way.

I encountered little trouble on the rest of my trip other than the usual smattering of road checks along the way. Be prepared for the more thorough one at Santa Rosa. Good Luck!