Our Time at Guadalupe Canyon
Trip Start
Dec 01, 2005
1
6
Trip End
Jan 05, 2007
Guadalupe Canyon, Baja California, Mexico
Friday, December 9, 2005
The weather has been warm and sunny; shorts and a tee shirt during the day, pants and a sweater in the evening. The perfect way to get used to Mexico!
We spent the first day and a half camped at a site called "La Cueva". Lots of space for the two vans to park with room for the kids to ride their bikes. Our private hot tub is built under a large natural boulder, in the shade of some palm trees. Very cool!
Since we arrived midweek, we are the only group here and it is very, very quiet. At night there are absolutely no lights around and the stars are amazing! A great way to unwind after the long drive down from Calgary.
The kids have the run of the place and are able to go and explore all the other campsites. They are on the move from sunup to sundown: exploring, climbing on the boulders, scrambling up the rocky hillsides, and playing in the hot tub. They are all having a great time.
The hot tubs are filled with naturally heated hot water, collected and piped down from hot springs located in the hills above the campsite. Our palapa has picnic tables and even has a sink with hot running spring water. No heating water to do dishes! This is luxury camping!
We were able to hike up the canyon, following a creek. Lots of little pools, palm thickets, cacti, other spiny plants, and interesting rock formations. It is all just so different from what we're used to seeing when we are hiking back home in the Rockies. I love it!
A large group (mostly from California) came in today and had reservations for "La Cueva", so we moved to "El Dorado". "El Dorado" is located on the hillside with a giant palapa and a fireplace. The view from the stone hot tub, across the valley and out to the desert, was spectacular.
The tour group now at "La Cueva" was led by the couple that runs 'Turtle Expedition Unltd.' (www.turtleexpedition.com). The people were all quiet and kept to themselves but it sure was a change after having the entire canyon to ourselves. It was also quite a show when they first arrived. The Turtle Expedition vehicle is a huge, 4-wheel drive, custom-made diesel RV and the group included 3 or 4 diesel 4x4 Sportsmobile vans (www.sportsmobile.com). The drivers of the Sportsmobiles were generally older and didn't seem to have a lot of experience driving such large vehicles off of the highway so for a while the silence of the canyon was shattered by the sounds of roaring diesel engines and people shouting out parking instructions.
I guess tomorrow is a good time for us to head out!
