Dreads & Banana Pancakes

The sun was creeping over the sole peak on the island of Isla Chivato which was due east about a half mile directly across the beach. El Dorado was parked perpendicularly a mere twenty five feet from the water’s edge. Elke and Cris parked the 74 Westy in front of El Dorado and we formed an “L” shaped camp site. Both our entrances to the vehicles opened to the ring of rocks that caged the large camp fires we had during the previous nights. On this morning I decided to make all of us my famous banana pancakes. Karen loves these delights and our young German travel mates never heard of such a dish yet in their polite European manner devoured as many as I sat in front of them. With our tummies full, all four of us were zipping around our vehicles, breaking down camp and prepping for the trip to our next destination – Ciudad Constitucion.

After eighteen long hours and a river of pain, Karen’s dreads were done! She’s a beautiful buffalo soljah girl. At first glance, you would think she has had these dreads for years due to the length. I am very proud of the crop of dreads I made for her. She wears them well!

The drive was scenic along the rocky coastline to the town of Loreto where Mex 1 headed west again cutting and climbing through the mountains of Sierra de la Giganta and on through to the farming town of Ciudad Constitucion. Here we stopped for a quick visit to a roadside fruit stand set at what appeared to be the entrance of the town. Little did we realize how tiring this four hour drive can be, we were all drained. I swear some of the truck drivers appeared to be young teenagers on crotch rockets blowing down the highway passing vehicles at 75 mph. What’s really scary is that Mexico’s highways here on the Baja have no shoulders. Some spots drop two to six feet. It can be very nerve wracking.

As we drove through the orange groves and fields of corn, we discovered the backbone of the farming life here on the Baja. These people work quite hard for a few pesos a day. We finally see our landmark destination that turns us off Mex 1 for a half mile to a cheesy little RV park called La Pila Balneario RV park. It was nothing really but a palm tree encased field with dozens of red ant hills dotting the park, time to break out the Ajax and sprinkle around the tires. Ants hate Ajax! The pool was half full of ice cold water and the Jacuzzi had a sign that read “under reparacion,” there goes the swimming and the hot tubbing for the night. The camp did have electric hookups and potable water but the highlight was the whole camp was WIFI rigged. That night calls were made to a few utilizing our majic jack hookup. What a cool device, free calls anywhere all year long! Dinner consisted of teriyaki beef and broccoli over rice. Karen, who’s not a big fan of bell peppers, actually ate the red bell peppers sautéed in with the broccoli. She then, let out a loud my-compliments-to-the-chef burp. As night settled in Cris and Elke came over to check their emails and down a couple of warm Cervesas with the chef. Karen had her favorite drink which consisted of coconut rum and pineapple juice. The night was peaceful until sometime during the night several gunshots in the distance set the security tone for the evening.