OHV

One of the attractions in Baja is to drive a dune buggy. We learned that the AllTrails app, which we use to find hiking trails, also lists 6 off-road vehicle trails around Los Barriles. Thus, about half the caravan rented Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) today. There are multiple shops that rent vehicles to vacationers; QUADGIRL gave our group a better price than QUADMAN. Tip: if you're interested in starting a business in Los Barriles, it seems that QUADBOY and QUADDOG are still available.

Our Honda side-by-side vehicle was delivered early - about 8:15 am. While we waited for the others, we took a trial drive just across the road. It was a punishingly bumpy ride along the sand and rock trails. But it was fun to cover a lot of ground faster than on foot. After about an hour of test driving, we met the group to drive to the Los Compis waterfall. "Trucker" Dave rented a beefier vehicle, which he drove like mad up the dry wash towards the waterfall. Amy and Greg kept up in our smaller vehicle, while the others fell behind. First, we passed a few cattle, then we saw a few streams.

As the streams grew together, we parked the vehicles and walked up the stream to the waterfall. Even though we're in the dry season for the desert, there was a genuine waterfall. The cattle were clearly coming to drink from the stream. And where there's cattle, there's also cow patties...

After the group spent a few minutes at the waterfall, we walked down to our vehicles and raced back to town. The group decided to take a second trail along the sea. That road turned to gravel, then to rough rocks. Despite the very rough roads, there were luxury vacation homes, as opulent as you may find in any of the finest resorts. It's hard to fathom why someone would build such expensive vacation homes where the only way to access them is on an extremely rough road that is only passable by Jeep, 4x4 pickup or dune buggy. We continued north on the road, which got rougher and rougher. After 30 minutes or so, we reached Punta Pescadero, a beautiful new resort on the water. The resort has its own airstrip (in case a Jeep is beneath you) and, of course, gorgeous views of the sea. And the resort is so new, it's still under construction! Even the pool and fountain aren't quite finished. We got lunch at the resort, and our group of 12 overwhelmed the small staff and kitchen. Mexican resort prices are about normal restaurant prices at home, which is much cheaper than resort prices in Florida or Hawaii.

After lunch, we drove a few more minutes north to the next village, then we turned around to return to Los Barriles. As we drove, we saw a familiar red Jeep: it was Rob, another member of the caravan, who was driving with his dogs. What a funny coincidence! After we talked with Rob for a few minutes, we retraced our steps and finished by driving on the beach back to the RV park. Funny thing is that the OHV drives on the beach much faster than Greg can run it.