Three Jewels of Baja California Sur

August 2016

If I told you that there are only three hidden jewels in Baja California Sur would be a complete lie.

I choose these three just because I like the pictures that I was able to take form these places. Baja Sur is undoubtedly an exotic and magic destination. If I had the chance to cycle through here and do it all over again I would immediately say YES.

Three Jewels of Baja California Sur

So here it goes, I present to you my pick of the three most beautiful jewels in BCS.

Beaches from Bahía Concepción

If there ever was a well kept secret on the most beautiful beaches in Mexico it would be here in Bahía Concepción. Thirty two kilometers of beautiful beaches, one more stunning than the other. It al starts with playa Los Naranjos y continues on with beaches like Santispac, El Coyote, El Burro, El Requeson and Armenta beach.

You can pitch your tent in all of them, spend the night and watch the stars. Almost all of them have a place where you can buy food and water. You can spend the day there while zipping a cold beer and eating sea food, it cannot get any better than that.

What makes these beaches so special are of course, it´s geography. Desert scenery contrasted with the turquoise sea and white sandy beaches. The sight is like none other I have ever seen.

Santa Rosalía

In spot number two it would be this historic little town. Who would have thought that you would get to eat freshly baked bread made in the original style of an old french recipe? Here in Santa Rosalía you will get that and even more.

Santa Rosalía was a rich and prosperous mining town back in the 1800`s. In fact it was second to Mexico City to have electric current running through it´s veins in all the country.

Here the Compañia de Boleo ruled supreme. The mining company owned by the French built many houses for the administrative team. Much of thse houses remain today as either museums or government buildings.

These beautiful constructions make this town one of a kind. There is even a church Santa Barbara, tha was designed by none other than Gustave Eiffel, the same guy who designed the Tour de Eiffel and the statue of Liberty in NYC.

The town at times seems to have been stopped by a time machine. You can easily breathe an air of old west. I highly recommend going to the old administrative offices of Compañia de Boleo, now the town museum. Here you can lear a lot about the harsh miner´s life as well as the evolution of this town. The old coper foundry is also a museum, so it is really interesting to see how it all worked back in the day.

Hot dogs are also very delicious here, some say the secret is the bread that they are served on. I tried a couple and honestly they are delicious. The bread never brakes and keeps all the goodies like the sausage, tomato, onion, ketchup, mayo and salsa all inside. Every bite is full of taste.

Visiting Santa Rosalía is visiting a big part of the history of the Baja. How it all came to be, out of work, sacrifice and endurance from the harsh desert sun.

San Ignacio

Founded by Juan Baustista Luyando in 1728, San Ignacio very soon became the most prosperous mission in the region.

Thanks to the San Ignacio river, the town has access to a substantial amount of water that allows the growth of palm trees and fruit trees in the middle of the desert.

A very quite little town, in all the right ways. The town is full of small shops that sell beer and prepared food at a reasonable price. For Annika and me San Ignacio became a special place, we simple just fell in love with it. I had never been in a oasis before, not even dreamed to swim in one either.

We spent the whole day swimming, eating burritos and drinking beer in one of the hottest days of the season. We also tried the delicious quesapulpos (cheese octupus) quesadilla. We stayed in the Casa Ciclista there and to be honest that day was just perfect for us.

In San Ignacio we even got to meet a local celebrity: Nano Fong. He is 65 yrs old and can still rock it on the bicycle. He showed us a balancing trick he did back in the day where he was a show man and a renowned clown.

San Ignacio for us was just awesome.