Finding Sharks in Baja

When I tell people that we travel through Baja for the holidays most of them say, “Aren’t you scared?” or “Please be careful.”  I understand their concern. Especially, if they have never traveled south past Tijuana. It's easy to get a negative view of travel in Mexico when you're bombarded with news that seems to focus only on the bad things that happen.  Like any other country, there can be corrupt officials and dangerous people down here, so it's wise to be vigilant.  I have to admit, I was a little afraid on my first road trip even traveling with a seasoned veteran like John.   It was intimidating going through several check-points with armed Military men asking us questions.  I thought for sure that they were just hassling us because we were Americans.  I know now that they are there to keep everyone in the country safe. 

The best way to see Southern Baja is to have a general sense of where you want to go but be flexible.  There is so much more to Baja than Avenida Revolucion in TJ (where we frequented bars during our high school and college days), Papas and Beer (popular restaurant/bar) or even eating fresh-caught lobsters in Ensenada.  The cactus-filled deserts and clear blue beaches that you get to see when traveling on the East Cape are breathtaking.  There is so much beauty to be discovered. 

Of course, for your first road trip I would suggest staying close to the main road but in Mexico you don’t really have to follow the beaten path.  We love to venture into small towns (there will be many along the way) and rub noses with the locals.  Befriend them and they might tell you or even bring you to some cool places. 

On this year’s trip we followed a local to an arroyo located about 4 miles inland from the ocean.  Without him, we definitely would not have found it. This spot is known to have lots of fossilized shark's teeth in it.  The arroyo was huge, it was covered with rocks of all sizes.  It was overwhelming for my attention-deficit mind to concentrate on searching out the shape of shark's tooth mixed in among all the rubble. 

I found other cool things such as petrified wood and shell-embossed rocks.  Dakotah was the winner for the day locating the most shark teeth.  I mentally mapped the route to the arroyo as we drove out.   We hope to go back next year and search for more shark teeth.

One of the shark teeth that Dakotah found.