After leaving Mulegé, we entered a stretch of coastline along Bahia de Concepcion. It is famous for the calm and brilliantly colored water. With no cell service or wifi in most spots, we squeezed in 3 nights over the weekend.
This is Playa El Burro. Most spots are leased by full time residents with just a few palapas in between a couple lots. We lucked out with 2 beautiful wind-less days here.
Most of the structures on this beach started out as palapas like these. Over time people attain long term leases and build them up to modest off-grid beach houses. Many of them have old RVs and campers that were left here as their shelters while they fulfill their expat dreams out of these rustic palapas.
This is a typical morning for us. Jackets on with a cup of coffee in our hands. Trying to be quiet so the Wandrly teenager (AKA el niño grande) can continue sleeping on his cot. Waiting for the little ones to wake up and get breakfast started.
Cereal and avocado toast is on the menu for an easy breakfast. In the middle of breakfast, a local vendor shows up with a truck full of goods. Fruits, vegetables, water, baked goods and fresh tamales. We snatch up 10 tamales and turn breakfast into brunch. Works for me.
After our bellies are full, the kids run into their respective tiny homes and and come out donning swimming gear.
Since this one is still on vacation, he’s been hogging the hammock pretty good.
But he is always on dad duty. I wonder if the kids know that having both parents around them all day long is an anomaly.
Ava finally gets to use her Christmas present from her grandparents in the Sea of Cortez. So happy. And in her favorite color.
Beautiful mornings. Beautiful afternoons. Beautiful nights. Baja has been treating us alright.
And those of you wondering how we deal with the black water “situation”. Well here you go. We have a portable toilet that sits in the cabinet to the right of the door… unless it’s in use. Then we bust it out to the middle of the truck camper floor. If someone needs to use it, we leave the camper or just go in front of the others. No big deal. We are a family. We got over the awkwardness of this pretty quickly. It’s one of the trade-offs from the Airstream but it enabled us to get to be here.
The model that fits perfectly into our Four Wheel Camper is a Dometic 301097602 Portable Toilet. It has a 2.5 gallon fresh water tank for flushing with a hand pump and it holds 5 gallons worth of waste. To dump it, the top part detaches from the bottom. The bottom is then taken to a porta-potty or a real toilet or a hole in the ground.
Lunch break.
When the Wandrly crew took off for a few hours to explore Mulege a bit more, the kids turned the beach into a nudist beach.
We didn’t have room for beach buckets in the truck camper but the kids didn’t let the fun stop. They stole Dan’s new oil change pans and played with them until the broke. That’ll teach us. Haha.
Daddy’s off of the hammock finally. Quick! Get on!!
This beach was actually not on our radar. The book we use for Mexican camping told us that this beach is built up and not really worth a stop. But the funny thing is… it is worth a stop. We looked a couple other beaches. They were all full of snowbirds with their beach sites built up with illegal temporary fences, filled with tables and chairs and happy hour flags and barking dogs. This is more our speed. Alone between some closed up houses. Peace and quiet. Well, as quiet as it can be with 6 kids. Hehe.
A couple stops ago we met a man with a boat who went fishing with his pup. And look who it is. Him again. This time he’s looking for gas for his motor. No luck here.
Just when we thought we had this place to ourselves, a million goats stroll by.
No big deal.
This is how it looks when two families of five are trying to coordinate a walk. Who went potty? Got your jackets? Shoes? Anyone listening to me?
What do you mean you need to be picked up already? We just started walking. Your legs can’t be tired already.
While in the states, it’s difficult for us to keep a routine. Every day is so different. But here in Baja, things are different somehow. Every day we walk into town with the Wandrly crew, looking for fish tacos, crossing our fingers they have room for our two families. Table for ten, por favor!
Got a table!
Across the road from the beach is a perfect little restaurant bar with a bartender that makes a mean margarita. Many of the local expats cling to the stools like barnacles and then there’s this little guy. He forgot to never pass out at a party if you don’t want eyebrows drawn on your forehead.
Tablecloths and our kids don’t mix.
Someone needs a drink.
And this awesome guy is making them.
Please stop staring at me dog. I can’t help your eyebrow situation.
Another awesome stop and good times.
Until next time, Playa El Burro!
Thanks for reading,
Marlene
5 Comments
Catherine Forest · May 29, 2016 at 9:21 pm
So awesome! I love to follow your adventures (Ching and Jerud sent me your way!). How was the signal on that beach? Do you feel like it is realistic to do Baja when you need decent 4G to work 5 days/week? We are itching to go next year (been doing the States for 3 years already!).
malimish · May 29, 2016 at 9:48 pm
I work 5 days a week as well so it can definitely work. Though here in particular there was no service. I took a week of to drive through a section of Baja that had poor service. Once you get to La Paz and south the coverage was better. Sometimes though you will have to make it work with only 3g.
Catherine Forest · May 29, 2016 at 10:10 pm
Thanks a lot! That’s really helpful to know! I hope we can make it work.
Perry Gaspar · December 24, 2017 at 7:58 am
Avos & tamales for desayuno – works for me!
Rosi · August 13, 2019 at 4:43 pm
Mi entera familia conoce playa del burro menos yo por problemas de salud nunca e podido ir me encantaría ir pero uno de mis males es el calor , cuando sería mejor tiempo para ir sin que esté tan fuerte el calor?