I Want To Be In Baja

If you really want to get a feel of just what life would be like if you were to retire down to San Felipe - maybe you like the idea but are still a bit on the fence  - you may want to read about Kathy’s experience at http://sanfelipetalk.com. She has lived  at El Dorado Ranch for just over six years now and has just started to write about that experience in her own blog, which started in May. It covers a mix of local news and happenings and her own personal insights, and will certainly give you a good flavor of what life is like there. I very much look forward to seeing how her blog progresses - for my part, I would like to see a few more pictures on the site but, in the meantime , here is one of mine - a picture of one of the houses located near the golf course that I took on my first trip down there. Not bad eh?

Ah ha! Well, I may not have had much luck in terms of videos of El Dorado Ranch (see previous post), but I did discover in my searches that there is a Flickr Group for people to upload their pictures of El Dorado Ranch.  We always try to include pictures of both El Dorado and the surrounding area on our blog, but for anyone thinking of going to take a look for themselves, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have an additional source - it all helps to get an idea of the place. And, although photos can’t really do justice to this little slice of heaven, it at least gives enough idea in helping to decide whether it is worth the trip (Hint: it is!).

I include one of the pictures from the site just to give you an idea of some of the great properties to be seen there (with thanks to jcozens).

The El Dorado Ranch Flickr site can be seen by clicking here.

I have noticed that one thing that is severely lacking when it comes to information about El Dorado Ranch is video. I have searched YouTube a few times hoping to find something that really shows off the the beauty of the location and the extent of its wonderful facilities, but there is really nothing out there that fits the bill. However, I was checking out the blueroadrunner.com website to see what was new and they have a whole new section dedicated to videos of San Felipe and the surrounding area -
http://blueroadrunner.com/sfvideos.htm - many of which have been gleened from YouTube, but it is very useful to have a single resource where you can find all these videos in one place - well done Blueroadrunner! In saying that though, there are still no videos of El Dorado Ranch itself. I am sure that a few home-grown videos of the place would be of enormous value to anyone contemplating going on one of the regular El Dorado Ranch tours (read about our experience here). So if anyone is planning on making the trip and wants to take some video, or who knows of such a video and can send us the link, we would love to show it on our blog!

I have been asked about camping in the San Felipe area. Due to the construction of developments such as El Dorado Ranch and others, camp grounds and RV parks have been disappearing over the years. However, right in San Felipe, there is a campground
just south of the Malecon, next to Bandidos bar and restaurant. Called Campo San Felipe, it doesn’t have an office to pull up to, and I was not able to find a phone number or web site. There is a woman who is available around the grounds and all one has to do is pay her $30/night for a place right on the beach, or $25 just off the beach and they can stay as long as they like. There is a bathroom and shower on the premises and it appears to be clean.

Most of the spots have a shaded picnic table and there are trash cans around for waste. I didn’t get a count of the number of sites available but the day we checked it out (weekday) there were plenty of sites available and this was in April when the temperature is ideal.
The Malecon is only a block away and can be accessed by beach. Once people are settled in the campground, there is no need for a car to get around town. San Felipe has a wonderful Malecon that runs several blocks along the beach and there are many restaurants and shopping within easy walking distance.
For those looking to rent a house or condo, there are many available at El Dorado Ranch which is just 7 miles north of town. People who rent here have access to the pool, tennis courts, private beach and the golf course.

In spite of the media coverage, those of us who travel back and forth to the area realize that Mexico, and particularly the area around San Felipe area, continues to be a gentle and quiet area with no shortage of outdoor things to do.

For those of you heading down to San Felipe this weekend it should be a lively one! The 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 500 off-road race takes place this weekend and is one of the premier family events of the year down in Baja. It certainly doesn’t seem like a whole year has gone since the last one!

The race itself starts and finishes in the northern Baja town of Ensenada and covers a total of 432 miles with San Felipe as its most southerly part of the circuit.  It is an international affair with entries from UK, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Japan, Mexico and Canada joining representatives from 25 American States to compete in the race.  There are also several different categories of race including motorcycles, ATVs, cars and trucks, giving plenty of variety and color for every kind of motor-vehicle-racing fan!  It is always a lively, good-natured, family event and it is certainly going to give the business community of San Felipe a much needed boost after what has been a dreadful first half of the year. And you can check out the great facilities at El Dorado Ranch while you are there - sweet!  I only wish that I could be there but, unfortunately I already had other commitments. But if you are going to be there we’d love to hear of your experiences - and send us some photos!  Have a great and fun weekend!

Now that the (non) flu crisis seems to be over in Mexico - the U.S. government lifted its travel warning on 15th May - get ready to take advantage of some bargain Mexico vacation deals!  According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle virtually none of the popular Mexican tourist destinations like “Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit, Los Cabos, Mazatlán and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo” had a single confirmed case of the H1N1 flu virus. Nevertheless, the effect on Mexico’s tourism industry has been devastating. As such, President Felipe Calderon has a big $1.3 billion stimulus plan to help Mexico’s tourist industry to get back on its feet.  This is likely to mean that there could be no better time to visit Mexico than now - there are likely to be plenty of bargains to be had, both in terms of accommodation and flights.

If have been reading our blog and you like what you see and hear about El Dorado Ranch and San Felipe, there may be no better time than now to visit the area.  There are many private houses for rent at El Dorado Ranch as well as hotels in nearby San Felipe.  Nancy always has weekend trips to view the El Dorado Ranch project  and is happy to be contacted for details - but don’t think about it for too long, places tend to fill up quickly!

As I have said before in another post on straw-bale building, one of the attractions of retiring to El Dorado Ranch, near San Felipe in Baja, is the fact that the building of your own house, especially incorporating environmentally-friendly, energy-saving building techniques and features, is actively encouraged.

I was leafing through the first issue of the Building in Baja Newsletter and found a very interesting article on building with Bamboo.  It turns out that Bamboo forests actually soak up 17 times more carbon in their growth than does a tree forest!  Just imagine what could be done in terms of mitigating against the excess carbon problem if Bamboo became a universal material for building! My own plans had been aiming at a timber and straw-bale structure, but now I am inspired to look into the possibilities of incorporating Bamboo into the structure - perhaps in place of some or the timber framework. I need to do a bit more research on that, but it if I can encourage others to look at this awesome building material then I am happy to do so.  The Building in Baja article contains a list of websites where further information about Bamboo.  I encourage you to at least check out  www.deboerarchitects.com/BambooThoughts.html and www.bambooliving.com. Great stuff!

We have made mention before about our favorite local Baja building advice newsletter - Building in Baja.  Well it looks like they have completely revamped their website.  The PDF downloadable newsletters they has been publishing were very nicely done, and packed with really good information, but I think this new format will be a lot more flexible in terms of being able to find specific information.  One new feature I noticed is their weekly “BiB  (Building in Baja) Tips which you can sign up for and have emailed to you each week.  The new service is set to start in June and is described as being “chic, unique, or off beat”. Sounds fun!  They plan to provide updates “not only undiscovered treasures, like the best new restaurants, best street food, newest shoe stores, and who knows what else…but is also full of advice, ideas, and inspiration for designing and building your home, common mistakes to avoid, and everything you need to know about living the Baja good life”!  Sounds like it is going to be both interesting and useful.  I for one will be signing up!