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The
following trip was conducted by Rovers North back in 1996. Harold
Pietschmann of The Adventure Company was our guide, and provided a wealth of
knowledge from his many, many years exploring the Baja peninsula.
Rovers
North of course needs no introduction. If you own a Land Rover product, you have
to know Rovers North.
The
Adventure Company conducts off-road classes in such famous locations as the
Rubicon. Harold is no stranger to Land Rovers, as he has won position as
finalist for the Camel Trophy, and in the past has had a Defender 90 in his
fleet of class vehicles.
Rovers
North can be reached at www.roversnorth.com
Harold
can be reached at
www.4x4abc.com
BAJA, IT’S
WHAT YOU DON’T TAKE THAT’S MOST IMPORTANT
john lewis
It's late April,
1996, and I’m sitting here in the relative
comfort of my Southern California home, and
it’s suddenly very quiet and
lonely. The other members of our Baja Expedition team I’ve shared the last
fifteen days with have just taken off like Indiana Jones leaving for the next adventure,
and they left me behind. Now I’m sipping on the last Mexican beer, discovered
in the bottom of the cool water in the ice chest, muddied
from sodas that have
burst from the constant pounding and shaking over the last several days. One
beer, a rock in my shoe, ten rolls of exposed Ektar, and a few new personality
marks in the well-used Range Rover are all the material remains of the trip. In
the past 15 days I’ve been sick, sunburned, sore, suffered heat exhaustion,
and impaled my leg with 100-plus
barbed cactus spines, and I want to go back today and do it all again. I think I’ve
got the Baja bug!
Sixteen days ago I rushed through
the last day at work to close the months business before
leaving. The Final
packing started at 10 PM and went on until well after midnight, and I had to
leave by 4:30 AM to get to our starting point in Hollywood Hills. All of the
basics were covered, and everything needed to get the well used Range Rover and
well used owner through two weeks of off-roading was accounted for. Water, gas
cans, tent, sleeping bag, spares, tools, emergency food, extra flashlights,
tarps, etc. all found their way
into the three
storage bins, securely strapped
in the back of the Rover. Although almost every material item was used during
the trip, there were a few pieces of extra baggage that should have been left
behind. If you go, here are a few important things to forget.
First, leave behind any item that
you have to worry about damaging or losing because you can be guaranteed that
dust, dirt, and rocks will be everywhere after the first day, and in the
constant 100+ degree heat you will drop and misplace things on a regular basis.
Whether your favorite hat, or camera, or vehicle; if you bring it make sure that
you don’t spend your time worrying about it instead of enjoying Baja.
Second, leave your entire concept
of how to live life behind and learn to appreciate Baja
and the people on their
own terms. Although it’s only minutes from downtown San Diego, the whole
concept of life in Baja is very different from what we have learned in the US
and Europe. Miles and miles of rugged barren land has a very special beauty,
entirely different from lush green forests of the Rockies or Alps. Up on a cliff
the solitary cactus struggles to grow between the smallest crack in the rock,
its single
blossom reminding you that even in the barren land there is a
determination to create and perpetuate life.
Tiny restaurants that you
would
never consider eating in at home are the best in town, and serve absolutely
wonderful food, whether basic tacos and burritos, or platters heaped with
varieties of local fresh fish caught just that afternoon. Baja is close, but it’s
a world away.
Third, and most important, leave
your problems and sense of urgencies at home. Two nights in a row I woke up
having nightmares about what was going on at the office, and for the first three
days I had an unexplained desire to rush through whatever I was doing. In a more
traditional holiday trip the constant flurry of activities and travel schedules
will mask pent-up frustrations and anxiety that are meant to be forgotten. But
in Baja, the solitude, open landscape, and slower pace leaves this extra
unwanted baggage fully exposed, just as the barren landscape reveals the beauty
of that single flowering cactus.
In Baja you will have a sharp
reminder that perhaps the rush to make
everything more and better is taking away
from your life. If you can leave the right things behind and adapt to Baja’s
ways, you’ll get the Baja bug and you’ll take
a lot more than a rock in your shoe and a few snapshots home with you.
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