Last Day for Christmas Shipping
December 16th is the last day to shop directly from the Discover Baja shop to have it arrive in time for Christmas. You’ll find an array of Baja books, maps, and charts. You can also shop our Amazon store for more of our favorite Baja items.
Corazon de Vida Foundation
Discover Baja is always happy to support Corazon de Vida Foundation, a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that assists over 500 kids living in 10+ orphanages in Baja. Corazón de Vida believes that every child deserves a chance to dream and accomplish great things. With your gift, they provide abandoned children with security, nutrition, shelter, and the opportunity to grow, play, love, and learn in a positive environment. They also offer university and trade school scholarships to teens aging out of the orphanage system, creating opportunities for a life of purpose and possibility! You can learn more and donate on the Corazón de Vida website.
El Vallecito Improvements
There are new infrastructure improvements happening at El Vallecito cave paintings in La Rumorosa. New, modern bathrooms have recently been installed and there are plans for a small museum and archaeology storage facility as part of a long-term improvement plan. The improvements are part of the third phase of the Parque Energía Sierra Juárez, which includes several improvement efforts in La Rumorosa.
New Baja Book, “Bad Roads, Good People: A Baja Memoir”
“IT STARTED AT TEQUILA SPRINGS” begins this Baja memoir by Michael Waterman. Tequila Springs was the name that Waterman’s grandfather, San Diego artist Everett Gee Jackson, gave to a stretch of Rosarito coast in northwest Baja where friends and family often gathered beginning in the 1950s when the author was a young child. When the time came to break camp, the grownups would bury any left-over tequila they couldn’t legally take back to the U.S. so that it could be unearthed and enjoyed on a future visit.
A lifetime of adventures and exploration followed: vehicle challenges on Baja’s wonderfully bad roads; archaeological expeditions; an annual fall encampment in a magical oak grove in the Santo Tomás Valley; and a family home that fell to the sea. In early adulthood there was the excitement of the border: bullfights, the running of the bulls in Tecate; cycling races and rides; jai alai action and a favorite café owned by a former pelota champion and friend of Hemingway’s; a trek into the gold country of the Sierra Juárez; fishing on Baja s rocky west coast and a tragic death off those rocks. In later life were return trips, some to distant destinations such as the formidable Sierra de la Giganta in southern Baja and remote Comondú.
But most meaningful in this long journey were the people encountered on Baja s dusty byways. In the words of Doña Anita Espinoza of El Rosario, referred to by many as the “Angel of Baja” : “The bad roads bring good people . . .” Available at Maxwells House of Books, La Mesa, CA. (619) 462-3387 or order online.
New Border Crossing Times App
A new app and website is available to help provide current border wait times. You can find the site and download the app at the link here!
New San Ysidro SENTRI Entrance Pilot Program
Tijuana’s San Ysidro northbound border crossing has a new SENTRI entrance that is accessible on Calle Segunda (Second Street). Follow Calle Segunda to the border and watch for the SENTRI signs. The SENTRI access lane on Padre Kino Avenue will continue to operate as it does currently and the general medical pass lanes will remain operational on Paseo de los Héroes. The new SENTRI entrance configuration is a part of a pilot program that will last for four months while long-term feasibility is considered. You can read more on the CBP website.
Update on the Amigos de los Californios Health Center
Last December we included an article in the newsletter about Amigos de los Californios. For 20 years this nonprofit, volunteer group provided dental clinics for the communities in the Sierra de San Francisco in Baja. The final project for Amigos is to build a Health Center in San Francisco. We asked if anyone would be willing to contribute to this project. The response from DB members was overwhelming. Several of you are even giving monthly donations. Work progresses. It is really looking like a Health Center!! The community is beyond excited. They still can’t believe it’s coming to life. Gracias for your generosity in making this all possible.