Nate Buchanan and Kara document a multi-day van trip through Baja California, Mexico. Highlights include an up-close gray whale boat encounter near Guerrero Negro, camping and beach scenes in the Bay of Conception, resupplying water (40 gallons filled for $6), interacting with local vendors and hitchhikers, and celebrating Nate's 33rd birthday. The episode includes a sponsor mention (Oura Ring) and vivid first-person reactions to wildlife and local food.
Questions this video answers
40 gallons in eight days.
$6 to fill up the entire tank.
33 years.
Chapters
Welcome to episode three of our Baja road trip. It's been eight days since we crossed the border, and so far, Baja has been everything we hoped for. The last episode ended in Bahia de Los Angeles, and yesterday we made the three hour drive to the town of Guerrero Negro.
Good morning from the coldest and least picturesque campsite that we've stayed at on this entire trip. But we have good reason for being here today. We. We are going to experience something that doesn't happen anywhere else in the entire world. Every year, the gray whales migrate down from the Arctic to have and raise their babies in the warm, protected waters off the coast of Baja. For some reason, these whales are super friendly. Like, they will swim right up next to the boat and let you pet them. I know, I was super skeptical too. I figured they had to be feeding them or something. But in all the research I've done, these whales genuinely enjoy interacting with humans.
Safety first.
If all goes as planned, this is going to be the best day of my life. I'm way too excited.
No way.
Sea lions.
They're telling us.
Hello.
R R. R R.
So in addition to Puerto Negaro being the best place in the world to interact with great whales is also home to the largest salt production facility on the entire planet. These big barges that we're seeing, they're completely full of salt.
I was under the impression that the whales were in a bay, but I'm pretty sure out in the open ocean.
Go see the whales, they said.
Also, I went to take my seasickness medicine this morning and it was empty.
Those waves over there would topple the boat.
Everything's fine. It's gonna be fine. I just saw a blow hole.
A blow hole. A blow.
The blow breathing hole.
Kind of feels like we're in a washing machine right now. At one point during the drive out, I thought, I don't care about wells anymore. Let's just turn around because I don't want to die today.
Come on, little whale.
Oh, it's a big wave.
There's one there.
There's.
Did you not hear? Oh, my gosh. He's under the boat.
He's under the boat.
Whoa.
Look at it. Oh, my God. Oh, look, look. Look.
Look at his fence.
So big.
Oh, wow. My gosh.
There are two now. It was already all worth it.
Is that his face? Whoa.
Look at that.
I feel like I'm gonna cry. We have these 30 to 40 foot whales swimming under our boat. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
I want her to get close enough to.
Whoa.
Oh, My goodness. I touched the. Well.
I'm so jealous.
Whoa. Wow. They're everywhere.
They're doing, like, synchronized dancing.
Yeah.
Wow. It's so. Oh, big. Whoa. Oh. We almost shook hands.
He just waved at us.
Wow.
That was a good one.
This is your mommy.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
This is it.
I love you so much. I bet you went thousand best moment of my entire life.
I love.
I love you too.
Do you think he's like. Oh, my gosh. The human pet me.
Oh, good one.
Oh.
It'S okay.
The best day of my life.
This is the best day of my life.
Wow, Look.
Wow.
He has little hairs on his nose. Hi.
Hi. I can't stop smiling.
Look at that.
This is amazing.
This whole experience has been mind blowing. But one of the craziest things that I've recognized that I've never heard before is the inhale that the whales take before they go back under.
You'll just hear this big, like, it sounds like wind.
They're just circling our boat. Wow.
Look at those nostrils.
Wow. Oh, wow. For the brief moments when the whales are right up beside the boat and I'm about to get to touch one, I forget how nauseous I am. Look at them all.
What are they doing?
Those are kissing.
I have welsnot all over my face, and it's all over the camera.
It feels so good not to be nauseous anymore. That was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. But in the moment, I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.
Don't worry. I enjoyed it enough for the both of us. Real quick, we want to say a big thank you to oura Ring for sponsoring this video. You may have noticed that Nate and I have been wearing a new ring every single day for the last six weeks. See? Here's proof. Pre Mexico tan, this tiny, unassuming ring is more than just for looks. It is actually an insanely accurate sleep tracker and 247 heart rate monitor. It also tracks things like your body temperature, your workouts, your menstrual cycle. And the best part is it gets to know your body and it gets better and smarter with time. And as an added bonus, I only have to charge it once a week. Plus, it's waterproof and temperature resistant. Basically, we never take it off. The oura ring app shows all the data it's collected, and every morning it gives you a readiness score and a sleep score based on your quality of sleep that night. Pretty much every morning, the first thing I do is check my app and now when Nate asks me, how'd you sleep last night? Instead of giving him a normal answer, like, pretty good. I'm like, I'm an 89 today. Or I'm like, oh, I'm a 74. Pretty funny. But seriously, what I love is not only does it provide all these interesting statistics about my body, but it explains why they're important. I've been fascinated by what it's taught me about how things like drinking and exercising affect my sleep and recovery. I honestly think oura ring is the coolest. You're definitely going to see us continue to wear these, so I obviously highly recommend them. And if you want to get one for yourself, just click the link in the description below and you'll get a six month free membership. Okay, on to the video.
This afternoon, we have about a three and a half hour drive to the town of Mulehe. But before we leave, we are going to attempt to fill up with fresh water for the first time since arriving in Mexico. And I think I found a place where we can fill up with water that will be good for our American gut. It's the first time, so we'll see how it goes.
Par vivier. The agua espien.
Okay.
Oh, there we go.
We're doing it.
So far, the process has been super straightforward. We pulled into a parking.
Mas. No mas. Gracias. The process has been super straightforward so far. We pulled into the parking lot, we moved the bed around so I can get to our new water filling point. And he pulled his hose out of a window.
Arm is getting very tired.
We've been in Mexico for eight days now, and we're just now filling up for the first time. 40 gallons in eight days. It's pretty good.
Listo mucho agua. 44. 0 gallons.
120. Okay. Gracias.
$6 to fill up the entire tank, and I'm pretty sure we can drink it without getting sick. All right. Picking up our first hitchhiker.
Really?
Yeah. He was on the well tour this morning. Hello. Do you mind sitting on the bed? No worries. What's your name?
Luca.
I'm Nate.
I'm Kara.
Kara and Nate.
Yep. We spent the next hour listening to Luca's crazy stories from hitchhiking through Baja. We would have driven him further, but we realized a military checkpoint was coming up and we weren't sure if they would be happy about us having an extra passenger without a seatbelt on. We felt a little guilty dropping him off at the next town. But five minutes later, he sent us this picture, letting Us know that a local had already picked him up. We halfway. This giant whale skeleton marks the halfway point on the Baja peninsula. We're also just outside the town of San Ignacio, which is a real life desert oasis. All of a sudden, we're surrounded by green flowers and palm trees. But this is not our final destination. Back on the road, military stop number five, four.
Sorry. From guero negro. See?
See, we're surfing.
I think he enjoyed watching us squirm, trying to respond in Spanish.
We've arrived in Mulahe.
All right.
Hopefully.
Ah, well, it's been a big day. And when we pulled in, the guy that owns the campground told us that there are two for one margaritas at the restaurant.
Salsa test.
That's good stuff. That's beautiful. Oh, my God.
Oscar. Michael. Oh, my gosh.
Is this my first avocado to it?
It's okay.
I'd rather have whale experiences, you know.
It's been a good day.
Morning.
Yuck. We clearly have not washed a single dish this week because we are trying to conserve water now that we have a full tank. I could wash them in here, but why would I do that?
This campground has a sink. They even provided the soap.
This is going to take a while.
All right. We've got to get out of here before we get too comfortable. Not only do they have WI fi at the campsite, but we also found the first hot shower that we've had in nine days. It doesn't look like much, but it was beautiful.
We have a couple of things that we need to do before we leave Mulahi. The first one is go to an atmosphere.
I was so nervous sticking my card into that ATM because based on my research, that was the only ATM within an hour drive in any direction.
And then we are going to go to our first tortilla. Our friends Ferris and Lisa were here a few months ago and said that this place has the best tortillas in all of Baja.
Found it.
So, unfortunately, the owner of the tortillaria was not a huge fan of the camera.
But we did come away with three packs of tortillas and two mystery cheeses, all for US$5. You buy tortillas by the kilo in Mexico. This is a half kilo of tortillas.
We also got some flour tortillas and I'm excited that these are packaged because last time we got corn tortillas, they went bad before we could finish them all. So we'll eat these super quickly before they get hard. Then we'll move on to these fresh flour ones.
Oh, my gosh.
This cheese is so good.
Oh, it's like super salty and tangy.
Life changing.
It just melts in your mouth.
I was getting borderline hangry. I need this snack.
All right, from here we have about a 20 minute drive to a beach called Santis.
You sound that in French salty, Spock.
And we've heard that it has a completely different vibe from anywhere else we've been.
We about to come out of nowhere here. Whoa.
Is that where we're going?
Yeah. Look at that.
Oh, look at the color of that water.
It's gonna be a party.
Oh, my gosh. Welcome to the Bay of Conception.
See? No problema.
Gracias.
Santiago. I was saying it right?
Yeah. Just with a little bit of a French accent. Wow.
This is insane.
Man, that beef is annoying.
Now that's more like it.
Via Menitos.
Oh, my goodness.
Wow.
Can I bend? Please help me.
Oh, don't worry. I got this corner.
My favorite day. All of my Baja dreams are coming to right now.
Somehow.
It's day 10 and it's the first time I'm lying on the beach, warm in the sunshine. It's beautiful. And even though it's the middle of a Saturday and we are one of hundreds of people on this beach right now, somehow it's still so quiet. There's just a light breeze. The water's so calm.
I just couldn't be happier. So there are a lot of vendors roaming around the beach selling stuff out of the back of their cars. And we decided that today we're just going for the full experience. And we're gonna buy one thing from each person that approaches us. This could be a terrible idea.
Small, medium, large. Almost free. Almost. Gift for your mother in law.
400 pesos.
400? I thought you said almost free.
Almost free. 500.
We're going to his van to see his inventory.
Oh, mucho blancas palaciesta. Ah, no, gracias, Solo. So wrong. The price? 300. 350. No fleet coin. No fleet coin. 350.
I think it's worth.
Okay.
200 at most.
Flip coin. 200 or 400. Okay. Yeah.
Okay.
Do you have a coin? Okay.
Hola, Eagle. Wait, which one?
Okay. The Eagle. Eagle. Okay.
Oh, that sign.
Okay. It was fair. Can you get change? Bitcoin sometimes make money. Sometimes, Nana. Okay. Nice doing business. Yes, amigo. Yes, thank you. No problem.
That was hilarious. Thank you for my $20 sarong.
Past me would be so disappointed. I would have haggled so hard to pay as little as possible for that. Sarong. I know. I just paid way too much. I was in a losing situation as as soon soon as that coin went into the air, even if I won, I was still paying way too much. We're in a different place now than when we first started. We're not on that backpacker budget anymore. And I know that that 10 extra dollars means way more to him than it means to us. At the same time, it almost feels wrong not to haggle because nobody likes getting ripped off. And I don't want to set the standard that any Americans that come down to Mexico are just gullible and can be taken advantage of.
But 2016, you would have just walked in away and discussed that price.
Well, I would have walked away four times. Excuse me, sir. 800, 150. Told my final offer was 200. And he followed me up the steps and eventually bought a number for $3.
How many people are gonna bring up?
We found the Ferris wheel. Yay.
Are we gonna ride it?
No, it's way too expensive. Just gonna look at it.
When we decided we were going to say yes to all the vendors, I thought we were going to be eating, but that guy gave me the choice between sunglasses or a sombrero. I already have sunglasses. It was $12. And now it will be less burnt. Hurry, Angela. You're asleep. She's selling wind chimes.
Oh, my gosh. Is that open?
We don't need a wind chime for the van.
It worked.
We didn't break the rules and we didn't buy a wind chime. Win.
Win. Lying on the beach with this was great, but this is how I really envisioned using this when we bought it. Oh, that's so good.
This hammock has been riding around in the back of the van ever since we moved in two years ago, and this is the first time that I've ever set it up.
Before we left the U.S. we stocked up on some plant based proteins and oh my gosh, we only got two of these, but I wish we would have gotten 20. I've never heard of it before. It's called Abbott's Butcher Pea Protein Chorizo. I can't think of anything better to put on our fresh corn tortillas for dinner tonight.
But first.
It's guacamole time. It's guacamole time. I just couldn't be happier. I feel like I've said that a lot of times this trip, but it truly does just keep getting better. Every new place we go is my new favorite place.
Wow. No. No. Well, you're brave.
I dare that seagull to try to eat one of my tacos. Look at that.
Oh, my gosh. I mean, I know I made this, so I can't, like, talk too highly about it, but might be my favorite.
Taco I've ever had.
Wow. Oh, and that cheese is so creamy.
Ah, you guys are above it all.
Cheers. What a community.
Oh, the sun has gone down and I believe the party has officially started. A truck of people just pulled up and started blasting mariachi. I have a good feeling it's not going to stop for a while.
Morning.
Today's the one day a year that I get up before Nate and make him coffee.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Happy birthday.
Things.
Cheers. 33 years.
Nate loves all things breakfast, especially when it's sweet, sugary donuts, pancakes, waffles, all the things that I hate. So he usually doesn't get it. So for his birthday, I'm gonna make him a little breakfast treat. Melt some coconut oil, add some honey. Just put a bunch of sweet stuff and cinnamon in a pan. Just chopped up some bananas, threw them in there. You don't actually have any sugar. I would add that too. That is where I draw the line in this family. They're beautiful.
He never relaxes like this. It's kind of turned into a sweet Mexican quesadilla.
French is. Sir.
You know how they have dessert pizza? It's like a dessert quesadilla.
Do you love it?
Thanks. Welcome. This is strong start to 33 years. All down here.
Open her up in the back.
As he is.
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Nate. I bought you a banana bread out of the back of a lady's truck.
Thanks.
I don't have any candles. Maybe I'll stick a lighter.
We never even use these.
This campground has a toilet. And. And it's a little on the rustic side. But hey, a toilet's a toilet.
You just got dumped. A little sea water in there. No problemo. It is. Bring your own toilet paper, though.
Vinegar water. All right.
Pretty good. Little dirty.
So this area that we're in is called the Bay of Conception, which weirdly, is an appropriate place to be celebrating my birthday, I guess. And we're about to move to another campsite inside of the bay.
But first, tamales.
Man, I could get used to this. It's one of those foods that isn't pretty on camera. But that's so true, man. Is it good?
Goodbye. Most beautiful camp that we've ever had.
We have about a 20 minute drive to our campsite for tonight. And turns out the bay of Conception is the bay that keeps on giving. So we kind of felt like we had found this, like, beautiful hidden gem of a campground. Literally every two miles, there is an identical bay that looks just like where we slept.
There is perfect, picturesque camping every two miles.
It's crazy. Baja just keeps getting better. That should probably be the title of this video. But we can call it Baja, birthday boy.
No, no. I think we may have managed to find an even more popular beach than the one we left.
Hola. See?
Okay.
Perfecto. Wow, this is beautiful.
It is quite packed, that spot.
What if we backed in right next to it?
Hola. How are you?
You remember me from Cerritos beach?
Yes.
Really? Yeah.
All right. Sounds good.
What?
We bet them on the beach in Cerritos in December.
Is that the best spot, though?
It's the one all the way down at the end that you want it to stay at. You're joking. No. What if we back to him?
I can't believe this birthday boy. Who's that hot? 33 or. After getting the perfect camping spot, we spent the rest of Nate's birthday enjoying this gorgeous beach. I know I'm biased, but he is so easy to celebrate. I tell him all the time that he is the only reason we've gotten to where we are today. Nate turned our passion for travel into our career, and I was just lucky enough to come along for the ride. His determination, work ethic, and self discipline cannot be matched. Pair that with his sense of adventure and he is unstoppable. That's probably what I admire about him most. And of course, the fact that he brings me coffee in bed every single day. Another reason this day is so special is because 10 years ago on Nate's birthday, He asked me to marry him on the beach in Destin, Florida. And here we are again on the beach and Baja, 10 years later, living a dream we didn't even know was possible. Anyways, I could go on forever about all the things I love about Nate. But I'll spare you. Just let me say one last happy birthday and engage a versary to my favorite person on the planet. I love you, Nate.
