Phil Friedman Outdoors

A Christmas winter wonderland in Baja California

Photo credit: Gonzalo de Leon

One hardly thinks of snow, pine trees and freezing temperatures when thinking of Baja California but that is exactly the scene just a few hundred miles south of San Diego in the San Pedro Martir National Park. Over 18 inches of snow last week blanketed the park at an altitude of 8,200 feet leaving a Baja winter wonderland.

Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park is one of the few pine forests that exists on the Baja California peninsula that is important habitat for native Bighorn Sheep. In addition the park is home to the California condor through re-introduction program by several international agencies.

The National Astronomical Observatory, built in 1971 on a neighboring peak, Cerro del la Cúpula, is home to Mexico's largest optical telescope, with a diameter of 2.12 meters, and a weight of 40 tons in total. The observatory is the second most important in Latin America. On a clear day, one can see the Sea of Cortez and the pacific Ocean from the observatory.

 The Meling Ranch is nearby and offers great accommodations. The ranch house, rebuilt after the ranch was destroyed during the 1911 revolution, is a model example of the structures of that era. The 10,000 acre cattle ranch offers its guests comfortable rooms, family-style meals, a swimming pool and horseback riding; Sierra San Pedro Mátir National Park is about a 45 min drive.

The San Pedro Mátir National Park is another Baja gem and a great reason for you to see a part of Baja that you may not know existed.

 

Mexico raises daily minimum wage by $0.18; still less than $5.00 a day for workers

Photo: Jose Luis Lucero is the hard working deckhand on the Whiskey out of Hotel Palmas de Cortes in Baja California Sur. He is not only a great hand on deck but a great friend of our family. Here is Jose (left) riding home with Philip (middle) and Patrick Friedman.

It is doubtful that an 18 cent a day increase in the daily minimum wage will do anything to help the over 52 million Mexicans living in poverty. 

Mexico’s National Commission on Minimum Wages, approved an average minimum wage hike of 4.2 percent, or about $0.18 per day. The increase will take effect on January 1^st. The minimum wage is slightly different in different geographical areas in the country.

For Zone A, which includes the Mexican capital and its surrounding area, the minimum wage will be 62.33 pesos ($4.58) per day. In Zone B, covering the cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey, it will be 60.57 pesos ($4.45) a day. And in Zone C, where the lowest wages are paid in such states as Aguascalientes, Chiapas and Guanajuato, the minimum wage is set at 59.08 pesos ($4.34) a day.

 As bad as things are in the US, can you imagine trying to care for your loved ones on less than a 5-dolar bill per day? As someone who travels a lot in Mexico and Latin America, maybe this is a reminder about how your tip to someone carrying your bags, or taking you on a fishing trip is so important.

 Some of the hardest working, most decent, upbeat people I know are south of the border. Always smiling, never complaining, and working hard exemplifies the vast majority of Mexicans and people from Latin America that I am blessed to know. They are the kind of people who would give you the shirt off their back and more if they could.

 So the next time you watch your deckhand break his back to make sure you have a great trip or your waitress gives you great service with a smile, try to remember that some of them are trying to survive on less than $5.00 a day.

 

 

Fishing Captain Curtis Wegener wins class 4 division of the Baja 1000

Curtis Wegener (left) at the Baja 1000. Wegener won the class 4 division at this years event and loves going to Baja. Photo credit: Brian Green

While all the attention during the Baja 1000 is focused on the class one trophy trucks, there are several other class races going on during this event. Captain Curtis Wegener from Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach has been traveling to Baja for years and just returned from competing in the class 4 division of the Baja 1000 for Sugar racing. “We won” said the ecstatic Wegener. “After 26 hours of hard driving day and night, we came in first by only 5 minutes.”

 

Wegener has been in the sportfishing business for decades. He owned and operated the Aztec for 23 years and currently owns Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach with his dear friend and confessed Baja lover Don Ashley. "It is one of many things that we have in common," said Ashley. "When someone mentions Baja, the two of us say "when and can we go."

 

Wegener sat in the passenger seat for 9 grueling hours at night helping to navigate through the barren yet treacherous Baja desert near San Felipe, Baja California Norte. “We were real underdogs so it made it that much sweeter when we crossed the finish line first,” he said.

 

If Wegener likes anything more that racing and fishing it is Baja and the people who live there. Wegener has been traveling to Baja since he was 16 years old and has camped in the beautiful peninsula for months at a time. He has fished, surfed, made lifelong friends and eaten at just about every taco stand from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas in his more than three decades of travel to the region. In all that time, the popular Southern California Captain has never encountered a problem.

 

Wegener’s wife Veronica has made several trips to Baja including some camping trips that have lasted for weeks. She never worries about him when he goes south. “I have been there and Curtis goes all the time without any problems,” she said. “Baja has become a part of who he is.”

 

The race started and finished in Ensenada but Wegener just had to make a stop at the Rosarito Beach Hotel and the taco stand in front of the legendary building. "The Rosarito Beach Hotel is one of my favorites and the tacos at the restaurant in front of the hotel are to die for," said Wegener. Ensenada was great too. "Festive, great people and just plain lots of fun.”  

Wegener has always made it a point to mix with the locals, eat in the local restaurants, and travel to some desolate parts of Baja. “I have some lifelong great friends down there (Baja) and they keep me coming back.”