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This latest trip came up when friends wanted to go to Cabo to celebrate a 10 year anniversary and a birthday. I figured I could celebrate the Red Bandit's 1 year anniversary too and use the journey to do some research for work as well. This was my first time in Baja California. It ended up being quite an adventure.

Flying was def an option, but I'm really glad I took the time to drive. Not too much off-roading on this trip, but I did manage to make it out to drive on some beaches and a few off road tracks. I had a schedule to meet the rest of the crew, so my ability to explore was limited.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_142885B9DC59-1


Headed out solo on Saturday from LA through the Mexicali crossing. I would be taking the gulf side down.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7829


Took about a day to acclimate to the different driving rules in Mexico .. speed limit suggestions, topes(speed bumps), animals, military checkpoints etc..
I was searched about 4 times, 1 time throughly. All military personnel I encountered were very friendly and professional. I didn't get out to take pics, didn't want to aggravate anyone lol.

First stop San Felipe, not much time spent here. Some lunch on the Malecon and on my way.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7833


Donkeys.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7836

Horses.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07934-2

And goats along the road.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 11.52.05 AM



From there made it to Santa Rosalia where I spent the night. Hotel had no running hot water, but that was resolved fairly quickly by the staff.

Along the way I was very eager to get off-road down some trails, didn't get very far in, but still had fun exploring a few.
The views were spectacular and the cactus as large as I have ever seen. Since the region had gotten a lot of rain, everything was very green and super lush. I would liken it to a desert jungle. Really gorgeous.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07592-Pano-2

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07637-Pano-2
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07619-Pano-2
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07629-Pano-2
Checked out the town of Mulege.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7845


Had lunch in Loreto and did my first stint of driving on the beach here. While doing so I met a fisherman who needed help loading his boat onto the trailer from the beach. So a few of us gathered and got it up after some struggle. The laughs and beers we shared after was worth it. Sadly I didn't take a photo :(

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7847


From there I continued down to La Paz. I found an off road trail that quite a few cars and trucks were going down. One of the guys told me it wasn't a long ride to the pacific side along the trail. I managed to make it half way, before deciding to turn around due to time constraint.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 10.06.49 AM


You can see the Pacific Ocean in the far distance.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07660-Pano


Continuing on the main paved road I ran into an Off-road race and my first bronco sighting. I would run into a total of 4 4-doors and 1 2 door. I had to pull in and stop! It was a 250 kilometer race from La Paz to this spot along the highway. Hung out here and chatted with the teams. Really a nice surprise to find along the way.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 10.26.17 AM


In La Paz, I had set aside about a day to hang out and sample the local dishes.

Malecon at night in La Paz.



















But not before a little early morning off-roading

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07731-Pano-2
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07726-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07739-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07755-Pano-2

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07742-2


Here I'm sitting with the chef (on the right side) discussing the dishes and local flair. They recommend I check out the Balandra (a beautify bay/beach)

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7873


I got there a bit late and it was closing but I managed to go to the beach near by called Tecolote. Water temp was absolutely perfect.


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07769-Pano


At this beach I met some really interesting people, an ecologist, a local Fishermans guild rep and someone who I'm sure was a local "jefe". It was made clearly evident to me when he pulled a 9 and let off a shot. Nice man, he did offer to buy the bronco several times. I nervously declined.

The next morning I made my way down to Cabo San Lucas, at first on paved roads then via a dirt road route along the coast. I saw a lot of construction of coastal homes.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7899
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07809-Pano


Lunch - Love the local food.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7890
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7891


After the dirt section, I ran into a bronco from Wyoming. We didn't get to say hi, but I got very excited. LOL.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7904


In Cabo I did all the tourist things with my friends and celebrated their birthday and anniversary. Not my bag but nothing beats being with your friends on vacation.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7914


After about 4 days in Cabo I made my way back up towards Los Angeles. Only this time I would take the Tijuana route.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07820-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07919-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07841-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07831


Spend the night in Guerrero Negro
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07872-Pano

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07861

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07884-Pano


Along the route I stopped in at Ejido Valle Tranquilo, here I got hustled by a local drunk fisherman who said where I was I wasn't supposed to be, even though it was a public area. Some pesos got me moving again.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07954-Pano-2


Beach driving in Santa Maria.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07983-Pano-3


I had lunch in Ensenada and then made my way to Tijuana.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7931


Border crossing took about 3 hours.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7932


Late night taste of being back home.
Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_7933


Next Baja trip will def be with an off-roading group. I missed out on a lot of trails due to time and not wanting to head out solo in Baja.

If a group is headed down, keep me posted. Would love to attend.

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. DSC07583-Pano-2
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Very cool. Was the 5 (gulf side) paved the whole way? We drove down a few years ago and had to offroad about 30 crazy miles, in the rain, and we weren't in an offroad vehicle at the time.
 
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KT_bronco

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Very cool. Was the 5 (gulf side) paved the whole way? We drove down a few years ago and had to offroad about 30 crazy miles, in the rain, and we weren't in an offroad vehicle at the time.
It was, there would be small sections that were being worked on, but only about .5 miles to a mile on dirt here and there. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the roads, well paved and fairly smooth.
 

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"If a group is headed down, keep me posted. Would love to attend."

I'd love to, too, but those cartels scare me--so count me out. I'd hate to think my Bronco is on a Panamanian freighter headed for the Persian Gulf.
Especially as a local gangster flashes a 9mm and pops off a round? I wouldn't even go to Big Bend NP!
 
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"If a group is headed down, keep me posted. Would love to attend."

I'd love to, too, but those cartels scare me--so count me out. I'd hate to think my Bronco is on a Panamanian freighter headed for the Persian Gulf.
Especially as a local gangster flashes a 9mm and pops off a round? I wouldn't even go to Big Bend NP!
lol yeah that part was a bit sketch. It's def a story to share over beers and camp fire.

Big Bend is def a must, I wouldn't worry about security there.
 

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Check out EXO - Exhibition Off Road. They have great trips. Bronco and Raptor. Just came back from a quick 4 day Baja trip west side with Broncos. They have videos you can watch. Going down to Cabo next month, off roading all the way down with Raptors. There was a April trip, but it sold out all ready. There’s one up for September (next year).

Don’t worry about the cartels. They don’t bother you. As the saying goes, you look for trouble, you’ll find it. Off roading in Baja is a lot of fun, should be experienced.
 

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Love Mexico, love the people, and the off-roading. I was fortunate to be included pre-running the Baja 500 & 1000 as well as the San Felipe 250. Met so many great people and have many fond memories of all of the different locations and great food. Thank you for sharing! You clearly had a great time and should go again with a group of other off road enthusiasts.
 

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Amazing trip, nice to see so much more large cactus!
 

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Took a 10 day trip in the Bronco down though Baja and it was amazing. Did about 100 off road miles with a buddy in a 4Runner. Noteworthy trails were the 4x4 trail from Bajia De Los Angeles up to Misión San Francisco de Borja, ending in El Rosarito (highly recommend to stop and view the Misión with the caretaker José Angel. Driving on the beaches at San Juanico (scorpion bay), camping at Punta Conejo with rattlesnakes and coyotes (looks like you actually got close to this area) and off-roading from San Juanico to San Ignacio (60 miles), near the salt flats. You definitely need another vehicle though, I wouldn’t do any of the long distance trails without a partner. I want to go back !!

Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6612


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6601


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6617


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6615


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6625


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6598


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6476


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_6427


Ford Bronco Red Bandit's Road Trip to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. IMG_4211
 
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Check out EXO - Exhibition Off Road. They have great trips. Bronco and Raptor. Just came back from a quick 4 day Baja trip west side with Broncos. They have videos you can watch. Going down to Cabo next month, off roading all the way down with Raptors. There was a April trip, but it sold out all ready. There’s one up for September (next year).

Don’t worry about the cartels. They don’t bother you. As the saying goes, you look for trouble, you’ll find it. Off roading in Baja is a lot of fun, should be experienced.
Appreciate the suggestions. I'll be on the lookout for those.
 

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"If a group is headed down, keep me posted. Would love to attend."

I'd love to, too, but those cartels scare me--so count me out. I'd hate to think my Bronco is on a Panamanian freighter headed for the Persian Gulf.
Especially as a local gangster flashes a 9mm and pops off a round? I wouldn't even go to Big Bend NP!
lol yeah that part was a bit sketch. It's def a story to share over beers and camp fire.

Big Bend is def a must, I wouldn't worry about security there.
I was at Big Bend National Park in 2021, it's very safe and pretty cool. There's a trip the Central Texas Bronco Group is doing there right before New Years, btw.
 

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Great write up! I am planning a Baja trip around early June next year if you have any interest. A group of my friends and I are driving from DC to San Diego, then down the coast of Baja. We plan on doing a lot of beach camping so I don't think we have time to go to Baja Sur but plan to explore a lot of the norte. I might hit you up later anyways for some recommendations.
 
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Great write up! I am planning a Baja trip around early June next year if you have any interest. A group of my friends and I are driving from DC to San Diego, then down the coast of Baja. We plan on doing a lot of beach camping so I don't think we have time to go to Baja Sur but plan to explore a lot of the norte. I might hit you up later anyways for some recommendations.
Thank you. Absolutely keep me posted. I just got a tiny taste of what Baja has to offer in terms of off-road fun.
 

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This latest trip came up when friends wanted to go to Cabo to celebrate a 10 year anniversary and a birthday. I figured I could celebrate the Red Bandit's 1 year anniversary too and use the journey to do some research for work as well. This was my first time in Baja California. It ended up being quite an adventure.

Flying was def an option, but I'm really glad I took the time to drive. Not too much off-roading on this trip, but I did manage to make it out to drive on some beaches and a few off road tracks. I had a schedule to meet the rest of the crew, so my ability to explore was limited.

IMG_142885B9DC59-1.jpeg


Headed out solo on Saturday from LA through the Mexicali crossing. I would be taking the gulf side down.

IMG_7829.jpeg


Took about a day to acclimate to the different driving rules in Mexico .. speed limit suggestions, topes(speed bumps), animals, military checkpoints etc..
I was searched about 4 times, 1 time throughly. All military personnel I encountered were very friendly and professional. I didn't get out to take pics, didn't want to aggravate anyone lol.

First stop San Felipe, not much time spent here. Some lunch on the Malecon and on my way.

IMG_7833.jpeg


Donkeys.
IMG_7836.jpeg

Horses.
DSC07934-2.jpg

And goats along the road.
Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 11.52.05 AM.jpg



From there made it to Santa Rosalia where I spent the night. Hotel had no running hot water, but that was resolved fairly quickly by the staff.

Along the way I was very eager to get off-road down some trails, didn't get very far in, but still had fun exploring a few.
The views were spectacular and the cactus as large as I have ever seen. Since the region had gotten a lot of rain, everything was very green and super lush. I would liken it to a desert jungle. Really gorgeous.

DSC07592-Pano-2.jpg

DSC07637-Pano-2.jpg
DSC07619-Pano-2.jpg
DSC07629-Pano-2.jpg
Checked out the town of Mulege.
IMG_7845.jpeg


Had lunch in Loreto and did my first stint of driving on the beach here. While doing so I met a fisherman who needed help loading his boat onto the trailer from the beach. So a few of us gathered and got it up after some struggle. The laughs and beers we shared after was worth it. Sadly I didn't take a photo :(

IMG_7847.jpeg


From there I continued down to La Paz. I found an off road trail that quite a few cars and trucks were going down. One of the guys told me it wasn't a long ride to the pacific side along the trail. I managed to make it half way, before deciding to turn around due to time constraint.

Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 10.06.49 AM.jpg


You can see the Pacific Ocean in the far distance.

DSC07660-Pano.jpg


Continuing on the main paved road I ran into an Off-road race and my first bronco sighting. I would run into a total of 4 4-doors and 1 2 door. I had to pull in and stop! It was a 250 kilometer race from La Paz to this spot along the highway. Hung out here and chatted with the teams. Really a nice surprise to find along the way.

Screenshot 2023-09-05 at 10.26.17 AM.jpg


In La Paz, I had set aside about a day to hang out and sample the local dishes.

Malecon at night in La Paz.



















But not before a little early morning off-roading

DSC07731-Pano-2.jpg
DSC07726-Pano.jpg

DSC07739-Pano.jpg

DSC07755-Pano-2.jpg

DSC07742-2.jpg


Here I'm sitting with the chef (on the right side) discussing the dishes and local flair. They recommend I check out the Balandra (a beautify bay/beach)

IMG_7873.jpeg


I got there a bit late and it was closing but I managed to go to the beach near by called Tecolote. Water temp was absolutely perfect.


DSC07769-Pano.jpg


At this beach I met some really interesting people, an ecologist, a local Fishermans guild rep and someone who I'm sure was a local "jefe". It was made clearly evident to me when he pulled a 9 and let off a shot. Nice man, he did offer to buy the bronco several times. I nervously declined.

The next morning I made my way down to Cabo San Lucas, at first on paved roads then via a dirt road route along the coast. I saw a lot of construction of coastal homes.

IMG_7899.jpeg
DSC07809-Pano.jpg


Lunch - Love the local food.

IMG_7890.jpeg
IMG_7891.jpeg


After the dirt section, I ran into a bronco from Wyoming. We didn't get to say hi, but I got very excited. LOL.
IMG_7904.jpeg


In Cabo I did all the tourist things with my friends and celebrated their birthday and anniversary. Not my bag but nothing beats being with your friends on vacation.
IMG_7914.jpeg


After about 4 days in Cabo I made my way back up towards Los Angeles. Only this time I would take the Tijuana route.
DSC07820-Pano.jpg

DSC07919-Pano.jpg

DSC07841-Pano.jpg

DSC07831.jpg


Spend the night in Guerrero Negro
DSC07872-Pano.jpg

DSC07861.jpg

DSC07884-Pano.jpg


Along the route I stopped in at Ejido Valle Tranquilo, here I got hustled by a local drunk fisherman who said where I was I wasn't supposed to be, even though it was a public area. Some pesos got me moving again.
DSC07954-Pano-2.jpg


Beach driving in Santa Maria.
DSC07983-Pano-3.jpg


I had lunch in Ensenada and then made my way to Tijuana.
IMG_7931.jpg


Border crossing took about 3 hours.
IMG_7932.jpg


Late night taste of being back home.
IMG_7933.jpg


Next Baja trip will def be with an off-roading group. I missed out on a lot of trails due to time and not wanting to head out solo in Baja.

If a group is headed down, keep me posted. Would love to attend.

DSC07583-Pano-2.jpg


Just made me think of this and also about "The Shawshank Redemption", Zihuatanejo.

Great pictures thanks for sharing.
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