We made the drive across the peninsula toward Santa Rosalia to see about camping there. The drive was across the desert and around some volcanoes and volcanic debris fields. The desert was pretty abundant and sections would all of a sudden become flush with cactus and trees and then give way to grasslands. The final few miles into San Rosalia was a bit barren and passed through a large mining area that appeared to still be somewhat operational with a large dock with pipes from the mine extending to the end. San Rosalia had an old refining plant that sits rusty and forbidding behind some newer shops near the middle of town.
We stopped at the local Birria to get some pulled pork tacos and chicharronies. The tacos were fantastic, but the fried pork fat was a bit overdone, though the pups liked it. We researched Santa Rosario later and apparently it was founded by a French company in 1884, was a company town, and has become somewhat of a tourist destination these days. Apparently the El Bolio mine was open until 1954 and then the Mexican government took it over to try and save the town and operation. It finally closed in the 1980’s until in the early 2000’s it was again opened by Canadian and Korean investors since the mine has about 0.6% copper and zinc and lower concentrations of cobalt and manganese. A Korean company now has development and operations for this mine after the first set of investors blew through $1.2 billion in development. Apparently it has 530 million tons of ore at the mine, which translates to about 33 billion in copper at today’s prices if they can keep operation costs down.
We walked around the main park and some of the old buildings and streets. The pups enjoyed the walk. We took some pictures, and checked out a couple of shops and then decided to take the multiple recommendations and head an hour south to Mulege. We did note that there was a vet there in case the pups needed it, but they were closed on Sunday and Monday. We down to the north end of Bahia de Conception to Heroic Mulege. This place has a great reputation for camping, sea kayaking, fishing, etc. We scouted a couple of places and then decided to stay at the end of the town on a free camping spot. There were free palapas and a partially sandy beach filled with shells; a favorite of Kathy’s.
The pups are still suffering from the bowel infection from the mussels. We spent the first night aiding them every hour or so as they walked down our steps to the beach and found a place to poop. We had started to give them chicken and rice, but Maggie was not eating or drinking at all at the end of the day. We were pretty worried about her. Zuzu was feeling better and was eating everything she could get her mouth on and started to show signs of regular bowel movements. We decided to take Maggie to the vet on the 15th if she did not show improvement. Fortunately in the morning I cooked up some sweet potatoes and rice and both of them ate a good amount plus some of the pork we had leftover and used for breakfast. They were both doing better so Kathy and I decided to leave them in Howie and walk to town to check out a vet that was listed there.
The walk was about 2 miles. It was my birthday and my parents called and we spoke to them as we walked. Mom and Dad sounded good and we caught them up on our travels and they caught us up on their medical adventures that has taken over their lives. Dad had his knee replaced in July and has had a really hard time with recovery and is still working to get his mobility back. Love them tons and are praying for them every day.
The town of Mulege is kind of cool. Several one-way streets and a mixture of older and newer and dilapidated buildings. We found a little taco shop with a Banos and had a couple of shrimp tacos, some beers and a soda. The little town had lots of puppies to delight Kathy as well as a number of shops. She found a shirt and a sticker she liked and a really neat store with lots of Talavera items. She even found a store with Dr. Pepper Zero, which apparently they bring in from Costco all the way north in Mexicali. Lots of the stores here have Costco items, broken down into single sale items. They even have TP and Paper towels from Costco. They sell the paper towels for $65 Pesos per roll ($3.50) and a bag of mixed nuts for $485 Pesos ($29). The mark-up is HUGE.
The town is cool and there are lots of restaurants and bars. Its slow here now, but will pick up after the first of the year. We walked back to the campsite on the beach, walked the pups, and then walked over to the local taco stand and had a beer and a couple more shrimp tacos. Kathy and I took a long beach coast walk around the lighthouse and found some old communist propaganda painted on the rocks. Here are some additional photos of the past few days in Santa Rosalia and Mulege.