Driving through the desert I stopped to get some tacos in Viscaino. I just happened to run into my amigo Juenal who I had met three years earlier on a whale watching tour. He told me about a festival in his home town of Benito Juarez. There was no surf so me and a friend Taylor decided to check it out. When we got to Benito Juarez we could not find Juenal so we decided to go watch a local soccer game. It was there that we met these dudes. We started drinking with them.

We continued to drink with them into the evening. These dudes were super cool. One of them let us park our trucks in his back yard. They all new Juenal and told us they would take us to his casa.

We went to the casa de Juenal. He was not home, but all his buddies were there. We feasted on ceviche and drank more cervesas. We met Juenal’s sons and his brother Manuel and all his neighbors.

Juenal finally showed up. He is in the center in the light red flannel with his two sons. My amigo Taylor who I have been traveling with is in the darker red flannel.

Juenal’s brother Manuel (in the grey shirt) became our guide to Benito Juarez. He took us to his buddies house where we took shots of tequila and drank more cervesas.

We then feasted on live clams.

I have never eaten anything that was still alive before. It does not get fresher than that. It was quite an experience.

We then went to the festival which was in full swing.

The people of Benito Juarez are very good dancers. It seemed to me to be a country style of salsa dancing.

I have found the people of Baja to be the most friendly happy people.

The people of Central Baja are very authentic.

The next morning I ran into Manuel singing songs and playing music with his buddies kicking off the day in true festival style. They wanted us to hang around for one more day, but I was too exhausted. These guys do festival right.

We then made our way out to one of Baja’s most secret spots. Only about 40 kids new about this spot at this specific moment.

I decided to go for a walk instead of battling a bunch of groms for waves. I found this cool abandoned whale boat.

Hunter and I and a spectacular Baja sunset.

My buddy Tyler and his dog Gunner

I decided to get away from the crowds and head to a more solitary spot. It was so hot here. It felt like the sun was literally melting my shoes. Once I got my camp gear set up and made some shade to hide under I watched an afternoon thunder and lightning storm going on in the mountains.

Another spectacular Baja sunset.

The next day I headed south and ran into Tyler again. When I arrived I came to the horrible realization that my transmission was totally broken. My truck would not move in any gear. I was 20 miles down a really bad dirt road and then 100 miles on the main paved road to the nearest mechanic. To top it all off I only had about 5 dollars on me with no bank in sight.

The next day we just happened to be camped right next to a road that a small Baja 500 style race was going on.

The very first car to come through took this turn and rolled his car right in front of us. I figured this might be the solution to my problems. In about an hour a truck with a large trailer came to pick up this buggy. I asked them if it would be possible to take my truck too. They told me it was not possible. It was worth a try.

Another spectacular Baja sunset.

Well after much help from my amigo Tyler, another American Matt, the local ranch owner, and a small roadside restaurant I was able to get a tow truck to pick me up. Right now I am sitting in a nice hotel room that I treated myself to after two weeks without a shower. I am in the town of Ciudad de Constituion. It is a town that I vowed to never stop in due to being shaken down by the most crooked cops in all of Baja on a previous trip.