Podcast Slow Baja

Sal Fish, the Godfather, is back for his second conversation on Slow Baja. This time, we met above the beach at his place in La Paz. We picked up where our previous conversation ended around 1969. At the time, Sal worked for Petersen Publications as the Publisher of Car Craft and later Hot Rod Magazine. One day, while visiting Revel, the model comp…

At age 8, Bob Bower read about the Bill Stroppe Lincoln teams that dominated the 1953 Mexican Carrera Panamericana and later learned about the Baja 1000 race to La Paz. It became a fixation with him to be part of it someday. Living the life of a Corvette enthusiast, Bower caught the eye of BFGoodrich at a time when the Brand was in the early stages…

In 1978, shortly after graduating as an oceanologist, Antonio Reséndiz Senior went to live in Bahía de los Ángeles. They called him "Crazy" Reséndiz since he arrived with almost nothing and lived in a tent on the beach. Commercial exploitation of the turtle had skyrocketed, and the species was on the brink of extinction. The National Fisheries Inst…

Trudi Angell makes her third visit to the Slow Baja Podcast to discuss her new "retirement project," The Museo Antigua Californio in Loreto, BCS. Trudi is well known in Baja as the longtime owner and "Bell Mare" guide-in-residence of the mule-packing outfitters Saddling South. Through her travels into the remote mountains of the Sierra de Giganta, …

Today’s Slow Baja conversation is with Kurt Williams. He owns Cruiser Outfitters, a legendary company specializing in parts and services for Toyota Land Cruisers. I am eternally grateful to Kurt and his staff at Cruiser Outfitters, who were instrumental in sorting (and sponsoring) my suspension upgrades last year. Williams, a lifelong Utah resident…

We meet Brandon Thomason and Nathan Stuart in today’s Slow Baja conversation. Brandon owns and operates TopoTerra, a leading off-grid vehicle and camping gear rental provider. Based in San Diego, California, with operations in Colorado, TopoTerra “has the rig and the gear to help you escape the daily grind.” Whether you are looking for an off-road …

Zihul Martinez is the man to know in Guerrero Negro. He is a highly-respected wilderness guide who can show you the whales, the cave paintings, the pronghorn, or, as he says, "the magic of the central desert." Born in Chiapas, Mexico, Martinez moved to Mexico City at fourteen to attend school. Later, he joined the Mexican Army and had a twenty-one-…

Note: Strong language warning. We bleeped the F-bombs but left the other swear words unbleeped! In this Slow Baja Podcast conversation, I sit down with off-road personality and Shreddy brand founder Blake Wilkey and filmmaker extraordinaire Michael Squier. The duo teamed up to run a Manx Remastered in the 2023 NORRA Mexican 1000 Slow Baja Safari Cl…

Adam Sheard, a Brit by birth, has always had an affinity for old vehicles. He runs Speed Deluxe, a full-service motorcycle shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee, specializing in custom builds, restorations, and fabricating unique solutions. He started Speed Deluxe Vintage Adventures to combine epic road trips with vintage motorcycles. Harking back to the …

"Experience life in the old west with us, riding through 1000 acres of privately owned ranch land and wilderness. Wide open spaces, epic vistas, and sightings of grass-fed cattle, pasture horses, wildflowers & a variety of birds all await your soul." -Baja by Horse. Marty found her way to Baja in 1961 when her parents bought a lot in La Mision and …

“Evan Christenson is a dirtbag who believes that the slower you ride, the more you take away. He’s also a photographer and a burnt-out roadie who’s bikepacked on four continents.” -Bikepacking.com We met in 2021 while Evan rode the Baja Divide on a 1700-mile first date with his new girlfriend. I was on the BajaXL Rally and was happy to share a litt…

The Hotel Seven Crown is an laid-back boutique hotel beautifully located on the famous La Paz Malecon. With clean architectural lines and updated rooms, some featuring spectacular bay views. A stay at the Seven Crown puts you in the heart of the lively La Paz waterfront.We arrived as one of the many Fiestas celebrating the 488th Anniversary of La P…

When Patty Mercier jumped in Loren Upton’s 1966 Jeep CJ5, she knew she was in for an adventure. The man behind the wheel was on his fourth attempt to cross the Darién Gap. The first three trips had ended in death and disaster, but Upton, an intrepid adventurer, would not be deterred. In addition to his determination to cross the treacherous Darién …

Please enjoy this archive edition of Slow Baja with Mary McGee. The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame just voted McGee into the class of 2023, and I am delighted to share this Slow Baja conversation that originally aired on 1 August 2022. Mary McGee is an American motorsport racing pioneer. She was the first woman to compete in motorcycle road raci…

Johnny Johnson was one of the early champions in off-road racing. With 112 career victories, and eight Baja 1000’s where he proudly claims “l never got out of the car!” Johnson was one of the very very best in the dirt. He was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2010. Revered by his fellow racers for his fabrication and tuning sk…

Meet Nathan Burbey of Casa Concepcion B & B in today's travel talk with Slow Baja. In our conversation, we discuss his history in Bahia Concepcion. --Nathan's father owns the restaurant and campground just down the road known as Mark and Olivia's Playa Buenaventura. Nathan has lived between Posada Concepcion and Buenaventura since he graduated from…

Glen Horn is about as Slow Baja as it gets. He has prioritized a life filled with surfing, physical fitness, and living modestly and in harmony with nature. After moving to San Diego as a "young tike," Horn grew up playing Davy Crockett in the local canyons. Soon his older brother was surfing, and the Horn boys were hitch-hiking down Balboa Drive t…

For most off-road racing fans, Ivan “Ironman” Stewart needs no introduction. Stewart utterly dominated off-road and stadium racing in the 1980s and 90s. Born in 1945, Stewart grew up in East County, San Diego. As a youngster, he raced go-carts, competing on street circuits on both sides of the border. Stewart made the unlikely leap to off-road raci…

Today’s show is with Pauline Marguerite Wickham --Paulina, as she’s known in Baja, is a retired “child-whisperer,” having taught for over 35 years. She resides full-time in Bahía de Los Angeles, where she keeps busy with three mules, a burro, an elderly dog, and her husband, "Dern." We discuss her life and friendship with Baja legend, prospector, a…

As we sort our video and audio recordings from our recent BajaXL drive, we are delighted to share one of my favorite shows from last year. We will return next week with a video of our Slow Baja conversation with Ivan Stewart on YouTube. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel here. "Chango," the twelve-inch tall, plaster-of-Paris, irregularly paint…

Today’s Slow Baja conversation is with filmmaker and photographer Sam Hurly and his Baja chauffeur and amigo Danny White. Sam creates automotive films and photographs for Turtle Wax. He convinced the fine folks at headquarters to send him down to Baja to follow us in the NORRA Mexican 1000. Sam needed a skilled off-road driver with a reliable rig t…

Today’s Slow Baja conversation is with Ramon Castro, the genial Class 11 Champion better known as “El Tomate.” Growing up in Ensenada, Ramon Castro watched the early Baja 1000 races from his elementary school playground. When he was only 17, much to his mother’s chagrin, he entered his first Baja 1000. He had no experience, no plan, no pre-run, not…

Genevieve Mattar and Kevin Branscum met in South America while exploring the Andes ruins and the Amazon forests. He was an American seeking adventure, and she was a travel guide leading a group of French Canadians. The couple soon married and as Kevin was a Southern Californian and seasoned Baja traveler, they began exploring the remote regions of …

In this archive edition of Slow Baja, we return to my 2020 conversation with professor Paul Ganster. I wanted to share this show again as I recently watched Isaac Artensteins's magnificent Journeys of Harry Crosby documentary. The Crosby film is available to stream on PBS here. Ganster began traveling to Mexico with his friend and former high schoo…

In today’s Slow Baja Podcast, we talk to Bruce Trenery about his experience racing the wild and wooly early days of the La Carrera Panamericana Classic. Bruce ran in the LCP Classics from 1987 to 1993. In its early “Baja” period, the race was a high-speed sprint from Ensenada to San Felipe. A few years later, the La Carrera moved to mainland Mexico…

Doug and Shannon Miller open their hearts to share honestly about their service-first approach to family travel. After their newly adopted daughter from China needed open heart surgery, they did the only sane thing you can do with two weeks of "use it or lose it" vacation. They packed up their fresh-from-the-ER-brood and headed to Baja! When Doug r…

In today’s Slow Baja Podcast, we catch up with Andrew Szabo, founder of the BajaXL Rally. Unfortunately, we had some technical glitches and used Andrew’s voice memo app as a recording device. When he sent the files, they were static-filled and nearly unusable. My producer Christopher Keiser did yeoman’s work to make the audio (barely) tolerable. My…

Sal Fish is the beloved Godfather of Off-road Racing and former President of SCORE International. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a humble and kind auto mechanic, a loving mother, with a Sicilian Grandmother at home who only spoke Italian. His parents scrimped, saved, and sent Fish and his three brothers to the Roman Catholic, col…

In today's travel talk with Slow Baja, we meet Anton Jimenez from Malagon Winery. In our conversation, we discuss the winery's history, which dates back to Russian settlers, their award-winning wines from sixty-five-year-old vines, and a new craft beer brewing project. Ted and I stayed in Casa Azul, and I was delighted by the sweet sound of nature.…

In today’s travel talk with Slow Baja, we meet Ruth Loyola. Ruth is the General Manager of the Bruma Universe. In our conversation, we discuss Casa 8, the casually elegant bed & breakfast, Bruma, the stunningly beautiful winery, and Fauna, recently selected as one of the top 50 restaurants in Latin America. We stayed in a beautiful room in Casa 8. …

Jon P. Rebman is the Curator of Botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Originally from rural Illinois, Rebman landed a Fulbright Fellowship that took him to study in Ensenada. During his year south of the border, Rebman traveled the peninsula cataloging cholla cacti with his fellow students and the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California f…

Geoff Hill is back for an update on Baja Bound Insurance, spoiler alert --Baja Bound can now insure your home in Mexico! We talk Baja travel, trip preparation, where he's just been and where he's headed next. Geoff's not your average Insurance agent. Since his first surf trip in 1990, he hasn't been able to escape Baja's pull. After surfing his way…

Eric Solorzano, the King of Class 11, is a humble mechanic from Tijuana. He’s been racing a Volkswagen in Baja for over 30 years. “Out of the car, I don’t know anything. In the car, as soon as I put it in gear, a calm comes over me,” says Solorzano. Honored by the Mexican Government as the Winningest Mexican in Off-Road Racing history. Solorzano ha…

Matthew Schnitzer is a barber in Dana Point, California. Today's Slow Baja Podcast discusses how he formed Barbers for Baja. After organizing two immensely successful holiday toy drives, Schnitzer made a dramatic and ambitious pivot to focus on sending kids in need to college. "Barbers For Baja began at The Kings Club Barbershop with a toy drive fo…

Michael Squier returns to Slow Baja to give us an update on the premiere of The Baja Bug Movie. The film has three screenings at the 2022 Newport Beach Film Festival. October 15th and 18th are sold out, but tickets (as of this posting) are still available for the closing night on October 20th. “When the Volkswagen Beetle was first brought into the …

Andrew Norton is a nerd. He freely admits that he's been nerding out on cars since he was a kid in Iowa. His first love was the bold and beautiful Mustangs and Cobras built by Caroll Shelby in the 1960s. Peter Brock was a childhood hero, and Norton often dreamed of the day he would find a dusty Daytona Coupe hiding in a neighbor's barn. By 16 years…

RIP Jorge Enrique Corral Sandez. The Baja Icon, better known as "Coco," was found dead at his residence. For decades, a stop at Coco's Corner was a must for travelers heading south of San Felipe. Coco was the informal archivist of Baja's highway 5. He recorded every visitor in his guest registry. Every time we stopped, we would buy a beer, sign the…

Peter Brock is an American automotive design and motorsports legend. At age 19, while attending Art Center School, Brock became the youngest designer ever hired by General Motors' design department. In November 1957, legendary GM stylist, Bill Mitchell, selected one of Brock's sketches to become the iconic 1963 Corvette Stingray. After securing his…

Mary McGee is an American motorsports racing pioneer. She was the first woman to compete in motorcycle road racing and motocross events in the United States. McGee started as a sports car racer in 1957. She drove the finest cars of the period, from her first race in a Mercedes Gullwing 300SL to racing Porsche Spyders, and Ferrari Testa Rossa's, McG…

I am pleased to share this 2021 Slow Baja archive conversation on RVing in Baja with Nicole Demme Kapturowski. With the Summer travel season in full swing, I've been fielding loads of questions from folks planning their first Baja trip. I love Nicole's enthusiasm, and her honesty as she shares her heart-felt endorsement for Baja as an RV travel des…

Greg Tomlinson, aka GT, grew up in Dana Point, California. With Baja practically in his backyard, GT has nearly 50 years of Baja stories to share. A lifelong surfer, motorcycle rider, and adventure seeker, exploring Baja is where his wanderlust began. Reflecting on his first father and son camping trip in the early 1970s, "The dads rode in the cab …

Josiah Roe is the co-creator of The Journal of Lost Time, a digital publication that shares stories of timeless immediacy. After acquiring a painters-tape green Vanagon, which he lovingly calls Barb, Roe set out for an extended Christmas vacation in Baja. An epic adventure ensued, and he vowed never to miss a winter exploring Baja Sur again. Upon h…

This Slow Baja Podcast is an archive edition with Off-Road Hall of Fame Racer Curt LeDuc. I recently saw LeDuc at the NORRA Mexican 1000. He led the Ford Factory Bronco Team. In a test of engineering and endurance, Ford ran a stock 2022 Bronco Wildtrak with a Hoss 3.0 suspension. The only modifications were a roll cage and five-point racing harness…

Today's Travel Talk with Slow Baja has me chatting with Leda Gamboa, the owner of Adobe Food Truck in the Valle de Guadalupe, Baja, California. Adobe Food Truck is a top-notch Tapas Restaurant masquerading as a food truck. I visited for lunch and asked Leda to pick something for me --she selected the spicy beef tongue and a Jardin Magico, Sauvignon…

Raul Aguiar and Caroline Kane are the affable owners of Rancho La Bellota, a 2800-acre guest ranch located in Tecate Baja, California. Rancho La Bellota is a portal to another era. Free from cell service and wifi, guests quickly adapt to the rhythms of ranch life. The coffee is ready at 6:30 AM, and after a cup on the porch, the guests gather in th…

Sandra Dibble is a veteran reporter who worked as a Tijuana-based foreign correspondent for the San Diego Union-Tribune for 28 years. She earned a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University and worked at The Miami Herald for nearly a decade. Dibble was part of a team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for uncovering the Re…

On Earth Day, I am delighted to share this Slow Baja conversation with Paula Pijoan. Paula is a native plant expert and a fierce advocate for the land and nature. She is a certified practitioner of shinrin-yoku, the Japanese art of forest bathing, also known as forest therapy. We met at Vinos Pijoan, her family vineyard in the Valle de Guadalupe. W…

Agave Expeditions Gabe Erivez is an adventure tourism outfitter who leads with his heart. With over a decade of professional guiding experience in Patagonia, Iceland, and Baja California, Erivez brings a lifelong passion for the outdoors to his work. He strives to be mindful in his travel, and "Be Here Now" is his mantra. "The human and cultural el…

Natalia Badan has spent her life on Rancho El Mogor, the vineyard and organic farm her Swiss-French parents built nearly seven decades ago. "We are romantics and have always been a little eccentric. We were always organic, since my father's time. They called it biological agricultural, and everybody thought we were completely crazy. My father studi…

Travel Talk With Slow Baja Meet Javier Martinez, owner of Boules Restaurant. Today's Travel Talk with Slow Baja has me chatting with Javier Martinez, owner of Boules Restaurant in Ensenada. I wanted to sit down with Javi to learn why everybody is raving about Boules and its gregarious owner? I loved the food and the atmosphere. #SlowBajaApproved Bo…