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'19 Misadventures In Baja


Condor

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In my past Adventures in Baja posts, I generally give a cautionary note about the uncertainty of Mexican rules, customs and laws.  I have been traveling in Mexico for most of my life.  I used to be proficient in the language now I can get through the basics with enough nouns and verbs to get by.  Algodones is a small Mexican town just 12 miles from Yuma.  The border crossing closes at midnight and opens again at 0600.  It has become the Dental Mecca for tens of thousands of Americans.  There are over 150 dentists practicing in Algodones.  There are companies that organize bus trips from San Diego and Palm Springs for dental services.  I have had 3 dental implants done down there and I couldn't be happier with the professionalism and price.  Many non-narcotic prescriptions can be filled for about one quarter of the price in the US and transported back to the states without a tax or duty.  Right now is Winter Visitor time in AZ, and about 3 thousand people a day cross the border for dental work and prescription drugs.  Mexico is not as lawless and corrupt as some people might think.  Nevertheless, there are those moments and for many people the risk is just not worth it. 

One of my high school teachers lives in San Quintin on the Pacific coast of Baja.  I spoke to him recently and he is working on finding us a placer gold guide down there.  Adventures continue.

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On 2/2/2019 at 12:19 PM, Condor said:

Nevertheless, I got one good day of detecting in.  I found a stretch of bedrock that last year had a foot of overburden on it.  It was now swept clean and I found these small nuggets in bedrock cracks.  I intended to check some promising ground about a 2 mile hike away, but I just couldn't justify leaving gold to find gold. 

Hi Condor… your highlighted words above should be permanently etched into every would-be prospector’s mind. Common sense says to take the bird in hand rather than risk losing it for the less distinct possibility of one or two birds later from out in the bush.  

I’ve met and worked with people in the field who think otherwise. They just cannot resist the temptation to abandon good potential prospects and jump from here to there without any rational justification for doing so. I had a fellow from Texas, with no experience in our northern silverfields, tell me straight-up that he felt he was just a notch better than the next guy, and off he went. I think it was a case of a big ego interfering with sensible decision-making.

Good judgement is one of several key elements that distinguish a successful hunter from an incompetent fool with a metal detector in his hands.

Thanks for sharing yet another captivating gold adventure from the border country. Congratulations on those handsome gold nuggets, lots of good character there. :cool:

Jim.
 

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Jim Hemmingway, I was going to comment along the same lines as your post. 

I also have spent time in Mexico, in Baja and in the Yucatan. I have never had problems with the people. With the tourista's yes. But not the people. I guess it is easy to be fearful of Mexico if one only considers what one hears in the news, (or by watching Sicario), but as most of us know, travel almost anywhere is the best way to learn and grow.

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Fantastic info/advice and story.  I go to MX each year with detectors. Last year my buddy was pulled aside and they found his detector.  They wanted money and after him telling them to keep it ($2500 machine) he agreed to pay $110 and it was on his birthday of all days.  Me, I smiled and kept walking.  He is the 2nd of my friends to pay some made up tax to get his detector in country.  Another friend of mine had to pay for his drone.  After you get through the border crossing and lines, I feel most of MX and their people (most of) are good. I have another story of MX down the road but for anther time.

Good to see some nice gold recovered.

As for my trip next week, I just cancelled as I did not want to be in MX if the government declares a State of Emergency.  I might be over reacting, but my gut said it would not be a good time to be down there.  Maybe in a big tourist destination (Cancun) or for dental (Yuma crossing) but we had planned on Lukeville crossing. 

I've yet to do the Baja crossing, but will make sure not to in the evening.

Thanks again for sharing.

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