Slow Baja

Mike Pearlman was a teenager growing up in Los Angeles when his father bought a used 1964 Toyota Land Cruiser. Ed Pearlman was a florist and an avid hunter. The utilitarian 4x4 looked like the perfect vehicle for the upcoming deer season and delivering flowers. Not long after, Mike's friend was driving the Land Cruiser on the highway; he didn't know that you had to shift gears manually and blew up the motor. Ever resourceful, Ed found that a Chevy V8 would fit. With Pete Condos's assistance, Pearlman soon had a hot-rodded Corvette motor under the hood! Ed Pearlman read about the 1966 record-setting run from Tijuana to La Paz on Triumph motorcycles by Bud and Dave Ekins, Eddie Mulder, and Cliff Coleman. Pearlman thought that he could beat their time in his hopped-up Land Cruiser. While searching for wider tires, he met Dick Cepek, selling farm implement tires out of his garage. Cepek traded six tires for a chance to ride shotgun. Their attempt at the record failed, but the idea for the first off-road race was born-the Mexican 1000! In this conversation, Pearlman shares stories from the founding of the National Off-Road Racing Association, those early Baja races, and how with Eliseo Garcia Jr., they revived the Mexican 1000 as a vintage rally. Enjoy this conversation that originally aired on July 13, 2020. For a taste of off-road racing, you can join Slow Baja in the Safari 4x4 Class for non-race vehicles. We drive portions of the actual racecourse, see the most scenic parts of the racing and make time for tacos, tequila, and tranquilo! Visit NORRA's website here Follow NORRA on Instagram Follow NORRA on Facebook

In our second conversation with Chef Javier Plascencia, we discuss his restaurants Jazamango and Jazamango Cafe, and the bounty of Todos Santos. We go deep on his devotion to surfing, how he's happiest in a pair of trunks with sand between his toes, and his fanaticism for handmade corn tortillas from old-world organic corn. Check out his farm-to-table restaurant Jazamango. Follow Jazamango Restaurant on Instagram. Check out his pet-friendly restaurant Jazamango Cafe. Follow Jazamango Cafe on Facebook.

Today’s Travel Talk with Slow Baja meets Chef Mattia, pizza maker extraordinaire in San Juanico B.C.S. Italian-born Chef Matti crafts wood-fired pizzas in his custom-made pizza oven on a Russian UAZ-452 “Bukhanka” van. We recorded our conversation during our Slow Baja Summer podcasting trip in July. He was making his weekly appearance at “Big Juan’s” Las Malandras restaurant. Chef Mattia hails from Treviso, Italy, and has been making pizzas since he was a teenager. An avid surfer, he opened his first pizza restaurant in Sayulita. When he moved to San Juanico, he purchased his vintage U.A.Z. 4x4 van and outfitted it with a pizza oven of his design. Mattia committed to bringing the pizza to the party, and with his van, he could get to nearly anywhere you want to party. He’s figured it out, and I will be frank; Chef Mattia makes the best pizza I’ve had in Baja!  Slow Baja approved! Follow Pizza Catering on Instagram Check out the Pizza Catering Website Follow Las Malandras on Instagram Check out Scorpion Bay Bungalows

In our second conversation with Trudi Angell, we discuss La Recua, her tribute to a fading history and documentary film about the old-time mule-packers in Baja California Sur. The film follows Darío Higuera Meza, a traditional saddle-maker in Baja California Sur, Mexico, as he lives his dream of riding La Recua. Overcoming a life-threatening health scare, rattlesnakes, scorching days on dusty trails, Higuera and his family carried goat cheese, dates, traditional sugarcane candy, and mountain wine. The party of thirteen ran a string of 25 donkeys and traveled 200 miles in 20 days to La Paz. Watch a trailer for La Recua here. Follow Bell-Mare Productions here. Follow La Recua Film on Facebook Follow La Recua Film on Instagram

John Davis started surfing at twelve and began winning local competitions soon after. He moved to Huntington Beach to attend High School and became the Captain of Huntington High School’s first surf team in 1967. After graduating, Davis “took off to surf Hawaii, --with two pounds of marijuana under my airplane seat” he finished second in the 1969 Sea Spree, a contest that he said was rigged, but made ten times his investment on the marijuana. Turned off by the politics of competitive surfing, he rarely competed in the following years until he won the North Shore Trials of the Smirnoff Pro-Am at Sunset Beach. That qualified him for the US Surfing Championships in Malibu in 1973; Davis placed third after surfing his way through multiple heats. That performance “proved his point,” and he gave up competitive surfing. Eventually, Davis’ “lifestyle choices” moved him to Mexico, and he began smuggling marijuana into the US. Through the 1980’s he had a few brushes with the law and “served time” after being caught with an airplane loaded with 800lbs of marijuana near Victorville, California. In 1995, while smuggling 50lbs of marijuana, he got caught in a roadblock in Mazatlan and spent three years in a Mexican prison. He was repatriated to the US to finish his sentence, and a parole officer got him into a drug treatment program. John Davis has been sober since 1998. He was inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in Huntington Beach, California. He and his wife operate Las Olas Recovery, a comprehensive drug and alcohol detox and early drug rehab center in El Pescadero, Baja California Sur. More information on Las Olas Recovery Follow Las Olas Recovery on Facebook  Check out Surfers’ Hall of Fame

In today's Travel Talk with Slow Baja, we sit down for a quick chat with Yolonda Contreras, General Manager of the Guaycura Boutique Hotel Beach Club and Spa in the heart of Todos Santos, Baja, California Sur. We stayed at the beautiful Guaycura on the 2019 BajaXL Rally and enjoyed the ample accommodations, romantic rooftop deck, and gracious staff. The El Faro Beach Club & Spa is the Guaycura's beach club and swimming pool located two miles south of Todos Santos. Situated on a secluded and pristine beach, the El Faro is the place to spend a relaxing day in the sun. Book a massage or chill poolside enjoying a margarita; the El Faro is a Slow Baja favorite! El Mirador Restaurant is the third piece of the Guaycura trifecta. Locally sourced Mexiterranean farm-to-table cuisine meets fine dining and stunning sunsets. We ate there in July and were blown away by the setting, the scene, and the fare. Open Tuesday thru Sunday, from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Camino al Mirador Restaurant 1, Todos Santos, BCS, 23300. The Guaycura Boutique Hotel, El Faro Beach Club and Spa, and El Mirador Restaurant are Slow Baja approved! You can find the latest promotion and book your room directly at the Guaycura Boutique Hotel website. email: reservation@guaycura.com Visit Guaycura Boutique Hotel on Facebook Visit Guaycura Boutique Hotel on Instagram Mexico: Tel. +52 (612)175-0800 Toll-Free From US & CAN +1 (877)448-2928 Tell them that Slow Baja sent you!

Boyd Jaynes is a Southern California-based photographer and the creative director of Dusty Times Magazine. His professional bio reads, "When not shooting, he enjoys traveling to far-flung beaches with his wife or racing his vintage Bronco in Mexico." In today's podcast, we will get to know all about Jayne's vintage Bronco, Caballo Del Diablo, why he's raced every NORRA 1000 since 2010, and his profound love for Baja. Check out Boyd Jaynes photography Follow Boyd Jaynes on Facebook  Follow Caballo Del Diablo on Instagram Check out Dusty Times Magazine Check out National Off-Road Racing Association 

"Life's an adventure; go out and enjoy it."-Mike Younghusband After reading Graham Mackintosh's Into a Desert Place, Mike Younghusband decided to get a burro and walk the length of Baja himself. "I've done my duty to my family, god, and my country. It was time for some 'me'-time -so I set out to get that, and I got it!" Younghusband gave himself one year to plan the epic adventure. He plotted the route, pre-positioned supplies, including whiskey, purchased a donkey, and trained for every scenario possible. While he freely admits that his first mile was horrible, he eventually walked 1147 miles down the length of Baja with his beautiful burro Don-Kay and an assortment of dogs. His 202-page e-book Tres Amigos Blancos chronicles the adventure and includes 200 photos. It's available via Amazon for Kindle. Follow Mike Younghusband on Facebook 

In our second conversation with Zach Plopper, Associate Director of WILDCOAST.org, we learn about the exciting new trash collection project on the Tijuana River. With funding by the Benioff Ocean Initiative, WILDCOAST has installed a 100-foot-long trash-skimming boom, which has stopped more than 10,000 pounds of plastic and waste destined for the Pacific Ocean. Plopper relates the project's challenges and opportunities, including a plan to repurpose some waste into playground structures and park furniture. His enthusiasm for conservation is infectious and comes through loud and clear. He delivers updates on several WILDCOAST projects, including; the Million Mangrove Mission, a study of coral in Mexico's Pacific Ocean Marine Parks, sea turtle nesting sites in Oaxaca, and protecting 38-miles of the Valle de Los Cirros (Seven-Sisters) region of the Central Baja Coast. Visit WILDCOAST.org here Follow WILDCOAST on Instagram Follow WILDCOAST on Facebook

Matt Frick is an old Baja hand who runs the off-road tour company, Camp4Lo. We ran into each other recently at a stop sign in San Felipe. After exchanging greetings, we decided to get tacos on the Malecon.  As we were chatting and eating, the conversation drifted to how we got started traveling to Baja. I mentioned that I worked at Trackside Photo in the mid-'80s and shot the 1986 Baja 500. Trackside Photo was a photographic agency run by Off-Road Hall Of Fame Member Jim Ober. They specialized in covering off-road racing events that required teams of photographers. As a free-lancer, I would travel all over Southern California and Baja to shoot racing for the weekend and return to my college life late Sunday night. Matt looked curiously at me and said that he worked at Trackside too! No wonder he seemed so familiar, small world! Enjoy this rambling conversation and check out Camp4Lo.com