Warning about Baja Travel

[cowboybill]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal....
I used to ride dirtbikes down there years ago, and I have good friends that still do. One of them just got a Kayak, and wants me to go fish with him in Baja...

Some say, if you do no wrong, nothing happens....Bullshit! This is naive...
Nothing ever happened to me, but I know better.

Yes the odds are nothing bad happens, but what if:

True story: One of my friends went dove hunting. One month later, he is going to Baja on a ride. An unknown shotgun shell had fallen into some hidden place in his truck, and they find it at inspection....He and his passenger (who knew nothing about the shotgun shell till later) spent
2 days and nights in La Mesa Prison, and $9K later each they get home...
Yes he broke the rules, but it happened so easily....One single shotgun shell !?!?!? I would bet money I have at least a stray .22 long rifle cartridge hidden in my truck(s)!!

A family aquaintance was kayaking alone and was pirated for all he had except clothes a number of years back....

This is just two instances of many, along with the other published stuff.

Yet I know the allure; Baja is like travelling back in time. The people in the small towns are wonderful, the vast outback wilderness, etc. What sucks is you are travelling to a corrupt third world country, without the ability to protect yourself, legally, or physically. Travel in numbers, have someone who speaks the language, prep for a warzone where you are unarmed, carry cash to payoff police.....CRAZY!

I still am deciding on this one;

cowboybill