The day before our trip, I was in a really good mood. I’d worked through most of my feelings of fear, about going to Mexico. And after months of rain, the weather was predicting none. I was starting to get excited. I was cleaning house, when suddenly I decided, hmmm. Let me check my passport. So, I go and check my passport and what do you know. The darn thing is expired. So here we are the day before our tour. It’s too late to cancel for a refund and my passport expired last year. I was put in touch with the tour company by the booking agency and the person I spoke with said not having a valid passport should not be an issue. People go back and forth all the time with other documentation. Did I really want to take that chance of not getting into Mexico or most importantly not being able to get out? We know someone who knows someone who works for the border patrol and they agreed that it should not be an issue. So…we decided the trip was on. I’d travel to Mexico with my expired passport and hope for the best.
LOCATION
Valle De Guadalupe is about 1.5 hours south from the Tijuana Border just outside of Ensenada in the northern part of Baja California. On the way there we passed Puerto Nuevo, Rosarito, and Ensenada. We crossed the border into Mexico at the San Ysidro, CA location and parked at International Parking which is the closest parking lot to the US/Mexico border.
Check out the full YouTube video here
THE WINERIES
There are over 120 wineries in Valle De Guadalupe and most of the wine in Mexico is made there. I was so impressed with how pristine and modern they were. Each of the three wineries we went to had a slightly different vibe but I loved them all.
The first winery was down a pretty long bumpy road. We made it there at around 11:00am. When we rolled up to Relieve Vincola, we were a little confused. In the US at all the wineries that we’ve ever been to you have to go to the bar to get each of your tastings. In Mexico, they come to you. You sit at a table and your server will bring you your first tasting, keep an eye on you and bring the next ones when you are done. That first winery was probably my favorite because I’m a huge music person and they had a really good play list. The view of the vineyards was incredible. The sun was shining and I was so happy to be there. I could have stayed there for much longer than we did. This winery had food on the menu. We didn't eat, but we should have because the next one did not. We took home two bottles of Tempranillo red from this one.
Winery #2 was down another bumpy road and behind a
gate. Casa Magoni had a slightly different vibe with a live band. The
area under the trees was a fully shaded oasis and the area outside of it
was beautiful. This one had the most wine tasting options out of all of them. I was able to get a six-wine tasting here for only $22 which is
kind of a lot considering most of the options offer three to four. This one also had a tasting of their premier wines that also came with a charcuterie board. MJ got that one, so we ended up with the mini charcuterie board that came with that one and then ordered another larger one because we needed some kind of food.
We were at our 3rd winery, Lechuza, by 3:00pm which was just down the street. This was the only winery we requested by recommendation of a friend. The vibe here was more traditional and very quiet, and peaceful. Our driver asked us if we wanted a 4th winery. We’ve done a 4-winery tour and it’s a lot, so we were good with three. Plus, we were hungry. I really love Mexican wine! At Lechuza we were told that Mexican people don't generally drink a ton of wine; so most of the of the wines they produce there are light. And this is exactly the kind of wine I most enjoy.
We went to dinner at
Ortega’s in Puerto Nuevo. The restaurant is right on the water, and the view was outstanding. MJ had
fresh lobster, and I went with a basic casadilla. We stayed a few minutes longer to watch the sunset before
we left. Our driver dropped us off, and when we were done she picked us up. It was so convenient and we didn't have to thing about anything but enjoying ourselves.
SAFETY
The Baja California Del Sur (the southern half) is still a
Level 2-Exercise increased Caution, but last year the northern part of
Baja California where Valle De Guadalupe is located was upgraded from a
level 2 to level 3 on the State Dept Travel Advisory. Do you know how
many levels there are? Four. Level 4 is do not travel and Level 3 is to
reconsider travel…and maybe don’t go. I was scared, but I still wanted
to go!
My husband was not concerned at all. He said it's no big deal, but I was really nervous about going down to Mexico. I grew up in Southern
California, so I’ve always lived within an hour of the border. We used
to do family vacations in Rosarito or Ensenada. I went to college about
30 minutes from the border and that is where I had my very first drink
in Tijuana when I was 18. Okay. Truth. I was 17 with a friend’s id. But
yeah. After that I was hooked. We went to TJ to party almost every week.
College night was Wednesday and then sometimes we’d go on the weekends
too. You didn’t even need a passport back then. We parked on the US side
and brazenly walked across the border at night; and sometimes it was
just me and another girl. I know that the world has changed since then;
but even so that probably was not safe; and yet I thought nothing of it.
Mexico doesn’t feel safe anymore, although one could argue it never
really was. The cartels have always been there. The stories you hear
about people disappearing and getting stopped by cops and having to pay
them money to let you go have always been there. And they’re not just
stories. Every week there is another headline about someone losing their
life, disappearing, or meeting some other terrible fate in Mexico. I
don’t feel invincible anymore. I’m genuinely afraid of something
terrible happening to me these days, but I also don't want my fears to stop me from living my life.
We only had to walk about 200 feet inside Tijuana on our own to get to the Pharmacy where we were supposed to meet our driver at 9:30am. I felt nervous being in Tijuana, but we weren't there long until we meet our driver and once we were headed down to Valle De Guadalupe I felt safe the entire time. I'm so glad we didn't have to worry about driving in Mexico at all. My husband said we would be fine and we were!
TRANSPORTATION
We booked our trip through Viator. One of the things I love most about Viator is that you can book now and pay later. Baja Rides and Tours was awesome from the start. Erick reached out the week of with pin drops and pictures to the closet parking and the meet up spot which would be just on the other side of the Tijuana border. They asked us to use WhatsApp to avoid any potential international charges for calls and texts. The night before, our driver Cady, reached out to us, and confirmed the pick-up spot. They made me feel very safe and very comfortable and taken care of before we even left. We had one reservation at Lechuza because it can be hard to get in depending on crowd, but other than that we were free to stay as long as we wanted to at any place. You can create your own itinerary, or they can create it for you. And it was pretty great having a driver all to ourselves because we didn’t have to consider anybody else when we came and went. If we go again we will probably have more ideas about where we want to go, but this was our first time so they planned everything for us. Having a driver is really the way to go and it seems like most people that we encountered at the wineries were doing the same. Our driver was great. There was a beautiful bouquet of Birthday flowers waiting for me in the car when we showed up. We were offered water. She always came to find us wherever we were and took pictures of us. At the second winery I actually got to meet the guy I'd spoken to the day before about my passport situation. They arranged to have the band play Happy Birthday and an extra tasting for my Birthday. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish.
COST
The cost for parking $18 for 0-8 hours and an additional $18 for anything over that. All the tastings we encountered were a very reasonable $17-$35 US Dollars. We did three each. We bought two bottles of Tempranilla at Relieve for $36 each and the Amantes bottle of Italian wine we purchased at Lechuza was $45. We paid $250 plus gratuity for transportation only. We were responsible for all tastings and any food expenses. There were multiple tolls that the driver paid as we passed through.
It was a
very fun but also a very long day. We met up at 9:30am, and spent 11:00-4:30 enjoying the wineries. We were eating dinner around 5:30pm and we didn’t make
it back to the border until 8:30pm. Border crossing is basically a
nightmare. We were cold. Tired. And we had to stand in line for 2
hours. The line went all the way down the street and looped around in a circle. I don't think vehicle crossing is much better, but at least you are sitting and snug in your car. I highly recommend SENTRI or Global Entry, because otherwise you
will be standing in line for hours. I also recommend having a valid
passport. Because those are the rules! Nobody said a word about my
passport being expired, and everything worked out, but I prefer not to
ever go back under those circumstances. I will have a valid passport and
Global Entry next time we go. Both work if you are crossing by vehicle also.
I definitely recommend going to Valle De Guadalupe if you have the opportunity. It was so much fun and so beautiful. We love wine. We love wine tasting, and this was another wonderful wine tasting location for us to experience.
Reading you from the PNW. I too would not have wanted to go with an expired passport. How did MJ know it would be ok??? Was bribery necessary? And thanks for letting me know such tours exist, and that Mexican travel is possible. I’m still hesitant though. Glad you had a good time. Olivia
ReplyDeleteIgnore the bribery question please. My apologies. Olivia
ReplyDeleteHa ha! No bribery involved. I said nothing. They said nothing. I totally get being hesitant about Mexico.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun! It does look beautiful but I would have been so nervous with an expired passport. You are much braver than I am. I’ll be honest, I really have no desire to return to Mexico. I went on a cruise once and had a stop there but I’m good with never returning. I have too many other places I’d rather see where I feel safer. Have you seen Ozark? 🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteI totally get it that MX is kind of take it or leave it for many people. MX is really hit and miss and safety is definitely something you have to be concerned about if you go. So at that point for some people it's just not worth the visit. The port cities with cruises are basically Ensenada probably and some others that are not so good. Those stops definitely don't make you want to return!! We've really enjoyed Cancun and Playa Del Carmen in the past. You gotta go waaaaay down there for that beautiful ocean. I've heard Cabo is nice also and it's not as far but I've never made it there. It's actually still considered safe enough, but who knows how long that will last because even Cancun is iffy now.
DeleteI didn't watch Ozark! My husband did and said it was good. I'm guessing their drug trade and a lot of murders involved Mexico. But I have watched Breaking Bad and the same thing!!! And the news is full of bad MX headlines.