Slow Baja - Travel Talk With Slow Baja Meet Paul And Bonnie Owners Of Ignacio Springs Resort

Episode Date: October 27, 2021

Today's Travel Talk with Slow Baja has me chatting with Paul and Bonnie, owners of Ignacio Springs Resort in San Ignacio, BC Sur. In the heart of the Palmera, on the bank of the tranquil Rio San Ignacio, Paul and Bonnie are warm and welcoming hosts with nine yurts and two casitas for your stay. Originally from Canada, they have happily transitioned to life in Baja. Let me be clear --they run a tight ship, and their property is spotless. The bar is always open, and the North American-style breakfast was hearty and delicious. I strongly suggest that you slow your roll and spend some time under the palms letting the tilapia exfoliate your toes. Bonnie will happily connect you to guides for whale watching or cave painting excursions. If you are interested in whale watching, I suggest that you make your reservations early. Ignacio Springs Resort is Slow Baja Approved! Visit the Ignacio Springs website. Follow Ignacio Springs on Instagram Follow Ignacio Springs on Facebook

Hey, this is Michael Emery. Thanks for tuning into the Slow Baja. This podcast is powered by Tequila Fortaleza, handmade in small batches, and hands down, my favorite tequila. Hey, I want to tell you about your new must-have accessory for your next Baja trip. Benchmark Maps has released a beautiful,

beautiful Baja California Road and Recreation Atlas. It's a 72-page large-format book. of detailed maps and recreation guides that makes the perfect planning tool for exploring Baja. Pick yours up at Benchmark Maps.com. Hey, it's Slow Baja on his travel talk. It's Saturday, July 10th, and I'm in beautiful San Ignacio at the Ignacio Springs... Bed and Breakfast? Bed and Breakfast.

The Ignacio Springs Bed and Breakfast. Yes. And I'm with Bonnie and Paul, my wonderful host, who've just fed me in the most fabulous breakfast and secret. I got here after the kitchen closed. So if you're coming to record a podcast, they'll feed you after they close the kitchen. But if you're not recording a podcast, forget about it. So let's talk about it.

10 o'clock. 10 o'clock. You have a beautiful spot here. Oh, thank you. It's a really lovely spot. It really is an oasis. It's a true oasis in the middle of Baja. You wouldn't expect it.

No, and, you know, coming down from all that dry, open desert, imagine what this was like 400 years ago for the first people to realize it or for the first outsiders who went whoa look at this hey we can stay here got water yeah well and even now

it catches a lot of people off by surprise actually that you know like you just said come over the hill and all green and the palm trees and then the river yeah amazing so let's jump into it tell me about how you two got here a couple of Canadians from where

Alberta I'm from Alberta I'm from Alberta and Paul was originally from Ontario. Yeah, I grew up in Ontario, and then in 2008 I moved to Alberta, and then he's from Alberta, and then here. Okay. Yeah. So. Your story of getting here sounds a little bit unfortunate but exciting to make life changes? Yeah.

Yeah, 2017, motorcycle trip with some other guys from Canada in February. First part of March and... Good time to get away from Canada. It was, yeah. And met up with my friends there in Phoenix and we rode down here and yeah, we're doing the off-road thing

and yeah, so we stopped here inside Ignacio, spent the night but not here at Ignacio Springs. They were full. Yeah, they were full. Stopped here, had a beer, met the owners, found out they were Canadian and all that.

And then, yeah, so carried on to Loretto, and I wanted to go see the San Javier mission, so I went up there by myself where the other guys went fishing and doing whatever. And on the way back, I stood up on the pegs of the bike, and the next thing I know, my back wheels locked up. So what had happened was the back shock broke and jammed the back wheel.

Wow. Yeah, so it was a sudden stop I wasn't expecting. And solo. Yeah. And I passed a car just before it happened, so they'd stopped and asked me if I was okay and not really. Anyway, ended up breaking my leg. Had to fly back to Canada. So when, yeah, I had to wait three days, four days.

before I could fly back and with the broken lake and yeah so when all the dust settled with insurance and travel insurance and everything we had to come down and get the bike and it was in La Paz by then

so yeah Bonnie was off work and we came down and stopped here and now was that a year later did you get back down here the next winter you had a BMW GS you weren't going to leave it hanging around in Baja no exactly Yeah.

So. Did you have BMW friends looking after things for you? No? Well, like the... Mexican insurance shipped it down to a shop in La Paz to have an assessed. Okay. Yeah. So it was secure.

Mexican insurance, I was impressed. It worked out good for me. Great. So I can't... I'm sponsored by Baja Bound Insurance, so if you had another insurer, we won't mention them. But if... Well, I have a vehicle or two with Baja Bound also.

Terrific. So you came back. Were you two together, married, all this? Okay, so this has got to be unnerving for you, Bonnie. Yeah. Hey, what happened? You're aware? We came back to pick up the bike and we stopped here,

spent the night because Paul wanted to because he'd seen the place and just talking to previous owners, Terry and Gary, who were well-known in Baja. And they mentioned something about maybe wanting to retire. So we didn't think a lot of it. We continued on, got the bike in La Paz, came back, stopped to your head breakfast and then continued on back to Canada. Thought about it for two or three months and then we just emailed them back and said, hey.

That next winter came in? Yeah, before winter. Yeah, two or three months later and it was how serious are you? Yeah, you want to retire? You're serious about that? So they, obviously they were because less than April, 3rd, May 1st, 2018, we were here. Did you ever have any thoughts about like, hey, I want to get down to Baja or someplace, sunny and relocating? I mean, people go to

Phoenix or Scottsdale or wherever. Well, when we think back on it, like, yeah, we had thoughts of wanting to do something different to not, you know, pack up, sell everything in Canada, you know, just do the no-bad

thing, the job that I had at the time, I could fly in, fly out in the oil sands in Canada. So, you know, just, I was like an Arizona because I always liked Arizona and just park a trailer there and do that. But this happened along and the opportunity presented itself and we took it.

And that was, it's not, you know, we never did travel Baja before that. Paul's first trip into Baja was his motorcycle trip and my first trip to Baja was picking up the motorbike. Wow. So, you know. I'm not supposed to say wow, but I've said it twice now in 30 seconds. I think we got bit by the Baja bug wherever that thing is, so I got to watch out for those. And, yeah. Hang on for a second.

I was just making hand gestures at Letty. That breakfast was beautiful. Thank you. Is that Letty? That's Letty. Okay, she had the name on her shirt, so I just want to make sure I'm calm. So, you're in this, I mean, it's a little bit of paradise here. It is.

It's a big slice of paradise. It's, you know, the place. self is magical. You just, you pull in the gate and it's a different feeling. You know, it's just, I don't know. And you're keeping it beautifully. I mean, it's really, from the crushed shells to the bars open all the time, to the spectacular breakfast with locally sourced tortillas. It really, I mean, I hate to say I'm a tortilla snob, but holy Toledo, those tortillas are magnificent. Normally we have the American Kinney. I mean, I did everything but lick the plate. I mean, this plate is clean. We normally try to have the American

Canadian-style bacon eggs, toast and hash browns, but we do throw in some traditional breakfasts. I asked for the tortillas, and she was happy to oblige. Yeah. And really spectacular. So you two, as you said, are the only expats here. You're employing locals. In your business, you're employing all local folks. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And San Ignacio was a small town. There's what, maybe 1,500 people who live here. 2,000.

Yeah. And I think there's maybe 15 expats who are when they're all here. When they're all here in the winter when it's cold when everybody comes down. I think there's maybe 15 of us all, you know, I think there's seven of us who are full-time here year-round in San Ignacio. The rest are, you know. So let's talk about your launch into the hospitality business. What were your thoughts and how did it work out? Pre-COVID. Let's just, let's just, throw the COVID thing out. Well, it was a good start. Terry and Gary, the previous owners had a great following. They had a great concept. They set everything up. And, you know, we just kind of got to walk into this turnkey business where it had the clientele. And, you know, it had a good reputation.

And so we've just been trying to clean it up and make it our own change. No real big changes, just the way we want it to be. And it was all great until about March 17th. Right, yeah, sure, exactly. When everything came crashing down, but we've been staying actually pretty busy. The way it's set up, you know, we can, everybody's distanced already. It's not a typical hotel. Right, so you have yurts, freestanding yurts with lots of space between them. So you're already dealing with socially distanced except for the folks who are sitting here at the table with me.

And you can figure that part out. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and we, you know, with COVID and stuff, because, there are different levels of comfort for people, whether they want to be distance or whether they want to eat in the room. We offer that too. We offer to deliver the meals to the rooms too for them if that's what makes them more comfortable. Let's walk through that. That coffee's good. Boy, let's walk through that. How many yurts do you have? We have 11 rooms to rent. Nine of them are yurts and two of them are casitas. And the casita yurt difference is basically the wall

construction material. The yurts are... The yurts are... With the canvas roof and the dome to see out into the palm trees. It's a pretty industrial to think of... It's not really glamping. You've got a hard tile floor. You've got air conditioning and heat.

Hot water. Hot water. Showers, bathrooms, in sweet. So it's pretty glamorous. Not really camping, but the material of the wall, between the casitas and the yurts is That's the big difference, right? Just the shape. Well, and some of our rooms are cement block around the yurts just because of previous damage and stuff.

Gotcha. But we do have four that are still the original canvas sided. And your property bumps right into the river. I mean, it's a few meters, a few yards, few feet right out of the gate and you're there. And you've got hammocks and you've got kayaks and paddle boards. Swimming. Swimming and tilapia pedicures. You can drop your feet in there and get your dead skin.

Exhalation is the correct. Correct term. I shouldn't. Christopher, you're going to have to edit that dead skin comment. You can drop your feet right off the dock and have an exfoliation. Just send a couple margarias down, drop the toes over. Hady, wish you had joined us on the Nora 500. Well, here is your chance. It's double the mileage, double the fun, double the parties, double the dirt.

It is the Nora Mexican 1000. We're going to drive by day. We're going to party by night. I'm pouring shots of Fortaleez at tequila. April 30th through May 6th, 2020. We're driving the entire peninsula. You don't want to miss out on this one. Again, if I can do it in my 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser, totally stock.

You can do it in any modern 4x4. The Nora Mexican 1000. It's the happiest race on earth. Check it out at nora.com. RA.com or on Slow Baja. So tell me about who comes here. Who comes here? Everybody.

It's a wide range of clientele from the Baja mill people. Racers, off-roaders. Motorcycles. Yeah. Americans, Canadians. Europeans. The Europeans. Mexican nationals.

Yeah. Yeah, we have a wide ride in. And the whale season is our biggest draw where we get a lot more. It's busy all the time for like three months straight. And that's January to... January through about the first week of April. Okay. So if the whales are still there, and sometimes they're there longer,

it just depends on the whales. We never know. But the permit holders, they hold the permits from the middle of December until the end of April. And you say that's permits for the tours. Permits for the whale tours, yeah. And let's jump into that. So for staying here at this, it's your beautiful spot. How's a whale tour going to work from here?

I can help book tours. We use a local company. I have contacts with all of the whale companies here in town so I can help book any tour you want with. We use a local one. They have cabins out there or there's vans that can pick you up right here at Ignacio Springs, take you out there for the day and bring you back. I can arrange Kay painting tours.

I just did a horseback riding tour yesterday. Awesome. You know, so I can, if it's in the area, I can figure it out. Okay. And as far as the whale tours, typically you're staying out at their facility. So they're going to pick you up in a van or you're going to drive out there or something, correct? Normally they will stay here and then take a van or drive themselves out. It's an hour drive.

Okay, that's what I was getting to. So it's an hour from here and out to San Ignacio. Yeah, San Asu, a lagoon. And then they either, and then, yeah, and then they'll come back here to spend the night. Or they spend a night here and go out there and spend whatever. Yeah, they have cabins. They have kind of rustic cabins out there. And then you're right on the ocean, too.

You can hear the whales at night sometimes. And have you taken the tours yourself? Yes. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Explain to somebody who hasn't done it. It is a magical, life-changing experience. And that's exactly what I'm getting at. So just bring it.

I mean, you don't go to Africa and pet the lions. I mean, like, this is crazy. You go out in a boat and flipping whales come right up to it. A little panga that seats 12 people. You have your boat captain, and I've never had 12 people on my boat. The most I've had is eight, just because there's usually not that many people on the tour. So you have lots of space. And it's about a 15-minute boat.

to where you can interact with the whales because they have a quiet area where you're not allowed to stop or touch the whales. And then once you're into the interaction area, you're there for an hour and a half and it's really just kind of surreal when you first see the whales coming and they're in such a small boat. And when the moms have their babies, they push the babies up to the boats to be petted. They want you to pet their babies. They're so proud of their babies or they're socializing whatever it may be. But, you You know, you're curious. They're very curious. And they'll swim under the boats and, you know, play.

Reach over and touch them, pet them, give them a kiss, if you're lucky enough. It's just really hard to fathom. I did it just this past February, and it's like life-changing, isn't it? What happens when people come back here? We have people who come back here after whale tours who were crying because it's just such an experience. Absolutely. Absolutely. Bargaritas for everybody. Yeah, exactly. No, I mean, it's one of those weird things that you can honestly say it's kind of life-changing. Yeah, it's definitely is an experience.

And, you know, there's nothing like, there's nowhere really like it on Earth. You know, you can go out and see whales other places, but you can't touch them. Yeah, and, you know, when I've wail watching before on Cape Cod, it's like, hey, look at that. It's a half mile away. Yeah, you have your binoculars? Right, exactly. It's one of the few places in the world where you actually have this experience. The gray whales are known as the friendly whales.

They're the ones that are curious enough to come up to the boats. And, you know, whereas no other whales are really that curious. You can get close to them, but to actually pet and touch a whale, you see their little hairs that grow out of their skin. Amazing. Yeah. Well, let's get on to the other reason that people book tours here is cave paintings. Cave paintings, yes.

So if someone were going to go from here, if you're going to book a cave painting tour, walk me through that. So there's two different cave paintings in the area. There's the one at the Sierra San Francisco, which is the Réthon. And then at the Routon, there's also ones you can hire donkeys and a tour to go farther back. And that's anywhere you can book it for anywhere from two days to nine or ten days as much as you want, to just go back and see all the cave paintings. deeper into the canyons. But there's day trips also that take you, it's about an hour drive up to the cave paintings. It is a World Heritage Site, so you need somebody,

a guide to go with you, which you pick up in the town of San Francisco. And they take you to the cave paintings, explain everything you see them, and that's the easiest tour, like if you're not really active or energetic. And then there's the other one at Santhamarto, which again is about an hour. hour and a half drive and then it's an hour and a half hike each way up to the

capeings and back so you can also rent donkeys with them also or you can hike it I yeah I haven't made it there yet I made it two-thirds of the way Paul just gave me a little gesture of like take a look at me and you'll know why I haven't hiked this rigorous trail and this is why This is why I love doing these in person, because if we were on a Zoom call and maybe we don't have a picture of each other and, you know, I don't know you. But, Paul, you're pretty much you could have played in the Canadian Football League. You're a big dude. Yeah. And there was a time not so many years ago where I would have had no problem doing the hike.

I used to do a lot more of it. All right. Gotcha. Enough said. So I saw a little ball diamond in town. Is there a little baseball team? There is a baseball team. They practice, well, right now practices, practice in games is going down.

But they do practice almost every day. They love to practice. Actually, one of our workers here are maintenance guys. He's a big guy. Oh, good. For the team. So he loves the baseball. Maybe you can introduce me later.

Here's the coach right here. Here's the coach. All right, well, I'll talk to them. And what else are people doing when they're in town? You've got a town of about 1,500. It's a beautiful little square with the mission there and a few shops and restaurants. What are people doing? What are your local people doing for entertainment in the evening?

Pretty low-key here, huh? It is. It really is. I mean, the kids will play in the square. A lot of people go for an ice cream. I met Edson and his parents there, so. Edson, yes. Yes, at Jackie's ice cream shop.

He's got a lot of energy, that guy. Yes, is he there now? I don't know, I'm going to buzz over. I didn't want to get caught up in Edson's world when I had a breakfast and a podcast to do, so I had to come over here directly. You never know what trouble you can get into hanging out with Edson. You know, it used to be really interesting before COVID. They would have the Kinsenayras in town.

They would usually have them on the plaza, and that's like almost bigger than a wedding here. Like, people save forever to have these big parties. And everybody would be unofficially invited. They'd have the music and the bands and partying all night long, and it was just really nice to go and watch a Kinsenere be involved in that, you know? And they used to have, well, maybe it'll happen again, but yeah, they'd have things happening on the square

on a weekend or, you know, the kids would be playing soccer. There was always something going on. They'd have marching competitions and just, yeah, lots of really. But in the last year, like anywhere, it's just died. All right, well, let's wrap it up here. If people want to reach you online, what's the best way for people to find you? We have a website. It's Ignaciosprings.com. We also have an email. It's Ignacio Springs at Gmail.

A beautiful dog. Or you can give us a call. Sorry, dog just walked up. Sorry. Furry distraction just came by. So, yeah, the best is probably the website. All of our information is on there. Our website, our email and telephone numbers.

And so Instagram is where I contacted you initially. Yeah, we do have an Instagram and a Facebook page too. Okay. So people can find you there. People can find you on Facebook. People can find you on your website. IgnacioSprings.com. And your email is agnosiosprings.

Atemail. All right, we're going to leave it right there, Fallenbani. Thank you so much for the magnificent breakfast. You're very welcome. You've pointed me to the best Michelada stand in town. I'm looking forward to getting one of those on my way out. Great. All right.

Well, thanks for making some time. Cheers. Thank you. I want to share with you my new favorite place in the Valle, Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards and Inn is just a beautiful, beautiful place to stay. The long driveway, when you turn off the road and you head up this long driveway, every detail is thoughtful, spectacular. Her True Miller is the hostess that you can see her hand in every detail,

from the food truck outside the front gate to the stunning. stables in her Azteca horses, Solomon, the horseman, will, the handsome horseman, will put you on to a beautiful ride around the property. Every day starts with a beautiful breakfast of Chilaquile's fresh fruit

picked from the bounty of her property, hand-squeezed orange juice, spectacular coffee from Kalima. She might even put a shot of her Tia Tula patented tequila into that coffee if you ask for it and you say Slow Baja, recommends it. It really is a, it's hard for me to even put in words. It really is just a warm and

relaxing home. I wish you were my home in the Valle, frankly. Adobe Guadalupe.com for more information, tell True Miller that Slow Baja sent you and I'll see you in the Valle. For appearing on Slow Baja today, our guests will receive the beautiful benchmark map 72-page Baja Road and Recreation Atlas. Do not go to Baja without this, folks. You never know when your GPS is going to crap out. And you're going to and want a great map in your lap. Trust me. A lot of you have asked how to support the show.

Well, you can go to slowbaha.com, buy yourself some merch, click that donate button, drop a taco in our tank. And always, always share the show with a friend. Give it a five-star review on whatever app you listen to, and I will see you next week.