male announcer: On this episode of Crossing South, we get to visit with overlanders who travel along Baja, and we hit an amazing seafood place in the San Felipe boardwalk.

And it's coming to you now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge Meraz: The overlander movement has really caught on, and San Felipe is the perfect playground for it.

If you don't know what it is, we'll show you right now.

Hey, folks, this, right here, the Sprinter, if you know, you know.

If you know, you know what this is; this is an overlanding vehicle.

Overlanders, this is such an interesting community that is so mobile and travels the world in their decked out vehicles.

And this is one of them right here.

We are in San Felipe, and there's actually a community of them.

We wanted to talk to these folks to see, you know, how they're doing, how they're enjoying Baja, what their experience is.

And we're talking to the guy right here next to me.

How you doing, my friend?

Paul Pritts: Good, good.

Jorge: What's your name?

Paul P.: Paul Pritts, good to meet you.

Jorge: Paul Pritts.

Paul, nice to meet you.

Jorge.

Nice to meet you.

Paul, talk to me about your community.

First of all, for anyone who doesn't know about the overland lifestyle, tell me about that a little bit.

Paul P.: Oh, gosh.

Well, for me personally, I, you know, I was, I started overlanding when we used to call it car camping.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Paul P.: Before overlanding became a-- Jorge: Before it had a label.

Paul P.: Yeah, before it had a label, right.

So I got into the Sprinter community a few years back in 2020.

And, you know, we were looking for something different, my wife and I, and, you know, this is my fifth RV and my fourth overland vehicle.

Jorge: Again, the term is overlanding.

It has become very popular recently.

There are many subgroups.

Many of these traveling tribes are based on the vehicle brand they use.

But I wanted to step back and learn what draws them to this lifestyle and what made them choose Baja California.

Paul P.: I've been coming down here since I was, I don't know, 15,16.

Jorge: San Felipe?

Paul P.: Yeah, San Felipe, Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, we, you know, I grew up down in that area, so I was very comfortable coming down and, you know, spending time in Mexico.

Jorge: What can you tell me about for people out there?

The Overland community, what characteristics does it have?

Paul P.: Oh, it's been great.

I host this event down here in San Felipe every year.

This is our third annual.

Jorge: Really?

Paul P.: Yeah, and for, you know, for a lot of the people that have been down here.

I grew up in, you know, San Diego area, Mission Viejo area, and I used to come down that west coast all the time as a teenager and as a young adult.

Jorge: You're not a stranger to Baja?

Paul P.: Not a stranger to Baja; I'm very comfortable.

But there is a lot of people that aren't.

Jorge: Right.

Paul P.: And I felt bad for those.

And we started talking about that at some of our other meet ups, you know, north side, you know, in the United States.

And I said, "Look," I said, "why don't we do a little trip down there?"

I go, "It's really beautiful.

The people are amazing.

The community is so welcoming."

Jorge: I will lead you.

Paul P.: Yeah, I will lead you down there.

And, so, we started out with, I think, 12 of us three years ago, and we're up to, we've almost 40 last year.

So, and it's continuing to grow and grow and grow.

Jorge: What has been the feedback about coming to Baja, to Mexico, to San Felipe?

What's been the feedback?

Paul P.: The people are amazing here.

I mean, it's just, you know, we're driving through the town, and they're waving and honking their horn and, you know, just very, very friendly.

You know, we love to go into town, and do shopping, and go to the restaurants, and intermingle with everybody.

Jorge: When you guys go to town, because it's not a small vehicle and there's a lot of you.

Do you guys go all together in your vehicle?

Paul P.: Sometimes.

We try to do it in smaller groups.

Like, even when we cross the border, we do it in smaller groups.

We don't come across as a large caravan.

Jorge: Oh, okay, gotcha.

Paul P.: It's overwhelming to the staff there at the border, that are working the border, and it's overwhelming to the, you know, some of the checkpoints along the way.

And so we try to, you know, be considerate of those teams, and we, you know, we try to limit our group size to about four or five.

And then we'll wait five minutes and then we'll send another group four or five, then we'll wait five minutes and we'll send another four or five.

So we kind of, everybody gets across.

Yeah, so it works really well, and it's a safe way to get across there and stay together as a group.

Jorge: How are you guys doing at checkpoints?

Do soldiers wanna like, wanna see the interior at least?

If for anything, curiosity, you know?

Paul P.: If anything, they just want to see inside, and they wanna check it out.

And I have a pretty decent patch collection, and they love sitting in there and looking at the patches, and I can see them smile, you know?

And they're nice, you know, they're nice guys.

You know, they'll open a couple of cabinets, they--you know.

Yeah.

What is this for?

What is that for?

You know, I'm like, "Oh, you know, that's, you know, for this or that's for that," and they're just nice guys.

Jorge: For sure, for sure.

Have you thought of any other spots, on top of San Felipe, or is it like you're premier spot?

Paul P.: We have.

This is kind of our premier spot.

This is kind of where it all started.

And we'll continue to do this, but we're talking about using San Felipe as a launching point for our next annual event and taking a smaller group deeper, maybe down to Cabo or-- Jorge: All the way down, eh?

Oh, wow.

Paul P.: Yeah, all the way down.

So, we're still kind of working through the logistics of that, and we're, you know, we're talking with a few folks, so we'll see.

Jorge: The overland experience, folks.

We're gonna explore a little bit more of the camping ground here and this community that's enjoying the San Felipe sun, the San Felipe sea, and the Sea of Cortez.

So don't go anywhere, more Crossing South coming your way.

Each one of these comes with a hefty price tag, but that's the price for being self-contained, self-sufficient in rural areas with limited conveniences.

Paul P.: If we're out somewhere where there aren't facilities, there's a cassette toilet right here.

and then we can pull that cassette toilet out, and it becomes a shower pan.

And I'll show you; this is very simple.

This drops away, okay?

Here's this; there's my shower curtain right there, and I fit in this just great.

So this, yeah, this wand, I just pull this inside, and I can take a a hot and cold shower in here.

Jorge: So the bottom of that is like a drip drain?

Paul P.: It's a shower pan.

Yeah, this is a shower pan down here, just with the cassette toilet in it.

We store some stuff in there, obviously.

It's really no different than my old overland trailer that I had before this, that I used to tow behind my forerunner.

I had a water heater in it, and, you know, I had a little pitch tent, and we would, you know, shower and take hot showers out there in the middle of the forest or desert or wherever.

Jorge: I've done it the old bucket way, the old little.

Paul P.: I've done that as well, or the wet wipes, you know, that, yeah, you know, yeah.

Jorge: I had friends, we were camping, and they would tease me because I was the most efficient one because I would, we would all get a bucket, and they'd all like, "Oh, it's not enough water," and I would, just my technique, I would lather up with the first one; I would slather up like a snowman, and then just wash out.

And I always had like, half a bucket left at the end.

They're like, "How can you get a shower?"

I was super efficient.

They would tease me, yeah.

Paul P.: I love it, yeah.

We, my wife and I have a competition.

We'll see how, who can use the least amount of water.

She's like 5' 3',' so she pretty much always wins.

Jorge: She beats you?

Paul P.: She beats me every time.

We can measure it by the gallon, you know, in this thing.

Jorge: You got percentages, wait, by the ratio of water?

Paul P.: Oh, no, it does percentages, like, it tells you like exactly exactly what percentage it is.

So, you know, so she's like, "I did 2%."

I'm like, "Well, I, you know, I did 5%."

Yeah, right.

Jorge: Yeah, you guys are putting math into that.

Is that Max's bed right there?

Paul P.: That is, yeah, he just hangs out underneath there, and he's a great travel dog.

Yeah, let me show you the groove lounge here.

So, if I pull this off and I fold this down, okay?

And I throw that right there, and I give this a little tilt right there.

Look at this.

So now I can have six, eight friends in here very comfortably, you know, a couple of the ladies sitting up on the bed.

I've had ten people in here hanging out in-- Jorge: It's a party bus right here.

Paul P.: In 10-degree weather, and we're sitting in here, yeah, drinking schnapps, you know, having a great time, schnapps and whiskey, yeah.

So, yeah, it's not, yeah, not a bad, yeah-- We have a old fashioned competition, and so we bring, you know, we'll bring bourbon and whiskey, and we make old fashioneds, and it's a lot of fun; we have a good time when we're out on the road.

Jorge: I would assume, maybe wrongly, you'll probably tell me that because it's probably caught up.

But the U.S. is probably much more equipped to handle outlanders, although maybe Mexico seems to be trying to.

Where are they at?

Where are they at in Mexico?

Paul P.: You know, when I think overlanding, I think self-sustained, self-sufficient.

You just need to be able to find some place that you can fill up on water, you know, every now and then, someplace you can park, someplace you can feel safe, right?

I'm more of a Baja, you know, person myself.

I prefer, you know, coming down to Baja over, you know, going to mainland.

And it's nothing against mainland, I mean, for sure.

It's just, it feels more comfortable for overlanding.

I feel like Baja is more set up to accommodate overlanding.

Yeah, yeah.

Jorge: I feel like there's a degree of Old West wilderness, not as much regulation, and at the same time enough infrastructure and safety, where-- Is that a little bit of it?

Paul P.: Oh, 100%.

I think you checked all the boxes there, for sure.

I think, to your point, from the Wild Wild West reference, it feels a little bit more wild-- Jorge: Authentic-- Paul P.: Authentic down here for sure, and I think that's probably why.

Jorge: And you're showing them that, on top of that, it's safe, right?

Paul P.: It's, yeah, everybody feels very safe, yeah.

Jorge: Furthest person away, where are they from, where are they coming from?

Paul P.: Oh, I think the furthest-- I'm from Arizona, so this is, you know, backyard for me, right?

I think the furthest person came from Ohio.

Jorge: Oh, wow, okay, that's a drive.

Paul P.: So that was a good drive, yeah, yeah.

So they drove all the way from Ohio just to come to this event.

Jorge: That is so cool.

Paul P.: That we come down here and hang out on the beach for a week and act like kids again, so, which is fun.

Jorge: I love it.

I love it.

Paul the, your typical overlanders, what do they do for a living?

Are these retired people, or are they people still, like, middle of, you know, productive life in the corporate world?

Paul P.: That's a good question.

I think it's a combination.

I would say the lion's share of the people that I know and I go out with on a regular basis still work.

They have day jobs.

Jorge: Majority.

Paul P.: Majority of them, yeah, a lot of them, I would say 80% of them, work from their vans.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Paul P.: Yeah.

And so they'll work there.

Jorge: Nomads.

Paul P.: They are nomads, yeah, absolutely.

Jorge: Wow, 80% of these people are working from their van.

Impressive.

I wonder if this guy's clients know that he's charging by the hour while out on the water.

No, just kidding.

He's probably just taking a well deserved break from his tech job.

Or perhaps he's the boss.

Paul P.: You know, we've got some executives here that are working remotely this-- they'll be here next week, and they're working the whole time out of their vans.

Jorge: Oh, wow, that is amazing.

Paul P.: You know, we've got other people here that are retired.

We've got, you know, combination of kind of everything in between.

Jorge: Where do you fall in?

Paul P.: I'm still working.

Jorge: You're still working?

Paul P.: Yeah, I'm technically on vacation right now, which is why I have the margarita, yeah.

This is our, kind of where we hang out; this is where we get to catch up if we haven't seen each other in many months.

You know, there's been some people I haven't seen in a year.

Jorge: As opposed to going sprinter to sprinter to say hi, we all converge here.

Paul P.: Yeah, we come here, which is nice, you know, having a place where we can all congregate and hang out.

Jorge: For sure, yeah, for sure.

Do they know you're coming?

Do they prepare something special for you guys?

Paul P.: They do.

Jorge: Or is this how they're doing regardless of you being here?

Paul P.: No, I don't know what it's like when we're not here; you know, we actually found this place during our first year down here and asked if we could rent out the whole place for our group the second year.

And they were, they've been super accommodating.

We've had a couple of meals down here.

They had a welcome meal when we arrived.

They've got a fully stocked bar for us here, as you can see, lots of, you know, lots of things happening here at the bar.

Jorge: For sure.

Paul P.: Yeah, you know, it's been good.

Jorge: It sure is, so pretty cool to get to know this subculture and their lifestyle.

But we were getting a bit hungry, and it was about time to hightail it back into town for some grub.

Here at the boardwalk in San Felipe, we walked into this whole wall called Las Caguamas, and it's a restaurant, and we're gonna try it.

What's your name, my friend?

Paul Carrillo: Paul.

Jorge: Paul?

Paul, you're the owner here.

[speaking in Spanish] Paul C.: [speaking in Spanish] Jorge: [speaking in Spanish] Paul C.: [speaking in Spanish] Jorge: [speaking in Spanish] Jorge: So, San Felipe native, says the food, same thing, the seafood and the style, it's native to San Felipe, San Felipe style.

[speaking in Spanish] Paul C.: [speaking Spanish] Jorge: Okay, perfecto.

Jorge: So the molcajete is actually a volcanic stone dish.

Normally people make salsas in it to mash different herbs and such.

They prepare it also sometimes heated up.

But the food here, the San Felipe seafood we're gonna have, is actually cold, served cold, cured with lime and lemon and so on.

So we're gonna try that right now.

Normally aguachile is spicy with lime, so, it's pretty exciting, folks.

But that's, it's one of the restaurants that are available here at the boardwalk in a busy San Felipe night here in Baja.

So that's it, folks.

We're gonna try Paul's stuff, right?

Paul from Las Caguamas, yeah, we're gonna try stuff.

Don't go anywhere.

Crossing South, more coming your way right now.

The advantage of any seaside community in Baja will be the guaranteed freshness of the seafood they give you.

After that, it's the creativity of the cook or chef and what he does with the produce.

And, boy, were we in for a good one here.

Okay, so we're gonna start here with their oyster botana, which is kind of like her oyster appetizer.

So these are aguachile shrimp filling.

Aguachile is that spicy, you know, lime prepared, cured shrimp.

Now he's got that inside his oyster.

So you're getting an oyster full along with an aguachile full.

Mm, spicy, fresh, and tasty.

This right here is an, it's an oyster shot.

It's the house Clamato, oyster inside, it's got tequila, and it's got their tamarind paste with the Tajin powder in it.

It's gonna have a kick.

Wow, oh, that is so good; that tequila really gives it a pop, oh, man.

I'm telling you, folks, hm.

And that paste is so good.

The San Felipe lifestyle.

It had been so long since I've been here.

I'm so happy we came back.

Another dish we're gonna try right now is the seafood tower.

The first base layer, it's ceviche, which is made of out of a local fish called corvina, which is kinda like a sea bass or snapper.

The next layer in this geological landscape, you know, of seafood, it's the octopus, octopus, it's shrimp on top, the next one.

And, you see this the top layer, it's out of fresh tuna from the region.

Now, normally, I'm sorry that you, I'm not able to show you guys, but just imagine.

Instead of tuna, this would be filled with actually scallops, fresh scallops.

The government issues, it basically temporarily bans certain seafood different times a year to allow it to replenish and grow.

And right now at this moment when we're shooting this segment, scallops are, like, not allowed to be fished right now.

So that's why they replaced it with this layer of fresh tuna.

But normally this would be scallops on top.

Let's try this.

Let's start with the top tuna layer.

So good.

Move down to the shrimp.

If you notice, shrimp aguachile is cured with lime.

If you notice, it has a degree of transparency; that's how it's cooked; it's cured with lime.

Hm, and the next layer, if you notice, is shrimp also, but this layer, this shrimp is actually boiled.

It's boiled and then served fresh with lime with all the classic Baja shrimp cocktail.

So one with lime and one actually boiled.

Mm hm.

Notice the difference.

Cured with lime, boiled to perfection.

Hm.

Moving our way down, we get to the octopus.

The octopus is prepared the same way as the shrimp.

The octopus is boiled first.

The bottom layer is the ceviche.

Hm.

You know, many Americans are health conscious and try to avoid maybe mayos and creams, but ceviche, that's how I used to eat it growing up.

You'd grab either a tostada chip, tostada, full tostada; you spread mayo on it; you grab the ceviche, and you put it on top.

So the the lime waters down the mayo and just gives it a special flavor.

Hm.

So you can do that with a tostada; you can do that with a cracker as well.

The cracker also has its own properties.

It gets a little bit soggy with the lime juice dripping through it.

It'll make the mayo runny, but also the saltiness of the cracker, it just adds to the chemistry of what you're eating.

You add, you know, your seafood on it, whichever portion of the tower you wish to add.

And, as you can see, as you're pouring it, the lime juice is making the mayo a little bit runny, and that's okay.

Now, all that combines for a very distinctive taste, from the cracker to the mayo, to the lime, to the seafood, to the hot sauce.

This is how Mexicans--in Baja, mind you--have eaten this type of seafood for a long time.

Mm.

Jorge: The San Felipe boardwalk has its own thing going on, one of many random and planned festivals you're bound to encounter on any given week.

The same thing goes with a tostada.

It's kind of messy because, whenever you bite into it, it's gonna break.

That's just the way of life; you have to accept that.

So it's gonna be messy, you know that.

You spread your mayo on your tostada.

And this is the molcajete.

It's basically the same as the tower, different presentation, though.

I can't tell you which one has more seafood.

If the molcajete or the tower; this is the molcajete.

This is easy to mount on the molcajete.

The tostada, I think it's almost like a launch pad waiting for you to just add your tostada.

Whereas, the tower, you've gotta be eating it knowing that it's collapsing, you know, within you.

But, look at this, can't go wrong with the molcajete for sure.

You prepare your tostada like this.

You add your hot sauce just to top it off, just to finish it.

It's time to bite in here.

It's gonna be messy, folks.

Mm, normally it will break.

I think it has more to do, believe me, with the integrity of the tostada itself.

It's probably a brand that's made for this, as opposed to the ones that, you know, I've had many restaurants where they just collapse.

What a well made tostada.

I don't think this is gonna break, folks.

I think it will withstand every bite.

The last thing is we're gonna wash this down with their special Michelada from the house.

It's already got secret sauces inside that, very well kept secrets.

Both the bottle and the jug have like a tamarind paste and Tajin on the side.

So let's, we're gonna wash this down.

This is not part of the fancy culinary art scene that we normally find, like, in Valle or Tijuana.

This is more blue collar, blue collar, you know, seafood.

you know, Seaport Village town in Baja.

This is the experience right here.

It's probably less sophisticated, but no less flavorful, and no less amazing.

So let's try this Michelada.

Mm, it's phenomenal.

The Michelada preparada they have here in Caguamas is fantastic, mm.

You could have the temptation to kind of look down at an experience like this because it's right on the boardwalk.

And I'm like that; I have to be honest.

I tend to not go to the places where they're incredibly touristy.

This place is like right on the boardwalk, so normally it would have been a place that I maybe would have avoided.

And I'm so glad I didn't because every single thing I tasted right now was incredibly delicious.

And sometimes you just gotta take things at face value.

So never, you know, as much as you see, you know, new trends coming in, it's always worth going back to revisiting the classics.

We hope you enjoyed this one, folks.

More Crossing South coming your way.

I'm gonna continue with this delicious Michelada preparada.

I wish you could taste this tamarind paste, mmm, it is so good, wow.

Jorge: So, after getting to hang out with the overlander adventurers and enjoying the seafood life, San Felipe has to offer, we leave incredibly satisfied and wondering what other experiences will await us the next time we get to Cross South.

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