... Jorge Meraz: Folks, today on "Crossing South," we visit San Felipe to experience salty buoyancy and an eclectic site for accommodations.

Lots of originality, and it's all coming to you right now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge: When you travel south of Mexicali to San Felipe, the ride gives you a front-row seat to a very specific type of nature gazing.

The way the salt flats merge into spiny rows of hills and small mountains is a Hollywood location scouter's dream.

On more than one point of the drive, I asked the team if we could just go off the highway and experience this lunar desert John Carter-type fantasy style.

It mesmerizes me every time I come this way.

This place, El Salar, is Mexico's response to the famous Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia.

It will literally have a different appearance depending on the tide level and the time of year.

The Salton Sea, or lagoon, is a pretty famous landmark in this region.

A lot of salt is mined from this area.

We didn't know this, but it's a very profitable business.

A French Canadian expat has found a business opportunity within this operation.

He has created a tourist experience here, and he offered to take us to see what it's all about.

Christian Hudon: This is actually 240 pool of salt.

Christian: Each-- Jorge: There's 240 pools?

Christian: Yeah.

And each pool do an average of 50 to 70 tons of salt every ten to 21 days.

The principal is by evaporation.

So the water here is very different because we at 7 miles from the sea and 6 miles from the mountain.

So we got fresh water will come from the mountain, and sea water was filtered by the 7 mile and create a special well.

So it's salty water-- Jorge: You're combining it?

Christian: Yeah.

Christian: And then those well are pretty near us.

Only like 200 feet, 250 feet, so we don't have to dig very down.

And then you grab those very average pump, you know?

And then we pump the water into the pool.

But every time you do a new pool, it's about 18 to 24 months-- almost two years.

And it's not guaranteed.

And it's an average of a hundred grand per pool to make the hole and level and all that and pump the water.

And then you need to make it level, and you need to reach 6 inches of floor to be allowed to support the machinery and stuff until you do your first dump.

Jorge: So you dump the water in, and how deep do you fill it, the pool?

Christian: About a feet at the beginning, and it evaporate, you do like... Jorge: This much salt?

Christian: Yeah, like under a centimeter and a quarter of an inch.

And then you repeat the operation until you have your 6 inch to support the machinery, and then you will have your first crop.

And then we pass the scraper and do like a little mountain.

And then we move them, dry them another eight days, and then after it's ready to pack.

We have two kind of bag over there.

We can see those are super bags.

It's 1 ton each, but the normal bags that we use is 110 pounds.

Jorge: Okay.

It's pretty impressive to see the size of this salt mining operation located just north of San Felipe.

They told me it wasn't that big, but maybe that's only when compared to the operation five hours to the south in Guerrero Negro, which is absolutely massive.

Hey, we use salt all the time in our food, but you probably haven't seen how it's made and how it gets to us.

Well, as it turns out, the salt here is of very high quality.

Jorge: And the water that comes up that you bring up, it's all from aquifers?

All the water, always?

Christian: Yeah.

Jorge: So, below ground, regardless of what you do, salt and seawater is mixing.

Christian: It's sea water was salty, and fresh water was put on the pool.

Jorge: But on the wells-- Christian: Yeah, we have salt water.

Jorge: Salt water.

Christian: From the sea.

Jorge: You are adding the fresh water?

Christian: The fresh water come from the mountain, from the rain and all that.

Jorge: The combination is natural?

Christian: Yes, all natural because the two proximity of the two water get into the well was underneath a box.

Jorge: Do you know if there's a point where the mixture happens, and-- Christian: It's about the highway.

Jorge: The highway, okay.

Beyond that, it'll be just fresh water?

Christian: Yes, and after that, it would be only salty water.

You're correct.

Yeah.

And then, also, it's a system of filter 'cause it's different type of rock in the mountain.

So as far as the water go grab more new mineral like calcare like granite, like, you know, all that stuff.

Jorge: But does that help?

Christian: Yes, that create more mineral in the water.

So that water is tons of minerals.

Jorge: Tons of minerals.

So it seems like a very unique situation to this particular spot, right?

Christian: The salt in San Felipe is very different than any other salt in the world.

And you can grab and eat, no problem.

I'm not gonna say name, but in other mine in Baja, you grab it, put it in your tongue, and you get numb.

Yeah, so I love that-- Jorge: Not this one.

Not this one.

Jorge: High quality salt.

Christian: Yes.

Jorge: Is it being exported in different parts of the word?

Christian: The exportation is only 8%.

Like I was mentioning, 70% go for animal food.

But after, the produce is exported.

So we can say that, yes, it's exported.

Jorge: It makes its way.

Christian: Yeah, and then we distributed the comestible food-- salt, who have flavor-- Jorge: The edible?

Christian: Yeah, the edible one who have flavor like smoke with herb.

We have one with garlic.

We have one with spice and stuff.

This mostly used in Valle Guadalupe, Cancun, and Mexico City are our most bigger customer.

♪♪♪ Jorge: Note how they filter the salt through that screen.

In Spanish, they call it acriba.

I thought they only used acriba for separating sand and gravel for construction.

Some albanilas call it a cernidor.

This is a very interesting and off-label use of that tool for sure.

Jorge: Is it different the producers of the salt and the people who sell it, or is it the same people?

Christian: No, it's the same people.

Jorge: Okay, so they mine it and sell it.

Christian: Yes, exactly.

And like I told you, it was a seven company.

So the company I work with for the tours are the ones who do the food salt.

Jorge: This is the company-- one of many companies that sell salt?

Christian: Yes.

Jorge: So it's not just this one.

Christian: But it's the only company who sell human-consuming salt.

Jorge: Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay.

Got you, got you, got you.

Is this in the supermarkets in Mexico, or no?

Christian: Yeah, we have a couple of supermarket in Valle Guadalupe and Mexico City, but mostly it's the chef who use them.

Jorge: The brand is Sea of Cortez?

Christian: Yes.

San Felipe salt company, yes.

Jorge: San Felipe salt company-- Christian: That's our company.

Jorge: Wow.

So this one is cebolla, so onion flavored.

Let's see, what else is there?

Pepper.

Pimienta.

Christian: Spicy Mexican.

Jorge: Okay, you mix it with herbs?

Christian: Yeah, and then chipotle.

And then some are smoked, too.

Jorge: So, where's the factory to make this?

Christian: Right here in San Felipe.

Jorge: In San Felipe?

In town?

Christian: Yep.

Jorge: And that's where they mix all the other herbs and stuff?

Christian: Exactly, yeah.

Jorge: That's crazy because you would have thought that it's only your run-of-the-mill table salt, but you guys are branching out.

Christian: What I wanna show you here is the three different type of salt.

You ever heard about salt flour?

Jorge: No.

Christian: Okay, salt flour, it's only recollectable by hand.

And it's what's floating on top, like this one.

And it's already super refined.

When you recollect the salt flour, it needs to be done by hand.

So what we do, we bring a truckload of people, and they just-- Jorge: And they do it by hand?

Christian: Yes.

Jorge: You can't do it with a shovel?

You can't-- no?

Christian: No, there's no machinery yet.

That's why salt flour is ten times more expensive than the normal salt.

Jorge: So what do you do with salt flour?

Christian: It's mostly for cooking as well.

And for cosmetic.

Yeah, yeah.

Jorge: It has cosmetic use?

Christian: Yeah, also.

Uh-huh.

And then after that, we got the second grain with, like, bigger rocks.

Jorge: Okay.

Christian: And then we will have the third grain.

And it all go from the edge to the center of the pool.

Remember, physic in the-- it's cool.

So salt is a square molecule.

Jorge: No way.

It makes natural squares?

Christian: Yes, of course.

Because of it's molecule.

Jorge: Look at this, folks.

You wanted to see the square molecule.

That's not man made.

That's nature right there.

Christian: Perfect square, yeah.

Jorge: That's a perfect square.

That's design right there.

Christian: And that, you can taste.

Jorge: This one?

Christian: Oh yeah.

Christian: And you're gonna see it's stronger than the other one because it's like the less refined grain.

Jorge: It's much stronger.

Christian: Yeah, right?

All right.

Jorge: Need some tequila now.

Jorge: Okay, so after the chemistry lessons, I wanted to know if it's possible to jump into one of these pools.

I know you're all thinking about it.

Well, I was thinking about it too.

I haven't gone to the Dead Sea yet.

It's on the bucket list.

So this could be the next best thing.

Certainly the nearest.

Christian not only said yes, but he said this is something available to the public through his tour company.

Christian: I'm the tour operator.

So one time my friend bring me here, and he said, "Oh, the mines.

I wanna show you."

And then I came here, I'm like, "What I'm gonna do with that?"

And then I say, "Hey, if you get into the water, will you float?"

It's so salty that it will support you just like the Dead Sea.

After visiting with my friend, we decided to make a pool.

Jorge: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Specifically for that.

Christian: Yeah, because normally, like I told you, it's a foot of water.

In this one we put 3 1/2 feet.

Jorge: Oh wow.

You don't have to go all the way to the Dead Sea to float.

I'm coming with Christian, we're gonna find out right now.

So these are the salt pools where they get salt for eating, but there's also one reserved for floating.

"Crossing South."

Folks, don't go anywhere.

More to come.

Jorge: Okay folks, so Christian here, my man, is gonna take us not to the Dead Sea.

This is not, you know, the ancient biblical land.

This is San Felipe, right?

Christian: Right.

Jorge: All right, let's get in there.

Christian: Okay, follow me.

Jorge: Whoa.

Christian: There you go.

Jorge: Whoa.

I'm floating.

Look, mom, I'm floating.

Christian: That's it.

Jorge: Whoa.

So, you just saved me so much money on a trip to go to the Dead Sea.

You just saved me a trip, Christian.

Jorge: Folks, the buoyancy is really impressive.

The increased density from the high salt content in the water is simply pushing me upward all the time.

Jorge: As soon as you let your feet up, it just throws you up.

Like, if you notice folks, I'm not swimming.

I'm not trying to swim or float.

Christian: Nothing.

Jorge: It's just keeping me up.

Christian: And then, I like to do people exercise, like, you know, when you pull your air out completely, you normally go down.

And then see what it's gonna do.

Jorge: No way.

Oh!

Christian: I go, what?

Two inch?

Maybe an inch for you.

[chuckling] Jorge: I got too much in there trapped.

Jorge: It's always good to see visionaries who can identify an opportunity and have that go-getter spirit.

The rest of us benefit greatly.

Jorge: So that was an experience.

You know, some people say that I'm a little salty, and I guess now they're right.

Jorge: Yep.

As I wash off the salt and cheesiness, we get ready to hit the town in San Felipe to check out Christian's other businesses.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a more unique, eclectic, and original place to stay at.

He runs this bed and breakfast with his Mexican wife, Gabby.

Jorge: So Christian, after taking me to, you know, the salt pool over there, what is this place?

Christian: Welcome to my place.

It's CGGlamping.

It's a hotel-- glamping.

I call it glamping because it's all recycled material.

Jorge: It's very unique.

♪♪♪ Jorge: Unique is exactly the word to describe this place.

It has all sorts of curious details.

Many reused and recycled building materials and creative touches.

It's what many of us daydream about.

But as I've said before, Christian is a go-getter and doer.

Time to take the tour.

Jorge: So, this looks like recycled material.

What was it?

Christian: It was a roof-- the house of a friend.

Jorge: Really?

Christian: It's also the same one of the parking lot, you know.

Jorge: Are those bottles, wine bottles, or what?

Christian: Yeah, no, it's a bunch of parties.

Jorge: Wow.

It does provide lighting.

Christian: Uh-huh.

And then in the shower, we made that wall with tequila bottles.

And then over here we recycle a fishing net, and that's a hammock.

Jorge: No.

Christian: Yeah, you can just go, and I like to read books here and stuff.

So, this temazcal.

Have you ever heard about it?

Jorge: Yeah, that's like a sweat lodge, right?

Christian: Yeah, but we made it electric, you know, so it's a-- Jorge: No burning coals.

Christian: Yeah.

So it's a sauna.

In the winter it's pretty cold here in San Felipe.

Jorge: Before getting to discover some of Christian's most unique rooms, I wanted to find out a bit more about him because, as you probably noticed, he isn't originally from around here.

Jorge: How did you end up in San Felipe?

You're French Canadian, right?

Christian: I can describe that like this... Jorge: Oh!

What's her name?

Christian: Gabby.

Jorge: You married a Mexican?

[chuckling] Christian: Yes, yes, yes.

That's the way to go, I guess.

Jorge: And that's how you're here in San Felipe.

Christian: Yeah.

Jorge: So, how have you liked living in Mexico, Christian?

Christian: I mean, it's not cold as my country.

That for sure.

That was the main reason why I moved, you know?

And then-- how can say?

Don't listen what is on the news.

Jorge: For sure.

Christian: Go and see for yourself.

Jorge: Hey man, our show is all about that, so.

Christian: And really, what you heard, like, people is gonna, "Do I have to pay the cartel?"

Or something like that, and--no.

both: No.

Christian: You know, it's like you do your thing, be respectful, learn the language, learn the culture.

You know, I do the temazcal, stuff like that, recycle, like-- Jorge: And I heard you on the phone, your Spanish is pretty good.

You almost sound local.

Not loco, local.

Christian: So, yeah, but I spend like 15 years now in Latin America and Spain.

So that's where I learned Spanish.

Jorge: Okay.

And how is the population, you know, taken to you?

How have they received you?

Christian: No, it was pretty good, but they always surprised when I start speaking Spanish.

They're like, "Where are you from?"

Or, "Whoa."

And at the beginning, I was saying, "I'm from Guadalajara."

Because I have blue eyes-- Jorge: [speaking foreign language], right?

[laughing] Christian: So, you know, so that's how I start.

But, yeah.

I feel really welcome.

And sadly, I have a better quality of life here in Mexico than in my own country.

Jorge: Wow.

Isn't that something, right?

The world is changing so much.

People are searching for places where it can be affordable, right?

And where, you know, there's so many things.

Christian: We have something very unique going on, and I think that's why we pers that niche.

And the cheese shop is a lot with our gringo and retire friends.

The unit is more with the Mexican, so we touch a little of both sides.

Jorge: Right, right, right.

You're catering to all the demographics that are here.

Christian: Exactly.

We're trying to-- Jorge: Good man.

You're providing a service.

You're providing a service.

Jorge: On to the next room, which has its own special touches.

Christian: So, this is a blue bird from Seattle.

I know that because "Downtown Seattle."

That was on the board.

I find this bus in the desert.

Jorge: What desert?

Christian: Here.

Jorge: No.

Christian: Yeah, I find it abandoned in the desert.

Jorge: Was that sign part of it?

No.

Christian: Yes, that's the sign of rolling the street-- Jorge: It was inside?

Christian: Yeah, it was on the board.

Jorge: Oh, wow.

So this is the blue bird, eh?

Christian: Yeah, we call it the blue, right?

And then, look.

Like I was saying, the sign is from Downtown Seattle.

So that was in the front, and I reused the steering wheel to make the lamp of the table.

When we started building our house, we only have the bus, and we were doing that for rental, but we ended up living in this bus for three months.

Jorge: While you built?

Christian: Yeah.

Yeah, and the first night in the house was not as comfy as the bus.

This is a container that I found in Ensenada at the pier.

So it was pretty busted, but we make-- I would like to give you attention to that window right there.

I was like, "What would be a round window would be shoot tight," you know?

The--not filter window and stuff.

So this is actually a washing machine window.

Jorge: No.

Christian: Yeah.

Jorge: I'm telling you, this is another definition of rustic.

It's rustic.

It's eclectic.

It's artsy.

There's so many adjectives to your washing machine window here.

There's so many adjectives that I could use for, you know, the way you're decoring this.

But hey, I know a lot of people who love this type of decoration.

Christian: This is a 40-foot container that I cut in half and put as a L-shape and then divided with the bathroom.

So you got your full kitchen and full amenity.

I mean, it's totally livable.

The cutting of the windows, of the sliding door, and the doors, I use them to do the wall.

Jorge: Gotcha.

The remaining part, the parts that were left over.

Christian: So I didn't throw anything.

Jorge: This is the original wood from the container?

Christian: Yeah, it is.

And it's 6 inch thick.

And I realized that when I was passing the cable for electricity.

And I was drilling and drilling, I was like, "What the heck?

It's never over."

Boom.

Finally passed.

Jorge: This last room Christian shows us has gone through a metamorphosis recently.

Christian: This one is a bohemian house.

Jorge: Bohemian?

Christian: Yeah.

Because it's for six, but it's only one bedroom.

So you need to be family.

Jorge: So you need to be very close.

Christian: Yeah.

Jorge: Whoa.

Okay, so-- Christian: So, this one is funny story.

It's also recycle.

Why?

Because everybody know about COVID, right?

Jorge: Yeah.

Christian: So this was a restaurant.

Jorge: Oh really?

Christian: We have a 24-seat indoor restaurant, plus 12-seat outdoor restaurant, and we were doing really good.

Jorge: Was it your restaurant?

Christian: Yeah.

It was our.

And we were doing tapas.

Like, Spanish tapas and stuff, and it was doing very good.

But, you know, COVID happened.

Jorge: COVID happened.

Christian: We continue to receive people, and I say, "How come my biggest building is the only one I cannot use?"

Because I can receive people because of private yard and stuff, but I cannot use the restaurant.

So I said, "Okay, how we switch that?"

So we-- where the dish pit, I was like, "Oh, it's already the drain and the water and everything.

We're gonna make the shower there."

Jorge: Yeah.

You didn't want a passive asset that wasn't making anything.

Christian: Uh-huh.

Jorge: How can I make it make money?

Christian: I mean, yeah, yeah.

Jorge: Right?

It's just sitting there.

Christian: It's a business at the end, you know?

Those is actually the bench were along the way.

They were along the way there.

Jorge: And there was tables there.

Christian: Yeah, and it was table, you are the bench, and the table.

So I reuse all the bench and make that day bed.

Jorge: That is amazing.

Christian: I use five tables.

If you look on there, you can see it's still a table.

So I use five table to make that table, you know.

And the island is also recycled bench.

So I barely buy material to-- Jorge: You just repurposed it?

So this was kind of like a thinner, you know, narrower table that went along the benches, and you made one out of it.

Christian: And here, that's actually where I was passing the plate.

Here was the hotline, here was the dish pit, and here I was passing the plate.

Jorge: This is the kitchen, right?

Christian: Yeah.

No, it's the kitchen.

Jorge: And now if you're watching TV here, you're like, "Pass me a plate," to eat, right?

Christian: And then, when we did the cube of the shower-- this is actually the cube of the shower.

We have the space to put the bed for kids up there.

Jorge: Christian and his wife, Gabby, they're true entrepreneurs, and they have a keen eye on how to retrofit and repurpose other people's discarded items.

This was really cool, but there's more.

They even have a small cheese shop to make it all complete.

Jorge: What was first, the hotel or this?

Christian: We start with this and the restaurant, and we didn't have any unit.

Jorge: So, first the store-- cheese store and-- Christian: Grilled cheese sandwich.

Jorge: This is what you had here?

Christian: Yeah.

Jorge: Okay.

Jorge: So, what kind of things do you, you know, offer here for your patrons?

What is your specialty here?

Christian: Cheese.

Jorge: Cheese?

Christian: We got all those kind of cheese, about 50 different kind of cheese.

We have a pizza kit.

So you come, you buy a little cheese-- and the kit change every week.

But you have your own dough.

So you go at home and you make your own pizza.

Jorge: You bake your own pizza?

Christian: But because of all the room, I have full kitchen.

You can do that in your room as well.

And, you know, a lot of people like with a kid, we got a cheese meal package and all that.

And yeah, so it's a shop.

It's a glamping.

It's a catering.

It's a tour company.

We try to do a little bit.

Sleep less.

Jorge: Well, Christian, thank you very much for showing us everything.

You got a good thing going here, man.

Christian: Yeah.

Stay cheesy.

Jorge: Stay cheesy.

Hey, you know that's me, right?

More "Crossing South" coming your way, folks.

Don't go anywhere.

I don't know of a better way to end this segment than with a dish of these delicious hors d'oeuvres that Christian here has brought so kindly for us.

Christian, thank you, my friend.

Christian: Oh, my pleasure.

Jorge: You're doing a very good job here and we wish you the best.

I'm gonna hit this platter like you would not believe, so.

[chuckling] Jorge: Folks, some of life's delicacies are subtle, but not less enjoyable.

And Christian's projects are true examples of that.

So after arriving to San Felipe with our French Canadian host, getting to see his charming compound, and immersing ourselves in the region's salt mine, we leave full of energy, looking forward to new adventures the next time we cross south.

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