Careful in Baja

[SOCALFJ]

From a post in ADVrider.com

Found it on the expeditionportal.

Just a reminder to always be careful down there.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4579544&postcount=47

"I crested a hill and decided to stop and rest a bit as riding with mostly one arm was sort of tiring. Down below I could see an old Ford Bronco and an older small pickup truck coming up an intersecting road. I started the bike up and began making my way down the rather long and winding trail. When I came around one of the bends it became obvious that they had spotted me, they were both stopped and one of them pointed to me. I didn't think much of it until I came around another bend, after having lost sight of them for a bit, and they had both rigs pulled nose to nose, blocking the trail, with both hoods up. I immediately thought back to the breakfast with the Baja vets in San Diego. A couple of them had told me to watch out for a ruse where they will pretend to be broken down, only to rob you when you stop to help. They began waving their arms frantically as I approached. I knew that there was no way in hell that I was going to stop. I had just seen both rigs running. Before I got to them I shot off the right hand side of the trail into a dry wash to make a wide berth around them. They started running towards me and one of them threw something that looked like an axe handle at me. Any doubts that I had about them having less than honorable intentions were just erased. I temporarily forgot the aching pain of my shoulder and got on the gas as much as I could to still maintain reasonable control. Like with the coyote's, I wanted to put as much distance between me and them as possible. Thankfully my LB maps on the GPS showed a side trail that I could intersect and stay off of the main drag for a while in case they decided to pursue me. I kept a careful watch for teltale dust clouds, but never saw any."

 

[Slomo]

Depressing what it is coming to down there. Thanks for posting up a reminder to all. It is also reccomened to have larger groups to help dissuade such an occurence. The thrill of exploring solo is great but nowadays is not such a safe thing.

Not sure how many of you heard but a 72 year old man was stabbed to death for his WJ Grand Cherokee during the 1000 last year just south of Muleje. He was not a racer just camping solo on a beach for almost a month before as he had numerous times before. He was visible from the highway which I am sure led to those involved scoping him out. It can happen anywhere. AFAIK his killers have never been caught.

 

[Shahram]

It's all about perspective; I still think Baja is (per capita) safer for tourists than the United States. But I definitely wouldn't travel to remote areas alone or in one vehicle. Bandidos are criminals of opportunity--highwaymen who target easy marks for easy money. The bulk of Baja crime stories I've heard are about solo travelers, and sometimes pairs in one vehicle. I've never heard of large groups in multiple vehicles being robbed.

That said, I have no reason to doubt the guy's story, but I know that there are hundreds of off-road vehicles travelling that particular road every day, most of them driven by gringos. For all its remoteness, if something were to happen, and the guy actually made it to safety, it wouldn't be hard to finger the culprits, considering that there are maybe a few thousand people living in the area and they all seem to know everything that's going on. It's also risky for the bandido because he's got to know that more people, maybe the guy's buddies, will drive up any minute and all hell will break loose. If they were going to murder the guy outright and take his things, and he avoided being killed, then that's one thing. I just don't see highway robbery as becoming this vast epidemic in that particular area, if not for potential exposure, then for lack of opportunity.

Highway robbery is both dependent upon and hindered by remoteness. The mark must feel that he is out of help's reach, so that he is more inclined to cooperate. He must be alone, outnumbered by at least three. Not to mention that in remote Baja, tourist marks are few, far between, and they're an unusually tightly knit community, making it a difficult thing to make a living robbing gringos and then fading into anonymity. The robbery must be an occasional occurrence with little violence, lest word spread of the infraction and incur the wrath of locals whose profits are hurt by bad press, and by the local government which benefits from incoming tourist dollars. Two or three violent robberies in the bush, and people will talk of a crime spree, and go to Yellowstone instead.

I guess the moral of the story is not to travel to Baja alone. These potential robbers might have changed their tune if there were three additional guys, or a truck full of people, a large dog, or any other hindrance. If you're going to Baja, bring friends. Make friends. Travel together.

 

[gon2srf]

Excellent remarks Shahram.

 

[e9999]

well, since Mexico prevents the vast majority of casual visitors (targets) from bringing firearms into the country, you can be a whole bunch of people but if the perps have a gun (and many do apparently), you're still

 

[SOCALFJ]

here's Baja Circa 1984.

That's me on the right

 

[g8mfzj80]

here's Baja Circa 1984.

That's me on the right

Doood, you put on a few pounds

Great pic..we had a blue van just look those... in mex all the time, that spot looks familiar. Only time we'd get into trouble was in town but still did'nt seem dangerous much back then; cops would shake you down for $ every once in the while but that was about it.

 

[Slomo]

Very well put Shahram. The key is the "opportunity", if that is removed from the equation by good planning and some common sense the risk of getting robbed or otherwise targeted is pretty low.