Leaving our restful weekend on the beach near Punta Chivato, we were excited to enter the Baja town of Mulegé. We had heard about it from several friends, including a couple from the U.S. who recently bought a home there.
But before any sight-seeing or errands, we wanted to make sure we had a place to spend the night. Don Chano seemed the obvious first choice because of its proximity to town. It was a cute campground right on the water, but the Wi-Fi was unusable for our work commitments. So we headed out of town on a bumpy dirt road, until we arrived at a little oasis called Hacienda la Habana.
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Church & Church used the term “oasis” first, but it’s well-deserved. Hacienda la Habana is separated into two portions: full hookups for RVs and an open area for dry camping—occupied by vans during our stay.
Faby, the co-owner, welcomed us with open arms. When we tried the dry camping area and the Wi-Fi didn’t reach us, she moved us to a prime location by the hookups and “Wi-Fi Zone.”
Move about the campground in a minute. Food first.
Where We Ate in Mulegé
Faby recommended a second-story restaurant named Los Equipales. It’s a charming table service eatery with friendly servers and colorful décor. We ate there twice, once for a late brunch on Sunday, and another time for an earlier breakfast during the week.
Our first server convinced me to try the chilaquiles with red sauce, even though I only ever liked green sauce in interior Mexico. It ended up being an amazing rojo and phenomenal overall plate of chilaquiles—possibly my favorite ever.
While Eric found the hamburger too greasy on his first visit, he enjoyed his traditional bacon and egg breakfast on our second visit. He made delicious tacos from his spread.
Watch video footage of Mulegé on our Instagram Story.
Laundry in Mulegé
We did laundry once, at the only lavanderia in town called Claudia Laudromat. It’s actually located right around the corner from Los Equipales.
While they do offer full service, this can take hours or even until the next day. So you may want to plan on doing your own laundry instead. The cost is 35 pesos ($1.85 USD) to wash and 25 pesos ($1.30 USD) to dry. The load size is small, but the machines are very clean.
Groceries in Mulegé
There’s a decent-sized grocery store in Mulegé for the size of the town, located on the town square. There is a meat counter at the back, which is also where you can get any number of eggs (convenient since I only have room for half a dozen at a time in our ARB fridge). The produce selection isn’t large, so you may want to keep your eye out for stands around town.
We were also fortunate that vendors came through Hacienda la Habana one day. We purchased jumbo shrimp for a reasonable price, as well as delicious empanadas. The vendors were also selling crab meat and scallops. Our friends bought some of both, and everything tasted great.
Sight-seeing in Mulegé
Mulegé offers a lot in the way of activities. There’s Misión Santa Rosalia de Mulegé on a hill, with a stunning view up the rise behind it.
And though we didn’t get there this trip, the old prison is also a point of interest. There, the doors were open during the day so the prisoners—sometimes 30 to 40 at a time—could work in town.
Mulegé, officially named Heroica Mulegé, has an interesting history as a whole if you take the time to dig into it.
For those who love being outdoors and on the water, Mulegé marks the northern point of stunning Bahía Concepción. The calm waters are paradise for kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, and all kinds of water sports. (We’ll show you more of the bay in our next article.)
Back to the Campground at Hacienda la Habana
I haven’t said enough about Hacienda la Habana. We stayed for three nights, our longest stay since we arrived in Baja.
We loved the community feel at this campground. It was one of the largest we’ve stayed at in Baja, but we met almost everyone by the first night. There were some older RV couples who come every season. And then, surprisingly, a group of our RV friends from Xscapers rolled in together.
Caspian had some kids to play with, though they were all older than him. He loved nine-year-old RV friend Cora. And we got to see Levi and Harvey again, our friends from @neversaysomeday who we met at La Palapa and again at Campo Archelon.
The pool was empty when we arrived, which made sense because the winter weather has been cold. But when the kids asked for swim time, Faby didn’t refuse. The beautiful pool was filled by our second day there, and I couldn’t believe how warm the water was.
And then there are the fruit trees. The campground is surrounded by orange and grapefruit trees, and guests can pick as much as they want. There’s a juicer by the pool for fresh-squeezed juice. The kids and adults had the best time with this. Caspian and I even found a pomegranate tree the morning we left.
As far as the camping portion goes, this is possibly the most comfortable I’ve ever felt overlanding. Between our southern movement and the season of winter passing, we finally hit more temperate weather. We’ve really experienced the impact of weather on this trip.
Unfortunately, our stay at this marvelous campground surrounded by friends was overshadowed by my work commitments. Tax prep ended up being a lot more involved than I expected, and I’m also preparing a team of my bloggers in Austin to cover SXSW. All this, and the fact I was sick on Friday and didn’t get a full work day in, meant I was practically glued to my computer for 48 hours.
But Tuesday night, I finally caught up to where I wanted to be. We got to enjoy time by the pool with friends, and even a little potluck. It was a really sweet time.
The cost at Hacienda la Habana is 270 pesos for dry camping, or $14 USD a night. We paid a little extra to use one of the electrical pedestals to charge our Aimtom Raptor portable power station. We also borrowed the campground van to go into town to do laundry, so we didn’t have to break camp. We gave Faby an additional 100 pesos ($5 USD) for fuel.
We were so comfortable at Hacienda la Habana, but comfort is not our prime object! The road calling, we headed south past Bahía Concepción to the larger town of Loreto.
-B
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What a terrific place! Such incredible memories to add to the scrapbook!