Holiday in San Felipe

HHoolliiddaayy iinn SSaann FFeelliippee Sandy and Lee Darby Labor Day W eekend Septem ber 2 – 5, 2005 Day 1 – Friday – Septem ber 2, 2005 9:45a Depart Mount Helix 10:25a Arrive Tecate (32 mi, 40 min) Cross border into Mexico Depart Tecate 11:30a Arrive Valle de Guadalupe (36mi, 50 mn) Visit to winery 12:30p Depart Valle de Guadalupe 1:20p Arrive Ensenada (36 mi, 50 min) Lunch in Ensenada 3:00p Depart Ensenada 6:45p Arrive San Felipe (152 mi, 3 hr 40 min) Check into hotel: SAN FELIPE MARINA RESORT Km 4.5 Carretera Aeropuerto San Felipe, BCN 21850 MEXICO 011-52 (686) 577-1569 Phone 011-52 (686) 577-1566 Fax Dinner: Day 2 – Saturday – Septem ber 3, 2005 Relax! Day 3 – Sunday – Septem ber 4, 2005 Relax! Day 4 – M onday – Septem ber 5, 2005 10:00a Depart San Felipe 1:00p Arrive Mexicali (121 mi, 3 hr) Lunch 2:00p Depart Mexicali 4:00p Arrive Tecate (90 mi, 2 hr) Cross border into USA 4:40p Depart Tecate 5:20p Arrive Mount Helix (32 mi, 40 min) Driving Directions San Felipe Tides History of San Felipe "The history of the San Felipe region dates to more than 150 million years before present (to the formation of the Baja California peninsula) while its written history goes no farther back than the days of the first Europeans to set foot on its soil. Beyond that, nothing is known of the first humans to enjoy the local shores although information begins to appear from about two thousand years ago. Dispatched by Hernan Cortés to map the coastline of the then known "Southern Sea," Fransisco de Ulloa recorded his presence in this area in September, 1539. With him was cartographer Domingo del Castillo who identified the San Felipe cove (on a map he was then making) as "Santa Catarina." What's more, because the existence of the Baja California peninsula was unknown at the time (the Spaniards thought La Paz was on an island some of them called "California"), it was Ulloa who reported it at the conclusion of this voyage. That voyage, by the way, included circumnavigation of the peninsula as far north as the approximate location of Ensenada. One year later, Hernando de Alarcón sailed into the area on an unsuccessful mission of support for the Coronado Expedition (to the Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola). With Alarcón was the same Domingo del Castillo who, by virtue of the Viceroy of New Spain's orders to sail as close as possible to the shore (to enable sighting Coronado's representatives), was enabled to improve upon the map he produced during the Ulloa voyage. Sailing in the first ship built on Baja California soil, Juan de Ugarte landed in the bay on July 5, 1721. Twenty-five years later, Padre Fernando Consag landed here and formally christened the place San Felipe de Jesús. San Felipe's modern history dates from 1876 when the Mexican government signed a colonization contract with one Guillermo Andrade who acquired some 30,000 hectares but died before his plans were realized. Although the first fish camp was formed in 1904, it was not until 1925 that the first sub-delegation was created and San Felipe began to develop as an organized community. The first fishing society was founded in 1928, the first school established in 1929, and the first tourist facilities in the early 1950's. Electricity was provided in 1963 and the first potable water in 1967. San Felipe Contacts San Felipe's only hospital; up-to- date facilities; surgery, etc. - also, offices of Dr. Victor Abasolo St. James Infirmary Av. Mar Negro Sur #1285 Near the Police Station Emergencies: (686) 577-0117 Consultations: (686) 577-1706 Secretaria De Turismo Del Estado Subdelegacion San Felipe Av. Mar de Cortez y Calle Manzanillo #300 San Felipe, Baja California 21850 Tel/Fax: 011-52-686-577-11-55 or 686-577-18-65 San Diego County Map Book: Political Suicide San Felipe Inform ation About San Felipe Geopolitically a part of the Mexicali municipality, San Felipe depends upon tax-based funding for all its public services. It is governed locally by a "Delegado" (Mayor), representing Mexicali's Presidente, who is responsible for all municipal matters. San Felipe was founded in 1916 as a commercial fishing port. Still operating a sizeable shrimp-fishing fleet of small pangas, the pueblos' principal income has changed over the past five years, from fishing to tourism and retirement living with as many as 250,000 American and Canadian visitors annually. November through March is the prime "snowbird" season with mobile homes arriving from all regions of the US and Canada. Increasingly we now also see tourism and investment in retirement homes from places as far away as Australia. Easter week and the surrounding "spring break" weeks, when college students from schools around the southwest USA invade San Felipe, is the busiest time in town. Hotel rooms are at a premium and traffic jams are routine on the road to and from the border crossing in Mexicali. During the summer months, May through September, the weather is ideal for a relaxed lifestyle on the beaches. Fishing is good and the pace of life slows considerably. With a population topping 25,000 (including foreign residents), this seaside community is a delightful retirement area. Over the past two years there has been a major influx of retirees who are building homes here and cashing out on their property investments in the USA. Local businesses provide the requisite services including, but not limited to, House Design Services, Architectural Services, Construction Services, Lumber Yards and Hardware Stores. Because San Felipe is a "cash" society, do not expect to use credit cards or personal checks here, with the exception of paying for accommodations at the larger hotels. ATM machines will accept your credit card and allow you to withdraw up to 3000 pesos (about $300 per day) with an additional nominal charge to your bank account of $3.50 (dollars). Machines are located at: • 7-LEVEN (Pemex Station) entering town just south of the Arches • El Marino liquor-grocery store on the corner of Calle Chetumal and Mar de Cortez • Bancomer on Mar de Cortez • the AM/PM store at the Rodriguez Pemex station on the road to the airport • The El Dorado Ranch office area (by the swimming pool) The city water supply comes from wells about 30 miles south of town and also springs in the mountains. While it is considered safe to drink, it has a high mineral content. Bottled water and mineral water is available at all liquor and grocery stores and excellent, purified, reverse osmosis, water is available at KonsAgua, Pelicanos and other producers for around $.70 for 5 gallons. Purified water is used in all restaurants and homes and for making ice for the bars. The city sewage system is unusual for a coastal town in that most of it does not discharge into the sea; it is piped to a plant in the desert for treatment. Septic systems are used for all properties away from the town's main collector system. This includes all developments to the north and south of San Felipe along the beaches. In some cases these septic systems are barely able to cope with the major influx of visitors on weekends. The sea water is maintained as clean as possible because of the great dependence of the town on the fish and shrimp industries. Tests of the bay water in past years have revealed minimal detectable e-coli contamination. However, the further away you are from beachfront development, the cleaner the water will be. Because of the high salinity of the sea water, swimming and floating are almost effortless. Twice a month, around the time of the new and the full moon, very large tides develop and you will see the spectacular rise and fall of the water. The only bank (BBBV/Bancomer) in San Felipe will not accept Cashier's Checks or personal checks made out for cash. In fact, even if you have a bank account in San Felipe, the bank will not permit you to write a check on your U.S. account and deposit it in Mexico. (You can, however, get some third party to write a check to you and then deposit that check in your Bancomer account, pay the commission and wait 10 days for funds in pesos to be made available to you.) This peculiar law (part of the procedure in place to stop the extensive money laundering from drug trafficing in Baja California) really ties people up in knots. Consider if you are down here and you need to pay a contractor that is building a house for you - you may have to bring down thousands of dollars in cash from the border area. This in turn, leads to great worries about driving on the very lonely road and being subject to search by the police, the military patrols or even bandits. You may be able to write personal U.S. dollar checks for major purchases if you live in San Felipe but you will generally find that the merchant will ask you to leave the payee name blank. This is unnerving to most Americans but it is a way of doing business here. When you get the cashed check back you may find some unknown person or organization actually negotiated the check. One final note about banking in San Felipe; be prepared to wait. Virtually every transaction that involves depositing money requires all sorts of levels of approvals.

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