Viaje a Baja California (México) con Fer, Helena el primo de Fer y su novia, a ver ballenas y cactus!!

Short video by Manny Vargas (NoFriends) from the last race of the mountain bike state series in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

This is a short movie made by my grandfather “Ray Haller” in 1952. He and his friends made a trek down from California to Baja California to fish, hunt and explore this region.

Are they funky, charming, borderline ingenious or just plain eyesores?  Probably all that and more. Campo trailer homes in Baja California are time capsules of a mid-century Gringo approach to habitation in its simplest denomination.  Trailer homes dot the gold coast of Baja California hugging cliff and oceanside perches and most often are located at the very best viewpoints. The trailer camps or campos are disappearing in the 21st century, being replaced by huge developments, resorts and condominiums. Though there are still trailer parks along the Baja Coast, the developers are sweeping them out like so much dirt.

In the 1960’s, campos in Baja California were classified by county planning as campos de trailer. Typically, the campos leased lots to foreigners for 10 year time intervals; the legal limit.  Many US retirees and vacationers placed a trailer on their plot of leased land. Over the years they proceeded to make improvements in a very human, very organic way resulting in a back or front end of a trailer sticking out of the additions.

Now 40+ years later these drastically modified trailer homes are interesting curiosities in Baja.  They remind us of a time when vacationers were happy simply connecting with the unspoiled and sparsely peopled beaches. They lavished elements onto their trailers, adding this and that to them over the years with unfussy and creative abandon. Rooms were added. Patios were enclosed. Bathrooms built. Kitchens added and more. All modifications were done in the interest of comfort and convenience, but also done creatively with limited financial commitment. Stays in these cozy trailer homes provided fond memories of an almost by-gone era in Baja California history. A time before the toll road. A time when the only way to find Puerto Nuevo was to seek very carefully along the bumpy, unlit road for the ancient building with a large picture of a 7 Up bottle on its side.

In the seventies and continuing, people began building upscale homes to replace the humble, modified trailer abodes. Fewer and fewer of the old trailer homes exist today. Some would say “good riddance” to that. But being of a creative nature myself, I remain fascinated and marvel at the funky and frequently amusing style of these dwellings. At times it is a challenge to spot the trailer, deeply imbedded over the years in a tangle of construction upon construction, addition after addition. One can only wonder what they must be like inside!

Changes are happening rapidly in Baja, California.  There will come a time soon when the
old trailer homes will be gone as the area becomes transformed for the new century’s consumers. Meanwhile, keep an observant eye open to see and admire these unique structures while they are still around.