This is a topic that many feel strongly about, one way or another. We always recommend purchasing travel insurance. These are expensive trips, and a little extra to cover yourself should the unexpected happen, in my opinion, is worth it. The very best example of travel insurance put to good use, happened in March of 2017. In the long history of Baja Discovery trips, we never had a medical evacuation – thank goodness! Until Cynthia…

Two women, cousins in their early 70’s, booked a whale watching trip and neither had purchased travel insurance before. This time they decided it would be a wise purchase.

On day three, while walking across the campsite to go kayaking in the mangroves, Cynthia tripped and went down hard on her hip. We were extremely lucky, as a San Ignacio doctor happened to be at the lagoon, and he was there within an hour to assess the injury and give pain medication. He suspected her hip was broken, but without x-rays, couldn’t be sure. It was late afternoon, so we had to wait until the next day to get Cynthia to a medical facility. Another added bonus, one of our camp staff sent word to her family about Cynthia’s injury, and not long after that phone call, a pair of crutches showed up for her use…amazing! We now keep a spare pair at camp by the way!

I happened to be at the camp with this group, and was on the phone at 8am the next morning with the travel insurance company. After several back and forths, and weighing the limited air transportation options, it was decided that a small plane would come to fly her to the hospital in La Paz. Her hip was indeed broken and required surgery, which Cynthia preferred to have done back in Berkeley. After one night in the hospital, a representative from the insurance company arrived by jet to pick her up in La Paz, and they flew back to California.

The small airplane alone was in the $6,000s, add in the overnight hospital costs, and flight back to CA…everything was covered by her travel insurance policy, that if memory serves, didn’t cost more than $300.00.

So is trip protection worth it? Cynthia says YES!