The peninsula itself is a long finger of land surrounded wrapped by the Sea of Cortez on the east coast and the Pacific on the west. A day’s drive and a traveler can experience two vastly different environmental climates. The middle of the Baja can be more like an inferno mid-summer, with temps not unusual in the 110+ range.

“On the Island”

It is the sea that draws me, holds me, keeps me waking next to water and all her power to soothe, to invigorate and to heal. My new neighbor, Dave, took this photo this morning of my Casa de Catalina using an iPhone ap : http://www.photosynth.net.

It certainly appears from this image that I live on an island. What a whoop! Better get the paddles out!

Dawn : Day 140 : Sea of Cortez

It’s hot. Spring has flashed to summer with the turn of a switch.

Dawn comes with still seas and air that carries the heavy scent of salted water.

From my writing perch, I watch orioles dash palm to palm, nipping at dried fronds for nesting materials. Small hummingbirds lap at red flowers, doves coo from the neighbor’s rooftop, and house wrens flitter between plantings and small trees.

A wondrous way to wake ….

Beach walkers – with and without dogs, ply the beach. A few youngsters hurry past on their morning run. Buster begs me to stop writing and take him on an adventure.

In the distance, the tinkle of the bottled water delivery man’s truck. It reminds me of the bells on the ice cream man’s truck when I was a small child in Long Beach, CA.

Behind the sweet tinkle is the loudspeaker of the day’s political broadcastings. A sedan of undetermined color circles the hood, a speaker mounted to the roof of his car, with a taped recording blaring into the otherwise quiet space. While my Spanish isn’t perfect, there is something about the tinniness and the volume of the speaker that renders the advertisement unintelligible. I grasp it’s for one or other of the candidates vying for votes in this year’s election.

Quiet already disturbed, trucks laden with soil to fill a neighborhood lot arrive, followed by a large bulldozer that begins to spread the earth.

Time for another cup of coffee – and put the day in order.

Sunrise : Casa de Catalina : 3 May 2012

Woke to the early chatter of wrens and finches : the coo of the doves : followed by the sharp yap of Buster and Shorty as they ‘tended’ to beach walkers. Oh, those dogs! Ever vigilant in the protection of property and home, and their wakeup call led me straight into the sunrise. Lucky me!

Only in Mexico could the transport of a huge tank that utilizes the entire width of Mex 1 – the solitary two-lane highway that spans the peninsula – take place in the full light of day. No matter that traffic backs up for hours over the spiny mountain climb through the central deserts of Baja. No. Just a couple of guys riding on the very back (no seat belts or other security measures) waving traffic to ‘back off.’

At special spots on ridges with a small pullout, the caravan (three huge trucks all tied together – imagine a Burlington-Santa Fe train – pulling this enormous tank) would simply stop. Rather than the rigs pulling over, the dudes on the back jump down and begin to direct north and south bound traffic around the road covering vehicles.

In between the stops, the traffic sooooo slow (around 8 MPH) let travelers kind of hang out, chat while ‘parked’ in the middle of the road.

In the States, it would require mountainous piles of permits, special hours of travel, police escorts with sirens and flashing lights, a special traffic co-ordinator, and specified rest stops.

It’s scenes like this that really bring travel Mexico to my heart. All that’s required is patience and a good sense of humor – along with a dollap of curiosity.

The tank? Probably bound for Santa Rosalia and the newly re-established copper mines.

via Despite bad press and travel warnings, Mexico tourism holds its own – CNN.com.

Fukushima (global-adventures.us): Massive amounts of debris are floating in the Pacific Ocean; and between one and five percent of the garbage could wash up on the shores of Hawaii, Alaska, British Columbia, and the U.S. west coast. The ocean debris, estimated at 3.6 million tones, is a result of the magnitude-9 earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Japan (Global Adventures reported here). Several large buoys, possibly originating from Japanese oyster farms, already washed up on Alaska shores, and Nikolai Maximenko, a senior researcher and ocean current expert at the University of Hawaii, says that 0.9 – 1.8 million tons of debris could reach the islands in early 2013.

“In a year, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument will see pieces washing up on its shores; in two years, the remaining Hawaiian Islands will see some effects; in three years, the plume will reach the U.S. West Coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska and Baja California,”

read more ::: ”

via Tsunami debris: Garbage wave could hit Hawaii, U.S. West Coast « Global Adventures, LLC.

San Juanico Dawn : Photo©Lara Wagstaff

Don’t need words…

SanTaco Airlines

Once upon a time Alaska Airlines flew daily flights from Los Angeles to Loreto – and “…the living was easy.”  During the buildup of Loreto Bay,  Delta and Continental both added flights.  Prices were low.  Flights were easy to obtain at the last minute, and travel to and from the United States was relatively simple.

Enter the dawn of the US housing crisis and airline traffic dwindled.  Delta and Continental pulled out of Loreto market, and Alaska : aka Horizon : cut flights to four days a week.  Then they switched from the 737 Jet to the much smaller load carrying prop Bombardier q400.  While the plane is more fuel efficient, it adds an additional hour to travel time.  Cost cutting measures insure that airlines stay in business, but lately, the cutbacks have had a ferocious effect.

Tie whale-watching season – mid-January through the end of March – to the needs of local fliers, and simply forget about a/getting a flight, and b/getting a flight at a reasonable price.  At least for February and most of March.  Unless you’ve got $1000 to spend round trip.  Gee whiz : I went to London and back last month for 1/2 that price!

So this morning, when my friend, Cynthia, sent me an email with the title, “New Flights to Loreto,” I couldn’t wait to open it!  Was there really a new option???  I almost peed my pants I laughed so hard, looking at the photograph she attached, with the new planes name, “SanTaco” proudly painted on the tail.  Can’t wait to book a flight – but better make sure to tie back my hair and wear sunglasses!!

Baja : Pacific Morning

For the uninitiated, there is little that can be said to fully express the beauty of Baja California Sur.  From the moment one leaves the populations of Colonet & San Quintin, makes a requisite gas stop in El Rosario, and heads into the heart of undeveloped land of cardon, bojum, cholla, poloverde, cirrius and more …  the heart slows, the shoulders drop, and the mind begins to embrace again that primal space of undeveloped land.

Mex One zigzags across the peninsula in undulating rhythms, following for the greater part, the easiest passage through rough terrain.  That translates to switchbacks, mountain climbs and descents, and arroyo crossings.  Wide plains, dry lakes and craggy rock piles – the spewn evidence of long-ago volcanoes litter the landscape.  I’ve stopped counting the trips. I never fail to be inspired.  I am always stunned by her beauty.

For those who are afraid to travel, I am sorry.  So much the greater landscape and less crowded roads for me.  While the horrors of the drug cartels are not to be ignored, the city streets of any major metropolitan area has its own body and assault count.  I feel safer in my home in Loreto than I ever did in the states.

The Pacific side teases with waves that follow distant swells.  Spots like the Wall, Shipwrecks, the local spots of Ensenada .. and of course, Pescadero, Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas beckon surfers from across the globe.

The east coast, the beautiful bountiful Sea of Cortez, is filled with dolphin, sea turtles, fish of every color and size, rays and whales – blue, pilot, fin and orca.  Sunrises, sunsets .. kayaking, paddling, surfing, hiking, sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling .. exploring ..  magic.  To be with and surrounded by such beauty is to me – pure magic.
And then there are the people – beautiful kind warm family loving folks.

Food!  Beverages!  Music!  Dancing!  Camping under stars and/or a full moon. Yes : Baja : I love and dream of you always.

Sunrise : Loreto

I woke before the sun had peeked her head above isla carmen and decided to walk the beach in it’s pre-dawn darkness.  In the distance, the wail of waking roosters echoed down the arroyo and mingled with the guttural purr of diesel transports getting a jump on the day.

At the water line, only the sound of small waves slapping on and moving beach stones broke the zen-like silence.  Morning – before morning – exquisite.

The shadowy shapes of foraging shorebirds began to appear, thankful, as was I, that the winds of yesterday had momentarily waned, and the sea was once again a lake like mirror of glass.

The palms were still.  The residences of Loreto, for the most part, still ‘snug in their beds.’

When the sun finally crested the horizon, it was as if the sky cried out – “I’m here! I’m here!”  – welcoming with broad arms the beginnings of a new day.

To wake with such exquisite peace seems to me – the ultimate luxury.