Tag Archives: Baja Living

’tis the season ….

Posted on by

Wintry sunrises set the tone for southern Baja mornings. By wintry, meaning the early temperatures hover in the mid-50s and I may need to put on a sweatshirt for my walk with Loki. My neighbor, Ernst, without fail, slips into the water for his morning swim. He’ll do this even when the water temps drop into the 60s, somewhere in February.

The nine-days of Mexican Christmas are in full swing, so decorations, pinatas, Christmas carols continue to ring through our city of Loreto, and the tourist season has begun. A wide-ranging palate of foreign tongues – German, Italian, dare i say Canadian? – can be heard on the street and in restaurants. A outward expression of the love for our waterfront location.

Yet even with the arrival of our foreign guests, there is a tranquility, a peaceful quality of life here, that feeds anyone’s need for quiet contemplation. Perfect for greeting the New Year, which is now a mere inhale/exhale away.

The Baja

Posted on by

There’s a magic in this slender peninsula that lies beyond the borders of cities or towns. Beyond the hustle and bustle of commerce and development. That sits on the edge. The untouched. The yet to be disturbed by the heavy hand of man.

Here, the coyote hunt small prey. Range cattle forage outside of fences. Red-tailed hawks and osprey soar over land and sea, eyes pinned in search of their next meal.

Tall cardon reach their stately trunks every upward, aside paloverde, paloblanco, creosote and straggley cerote. Random water holes, estuaries and narrow canyon pools remind us that water is still the essence, especially in the dry dry desert.

It’s in these lands my soul finds a freedom, a sense of expansion. In the desert, one must look with refined eyes to ferret a tiny flower, a scampering beetle, the tracks of lizard and quail. A roadrunner zooms past. A kingfisher calls from a tree branch. A flotilla of pelicans glide across the face of a wave.

Light from the rising sun reflects in my face. Home in the fierce dry landscape. Home in the magic.

Mex 3 – Road Construction a’la Baja

Posted on by

Paved Portion Mex 3 toward San Felipe
Bridge Construction
Before Lake Chapala – Unpaved
Bridge “Underview”
Newly Paved Segment of Mex 3
Zigzagging through the Foothillls
Cones Mark the Highway

Traveling the highways of Baja are – well – different than driving stateside.  When a huge rock slide close off a section of Mex 1 – the main north/south artery that connects Tijuana with Cabo San Lucas, the locals got to work.  In the USA, next steps would be emergency vehicles, flashing red lights, and weeks of no passage.  In Baja, next steps are a couple of guys with pickup trucks and ropes who move the offending obstructions out of the way, followed by maybe a friend with a bulldozer pushing some of the dirt aside.  I.e., roads are the lifeline .. and the residents don’t wait for the government to fix things.

Mex 3 – a southern route from San Felipe along the western edge of the Sea of Cortez has long been an out-of-the-way route that that terminated at Mex 1 near Lake Chapala. Mostly rugged washboard miles with an occasional paved section that washed out during hurricanes, the road was merciless on tires, suspensions, and overall mechanics of vehicles.

During the last two decades, small fishing villages have given way to retirement homes for gringos from the states, and the road has become more popular.  Gonzaga Bay, originally a landing strip with fly-in homes, now sports an upgraded hotel and multiple restaurants.

In their continuing effort to enhance access to all parts Baja, the government has set about ambitious road development projects, and Mex 3 is one of them.  The included photographs illustrate the scope of this project, the fact that a little dirt never hurt an intrepid Baja traveler, and the vast beauty of the landscape.

Just as Mex 1 was a dream before it opened in 1972, Mex 3 will provide an alternative to the crowded western route.

Crescent Moon ….

Posted on by

Sultry summer nights.

Palms against the Evening Sky

Palms against the Evening Sky

To the east, the mainland sends up a show of lightning.  Bursts of reddish colors paint the undersides of thick storm clouds.  Loreto is humid, but no rain or thunder for the moment.

The repaired lighthouse in the marina casts a welcoming green white light as the top spins in its glass housing, guiding mariners safely home.

Overhead, starts punctuate the space between the clouds.  The low level of city or neighborhood lights provides enough dark sky to enjoy a palette of twinkling white. Distant suns and planets.  The extension of our our small earth-based universe.

Suddenly, a larger break in the clouds, now backlit with white.  A tiny crescent moon, bathed in shades of orange, casts a shimmering pathway across the surface of the Sea.  It appears as if I could almost walk to Isla Carmen on a carpet of watery light.

Yes, sultry summer nights on the Sea of Cortez, as we step toward fall …..

SUP, Sea of Cortez

Posted on by

soft light
still waters
the sky the color of the sea

blue footed boobies make like diving jets
silvery fish dance and skate on the water’s edge

yellowtail and small dorado race from shallow to shallow
stingrays ruffle the sand
puffer fish skitter across the sandy bar
shimmering cerulean sardines leap en masse

pelican wings glide millimeters from the water
cormorants beaks glow golden against black feathers

my paddle eases my board quietly toward the light
no real destination but exactly where i am ….

SUP. the Sea of Cortez
Isla Coronado
Costa de Loreto
My Shadow
Isla Carmen
Loreto & the Sierra Gigantica

New Beach Dog – Gus

Posted on by

Marci & Cynthia with Gus

“Gus” was inadvertently tossed from the back of a pickup truck and simultaneously freed from the oil drum he’d been jammed inside – a trip to the dump and the end of a dog.  Rolling past Bill, Marci’s husband, was all it took for Gus to find a new home.  They had lost their dog a couple of years back, and Gus – like most dogs – found them.  Luckily, Gus’s sister, who showed up on my walk with Buster the next day and followed us back to Cynthia’s house, found her own home.  The luck of the dog, I guess.

Good friends, good times ..

Posted on by
San Juancio, Baja California Sur

Baja seems more spontaneous .. more impulsive.  Maybe it’s because most have left the routine of their other lives behind when they cross the border and live more and more in the moment.  Examples : tuna caught! Let’s have friends for dinner. Bring wine, bring salad, bring laughter.  John’s in town.  That means fried chicken. Bring potatoes, bring wine and beer, bring brownies.  Watch the sun set and waves rush across the bay and breathe in the fullness of being alive.  Get to know new friends, share stories, expand horizons.  Learn about one another in meaningful ways.

Lunch with the Governor!

Posted on by

Lunch with the Governor!

Had lunch with the Governor two days ago.  Not Schwarzenegger, although he’s on my list, but Narcisco Agündez Montaño, the Governor of Baja California Sur.

Narciso Agündez MontañoI’d love to report that I was able to press with him about issues of environmental protections and educational reform, but he was heavily involved with local politicos who had their own agenda.  At least I was seated at a table next across from him, as is shown in the attached photograph (he is the man seated on the left in the blue shirt).

Narcisco Agündez had come to Loreto to bless several public works projects, survey the damage from Tropical Storm Julio, and work politics.  He is a member of PRD, as is the current Mayor of Loreto, Yuan Yee.

The lunch was well attended by nearly every city official.  A band played several musical pieces and locally caught dorado with salsa and slaw satsified the tastes of everyone.

As I’ve said before, themost amaizng things keep happening in Baja.