non cacti Baja highlights

[peterb]

Jen sometimes accuses me of having cactus blinders on. But I did notice a few other things in Baja! You feel like the worst sort of tourist when you take sunrise pictures, but it's truly unavoidable:

over Bahia de Los Angeles:


over Playa el Coyote on Bahia Concepcion:



over Bahia de Los Angeles again on the way back:


These starfish by the dozens far out along Punta La Gringa:


Playa El Coyote from the top of the south hill where Fero rectispinus, E. brandegeei, Cochemia, etc. all get along famously:



A graceful heron:



The old mission in San Ignacio on Christmas Eve ("Noche Buena" in Mexico, a much bigger holiday with much more noise, music and very late night revelry than Christmas Day itself, including Missa de Gallo or Mass of the Rooster, which ends at about 4 am):



The same by day, viewed across the swampy lowlands:



The border crossing in Tecate, which is an excellent way in and out of Mexico, and only about 40 miles west of San Diego.



Coming back into the US we got yelled at for speaking Spanish, which seemed petty to me, and flagged for secondary inspection because of the brightly colored coral Jennifer had picked up on the beach and left on the dashboard. But after a 45 minute wait and a very cursory inspection, we were waved on. The first sign we were back in the US: the road had a shoulder.

peterb

[peterb]

brief postscript-- what I didn't photograph was the disgusting mountains of trash along the back of the beach at Playa El Coyote. Much of Bahia Concepcion was astonishingly filthy along the areas just off the beach. As we cooked breakfast one morning, cockroaches came out of the nearby bushes by the dozens.

From the looks of it, it is European and American tourists who are simply dumping their trash in the dunes. The Mexican people don't help either, with few resources of time, money, labor or waste disposal facilities. Apparently, there isn't *one* contained landfill in all of Baja California. Bahia Concepcion in particular is heavily stressed by new residential communities along the beach that have recently become established in what were seasonal campgrounds. As more Americans and other first worlders, look for that "great escape," Baja will undoubtedly face some tough waste disposal problems. We had to save our recycling in the car until we returned to Bahia de Los Angeles, where Campo Archelon collects recycling and takes it every few months to a recycling plant in Ensenada.

peterb

[peter]

Outstanding photos Peter!
Sad thing those garbage problems!

[daiv]

Great sunrise pictures over the sea of Cortez. I got a good one at Bahia de Los Angeles that I made my the picture for my desktop.

Here is one picture of trash. This was taken way out on the Vizcaino Penninsula where few tourists ever make it. It may not look quite so bad because it is spread out so much:


Sparse vegitation and strong winds ensure that the trash makes it even to remote areas of the Baja Penninsula.

This piece of trash was actually sort of artistic:

[CoronaCactus]

Awesome pics! Some incredible colors in those sunsets.

You should see all the trash in Tiajuana

Funny you mention that about the road shoulder Peter, as the next immediate realization is...The road is now smooth!!!

[Tony]

Beautiful Peter thanks for the tour.
Not so long ago there were places in the san bernadino mountains that I hike and fish that were filthy!
Now permits are required to park anywhere in the forest,this helped dramaticly to keep out the rifraf and the trash to a minimum.
It sucks to have to pay for a parking permit to use public land but it's worth it not to have to step over a dirty diaper to get to the next fishin hole!

[hob]

love the sunrises and the starfish.