Baja California is not in California, it’s in Mexico. The Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) is not in California, it’s in Mexico. But whatever it’s called, Baja Mexico is a place of much diversity, great landscapes and a vast desert environment surrounded by immense bodies of water. https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9998847,-113.5,6z
It’s about a 1,000 mile (1,609 Kilometers) drive from San Diego to the southern tip of Baja at Cabo San Lucas. I had the opportunity a few years ago to drive that stretch and to capture the essence of the land, its people and customs. The food was spicy, inexpensive and the military checkpoints were ubiquitous. The photos below are a good representation of the land in much of Baja with its endless mountain ridges and succulent desert vegetation. These photos and more are available as prints or downloadable files at http://dawn2dawnphotography.com/
This fine young hombre with AK 47 searched my vehicle but forgot to check the rocker panels. I guess he never saw the movie “The French Connection”Many visitors are content to camp along the bahias of The Sea of Cortez, where the waters are peaceful, clear and green! Just be aware of the giant squids!
The greenery in Baja is made up of cactus that come in all shapes and sizes. Boojum trees.
They could use this cactus in place of barb-wire at prisons.
And then there are the sunrises and sunsets. This was when I decided to name my website Dawn2Dawn Photography.
This is the shot I used for my website logo. I got out of my tent around 6am and saw this. The color was immense. I didn’t have to push the saturation in Photoshop.
And when you get hungry, you head to town. They serve really good Mexican food down here!
Spanish 101- Loncheria means luncheonette and Ostion means oysters and tacos means tacos.The carne asada was delicious even though they hang the carne out to dry on their clothesline out back.The cantina’s house chihuahua had some serious attitude. Maybe I didn’t leave a big enough tip.
After a great meal, it was time to reflect.
My favorite town in Baja was Loreto, a sleepy fishing village on The Sea of Cortez with sincere charm.It was Christmas time in Loreto
The wildlife in Baja was wild. This seagull had a nice perch.As did this turkey vulture.Ospreys come down from the north every winter to vacation.The locals call these brown pelicans the Mexican Chickens.Seals found their own piece of paradise.I think dogs are sacred in Mexico.The quaint fishing village of Santa Rosalia is straight out of a Hemingway novel.Cabo San Lucas is NOT out of a Hemingway novel.I preferred these boats at Lands End, the southern tip of Baja.At the northern tip of Baja is Tijuana. You better have a passport these days to get back into the US and some patience. I was ready at this point to turn around and head back to Baja Mexico.
I’ve sailed up and down Baja Calif 4 times, and have spent so many hours staring at the landscape (when I could see it) and looking at these pictures gives me so much insight. I loved every single on of them!
What a coincidence. I just came home from spending a week outside of a small town on the Pacific Ocean side of Baja about 90 minutes north of Cabo, now my new, most favourite place. I’ll go back and explore some more and your photos are just the temptation I need. Every dog I encountered – and there were many – seemed to be the colour of sand, just like that chihuahua.
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