The Cactus Trip Diaries

Friday, 21 March 2008 – Mulege to San Ignacio

It was surprisingly cold during the night, but we had drunk enough ‘anti-freeze’ not to be bothered by it, except for Cliff, who had asked me to buy him a large air mattress that would support his weight. Eunice had taken me to a shop in Carlsbad, USA, where we had bought a Queen-size air bed with a pump that ran from the car cigarette lighter. Problem was that a) the nozzle that would have fitted the airbed was missing and b) the
airbed was too large, so that it had to be inflated inside the tent, after which Cliff had been unable to zip down the tent flap.

We decided that for those who wanted breakfast, this could wait until we reached Mulege, some 30 km up the road (Alain, we ate at Restaurant Jalisco, just inside the new ridiculous looking arch into the town).

As we drove past the other coves along the Sea of Cortez, the tents and cars packed along the seafront confirmed how lucky we had been with our spot last night.

By 8:46 we stopped (S923) for P. pringlei in full bud and some flowers. Pachycereus (Lophocereus) schottii was also in flower, confirming my suspicions that it is an early morning flowerer and that it closes its flowers when it gets too hot.  Mammillaria were here as usual, looking as though they would be aff. dioica, but impossible to say without flowers or fruit. Some formed large clumps with small heads while others
were solitary and growing to 15 cm (6″) tall.

I swapped seats with Cliff, so that I could keep my promise to Alain to take a picture of the traffic sign on the outskirts of Santa Rosalia, warning motorists of vibrators in the road. These were not the battery hungry utensils that ladies may be familiar with, but large metal balls, placed several rows deep into the tarmac, to take the place of ‘topes’ (sleeping policemen) as a traffic calming device. They shake the car and passengers up pretty good if negotiated at too high a speed, hence their name.

Next stop, S924, was at the turning off MEX1 to a string of three volcanic cones called Las Tres Virgenes. Temperatures were already in the upper 80s Fahrenheit and with the hangover from last night’s camping feast, we only stopped long enough to see and photograph Echinocereus brandegeei (here growing on flat soil rather than its rocky slopes habitat further south), Opuntia invicta and Pachycereus pringlei, both in bud. I
found Cliff inspecting a 5′ 6″ tall stem of P. pringlei that had retained its long, usually juvenile spination, while other specimen of similar age around it had already formed their much shorter spines. The Ferocactus here (F. peninsulae) had very long spines, even on young plants; yet another thing to be weary of as we struggled our way through spiny Acacia shrubs and chollas that wanted to come home with us. Cliff found that one of the vicious hooked Fero spines had gone straight through the thick sole of his walking boot and into his foot.

The last plant stop of the day, S925, was prompted by some Agave that Ian had spotted for Eunice. When we managed to find a place to pull off MEX1, it seemed to be in the middle of a rubbish tip, with nappies, toilet paper and plastic and glass bottles decorating the cacti – who needs civilisation!?! The spines on the Ferocactus here were still getting longer, Opuntia invicta was getting larger, E, brandegeei was not as nice here
as the golden spined clumps near Mulege and I found a young stem of P.pringlei that looked more like a South American Eulychnia or Trichocereus than anything else that I had seen in Baja. For the record, we also saw Mammilaria, Pedithelantus, Cylindropuntia, Fouqueria, Yucca sp.

As we arrived in San Ignacio, we pulled into the Oasis Motel, but as there was no one in reception, we moved on. Back to the trusted but expensive Desrt Inn, with its wifi in reception. Yes, they had rooms for two nights. Although it was only early afternoon, we were glad to have the assurance of a bed, air conditioning, showers and the ability to send Diary pages home.

After a couple of hours rest, we went into San Ignacio vilage, for the tourist shots of the Mision building and to book up a whaling tour for tomorrow. The place where we booked our February trip was closed, but the other place, with an excellent selection of books, was open and this time a much more efficient member of staff confirmed that they could fit us in tomorrow, for the same price as in February and they would pick us up and drop us back off at the Desert Inn!

Next we headed for Renee’s, not the best Restaurant in the world, but it was open and the beer was wet and the food filled a gap. Back afterwards to the hotel where people took naps and showers, ready for an early start tomorrow.

Thursday, 20 March 2008 – Todos Santos to camping south of Mulege

‘1471 km to Tijuana’, said the sign outside Todos Santos. A daunting number and a reminder, if one was needed, that we were on the way home, having reached the farthest point south yesterday as we passed by Cabo San Lucas.

Not only did we set ourselves the challenge of driving 568 km (355 miles) today, but our destination were the golden sand beaches along the Sea of Cortez and Bahia Concepcion. There was one particular beach, with a thin sand bank connecting a small island to the main land that had taken our fancy on the way south.

But first we had to get there and hopefully see some plants on the way.  S918 was prompted by a large Agave with the appropriate name of A. gigantea, but also had the usual cacti alongside: various Cylindropuntias, Pachycereus pecten-arboriginum and P. pringlei, P. thurberi and some Bursera trees. And all before we had to tackle the Lap Paz by-pass again! We had now become expert in spotting the landmarks (a large beer can sign on the left of the road) instead of the expected sign posts. We again hit a section of dirt road but carried on confidently to get out on the dual carriage way that lead to the large monument depicting the doves of peace, a symbol of La Paz which means ‘Peace’ in Spanish. Alain and I had earlier thought that the monument was the tail fluke of a whale – never mind.

I don’t know what had prompted S919, where the pictures taken show a Bursera sp., Cylindropuntia sp. and Mammillaria sp. but none of them exceptional or new. Perhaps, after some 3 hours of driving, we just needed to stretch our legs.

We had breakfast at El Taste, in Cd. Constitución, where we also had breakfast on the way down and from where Ian managed to call his wife, Sarda, to wish her happy birthday.

S920 had P. gummosus, P. pringlei, P. thurberi, Mammillaria aff. dioica, Ferocactus peninsulae and Opuntia invicta in bud. We were now crossing the rocky hills south of Loreto, and made up for the lack of plant stops by photographing some nice scenic views.

We were beginning to catch glimpses of the Sea of Cortez and also spotted yellow spined clumps of Echinocereus brandegeei and decided it was time for another stop, S921. As we had seen this Echinocereus before, I took my time to improve on previous pictures by looking for the most dramatic settings of plants on the rocks, together with other cacti (Mammilaria sp.) where possible. One of the golden spined Cylindropuntia was in flower here and offered lots of photo opportunities for bees who jumped straight in between the stamens and rolled among the pollen to their hearts content, emerging with the pollen baskets on their hind legs fully loaded.

Back in the car, the outside temperature sensor confirmed what we knew already – it was bloody hot, with figures ranging from 92 to 97 F. No wonder that we kept the plant stops fairly short.

S922 was our campsite – not the place we had in mind, which had been jam packed with tents, reminding us that this was the Thursday before Easter.  Our next goal was a little bay with a hotel where we had called in for enquiries on the way south. They charged US$10 (GBP 5) for
us to put up our tent, a charge that seemed to put off Mexican campers, as the beach was virtually empty. Those that have been on cactus trips in the past will know what follows.

We had bought charcoal for the campfire, tents were pitched with amazing efficiency, Ian demonstrated where Master Chef gets its inspiration from by doing amazing things with a potato, onions and God knows what else, wrapped in aluminium foil. I tested the bottle of Conch Y Toro
Cabernet Sauvignon, to confirm that it was as good as I remembered it in Chile while the others improvised on making Margaritas. It was a full moon and I have some reasonable shots of the moon over the bay. We then recorded the antics as Cliff, now truly Margaritaed, attempted entry to his tent, first forward, than backwards. My ribs still ache from laughing.

Memories of another night to add to those in Chile.

Wednesday, 19 March 2008 – East and South of Todos Santos

The alternative heading for today could also have been ‘To the Cape and back’ or ‘Farthest point South’. In short, we set off this morning heading south on MEX19 for some 12 km, before finding a dirt track heading east. This would take us right over the highest part of the southern tip of the peninsula, with hills to just under 2,000 m (6,000 ft) altitude. The road itself would climb from sea level to nearly 800 m (2,400 ft) before descending back to sea level.

Highlights included seeing lots and lots of Pachycereus pecten-arboriginum in bud, flower and in fruit, even collecting some ripe seed. Here it grows right alongside what I believe to be straight P. pringlei, and there may be natural hybrids between the two as well, but the two species seem to have a different flowering season, so that the opportunity to interbreed may be rare.

There were some large Agave around that Eunice identified as A. gigantea and some impressive demonstrations of Ficus palmeri’s ability to split and destroy rocky hillsides with its tremendously strong roots.

The added bonus was provided by tremendous views and the ability to explore moderately far from the road, as barbed wire was usually not a problem here.

Although only some 37 km from MEX19 to MEX1, we were in no particular hurry and made quite a number of short stops, although I’m sure that more stops would have been appreciated if there had been more time available. Progress on these tracks however is slow.

Once on MEX1, we were back to a comfortable 70 m.p.h. and as tomorrow night we have scheduled a camping night, the sight of a large super market along the road at Los Cabos was both timely and appropriate. While Eunice fixed her need for caffeine at McDonalds, the men did the food shopping, spending perhaps more time on the liquid side of things than on the nutritional and health merits of the supplies. I have a bottle of Concha Y Toro Special Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, so I’m alright! I managed to turn the supermarket stop into a plant stop by taking pictures of a young lad stripping the spines of Opuntia pads, cutting them into slices and moving them onto the food counter as Nopales, an ingredient in salads etc.

And then through the crowded streets of Cabo San Lucas, trying to find our way out of Los Cabos on MEX19. Once back at full speed, there was time for another stop, prompted by a river bed leading to the ocean. In a similar location, Alain and I had found Echinocereus sciurus, not a magnificent find, but another tick on the checklist of taxa found in nature. It seemed to grow on a narrow strip of rocky terrain and we only found one or two plants. There was a similar rocky area at this location and it was Ian who found the plant first. Once spotted, it didn’t take too long to find more, but as the sun was getting low in the sky and the plants had positioned themselves to benefit from the early morning rather than late afternoon sun, most were in the shade.

The other feature of this location were the ‘Doom Buggies’. As we drove along MEX 19, we had passed a place called Cactus ATV. Some eco-tourism organisation with an emphasis on conversation? No, we had seen the 4 huge wheeled buggies for their nature trails in February. This
time we saw them in action, as they came, head lights on, blazing through a cloud of sand dust along the beach, heading for a large group of sea birds that dispersed and flew up under a howl of protest. Fat tourists on Doom Buggies, hell bent on tearing up the environment. Got some good pictures to warn others of the implications of tourism on the environment.

And so back to Todos Santos, picture down-loading and the writing of Diaries, We need to get away reasonably early for our 300 mile drive to south of Mulege, for our night under canvas, so that lugging our tents around has not been a complete waste of time after all. I expect there to be no internet connection tonight.

Tuesday, 18 March 2008 – Ciudad Constitucion to Todos Santos

One advantage of spending the night in Cd. Constitucion rather than San Carlos was that we were 55 km closer to our next destination, Todos Santos. The disadvantage was that there was a place to have breakfast (add one extra hour) with a wifi connection to check out future accommodation options while planning the next few days, so that breakfast took much longer than planned, while the distance to Todos Santos (180 miles +) remained the same.

Planning included diplomatic haggling concerning a potential stop on the way back in San Ignacio to do the whaling that was postponed due to tyre problems on the way south.

Other haggling points concerned La Paz: going through it, in search of a Starbucks (NO!!!) or around it on the La Paz by-pass (YES!!!!) that Alain & I had failed to find on the previous two occasions that we had to negotiate this town.

We made one stop before negotiating the La Paz  by-pass (S908) and found Mammillaria aff. dioica, Pychycereus pecten-arboriginum  (at least the plants looked different to the P. pringlei that we had found in the north, but I’ll have to check the exact difference from literature when I get back to the UK), P. thurberi, Ferocactus peninsulae ssp townsendianus and the Asclepiad that Alain & I had come across a month earlier when it had been in flower. Now it was displaying the characteristic fruit horns and cottonwool-like seed. Lophocereus schottii was also around with one flower fully open. There were also several small trees of the bursera / acacia / ibervillea persuasion that need an ID later.

Next we had to negotiate the La Paz by-pass (YEAH!!!) This time, with Eunice behind the steering wheel and three eagle eyed navigators by her side, we found the turning to the by-pass. Unfortunately it ended up on a dirt track, so we must have made a mistake. Back to the last dual carriage way turning and try the other way. Eventually, this too ended up on dirt. The by-pass appeared to be another project started but not finished. Eunice did what men don’t do and asked the way. A delivery van driver obliged by taking us across the original dirt track to a turning that would lead us to tarmac that would get us back to MEX1. I must tell the authorities that sign posts are desperately needed.

Great, so some 2+ hours after leaving Cd. Constitucion, we had managed to get out of La Paz and could consider making some more plant stops. S909 had much the same plants as S908, but we had arrived in barbed-wire country, so acrobatics had to be performed to get to the plants.  The only additions were Mammilaria (Cochemia) poselgeri and a Yucca that has to be respected as much as the cacti for its ability to inflict injury. Eunice discovered that Cylindropuntia can become attached to you and want to hitch a ride home, but Ian performed some field surgery to release her.

Some 5 miles farther along MEX1 we stopped again, this time to see an Agave that Ian had spotted from the car, but for most it was to take pictures of the Pachycereus in full flower, again, on private land.

The day was finished off with souvenir shopping in Todos Santos and a nice meal on the terrace of the fish restaurant that we had visited in February. Apart from the excellent food and Margaritas, the others were able to confirm the steep rise in prices as we were approaching tourist country. Today we are planning to cross the peninsula to MEX1 on the east, follow it to Los Cabos and return to Todos Santos for the night, with accommodation already booked to take the stress out of the day’s proceedings.

It seems that Ian & Eunice’s room, along the main road, opposite the original (?) Hotel California (dating back to 1928) can reach their wifi, so I’ll move there to send this message.

Monday, 17 March 2008 – boat trip from San Carlos

It all started as planned: Alarm clock off at 5 a.m., meet in reception by 5:30 for 55 km drive to San Carlos, breakfast at the cafe of Hotel Brennan by 6:15 and our host for the day, El Capitan Jose Soto ready to whisk us away at 7:00 and on the boat by 7:15. Except: as we drove into San Carlos, Ian (today’s driver) asked if he had been spitting on the windscreen. No!? Well, in that case it’s raining! And sure enough, this time no fog but a light drizzle that grew stronger as we went on. Jose had warned us that it was not until we reached the middle of the Bahia Magdalena that he could be sure that the conditions were right for today’s program. When we reached the spot, we could see for ourselves that the weather was not good. El Capitan suggested that we could find shelter under the shore of Isla Magdalena, go as far as Puerto Magdalena where a friend could take us by car to the cemetery that Alain and I had visited last month. Fine by us, although Ian and Eunice looked a bit green around the gills and would have readily agreed to go back and spend a day in front of the telly.

At Puerto Magdalena, where every male person we met was called Jose, El Capitan Jose introduced us to Jose the Driver who also seemed to be Jose the Chef in the restaurant that was at the heart of this fishing village. His car, a Ford pick up, had seen better days, but managed to get us all on board and coughed its way along the beach. ‘Stop!’ Eunice had spotted a Dudleya and Agave. She hopped out to take a quick picture, but was persuaded to come back for more on the way back. We had only gone a few hundred meter farther along when Ian spotted Mammillaria (Cochemia) halei in flower as well as the endemic Opuntia, O. pycnacantha. The Agave is supposed to be A. margarita, but when you Google this name, all I got was page after page of a cocktail called Agave Margarita. Let’s not bother going all the way to the cemetery, all that we want to see was here.

We climbed the hills overlooking the Bay and found numerous clumps of M. halei, mostly in flower. Here, it was the most common cactus. Eagle eyed Cliff spotted a large red fruit, with Peniocereus (greggii?) attached. Without fruits (or at night, without flowers) this plant is almost impossible to see as the thin stem winds through the local shrubbery. A good spot indeed, Cliff!

We walked back to the car where Jose & Jose were patiently waiting for us. ‘We’ll walk back to the village’ we suggested as there was plenty more to see on the way back. As they drove off, it began to rain again, quite hard. Who cares when there are cacti! Well, we do in a way, because the light was less than perfect for photography. But the shower passed over quickly and we took more pictures of Dudleya and Agave, which had magnificent teeth lining the leaves. ‘Dudleya Girl’ Eunice had moved on to the restaurant when the rain started and was now busy persuading Jose The Driver to take her back to the Dudleya / Agave spot for another picture session.

The rest of us enjoyed a coffee / chocolate drink watching the waves go by, remembering what holidays used to be like once upon a time. When the Dudleya party returned, El Capitan Jose explained that we needed to be on our way at 12:30 when the tide would turn, creating larger waves than were safe. He suggested that one of the local lads could guide us on a 30 minute hike to the other (Pacific) side of the island and that Jose the Chef would prepare lunch for us in the mean time. And so we went off with Young Jose, the guide (although Eunice may remember his real name).

Isla Magdalena is quite long – more than 70 miles! – but very thin. Our walk from Puerto Magdalena to the hills above the rocky west coast was about 1 mile. The northern bit seems to be mangrove covered tidal sandbanks (we didn’t go there, but the boat followed the coast for a good while) while the bit we were on, the rocky bit at the south, rises to about 160 m. although our walk was through a saddle of about 80 – 90 m.

We were rewarded by one more taxon to our tick list as I spotted Echinocereus barthelowanus. Not a very common species in cultivation, and if the half dead clumps that we saw were anything to go by, I can see why. The plant I have / had at home resembles a miniature E. brandegeei.

Our food was waiting for us when we got back and was worth another picture. But we had to hurry to get away with the tide. It’s amazing how quickly the sea here changes from quite smooth to quite rough. We did see a couple of spouts from passing whales, but as the tide was at its lowest, they were limited to the deep channel between island and main land and this is where the waves were going to be at their strongest, and had drifted quite a distance, so we did not hang about too long waiting for the whales to surface again.

Back at the Hotel in Ciudad Constitucion by 3 ish, we decided to have a break and just chill out, which for me meant down loading images, writing today’s Diary and chatting on Windows Life Messenger with Angie, while Cliff was resting and diabolical Mexican music came from the ever-present TV.

Tomorrow we head south for Todos Santos.

Sunday, 16 March 2008 – Ciudad Constitucion to San Carlos

My elation yesterday about the sunset pictures was short-lived, as last night  accidentally I managed to delete all my pictures for the 14th and 15th permanently, when I was backing things up to my plug-in hard drive. Never by-pass the recycle bin! Especially when you are tired and in a hurry. Lesson learned the hard way. I also managed to delete one of Cliff’s folders at the same time. The advantage of travelling in a group is that
there will be shared pictures from others, but it’s not the same, as I thought that some of my sunset pictures were the best pictures I’ve taken. Never mind, water under the bridge.

After a relaxed start to the day we drove the 55 km (35 miles) to San Carlos. Eunice had rung Hotel Brennan to see if they had space. Only for 1 X 3 room. So we have decided to stay at Hotel Oasis in Ciudad Constitucion for two more nights and arranged to meet Jose, the owner of our boat in February for the trip to Isla Magdalena, at 2 p.m. at Hotel Brennan.

As result, we had time to make a stop along the road some 12 km from Cd. Constitucion (S899) and found F. peninsulae ssp margarita (yellow flowers now confirmed plus yellow fruit with seed), Mammillaria dioica, Pachycereus pringlei, P. schottii (in bud), P. gummosus and Fouqueria diguetti. S900 was a repeat of our Feb. stop where Alain had spotted a crested Ferocactus to the right side of the road. We stumbled across P. eruca as we went to photograph the crest. This time I went to the other side of the road where P. eruca continued several 100 m. east of the road, growing alongside its cousin P. gummosus. The area here is called the Llano de Magdalena and it reminds me of the Llanos de Choros in Chile: very flat, along the Pacific Ocean, vegetation dictated by sea fogs and wind. There too, the ceroids (Eulychnia in this case) had departed from their normal upright habit and had developed a low to the ground habit instead. Parallel evolution?

We went on to San Carlos, tried a few dirt tracks that we couldn’t do in February and drove to the spit where in Feb. we had left the car and boarded to boat. The tide was out and the bird life we had seen before, had gone out with it. As we turned to head back to town, Ian spotted the bright yellow fruits of F. peninsulae ssp. margarita, so another stop. Much to my surprise P.  eruca was also here, so its distribution is quite
a bit more extensive than I had thought. Here it grew in sight of the sea, although there was a road in between. Also lots of Mammillaria (dioica?) with bright red fruits that might help to ID them.

It was time to go to Hotel Brennan to meet Jose, but instead we spoke with his younger brother. Yes, they could do a boat trip to the islands tomorrow. I asked if this time we could go to Isla Margarita, next door, instead. Sure, he suggested 3 locations where in the past
Japanese and German visitors wanted to go. Then we would go back along the coast of Isla Magdalena for shelter, stop off at our February spot, then lunch at Puerto Magdalena and back ‘home’. a 5-6 hour trip, starting at 7 a.m. all for MX$2,000.

Hands were shaken, so we could get back to cactussing. We went back to around km. 24, the ‘Microwave tower’ (these are telecom relay stations). and followed a sand track east. This helped us to establish that P. eruca went at least 1 km east of MEX 22. We carried on for some 15 km more, but the road only allowed us to drive at c. 20 m.p.h. and it would take much too long to complete the rectangle that would take us back to
Cd. Constitucion. Common sense suggested that we’d turn back to MEX22 the way we had come.

Back to the hotel to down load images to computers and image viewers. Due to my misfortune with yesterday’s sunset images, I had suggested picking a spot for tonight’s sunset. We had under estimated how fast the sun goes down so we had barely time to get the spot and snap some pictures. The sky was OK, but not as good as yesterday and we had telephone lines and poles in the sky line. Not bad though, considering and we
made notes to do better tomorrow, keeping fingers crossed for a good sky!

Up at 5 a.m. for the boat trip, so early to bed.

Saturday, 15 March 2008 – San Ignacio to Ciudad Constitucion

Our top priority for the day was to sort out the tyre situation. Advice from Victor, the waiter at the Desert Inn, was that there would be a much wider range available and at better prices in Santa Rosalia than at San Ignacio. As the patched up tyre had held out well enough yesterday, we decided to hop the 29 miles to Santa Rosalia and get the tyre all before noon when it seems that Mexico starts to enjoy a weekend of leisure. The choice of tyre places in S.R. was indeed overwhelming, but only for second-hand tyres.

We kept on being sent further south and eventually found the place every one recommended for new tyres. Great. Except that they did not have new tyres in the size that we needed. After much searching, they found just one good second-hand tyre for MN$ 800 (about GBP40) and this was good enough for us. The patch tyre is now our spare and the second-hand tyre is on the back.

So, we could now make some plant stops, one (S894) prompted by Pachycereus pringlei (where exactly does it change places with P. pecten-arboriginum?) in advanced bud. Some of the buds were on the point of opening. Is it a night flowering plant? Pachycereus (Lophocereus)
schottii was also in advanced bud, with some flowers apparently closed to avoid the heat of the midday sun.

We went into Mulege, as Eunice was getting frustrated by not having a mobile phone, despite having paid her service provider in the US for a contract extension that would enable her to call the US from Mexico. And on for the magical ride along the Bahia Concepcion, with idyllic sandy coves with RV’s and tents, rocky hillsides with Echinocereus brandegeei and silver stemmed Ficus palmeri.

We reached Loreto and made straight for the hotel where Alain and I had stayed on the way back in February. ‘Sorry, we’re full up!’ There seemed to be a kayak event on in town which, on this Saturday afternoon was buzzing with people. We tried another half-dozen hotels – all full. Eunice rang the Desert Inn in Loreto – also full. So let’s carry on south, to Nopolo. According to the Rough Guide, this was an attempt to build another tourist boom town along the lines of Cancun, but one that failed when one investor pulled out and was followed by others. We went to look around but apart from some very smart private houses at the entrance to the town, it was a modern-day ghost town with empty shells of houses scattered around and some lost cattle grazing in the reservation of the main road.

Back on MEX1, we carried on south, towards Ciudad Insurgentes. Wow, Loreto had done us a favour – we witnessed the most incredible sun set as the sun set over fields of tall Cardon cacti.

We searched Cd. Insurgentes for a hotel and finally pulled into a Pemex petrol station to ask directions – No hotels here, came the answer. Fortunately I remembered that its twin town, Ciudad Constitucion, some 20 km further south had plenty of business style hotels from where I’m writing today’s Diary report, still stuffed from the Chinese that we enjoyed 3 blocks from the hotel. Despite protestations from Eunice, we walked to the restaurant and back.

Today’s drive south means that we are now ahead of schedule, but also aware that things are likely to get more crowded as Easter approaches. On to San Carlos tomorrow!

Friday, 14 March 2008 – Guerrero Negro to San Ignacio

FEWEW, what a day !!!

In February, Alain and I had enjoyed a great morning bird watching on the road to the Old Wharf in the Estero de San Jose and still had plenty of time to get to San Ignacio, 89 miles down the road on MEX1. This time, with the 4×4, we had more options and decided to take the unpaved road (according to maps) from Vizcaino to Bahia Asuncion, through the salt flats of the Vizcaino Peninsula, then along the coast south to Punta Prieta, San Hipolito and San Bocana to Punta Abreojos and back inland to MEX1 and San Ignacio, a total of 339 km. Why? Because it would take us past the type localities of Ferocactus fordii and Echinocereus maritimus ssp. hancockii, and perhaps near a place where Agave sebastian could be found.

First stop was at Laguna Ojo de Lieber (a.k.a. Scammon Lagoon) for the Fero. Unfortunately there was an unscheduled stop for changing a tyre, as a sharp stone had punctured the side wall. These things happen, but Eunice, who was driving at the time, felt really bad. Unfortunately
there were no Feros to be found, but we were rewarded with another amazing display of field flowers in blues, pinks, whites and yellows.

The next stop, to have another look for cacti, brought us a red flowered Ferocactus (was it F. fordii?) and a plant that Cliff first identified as Echinocereus maritimus ssp hancocki but that turned out to be, on reflection, Opuntia invicata. Amazing that these four cactus freaks could not even get the genus right straight away, but a lot has been written about the parallel evolution that has created several species of cacti with a very similar spine configuration. Finding the plant in flower sealed it eventually.

Also around here, Eunice found a single, blue Agave, that might be A. sebastian – books need to be consulted.

It was my turn behind the wheel and we were making good progress on ‘average dirt’ when Ian spotted clumps of Echinocereus along the road. This time it was E. hancockii and I believe I have some good shots of the few plants that we found. But we were not even at San Hipolito, so perhaps there was better to come.

Unfortunately, the next stop was for our second puncture of the day. As we only had the one spare tyre, the technical term that best described our situation was Deep Shit!

The best thing to do seemed to be to get the 1st punctured tyre out from underneath the car (i.e. all luggage out again), then start undoing the second wheel with the new flat (it was the worst of the two, as it had taken a while before I had realised that we had a problem). We then hoped that a passing car (we had seen very few so far today) would take us to the nearest town and try to get the tyre fixed or replaced.

Fortunately a car appeared very soon and tyre + Ian were dispatched while Eunice, Cliff & I sat around waiting. Ironically, just where we had broken down, some 50 tyres (past punctures) had been buried in the sand to act as road markers and made an interesting background for some pictures of our predicament.

Several more cars came by and all stopped to offer help, but drove off when they learned that we were already being helped. We were glad to see Ian and ‘Joe Moon’ Alejandro, our saving angel, reappear some 90 minutes after the first car had stopped. The good news was that the tyre had been ‘fixed’ but only as an emergency ‘plug’, so that driving on the variable quality dirt road remained an issue. The other problem was that the sun was going down fast. We made for the next village but wasted time looking for a hotel that only had 1 room with 3 beds. Ian, now behind the
steering wheel, was in favour of carrying on to San Ignacio.

Our luck was changing for the better – the road, that on the maps was shown as ‘poor dirt’ was actually tarmac, so instead of the advisable speed of less than 30 mph we managed to drive on at around 60 mph and reached the welcome sight of MEX1 in the dark, and 24 km later, that of the Desert Inn at San Ignacio. We need to reschedule things from here on in as #1 priority now is contacting the insurance company and getting a
new spare tyre or two, but first dinner and some hard-earned Margaritas!

More tomorrow!

Thursday, 13 March 2008 – Bahia de Los Angeles to Guerrero Negro via Mision San Borja

We were a little late leaving as breakfast was delayed a little. Unfortunately, Larry had put up the prices since our last stay in February, from US$20 per room to US$60 per night and Ruth (who handled all the business deals in Feb.) was still on her break in Ensenada. Never mind. There are plenty of other places to check out price-wise on a future trip.

At km 46, we turned left (south) onto the track to San Borja, and easily took the little hill where common sense dictated that the Nissan was turned around. The red flowered Fero’s (F. gracilis ssp. gracilis) carried on all the way to the Misión. There were also some extremely long spined F. latispinus (?) looking plants in recent fruit. (Yes, Alain). Fero wise, Ian was extremely happy.

Much to my surprise, Ian, from behind the steering wheel of the car, spotted some Dudleya in flower. I had come to associate these plants with coastal habitats and here we were in the centre of the peninsula!  We would find them again at several stops along the track, so Eunice was extremely happy.

Cliff saw some wonderful geological features for which the explanation went over my head, but which were photographed, none the less – which made him extremely happy and me – well we got to the Misión, much earlier than last time and Hernando recognised me from the previous visit. I reminded him of the red-flowered Mammillaria and, if given the choice, would rather that he showed us where to find these plants than be
shown around the Misión again. They were only 700 m. away, he assured us – more like 700 m. in altitude, not distance along the path that steadily climbed through natural, cactus filled rock gardens – but cacti that we had already seen plenty of times  before. Eventually, and not too soon, we were there and there they were: Mammillaria (Cochemia) setispinus, some 5-6 large clumps, a short distance away from the path. It was my turn to be extremely happy.

Back to the car and on along the longer track to MEX 1 to Guerrero Negro. Once again we had to pay 20 peso (GBP 1) for the pathetic attempt to disinfect the under side of our car by the dribble of spray from a grid in the road.

I suggested that rather than paying US$ 89 per room at the Desert Inn, right on the border between Baja Norte and Baja Sur, we’d stay in Motel Ballenas and eat cheap in the little restaurant around the corner.

Unfortunately, no internet wifi here, but we should be OK to send this out tomorrow from San Ignasio.

Another great day – sorry to keep rubbing it in!

Wednesday, 12 March 2008 – Bahia de Los Angeles: boat trip to Isla Angel de la Guardia

I have in the past ended Diary reports with the observation that Life is Good. Today I’ll start with Life is Good as well! We woke up around 5 a.m. as the sun was rising over the islands and birds started to wake up as well.

We had been left with the run of the kitchen to make coffee and tea and 8 tortillas had been made the night before to serve as breakfast. We saved it up for elevenses. Our skipper, Capitan Jose, was almost on time and soon we were indulging in early morning gymnastics as we made
it on board from the beach without getting our feet wet. It took no time to get to and past the first island (no, we didn’t stop), but then it seemed that our goal, Isla Angel de la Guardia, just got larger, rather than closer. Due to winds and currents, Jose was taking us to the southern point of the island before heading north along the east coast. Unlike Ian, the others had not brought a fleece and began to realise that early mornings on the water, even in the sun, can be a chilling experience. We were therefore glad that the boat slowed down as Jose had spotted a group of pelicans and similar, fishing. It got better as we got closer, as it seemed to be a team effort, with some 20 dolphins using their brains to round-up the fish, aided by a similar number of seals, with the birds diving in once the fish had been herded into a small area so that it was impossible for the birds to miss. I was half way through my first 4GB card of the day and we had not even seen a cactus!

It was getting hot on the boat, so I was glad of the wind chill when we moved on to our first cactus spotting session. It was easy to spot the 8ft + cardon (Pachycereus pringlei) from the boat, but as we got closer, we could also see Agave (which one?). As soon as we had gone through the disembarkation acrobatics, where took turns in attempts to turn the boat over, I spotted a Mammillaria, M. angelensis. With our focus on
the endemic Fero, I had forgotten about this beautiful Mam., even though it was not in flower. Here too, earlier rains had made the islands far more lush than usual, and we were at ties standing in fields of low, white-flowered lupines.

More acrobatics to get on the boat without getting your boots wet and on, still heading north along a geologically interesting island coast until we slowed down and thought we could see some barrel cacti. Were they the ones we had come to look for? Ian was ahead of us and soon reported ‘Yes!’. Our contacts had suggested that on a good day we might find one of these plants. Here there was as many as you’d find in most cactus
populations that we’ve seen anywhere. Hundreds! Unfortunately not in flower, but in fruit! Yes, Alain 🙂

Lots more pictures and back to the boat where the strength of the sun was doing its bit to remind us of Baja in days to come, as especially Cliff was turning a traffic light red! We made one last brief stop, this time to take a look at some rare (?) palms that Jose was keen to point out. It seems that he really knew his stuff as far as where plants grew that plant-tourists would want to see. I have his email, even though he speaks
little more English than I speak Spanish.

Back at the hotel, we did our usual trick by taking over a table with our lap tops. I’m sure that the problems were caused by too many people trying to access a service set up for just a few.

As it’s still early on Thursday morning when I complete this report, I hope to get this out, because tonight at Guerrero Negro and the following night at San Ignacio, we’re unlikely to have email contact with the outside world.