Obey the Signs

Driving through Baja and experiencing the landscape has been an experience of a life time. I cannot adequately describe the beauty of this place, especially the desert areas.

I'm still a Baja novice, but I'm fairly certain that these photos are from the Central Desert of Baja. 

These rock formations and others in the Baja desert reminded me of the landscape  in  and  near  Joshua  Tree National  Monument.

While this photo does not do justice to the landscape, my colleague  and I found ourselves rounding  the bend to see jaw-dropping, expletive scenes of beauty. 

Again, these photos do not do justice to the beauty of the desert and the  mountain ranges and mesas.

Driving through Baja and experiencing the roads is another matter. I'm not complaining about the roads. By and large, they're fine and decently paved in most places. Sometimes, you need to be careful while they perform road upgrades. Clearly, we're not on a freeway in Southern California.

That said, driving here can be a little quirky. For example, take their signs.

My colleague, Chris, and I have been making our way down the Baja peninsula since last Tuesday. First Tijuana, then Ensenada and last night Santa Rosalia. Like any trip, it's the signs that guide us, remind us and, when necessary, command us. Maps help, but a good sign can do wonders.

The signs we've encountered have made us smile. Sometimes, they don't translate well into English. Other times, I'm not so sure that they do well in Spanish.

Public service signs are dotted along the roads down here. They are white and in the shape of a long thin rectangle, enough to accommodate a simple sentence.

First and foremost among these public service signs are the ones that periodically remind Chris and me that we should "Obey the Signs" or "Obedezca los senales." (In your imagination, insert a tilde above the n in senales.)  Given the brevity of this particular sign and the fact that we see them on lonely stretches of highway in the midst of some jaw-dropping scenery, I have to wonder if a higher source is issuing them. Considering our surroundings, I think it's possible.

Others tell us to "Reduce your speed," "Better late than never" or, my favorite, "Don't mistreat the signs." I remarked to Chris that they're like the fortunes we find when we crack open fortune cookies, except in this case, they're opened and posted along the roadside for all to enjoy.

I assume that we'll see more of them and I'm hoping to see some variations, especially "Obey or die." I think it works better in Spanish: "Obedezca or muera."

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Tonight, we're staying in Loreto at an amazing little hotel that we found by chance when we turned a corner tonight. It's called Hotel Posada del Cortes and it is has nicely appointed accommodations for the price. I highly recommend it.

Our stay here caps an amazing day. We left the central desert yesterday as we ventured towards the east coast of Baja and the Sea of Cortez. It's not as a hot here as the central desert, but it's definitely humid, but not as much as Florida. Tonight, we dined in a local restaurant and the balmy weather was perfect.

We finally stopped by the side of the road to take photos of the  Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California. 

We started the day by visiting Punta Chivato, about 20 miles off Highway 1. Specifically, we were visiting El Hotelito Punta Chivato to meet the owner. While he was not there, we had a great breakfast and looked around at the hotel a bit. To get there, we passed through a small neighborhood near the highway and onto a  dirt road (nicely maintained, I might add) . Some very nice homes line the shore of Punta Chivato for about a mile or so and there's a small airstrip there, too. There's also a small golf course among the native foliage. Despite the development that exists, it has an isolated and laid back feeling.

We made our way south to Loreto, a city of 14,000 that originally served as the capital of Alta and Baja California for nearly 100 years in the 18th century. We had lunch at Mediterraneo, a restaurant with a front row seat on the Sea of Cortes and a good view of the Isla de Ramona. I had fish fajitas, black beans and great homemade lemonade - made me a happy guy.

After lunch, the siren call of the sea lured us back north to the amazing coves along the Bahia Concepcion (Conception Bay) that we passed an hour or two before. (Just follow the link I've embedded for the Bahia and you will get a glimpse of how beautiful the east coast of Baja is.)

Somewhere in Bahia Concepcion we found this amazing cove.  If you  look to the left on the mountain side, you can see  what appears to be a whale. 

The same cove as above, looking to the left of where the above photo was  taken.  Beautiful views, calm water and nothin' but quiet. 

We have been in the car so much over the past few days and we needed a chance to relax and swim. The water was warm and we could walk out 30-50 meters from the beach with our heads still above water.  Maybe 20 people at most were at the cove and, altogether, it was very relaxed.  Pelicans were diving for food nearby and a few seagulls were flying about, including one long-legged bird I have yet to identify.

The water, coupled with the gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and shoreline, made my day, if not my year.