Los Frailles and the Canadians!

Chuck had stayed at Los Frailles before and was very fond of it so we decided to spend two of my final three nights in Baja there on the beach.  Los Barilles lies just a short drive south along the coast from Sierra la Laguna and just as close to Cabo, which is where I would fly out.  So it was a logical choice as well.  Los Frailles was a very interesting location though.  It sits right next to a federally protected reef and marine area, and there were some signs here that the Mexican government had tried to further develop the beach but nothing had really gotten moving.  Instead, directly on the beach was utilized primarily as a fishing village.

The arroyo just off the beach however was a different story.  Once you cleared the sand apparently we crossed the border into Canada.  The entire arroyo and back up it for probably half a mile was totally subdivided into camping areas for fifth wheels.  There were still probably a dozen or so remaining but apparently we missed the rush and the place had been slam packed filled with probably 50 or more in the recent weeks.  They create there own little community down there and ride out the Canadian winter.  Community with its own sort of laws and policing of their laws.  Apparently they had staked some sort of claim on this area and weren't letting the Mexican government of developers come in at all.  I had mixed opinions about the group, they seemed very elitist and self-righteous for my tastes.  Thy even were going so far as to punch holes in a 50 gallon barrel, burying it in the dry arroyo, and using that to dump their sewage.  All the while just down stream the fisherman and local were gathering well water. 

Well we show up with camp vagabundo and they automatically look down on us.  Then we didn't really see the need to abide by their rules and set up camp in a spot that apparently someone has claimed and didn't want anyone else using (bummer finders keepers), and a couple of biologist just seemed to rock the boat more then the Canadians liked.  It was interesting couple of nights, with the Mexican fishing camp totally segregated as well the whole thing was like some sort of odd microcosm for modern society.  Whatever, at least the "absentee land owners" we were apparently squatting on left some nice landscaping.

I mean really?



I'm mocking some but los Frailles was a fantastic beach. 

Just below the rocks in this picture was a the protected area.  There was an excellent reef and I got in some of the best snorkeling of the trip.  Even saw the endemic Sea of Cortez Angel Fish.  The first time I was in water here there was a massive school of Jacks I swam with for sometime.  Just cruised right with them.  I could dive down and swim right in the center of the school, really cool.  Sitting on the beach we could see humpbacked whales breaching in the sea and sea lions cruise from around the point.  There was a ridiculous drop off near shore so the area was pretty productive with fish life even off the reefs.

After getting my fill of the water, in the late afternoon I started walking up the arroyo looking again for wildlife.  It had been a pretty slow trip for the cold blooded animals, but the good luck from the rock lizards was holding still flowing. 

Leaf Toed Gecko

Geckos are freaking cool!  Of course they climb all over everything, but they don't actually have suction cups on their feet.  Pretty much every species has different toad pad shapes, and these toe pads are filled with tiny tiny super microscopic hairs.  Geckos can stick to everything due to a natural phenomenon called van der Waals interactions. These interactions lightly apply force between two objects, all objects.  So if you have toe pads with billions of tiny spatula shaped hairs producing this subtle attraction, bam sticky stuff!  Biotech guys are actually trying to create gecko tape based off this concept.  I tried to get a decent shot of his toe pads.

I also so the always present side blotched lizard, as well as some zebra tail lizards.  I tried to get a good pic of a zebra tail, but they were giving me the lizard middle finger and waving their black white tail mocking me before running down a hole. Punks.  As I walked back to camp I caught the first and only snake we saw on the whole trip.

Western Patch-Nosed Snake (you can see where it gets it's name)

We weren't the only people that didn't really fit in with the Canadians.  There was also Bernie.  Bernie has been coming to this same spot for over ten years.  He is a German expat living in Canada.  Every year he drives down and sits on this beach just reading and enjoying the sun for about four months.  Then drives back.  I don't know what you have to do to be able to pull this off but I'm willing to sign up.

Action shot of Bernie

We got along with Bernie pretty well since he didn't have a fifth wheel and seemed a bit of an outcast to the Canadians as well.

Late the second morning I was making my way to the water, when  was stopped by the Mexican fisherman.  They had pulled all their boats high up on the beach.  Apparently there was an earthquake in a Japan and a tsunami headed our way, who knew?  This sounds like a photo opp!  So Pacifico and camera in hand I waited for the tsunami...

My first tsunami!

There was about a 10 foot rise in the high water line, pretty exciting.  We had our plan though, if the water started to look iffy we'd jump in the Tacoma and climb straight up the side of the arroyo.  If we could make it to mission Santa Maria de los Angeles the walls of the arroyo would be a walk in the park.

Lots of bird life around the beach and the arroyo.  Including Scott's Orioloes which would manage to avoid my lens the entire trip.

Road runner

Xantus hummingbird (another baja endemic!)

Very cool lil bird.

While walking back from the beach that afternoon I noticed a tail run into the cavity of an old mesquite tree.  Not only a tail, but a BIG tail.  Chuck and I waited patiently to see what would emerge.  It didn't take long for the animal to re-emerge looking to enjoy the afternoon sun.  I was right though it was a big tail, a big spiny tail of a Spiny Tailed Iguana!

There was a brief scrabble, some stealth ninja style sneaking but finally chuck and I managed to get a closer look at this lizard (this isn't even a fully grown adult!)

It had a heck of a bite! I was kinda glad we didn't catch one of the bigger ones!

Even with the odd Canadians I still really enjoyed this beach.  The fish life was fantastic and we were able to find a lot of different species I had never seen before.



This was to be my last night camping in Baja.  I coped by not talking about it and enjoying my Pacifico.  One thing I really enjoyed and will miss was the stars.  Sleeping out on a cot every night I would stir and look up periodically, the stars in Baja are absolutely spectacular, millions of them.  One the most undisturbed skies I have ever seen. 

The next day we drove into Cabo San Lucas, back into the city.  There was probably more money in Cabo then the rest of the peninsula combined.  It was honestly a bit of a culture shock after small towns and stark desert for over two weeks.  There is so much visual stimulus in the larger Mexican towns it definitely takes two drivers to keep us out of trouble.  Cabo appeared to be doing fairly well, not great, with their tourism.  Which was a bit of a surprise considering all the "Are you crazy?" comments I received in the states.  We found a hotel got a shower and shave cleaned up, wandered the strip, ate, drank, then went to bed.  Its hard staying out late when you have been passed out by nine pm until this point.

The next morning I probably did the dumbest thing of the entire trip.

Sorry mom...

So the famous landmark in Cabo is the arch formation at land's end.  I had seen pictures many times and we just drove the entire peninsula so dangit I wanted to see the arches.  However, what I didn't count on was just how busy the Cabo harbor is.  There was a cruise ship anchored ferrying people back and forth, numerous tour boats, fishing boats, jet skis darting all over the place, parisailors, it was a mad house.  Not to mention we were at land's end now; no longer did we have the flat calm Sea of Cortez waters.  These were swells.  Still the morning I flew out I was determined, and Chuck wouldn't let me back out.  So as I paddled out into the busy waters Chuck sat on the beach with his camera making sure he documented whatever boat plowed into me.  It was about a mile and a two mile paddle each way and I hauled.  I was so scared I didn't take my own camera, instead I shoved chucks point and shoot into one of the dry wells.  I made it out fighting the waves pulling me into the rocks, circling tour boats, jumping sea lions, took my picture and hauled back.  Here is land's end from the beach.

Strategic timing and early morning hours were the only way I could get a pic without it filled with boat traffic.  Chuck still has the pic I took when I got out there, I will post it when I get it from him.

Baja was an absolutely epic trip, I have been mildly depressed everyday since.  The pictures I took, no matter how colorful or dramatic, do not give the landscape justice.  Miles and miles of pristine desert and deserted coastline, so eye catching you can hardly believe it's not fake.  This will not be my last trip to Baja.  The natural beauty will be in the back of my mind until I return.