Ok so I have got lazy but if you were where I am you would be the same! I have been blessed with unusually warm weather here and have taken full benefit of it and a 20 metre pool which I have all to myself, sheer decadence!
Every day the sea in front is full of activity from small fishing trawlers to gigantic container ships, cruise ships, small sail boats, small fishing boats, a hardy group of surfers who appear to be there all day fo my soul entertainment and to catch that elusive wave, mad! There are also shoals of dolphins and whales not far off the coast and if I ever get someone to download my photos and video you may be able to see them someday but I have given up trying! We took a four hour round trip one day to get into the middle of the action and it was wonderful.
I decided that my stay in Ensenada neede a bit of a boost so I took myself off on an overnight trip to San Felipe on the east coast of the Baha Peninsula. I found the trip very different and was overawed by the Sierra de Juarez mountain range which divides the part of the peninsula I was driving through. It was bare, barren, sparsely populated and appeared very poor with the exception of 2 fertile plains growing what I don't know as hard as I looked I only counted a few handfuls of cattle once and about 6 goats another time. My journey was 250 kilometres long with only one petrol station en route one town that for all the world looked as if it came straight out of a cowboy movie, dusty streets etc and about the size of Donegal town with dust tracks keading into the mountains. There were about 3 other small collection of houses along the way otherwise it was the wild west.
For any of you brought up on black and white cowboy and indian films like me this was/is the countryside I was deiving through all it was missing were the indians hiding in the rocks to ambush the 'goodies' in the ravines and gorges and the buffalo/cattle riding the plains.
Once I crossed the Sierra the terrain changed and for nearly a 100 kilometres I was travelling through sandy scrub with the mountains around and just as I was thinking all I'm missing now are the wee bushes that you see blown down an empty cowboy street one appeared and obliged me by blowing across my path! Nearly desert.
There were four army checkpoints and each time I had to get out of the car for them to check the boot, they were so young and didn't really know how to deal with me when I had no spanish, one of them asked me my name and I said Evanna and he waved me on ( do you think he heard about me?!)
About 12 kilometres before San Felipe, which Tom explained to me was a nice small tourist town, it began....the DEVELOMENTS! Now imagine the sandy scrub being cleared of its top coat stretching inland for a few miles from the sea with 'tom, dick and harry' building their own resorts and fencing access to the sea from the ordinary punter. Few of the resorts are finished, fewer still are sold or being lived in and this was even more evident on the south side of San Felipe. I found it all very sad and the towh has expanded behind itself to accomodate locals who presumed this would be a big boost to tourism but their home are on soft sand and whereas this was ok in Fiji it appears wrong here and some serious planning/environmental issues will follow in the future I feel.
It was interesting to see all this however and I met some very nice locals and we discussed a lot of the issues. The US have stopped the flow of the Colorado river into the sea of Cortez and this has ensured that the land mass has expanded but its development has not been properly thought out. Combined with the global economy and the bad press on drug cartels and shootings the tourist industry undustry has been badly affected so the future bleak.
On my return journey the following I saw/suffered the effects of the removal of the scrub protecting the sand as it was warm but windy and the sand was blowing all over the roads and through the resorts, a nightmare to be a housewife I would say?
As I travelled back I took in my surroundings more and was horrified at the rubbish spread over a 100 kilometres of dessert, it is a graveyard for tyres of all sizes and very sad to see what we have done to nature. I was astounded after passing my second checkpoint to see 2 large trucks, like the fish lorries at home, parked on either side of the road only about 100 metres from the checkpoint and in full view of the soldiers.
I slowed down to see what they were doing and they had the neat bales of cardboard for recycling on board. I then saw a large crater in the sand 10 metres from the edge of the road and about 20 metre diameter being filled with these bales, I was absolutely horrified and saddened, but what to day?
I enjoyed my return trip more and was able to appreciate the wilderness viewing it in a more positive light and I do believe in towards the mountains there are conserved areas but I was warned to stay on the main road!
So back at the 'ranch' in Ensenada I will continue to live the decadent life for a few more days, won't bore you with the sun, swimming, dining, etc. etc. Then off to NY and prep for Haiti so until the Big Apple if you're lucky!
Every day the sea in front is full of activity from small fishing trawlers to gigantic container ships, cruise ships, small sail boats, small fishing boats, a hardy group of surfers who appear to be there all day fo my soul entertainment and to catch that elusive wave, mad! There are also shoals of dolphins and whales not far off the coast and if I ever get someone to download my photos and video you may be able to see them someday but I have given up trying! We took a four hour round trip one day to get into the middle of the action and it was wonderful.
I decided that my stay in Ensenada neede a bit of a boost so I took myself off on an overnight trip to San Felipe on the east coast of the Baha Peninsula. I found the trip very different and was overawed by the Sierra de Juarez mountain range which divides the part of the peninsula I was driving through. It was bare, barren, sparsely populated and appeared very poor with the exception of 2 fertile plains growing what I don't know as hard as I looked I only counted a few handfuls of cattle once and about 6 goats another time. My journey was 250 kilometres long with only one petrol station en route one town that for all the world looked as if it came straight out of a cowboy movie, dusty streets etc and about the size of Donegal town with dust tracks keading into the mountains. There were about 3 other small collection of houses along the way otherwise it was the wild west.
For any of you brought up on black and white cowboy and indian films like me this was/is the countryside I was deiving through all it was missing were the indians hiding in the rocks to ambush the 'goodies' in the ravines and gorges and the buffalo/cattle riding the plains.
Once I crossed the Sierra the terrain changed and for nearly a 100 kilometres I was travelling through sandy scrub with the mountains around and just as I was thinking all I'm missing now are the wee bushes that you see blown down an empty cowboy street one appeared and obliged me by blowing across my path! Nearly desert.
There were four army checkpoints and each time I had to get out of the car for them to check the boot, they were so young and didn't really know how to deal with me when I had no spanish, one of them asked me my name and I said Evanna and he waved me on ( do you think he heard about me?!)
About 12 kilometres before San Felipe, which Tom explained to me was a nice small tourist town, it began....the DEVELOMENTS! Now imagine the sandy scrub being cleared of its top coat stretching inland for a few miles from the sea with 'tom, dick and harry' building their own resorts and fencing access to the sea from the ordinary punter. Few of the resorts are finished, fewer still are sold or being lived in and this was even more evident on the south side of San Felipe. I found it all very sad and the towh has expanded behind itself to accomodate locals who presumed this would be a big boost to tourism but their home are on soft sand and whereas this was ok in Fiji it appears wrong here and some serious planning/environmental issues will follow in the future I feel.
It was interesting to see all this however and I met some very nice locals and we discussed a lot of the issues. The US have stopped the flow of the Colorado river into the sea of Cortez and this has ensured that the land mass has expanded but its development has not been properly thought out. Combined with the global economy and the bad press on drug cartels and shootings the tourist industry undustry has been badly affected so the future bleak.
On my return journey the following I saw/suffered the effects of the removal of the scrub protecting the sand as it was warm but windy and the sand was blowing all over the roads and through the resorts, a nightmare to be a housewife I would say?
As I travelled back I took in my surroundings more and was horrified at the rubbish spread over a 100 kilometres of dessert, it is a graveyard for tyres of all sizes and very sad to see what we have done to nature. I was astounded after passing my second checkpoint to see 2 large trucks, like the fish lorries at home, parked on either side of the road only about 100 metres from the checkpoint and in full view of the soldiers.
I slowed down to see what they were doing and they had the neat bales of cardboard for recycling on board. I then saw a large crater in the sand 10 metres from the edge of the road and about 20 metre diameter being filled with these bales, I was absolutely horrified and saddened, but what to day?
I enjoyed my return trip more and was able to appreciate the wilderness viewing it in a more positive light and I do believe in towards the mountains there are conserved areas but I was warned to stay on the main road!
So back at the 'ranch' in Ensenada I will continue to live the decadent life for a few more days, won't bore you with the sun, swimming, dining, etc. etc. Then off to NY and prep for Haiti so until the Big Apple if you're lucky!
You going to see your big bro in NY? Pretty snowy there right now - enjoy the sun while you can! x
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