Even in a semi-tropical place like Baja you can’t depend on the weather. Our second full day was supposed to be a trip to La Paz where we would boat out to one of the islands in the Sea of Cortez where there is a large sea lion colony and be able to snorkel among them. Alas, strong winds closed the ports and boats wouldn’t be going anywhere. So, we opted for Plan B which was to drive just south of La Paz and visit a cactus sanctuary. Maybe not as exciting as swimming with sea lions but we’re always interested in local flora so off we went.
We spent several hours enjoying the cacti, birds, butterflies, iguanas and snakes (just a very large and colorful gopher snake). Many of the cacti were enormous specimens like this beautiful Organ Pipe.
Organ Pipe Cactus
Crested Form of Organ Pipe
Cardón Flower Buds
Palo Adán (Fouquieria diguetii) — a relative of Ocotillo
After a lunch of delicious pizza at the Café El Triunfo, we drove to the pueblo of San Juan de las Gallinas and visited the town church.
Church at San Juan de las Gallinas
Next on our itinerary was the “Whale Camp” about a 6 hour drive from Todos Santos, so after a spectacular seafood dinner at Café Santa Fe, in Todos Santos we turned in for the night.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Cool photo of the neat looking cactus! I am looking forward to the whales.