Baja Trek's daily blog.
I have been searching for the "in between” – whatever lies geographically as well as culturally between my world here in the midst of Europe and my long term focus of interest in the Middle and Near East.They're my favourite kinds of photos, ones which hint at the beginnings to several different stories.The people in these images are all in that transitory space between destinations - such a common sensation that it's only recognizable when we see someone else experiencing it - just as the world around them seems to be in deep cultural transition.
Of 5.1 million visits in the past four years, only 20 Canadians have died while in Mexico, and almost all were accidental deaths, with alcohol playing a role in many (seven, he says, were falls from balconies).This is the kind of thing that never shows up in articles about Mexico. All of us at Gus HQ have spent a lot of time in Mexico without experiencing anything but an incredibly beautiful country and kind, friendly people. And we know many people whose experiences have been the same.
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| oh my goodness |
best-of lists, which would be easier to read if they were only aggregated into some kind of ranked list format. But over here at Gus HQ, there is only one list we care about: National Geographic's Ten Weirdest New Animals of 2010.
These little books are for sale for $5 "Gringo Dollars" apiece. We certainly plan to keep Gus stacked with this required reading so that you can take one home with you if you wish to update your rusty high school Spanish to street-smart Baja slang.
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| The Gulf Between Us |
Their bus may not be as beautiful and glorious-looking as our Gus, but it's pretty cool nonetheless that the funky "prog-metal" band Mose Giganticus is currently touring around in a lean, mean, veggie oil-powered machine, just like us! And look, they even have a star on their door...
Riggy Wins!!!!
Well, maybe. Check out this article by George Monbiot, in which he boldly issues a retraction of his statement that veganism is the only ethical way to eat, due to the social (oh yes, it doesn't just affect the beasts) and animal justice issues that underlay our meat production systems. Monbiot goes on to review a new book by Simon Fairlie that serves as "an abattoir for misleading claims and dodgy figures, on both sides of the argument."
Like, for example, you know how they always say it takes a huge amount of feed to produce a smaller amount of meat, to feed an even smaller amount of people? Comparatively, they say, eating the greens ourselves wastes a lot less energy and feeds more people. Well, it turns out that's true only when talking about "concentrated feed", not about grass. Actually, cows are terribly efficient at converting the energy in grass into edible energy for humans. Huh.
Up Some Road
Jack Kerouac would have been proud. It wasn't long after the Baja California map was folded and placed in it's case that the decision was made to scout out a new beach landing for this winter's up coming Baja Trek.
The next day the backpacks were packed, loaded and away we went. Without a plan and limited supplies we carried mostly a general idea of where we wanted to end up. The best places aren't on the road map. They never are. So we thought we would explore an area that the map left off. Baja California maps are notoriously bad to begin with so we eased our scout vehicle to an interesting area and started exploring every dirt path that could possibly lead to the beach. In three hours we managed to get our scout vehicle stuck in the sand three different times. In Baja California getting your ride stuck to the axles requires more than just a shovel. It calls for special assistance. Thanks goes to the kind local rancher and his family dressed in their Sunday best that pulled us out with their pickup.
By the end of the day though, the reward would be ours. A road! Not a real road, but a hard packed dirt track that seemed to lead to the warm ocean. We slowly meandered through a small canyon to the waters edge on the beach of the Sea of Cortez. The hill crested to the sight of sandy beaches for miles in either direction. There wasn't a human soul in sight. Three coyotes walked the water line undisturbed by our presence. A warm breeze slid across the bay and our tents found their home in the beuach's deep sand that still held its warmth from the day's sun. We set up camp, started a glowing fire and marveled at the mountains across the bay that seemed to jut from the ocean herself. Home, Heaven and the ol' Kerouac spirit.
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” - Aldous Huxley
Reprinted from Travel Daily News During the same period, 818,278 tourists from different nationalities visited Mexico, versus 605,435 who visited in June 2009. Of those, some 573,016 travelers arrived by air from the United States, representing a 23.7 percent growth over June 2009. Even more impressive are the 41,184 tourists that arrived from Canada; 21,322 more than in June 2009 - a whopping increase of 107.4 percent.
“We feel these numbers are evidence of the strength and quality of Mexico`s destinations,” said Mexico Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara. “Despite all that`s going on in the world today, the traveler knows he or she can come to Mexico and find unique vacation experiences offering not only our famous sun and beach destinations, but the chance for archeological, culinary and artistic experiences as well. Mexico is the only place on the earth where you can experience all that in a single trip.”
Increased Flights
This increased demand for Mexico by American travelers has been reflected in a handful of important new flights to Mexico. AeroMexico, Mexico`s largest transcontinental airline, announced the beginning of its new Monterrey-Miami service effective on June 28, and its new Monterrey-Houston route, which became effective on July 5.
The airline also included summer service between high-demand routes, such as Mexico City to Miami, New York, Orlando and San Antonio; Merida to Miami; Monterrey to San Antonio; Los Angeles to Aguascalientes and Bajio; Chicago to Durango and Guadalajara. In November 2010, British Airways is slated to begin operating the only direct flight between London and Cancun, for which it has already begun selling tickets. Meanwhile, China`s Hainan Airlines will begin flying directly to Mexico City. Other airlines such as US Airways and Frontier Airlines have also created new routes to Mexico, such as US Airways` Charlotte to Los Cabos and Charlotte to Puerto Vallarta; and Frontier`s San Francisco to Los Cabos; San Francisco to Cancun; and Los Angeles to Cancun. Meanwhile, Virgin America has announced their intent to launch new non-stop services from San Francisco to Los Cabos and Cancun, as well as from Los Angeles to Cancun.
More Hotel Rooms
Secretary of Tourism Gloria Gueva Manzo recently announced that hotels in Mexico have experienced substantial growth throughout the country. The number of available hotel rooms in Mexico has increased 4.6 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2009. According to the Datatur System, this growth was recorded in 56 of the 70 destinations that are monitored by this department.
Of those 70 destinations analyzed by Datatur, room availability jumped from 310,391 to 323,916, registering an increase of 13,525 rooms now available for foreign visitors. In these 70 destinations, the number of hotel rooms occupied during the first six months of 2010 was 11.3 percent higher than in the same period of 2009.
This increase in hotel rooms is widespread across Mexico. For example, from January - June 2010, Morelia saw a growth of 19.3 percent in hotel room availability and a 30.2 percent increase in hotel room occupancy compared to January - June of last year. Likewise, Huatulco saw a 9.6 percent growth in hotel room availability and 15.4 percent growth in hotel room occupancy, while Merida experienced a 5.9 percent growth in availability and 6.6 percent growth in occupancy during these same months.
Cruise Ship Passengers on the Rise
Cruise travel is also booming, witnessing the number of American cruise passengers in the first four months of 2010 increase 6 percent compared to 2009. The rise in Canadian cruise passengers was a healthy 9 percent compared to the same time last year. Today, Mexico has a repetition rate of 95 percent among cruise passengers arriving in Mexico.
Baja Time
On the road down Baja you get a glimpse into the every day life of people, what they do, how they live, where they live. To most it seems incredible that a different culture and way of life exists merely 50 feet from the international border. You cross it and you’re immediately plunged into a different world. Even the hustle and bustle feels different.
Then you go further south and wide stretches of nothing and nowhere keep getting even wider between towns that seem to get smaller and less populated. You get this feeling that you are being taken away from anything and everything that you’ve been accustomed to.
Then it may not happen that same day or the next, and sometimes it happens gradually not suddenly, but it eventually happens— you find that you don’t bother asking what time it is in the day or what day it is in the week. It just stops as there’s no need to know or care. There is no place you need to be, no appointments to attend to. It might happen when lounging at a deserted beach, sitting to eat at a taco stand, or watching the road loop lazily into the distance.
It’s Baja where time is measured by how many pelicans dived into the ocean since you began watching, how many shooting stars you counted more last night from the previous night, how the sunlight filters down through the palm trees in an oasis and shimmers on the white sand at the beach.
And when it feels that it’s too soon to leave or that time actually did fly faster it’s still all good. Baja will still be here when you come back.
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” - Aldous Huxley
Hey! Check out this other cool retro-fit for a school bus: Richmond, Virginia's got their own "mobile micro farmers market on wheels," which motors around town taking farm-fresh produce from local farms to households in town. Pretty cool! The effort is called Farm to Family and also hosts a CSA program in addition to the market-on-wheels.
In their words: "Farm to Family is about building personal relationships within the community and bringing people together." Wait a minute! That kind of sounds like something we would say! And hey, doesn't this guy (to the left) even kind of look like Nico?! 
Baja’s waters call in different ways depending on where you are.
On the Pacific side it demands your attention by spewing forth foam and spray, its endless waves crashing against rocks and stones. You can feel the salt in your hair and taste it on your lips when the wind hurls delicate droplets toward shore.
And when the night comes it roars rushing ever onward, still roaring in spite of the changing tides. But it isn’t loud and obtrusive, no, it gently lulls you to sleep, rocks you til you wake in the grey dawn to find that the mist rose from its waters and unfolded itself, spreading wide and blanketing all that you see. Then the sun rising higher scatters the damp mist away and lays bare the Pacific once more in its roiling, seething grandeur.
But this is not so with the waters of the Sea of Cortez. Far from demanding your attention, your eyes are inexorably drawn unconsciously to its deep dark blue stillness. Yes, compared to the Pacific the Sea of Cortez is still and quiet. It whispers; its waves curling dreamily over sandy flat shores, its warmth soothing and calm.
Two different coasts, one peninsula, a world to discover.
Baja Trek - The Idea
Ideas are powerful things. We often get asked about how the concept of Baja Trek came about. The mental wheels were actually set in motion a few years back.
After driving my old VW Bus through countless dirt tracks I came to a small village in the heart of Baja Mexico. Kids played Soccer on the dusty unpaved street they called the center of town. I clearly remember pulling up to the town's little park and getting out of my old Volkswagen to stretch. Children seemed to appear out of nowhere. They just stood, looked and smiled. For some strange reason I felt privileged to be in their company. One child ventured forward and said they were curious because they had never seen a person with blue eyes before. As they stared, an older women, a mother of one of the children, came out from her house and asked if I would like lodging for the evening. She said that her husband was the President of the village and they had a spare room they could give a wayward traveler. This unprompted invitation, took me aback. I have never experienced such outward kindness to a stranger in my life. This is Baja.
I accepted her kind invitation and we retreated to the President's house which was a very small 3 room home near the center of town. At sundown the president arrived and welcomed me to town while his wife lit lanterns to light the house. The town had never had electricity. I was still awed by the kindness of people who had so little to give. At this point I vividly remember asking myself "What can I do to help out"? Though they had very little, they gladly shared what they had. This is the reason for Baja Trek. The idea is to bring people together, through travel, to experience other cultures first hand, help the local economy of the places we visit and, hopefully, learn a little about ourselves along the way. Thanks for reading
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” - Aldous Huxley
This story alternates between incredible and horrifying -- but either way you really have to read it... It's the story of one of only two sewer divers in Mexico City.
Today we'd like to draw your attention to some of our very own Gusketeers who have wowed us with their multiple artsy talents! Gus has been fortunate to host some incredible painters, knitters, jewelry and leather-workers, and musicians. We've loved getting to know these people on the bus, and we strongly suggest that you get to know them and their awesome art in the real world, too!
I just heard that Yves Behar, a fancy-pants designer and a partner with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project, is beginning a new project that is surprisingly down-to-earth! It's goal: to provide a solution to the need for glasses among low-income kids in Mexico. Apparently about a half million children entering school down here in Mexico each year need glasses, and few of them get a pair. Even fewer get cool ones...
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