San Ignacio Lagoon

So what is it like where we are going?

We will be in the Vizcaino Desert Reserve (part of the United Nation's Biosphere Reserve Program) and is one of the most unusual, undisturbed habitats in the Baja peninsula.

If you move your mouse over the map, you will see a map of the lagoon. Rocky Point (Punta Piedra in Spanish) is the location of our camp. From this point, it seems like there are whales all around us. On calm nights you can hear the whales breathing, some people insist that whales snore.

What the map does not show is that (other than at very low tide) Rocky Point is an island. The area, which attaches the point with the mainland, is a backwater lined with mangroves.

The mangroves attract a different kind of bird life and make up their own separate ecosystem.

It is possible to walk from the mainland to Rocky Point as Bob and Joyce did back in 1987, before Baja Discovery got permission from the government to set up camp on the point.

For a front view of the hikers, click on the picture.

The point is on an ancient fossil seabed. You can see Amanda arranging some of the bigger shells to create a little dam. This was after an unusual rainstorm.

The rainfall in this desert is very low, but the fog rolls at night to provide moisture for the vegetation.

This fog can also make the side of your tent very damp at night. You will learn to not let clothes touch the side of the tent, or you will wake up with damp clothes.

Around camp the only vegetation is this scrubby little plant, called the saltbush. It clings to life with only the mist from the fog to keep it alive. We can help these little plants survive by not stepping or placing any objects on them. The tents are set up between the saltbush.

We can even help them by leaning over them while we brush our teeth.

There are a lot of other small desert plants you will find as you walk inland, which we will do.

As the tide goes out, our beach gets bigger.

There are not a lot of land mammals, unless you count those cute little mice running around after dark.

Bob just snapped this shot as this coyote ran away. They tend to come and scavenge at the kitchen door after everyone has gone to bed. The staff makes sure that everything is closed up tight.

I don't have any pictures of the tide pools, but you can find things from the "beautiful" sea cucumber, to octopi.

Then, there is always the sunsets.

Last Revised: Wed, Sep 25, 2002