Baja California - Where the desert meets the sea | Uphill Zen

Baja California (or Baja California Norte) is the top half of this skinny peninsula. Most of the people live in the border cities up north. South of that are the wide open spaces.

The unique desert landscape features giant cacti and boojum trees, with the shimmering sea as a backdrop and endless blue skies.

Some Baja California pix

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So if you hike up over the hill🚶‍♀️a couple of miles from that enormous #beach camp, you find this #sublime, secluded little cove... ☀️🌊😎💙
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At times like this, I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what I do. 🍀🚐👍 The world has so many idyllic places to explore, and so many friendly people to meet, it's truly wonderful. 🌎😊 When I sit still for too long and read the news, it's easy to lose sight of that. 😰 But in a place like this, all seems right with the world again! 🌊☀️😎
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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Zennie enjoying my new favorite Baja #beach. 🚐🌊😊 This beach stretches forever. Sometimes I saw another person on it. Usually not.🚶‍♀️
... ... ... It wasn't the easiest thing to get here, but so worth it! 👍 First a really slow dirt road, that took most of an hour to go 7 miles. ⏳ I know, right? I kept questioning whether this was worth it, since I was tired from driving, and didn't really know what I'd find at the end. 🤔
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Then once I arrived in the area, #Zennie got stuck in the sand! I don't know what she was thinking, trying to turn around right there, but it didn't work so well! 😜 Fortunately, there's a caretaker who lives out here, watching over the fishing boats while the fishermen are gone. He and his wife came to my aid with boards and a big shovel & lots of patience! 🚐💨😀
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Then Antonio drove with me to show me the *safe* route to this primo spot, on a small hill overlooking this huge beach. We sat and had a beer and one of those hybrid Spanglish conversations I seem to have a lot of, and life was good again. 🍺
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Another #wonderful experience in Mexico! 🇲🇽😎
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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Boojums! 😀 It always seems to me like I've hit a magical part of the Baja #desert when I see #boojum trees! 🚐👀👍 For "trees" they are a bit odd-looking for sure 😜 but that just endears them to me more. 💚 After all, who wants to be "normal"? 😎😬 #oddisgood
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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Evening view from the palapa. 😊 #lifeisgood .............
#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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Another day, another beautiful beach! 🚐☀️🌊😎
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Gonzaga Bay is calm and lovely right now (not always the case!), and this is my new favorite camp here. 👍 It's the kind of place that makes me wish I didn't have places to go & things to do -- it's practically begging me to stay for days... 😜 #nodontgo
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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#Zennie is wondering where we are, thinking I've taken her to a 5-star highway! 🚐😍 It's certainly not recognizable from last year when we were here! 😱
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Last year, #highway 5 south from San Felipe was a true driving adventure. Flash floods from hurricane Rosa had caused extensive damage with washed out roads and bridges. 😰 There were many miles of rocky road, and steep detours through arroyos. On one of those, a fellow driver reported that Zennie had her front wheels off the ground, as I gunned it to get up a really rough slope. 🚐✈️🙈
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This year it's a different story! 😊 This could be the best road in Baja now! 🏆 There are miles and miles of freshly paved road 🛣 -- smooth surfaces with brightly painted lines and even shoulders! (A luxury item in Baja!) It's impressive to see what they've accomplished in a year.👍
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There was just one detour that faked me out, pointing us down a gravel slope into a canyon, ↘️ only to find out the other end was closed off. Maybe it's just there so we can remember what last year was like... 😜
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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Ah yes, back on a Baja #beach! ☀️🌊👍
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First stop in Mexico is my fave #campground in San Felipe. Once you get here, set up camp, and crack a cold beer, all that pre-departure stress just melts away, replaced with a wonderful sense of relaxation and well-being. 🚐⛱🍺😎 #beachcamp #happyplace
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#mexico #bajacalifornia #bcn

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The #dinghy is tied off, and it looks like a quiet night in the anchorage. 🌅🌠 At times like this, the world seems such a wonderful place! 🌎 I'm counting my blessings. 😊 #gratitude #lifeisgood
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#mexico #baja #bcn

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Heading away from Baja, on a calm-weather day. 👋⛰ I just love the patterns on the #water when the weather's like this. 😎💙 It looks like a painting - life imitating art! 🎨😊 #patterns #solovely
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#mexico #baja #bcn

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Why are some sunsets all red and gold ❤️💛, while others are all pink and purple? 💖💜 Just something to ponder on another glorious #evening! 😊💭 #sunsetmagic
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#mexico #baja #bcn

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How we get #internet in San Francisquito ... ... Dinghy from the sailboat into a little cove ⛵️🛶 --> Walk down a dirt road across the hill to the next bay🚶‍♀️ --> Get to an old resort that looks like it's been demolished by storms, not much left 💨😰 --> Ask a guy sitting there, who says yes they have #wifi, no fee just a tip 📡👍 --> He drives away in this old truck & comes back with a cooler of cold beer 🚗🍺 --> Settle down in the shade with a cold one and enjoy amazingly fast internet! 📱😎 #loveit
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#mexico #baja #bcn

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#Sunset on the water = double delight! 🌅➕🌊 ➡️ 😊😊
............. #mexico #baja #bcn

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What can I say? Life is good! ⛵️😎 ... ... Many thanks to @berndrundel for the wonderful opportunity! 🙏😊
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#mexico #sonora #bcn

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#Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez. 🌅 We are about halfway across, heading west to Baja. ⛵️😎 .............
#mexico #sonora #bcn

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#Boojum trees! I think they look like giant upside down green furry parsnips. 😜 Would you agree? They’re one of the oddest plants in Baja, and you won’t see them anywhere else. 🌵🤓
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“Boojum” is the name bestowed by Godfrey Sykes of Tucson’s Desert Botanical Laboratory, because they are so #weird! In Lewis Carrol’s “The Hunting of the Snark”, the boojum was a mysterious and magical form that the snark could take. Why not a green furry parsnip? 👻 In Mexico, they are called cirios, which means candles 🕯, but that seems so logical - I’ll take the oddball name! 🤣
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Supposedly the indigenous people thought that touching one of these trees would bring high winds. 💨 Now we know who to blame when it’s windy down here... Stop touching the boojums, people! 🚫👆🌵😉
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Pic by @MikeMcGreevy #mexico #baja #bcn

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