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BAJA.com > East Cape > Blog

The Fate of Cabo Pulmo National Park Remains Uncertain

April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

A couple of posts ago, I wrote about Cabo Pulmo, the Jewel of Mexico. The reef and marine animals living inside Cabo Pulmo National Park may be protected from direct impacts like fishing, aquarium collectors and boat anchors, and it may be the most successful marine park on the planet, but in 2008 a potentially devastating impact to the reef and its inhabitants began to gain momentum.

2.5 tons of manure dropped in protest against the Cabo Cortes development. Image courtesy of Greenpeace/Prometeo Rodríguez

That impact is a massive resort complex that Spanish-based developer  Hansa Baja planned to build directly north of the park.  The proposed development would create a sprawling new city on a scale comparable to Cancún that covers 9,800 acres and includes 29,000 hotel rooms and residential housing units, at least two golf courses, a 490-boat marina and a private jet port. A development of this type and scale would include the operation of a desalination plant to produce fresh water, application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to the golf courses and grounds, anti-fouling paints and other chemicals used in the marina and the city’s own creation of pollution (gas, oil, sediment and domestic garbage) which would flow south on ocean coastal currents toward the reef.

Upon learning of the developer’s intentions, WildCoast, Greenpeace Mexico, World Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC) and a consortium called Cabo Pulmo Vivo that consists of Baja-based conservation organizations like Amigos para la Conservacion de Cabo Pulmo (Friends for the Conservation of Cabo Pulmo), came together to fight the megadevelopment. The campaign against Cabo Cortes has been gaining momentum over the past year with articles almost universally condemning the project appearing in CBS News Online, the San Francisco Chronicle and National Geographic. Jean-Michel Cousteau, oldest son of biologist and explorer Jacques Cousteau, publicly criticized the project in March, and in April of last year, the Los Angeles Times published an Op Ed penned by none other than Robert Kennedy Jr. of the NRDC and Mexican poet laureate and founder of the environmental group Grupo los Cien, Homero Aridjis.

In the end, the economy dealt the developer a greater blow, with parent company Hansa Urbana forced to declare bankruptcy in 2011. The company’s assets, including the land and development plans for Cabo Cortes were acquired by regional Spanish bank, Banco Sabadell. At present it is not clear if the bank will sell the project or develop it.

The campaign against the development reached fever pitch on March 28th when, in an unprecedented move, the minister of the Mexican Environmental Protection Agency (SEMARNAT), Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, stood before the Mexican Senate to answer charges that permits for Cabo Cortes were obtained illegally, through the use of bribery and fraud. Greenpeace Mexico was there representing concerned citizens and activists all over Mexico. The event was covered by a wide array of national media. On April 25th, frustrated with SEMARNAT’s recalcitrance to charge Elvira with fraud, Greenpeace Mexico dumped 2.5 tons of manure in front of the SEMARNAT office buildings in Mexico City and hung banners emblazoned with the words “Algo Huele Mal,” something smells bad in SEMARNAT.

Whether Elvira is charged or not, the larger question that remains to be answered is who will end up with ownership of the large expanse of land and development plans? Will the Mexican government step up to the plate and purchase the development from the Spanish bank owner in order to protect its conservation success story? Will the community of Cabo Pulmo be given a say in what kind of development is created on its Northern border? Or will it be sold off to the highest bidder? The fate of Cabo Pulmo National Park remains in the balance.

What about you? Do you think that the benefits of a development on the scale of Cabo Cortes outweigh the costs to the environment? We’d love to hear your comments!

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¡Que Milagro! ¡Va a lluver!

April 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

Literally translated as, “What a miracle! It’s going to rain!” ¡Que Milagro! ¡Va a lluver! is a saying in Mexico employed when someone who has been away a long time reappears. In an area that receives as little rainfall as the peninsula, suggesting that a person’s appearance is just as rare as rain makes it a truly regional expression.

After a year's absence, the graders return!

I was reminded of this expression yesterday as I drove my ATV the four miles from my house to an area known as Santa Elena and discovered that the grader had finally arrived on the Coast Road to repair it of large wash outs, erosion channels and never-ending washboard.

It’s only been a year since they last graded it. Yes, we’ve waited a year, two (albeit meager) rainfalls, several road races and immeasurable coastal traffic for the grader to return after it was here at the same time last year. The maddening thing is that it won’t last. They are repairing the roads just in time for the hoards of people who flock to the beach during Semana Santa to tear it up.  Semana Santa is the “holy week” before Easter—and in Mexico, Easter is a bigger deal than Christmas. Children are let out of school and adults are given anywhere from four to ten days off work. And they all head for the beach. Over the next two weeks, the roads will be crowded with a flow of vehicles loaded with people, dogs, beach toys and camping gear.  All this on a road that sees minimal traffic throughout the rest of the year.

It’s already begun – two days ago on my way home from the beach in Santa Elena, I witnessed a veritable traffic jam near a spot we call The Fig Tree.  Five, maybe six, large SUVs were all pulled over to one side of the narrow road, hazard lights flashing in the dim light of dusk. It was a strange sight to behold on our normally quiet little Coast Road.

For now, I am enjoying the improved quality of the ride to and from town and  the beach. It’s hard to believe it, but my drive time to town has been reduced by 20 minutes. For now. Of course, if I’m driving faster, then others are as well. The downside of an improved road is the risk of running into someone going even faster, pushing the boundaries of safety and control. Between the speed demons and the much-prayed-for spring rains, the improved road conditions won’t last. So I relish it while I can.

Heck, I might make an extra trip to town, just for the fun of it.

 

 

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Cabo Pulmo: The Jewel of Mexico

March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

Cabo Pulmo National Park in the East Cape is the most successful marine reserve in Mexico, possibly worldwide. It contains the northernmost coral reef in the eastern Pacific, and, at around 20,000 years old, is considered the most important reef in the American Pacific. Only a handful of uninhabited, un-fished reefs found in the Pacific Ocean exhibit the abundance of fish you will see in the waters of the bay on which the picturesque community of Cabo Pulmo sits.

Image courtesy of Nikki Goth Itoi

However, it has not always been the teeming underwater garden it is today.

By the 1990s, decades of overfishing and anchoring damage left the coral reefs here almost void of life. The coral was bleached and broken, appearing grey or white in most places. Fish were present, but mainly in small sizes and numbers. The large groupers, whale sharks and reef sharks were gone. Sea turtles were a rare sight. In 1995, In hopes of reversing the damage they saw, the local community, along with scientists from the university in La Paz, convinced the Mexican federal government to establish a marine protected area of 7111 hectares that includes the bays at Las Barracas, Cabo Pulmo, and Los Frailes.

Fishing was banned inside park boundaries and local residents’ vigilance to stop anchoring, aquarium fish collecting and other harmful activities helped to bring the reef back from complete destruction. As a result of their efforts, between 1999 and 2009 the abundance of fish increased an unprecedented 463 percent. This is particularly amazing because since its declaration the park has received few resources from the Mexican government. According to Enric Sala, Scripps Institute researcher involved in conducting the study, “In 2009 …we jumped in the water, expecting fishes to be more abundant after 10 years of protection. But we could not believe what we saw–thousands upon thousands of large fishes such as snappers, groupers, trevally, and manta rays. They were so abundant that we could not see each other if we were 15 meters apart. We saw more sharks in one dive at Cabo Pulmo than in 10 years of diving throughout the Gulf of California!”

In 2005, CPNP was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the “Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California.” In 2008, Cabo Pulmo became a Ramsar International Wetlands Site. In 2011, renowned ocean conservationist Sylvia Earle described Cabo Pulmo as a “Hope Spot,” a place she deems to be critical to the health of the world’s oceans.

Diving in Cabo Pulmo is an incredible experience not to be missed. If you don’t already have your dive certification, all three of the local dive shops offer “Discover SCUBA” packages that include an on-land detailed lesson followed by a shallow dive. If breathing underwater is not your thing, then rent some snorkel gear and hire a panga to take you out to the reef. The great thing about Cabo Pulmo is that most of the reefs are located in relatively shallow waters, so anyone can see the incredible results of this little community’s gargantuan conservation efforts.

Take a look under the sea:

We’d love to hear from readers who have dived the reef and perhaps have even witnessed changes in fish abundance over the years. What was the most incredible creature you’ve ever seen in CPNP? For me it was a Goliath Grouper – so IMMENSE and yet with such tiny little eyes. They are truly prehistoric looking.

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Surviving a Drive on the East Cape

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

My previous post described some of the challenges of driving the dirt roads on the East Cape. This post provides some tips that will get you from Point A to Point B without any major hassles.

What to do when driving in the East Cape

Bring a tire pressure gauge from home.

A flat tire isn't the only thing you might encounter when driving on the East Cape...

Check to make sure your rental car has a spare tire, jack and lug wrench. Then make sure the spare actually has air in it.

Lower the pressure in your front tires to 20 pounds, rear to 18.

Drive slowly and with care. Not only are there plenty of obstacles to avoid, now that the pressure is lower, you can pop a tire right off the rim if you take corners too quickly.

Arrive at your destination before sunset.

Be aware that a left turn signal in Mexico is interpreted as a signal to cars following behind to PASS. When making a left turn, to avoid getting broadsided, slow down, extend your left arm out the window palm facing backwards to signal to the driver behind you not to pass.

Be aware that stop signs are often ignored by locals. Stop lights seem to garner slightly more respect.

Obtain and bring clear directions to your destination. There are few road signs and many of the roads are in such poor condition that it is easy to quickly feel lost.

Pack extra drinking water and a sunhat, especially in summer.

Top off with gas. There are no gas stations on the Coast Road.

Give yourself extra time to stop and enjoy the incredible scenery!

What not to do when driving in the East Cape

Driving at night: There are more fatalities on Mexican roadways at night than any other time of day. Remember that roads are unmarked and unlit. It is not uncommon to meet cars without tail and /or headlights. Livestock (think black cows) that roam freely throughout the Cape can suddenly run in front of your vehicle. My 1993 Nissan pickup truck was ultimately retired because of a run-in with a young bull – I was lucky I didn’t get retired along with it.

Driving on Sundays: There are more roadway fatalities in Mexico on Sundays than any other day of the week. While MADD advertisements in developed nations have reduced drunk driving considerably, it’s still a big problem here. Monday mornings are a little sketchy too. Avoid driving in the wee hours of the morning.

What do you do to make driving the roads of Baja safer or more enjoyable? We’d love to hear your suggestions. Or how about sharing your personal Baja road warrior story?

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Driving East Cape Roads: The Good, the bad, the ugly

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

The unpaved roads in Baja are nothing like those you are used to if you live in the States, southern Canada or most parts of Europe. They are narrow, pot-hole and washboard-riddled tracks of earth that snake through the desert, up and over rocky mountains and down through washed out seasonal riverbeds. They are poorly and infrequently maintained.

Rough road

Maintenance consists of running a grader over the rough surface to break up the washboard and fill the holes, but the effects are short-lived, lasting only a few days depending on levels of traffic. With each pass of the grader, the road is cut a little deeper into the desert’s fragile surface and the dirt piles a little higher along the sides. No one applies gravel or removes large, sharp rocks that are uncovered by the grader.

Occasionally the local ranchers will fill in a particularly large sink hole that appears in the middle of the road or a washout that makes it impossible to proceed, but these are rare events indeed. The roads are so narrow in places and often bordered by severe drops on either side that you have to yield to oncoming traffic.

Most of us who choose to live here on the East Cape, however, recognize that a blessing accompanies the cursed road conditions – they keep the maddening crowds at bay.

Most of the folks on the East Cape have a solitary disposition or at least aren’t interested in the type of nightlife Los Cabos is famous for. Stargazing and fires on the beach are more our style.

The roads do however wreak havoc on our vehicles and make us keep trips to town to a bare minimum.

Boca de las Vinoramas, where I live, is located at the end of the road. It sits at the crossroads of the Coast Road and the Palo Escopeta Road, which traverses the desert from San Bernabe near the San Jose International Airport out to the coast. From Vinorama, it’s a little over 20 miles North, East, and South to the pavement. But that is no ordinary 20 miles—it’s a dusty, bone-jarring, filling-loosening, neck-wrenching stretch of road, no matter what direction you go.

So we go to great lengths to reduce the number of trips we make to town. We bought a second fridge to have greater storage capacity. I store all our produce in special “green” bags that preserve them longer. I eat broccoli for several nights in a row so it gets eaten before it goes bad. And we keep a large supply of gasoline in jerry cans in the garage.

The East Cape requires adaptation. It challenges one’s resourcefulness and ability to tolerate what has to be one of the bumpiest roads on the planet. I need a chiropractic adjustment after I make the trip to town, but what’s the point of getting one while I’m there if I’m just going to get all shook up on the ride home?

Nevertheless, when I get home, shake the dust off and walk out onto the patio as the sun sets behind our house, I am greeted by the spectacular view of the sky and Sea of Cortez turning various shades of pink, coral, turquoise and indigo, and I am reminded why I choose to live here.

How about you? Have you got a good Baja back roads driving story? We’d love to hear it! Post them in the comments section below.

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Fish Magic on the East Cape of Baja

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Dawn Pier

Unlike the gear-laden visitors who come here to the East Cape from all over the world to fish from expensive cruisers, most local Mexicans use hand lines to fish. It’s just fishing line, a weight and a hook, with or without bait. In my caretaker Felipe’s case, he keeps the line organized and under control by wrapping it around a 4”x3” piece of plywood. The weight is often makeshift, a stainless steel nut or other piece of heavy metal. Casting is a technique that takes some skill. He swings the line in a circle over his head as if it were a lariat and then throws it into the surf. The casting is critically timed with the surf action, so that the out-flowing water takes the line into deeper water rather than pushing it back to shore.

Catch of the day

Yesterday Felipe caught several fish that he calls pescado blanco (white fish). They are white mullet or what the locals call “lisa.” I asked him if there were any Huachinango (red snapper) that I might share with my father who is visiting. He looked at me confidently and said, “I saw some in the waves today. I will catch one for you tomorrow.”  I was taken back by his confident proclamation and didn’t put much faith in it.

The next morning there was a knock at the door. It was Felipe holding out a Huachinango, the perfect size for three people to share. And we just happened to be going to a friend’s for dinner that night.

If you know anything about fishing – in Baja or anywhere – you know that this was a virtual miracle. My friend that night said it speaks to my ability to dictate my desires to the Universe, but I think it says more about Felipe’s ability as a fisherman. The local ranchers have often commented to me, “Felipe is a good fisherman. He catches fish even when others come home empty-handed.”

I never put much stock in what they said and figured it had more to do with how often he fished than the results. I guessed they were making assumptions about his abilities. How could they know how good a fisher he was? Felipe is not one given to boasting. What I didn’t realize was that their knowledge came firsthand.

Yesterday, Felipe came to the house and told me he was going to walk the three miles to his friend Trino’s ranch. When I asked “What for?” he said he was taking the extra fish he caught that day to the rancher and his family. When I offered to drive him, in characteristic humility he suggested I deliver the fish myself.

Lunch is served

At the ranch, when I asked her, Trino’s wife Luisa confirmed that Felipe often gives them his catch. I asked around and discovered that Felipe gives away a great deal of the fish he catches. To families who live in ramshackle houses with dirt floors, no electricity, no plumbing and often not much in the way of food—families who define “dirt poor.”

They are right. He does have a gift.

It has been my experience that generosity runs deep in Mexico despite its status as a country where so many people have so very little. Do you have a first-hand Baja experience illustrating people’s generosity? I’d love to hear your story. Post them in the comments section below.

Read Dawn’s personal blog at Dawn Revealed.

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Costa’s on the Coast

December 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

By Dawn Pier, East Cape Amiga

There are at least ten Costa’s Hummingbirds feeding at the two feeders hanging from the ramada on the patio.  I’m not sure exactly how many there are because they move so fast they’re hard to count. They flit back and forth across my plane of vision, tiny forces enveloped in feathers, wings beating at upwards of 90 beats per second, too fast for the human eye to perceive their individual movement. Instead I see a blur of wings that suggests where they were and will be, but like an atom, it’s just an approximation, impossible to see the wing in real time.

Costa Hummingbird

They chatter and scold one another, fight and dive bomb like World War II flying aces, going up, up, up and then banking and falling back towards Earth in a tiny mass of blurred feathers. Their size belies their identity and sometimes I imagine I’m seeing a large beetle or tarantula wasp and then am shocked by the fact that I could mistake a bird for an insect.

Their metallic chit-chit call warms off interlopers looking for the same sweet sustenance, but their softer gentler whirring call suggests something more soothing. The bird books don’t distinguish between the two calls, but when they make the whirring song from atop a perch I cannot imagine it’s anything but an attempt to attract a lover.

The sun catches briefly the iridescent green of their feathers, the brilliant tyrian purple and indigo of the male’s gorget, but it is the briefest of glimpses because he’s off again, charging after a competitor, or a female in an attempt to impress her with his speed. The gorget resembles long sideburns giving the males the appearance of tiny winged Elvis impersonators.

A pair will build a tiny nest together, less than a couple of inches in diameter and wrapped around the netting of the palapa. A few short days later two tiny white eggs appear.  The wait to see if they will hatch is short, only 15 to 18 days. The hatchlings appear one day suddenly, hideous black leathery things with just a dusting of straggly downy feathers. They are smaller than a quarter with surprisingly short, yellow-edged beaks. Their eyes are closed bulges on bobbing heads supported by weak necks. They look frail and unbelievably helpless.

 Mother and father share the responsibility of delivering sweet nectar to the nest and day by day the chicks expand and grow, their beaks begin to elongate. Sooner than I would have thought possible based on their appearance only a couple of weeks earlier, pin feathers appear, fill in and fledging is imminent.

One day the nest sits empty. I feel an empty space open in my gut and I realize I’d felt some kinship to these little creatures. I miss them and wonder if they fledged or met some other less glorious fate – as a late night snack for a Coachwhip Snake perhaps?

 

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Dawn Pier, East Cape Amiga

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hi Baja.com readers. My name is Dawn Pier and I live in Boca de las Vinoramas on the East Cape. I’m a writer, surfer, environmentalist, biologist, yogini and construction project manager, to name a few of the hats I wear. Baja has turned me into somewhat of a generalist, out of necessity.

Before moving here in 2002, I obtained both my Bachelors and Masters degrees in biology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. I worked for a decade as a research scientist conducting field work in the Canadian arctic to study the impact of military radar stations on the local environment. It was an amazing job that allowed me to travel to regions on the planet that few people will ever see.

Most of the people I meet down here want to know how a woman from Ontario, Canada ended up surfing in Baja. Until the year 2000, surfing wasn’t even on my radar. I was newly separated from my husband of seven years. He got the house, the car, the furniture and two Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs. I got the credit card debt and the associated airmiles. After ten summers spent North of 60, I was ready for some sun, so I put the airmiles to good use and flew to Costa Rica for the How Dawn Got Her Groove Back vacation.

It was while sunbathing on a Costa Rican beach one day during that vacation that I entered the calm waters of the Pacific Ocean to cool off. After bobbing about in the tranquil waters for a few minutes, I turned to get out and was suddenly grabbed by a rogue wave, thrown on the bottom, picked up again by another wave, slammed onto the sandy bottom and then released. My head reeled as I tried to regain my footing. As I stood up I realized to my embarrassment that my bikini bottoms were well South of where they ought to be as I faced a beach riddled with bathers. I yanked them up only to discover they were loaded with sand. Weaving my way out of the water and back up the beach, I dispatched the sand in handfuls, like so many rose petals.

Back at the safety of my towel I tried to catch my breath and felt my heart thumping wildly in my chest. I looked hard at the ocean, searching for some indication of what had set it off. As I regained my composure, I sensed that my whole body was energized! I felt more alive than I had in years. Because of that experience I became determined to learn to surf.

A plan was hatched: I would move to Costa Rica and live on the beach like the surfers I’d seen in my travels. I’d teach myself to surf until my money ran out and, in the meantime, I fantasized, someone would happen along and offer me a job. Yeah, I had it all figured out.

But before the Costa Rican plan could be executed, I took a trip to Baja California Sur with my sister – our goal was to get our SCUBA certification and I gave surfing a try. Fate and an Outside magazine article brought us to Cabo Pulmo for our dive course, where on the second day, our dive instructor suggested I move to Cabo Pulmo. He said, “Why do you want to move to Costa Rica? There are already so many volunteers there. They don’t need you, but we do. Why don’t you come here and be the scientific director of my new conservation foundation?” A job offer with a fancy title sounded much more promising than moving to a Costa Rican beach with nothing more than high hopes.

In March 2002, I arrived in Cabo Pulmo and after a false start that had to do with the “foundation” being less than legit, I began working as a community liaison for efforts to protect Cabo Pulmo National Park, which at the time had no infrastructure or formal management of any type. Eventually, a group of community members and I founded Amigos para la Conservacion de Cabo Pulmo, A.C. and I worked as it’s director for three years.

My current focus is writing. In addition to being a contributor on Baja.com, I maintain a personal blog and I am working on a memoir detailing my adventures while I lived in Cabo Pulmo. I’ve also picked up a few more hats – my Spanish improved sufficiently that I began helping other foreigners with translation services and construction project management.

I surf most days and recently took up kitesurfing so I can get out and enjoy the sea when the winds blow. The rest of my time is spent maintaining the large property I live on and hanging with our pack of six dogs. I look forward to sharing my love of the East Cape of Baja with you in future blog posts here on Baja.com and to hearing your feedback in the comments section.

 

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