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GUERRER0 NEGRO
There's little
between Cataviña and the 28th parallel, where an enormous metal
monument, and a hotel, mark the border of Baja California Norte and
Baja California Sur ; you'll have to put your watch forward an hour
when you cross, unless Baja California Norte is on Daylight Saving Time
(April-Oct), in which case there's no change. GUERRERO NEGRO , just
across the border, offers little in the way of respite from the heat
and aridity that has gone before (winters, however, can find the town
quite chilly). Flat and fly-blown, it's an important centre for salt
production, surrounded by vast salt pans and stark storage warehouses.
At most times of year you'll want to do little more than grab a drink
and pass straight through. In January and February (and, peripherally,
Dec & March-May), however, Guerrero Negro is home to one of Mexico's
most extraordinary natural phenomena, when scores of California grey
whales congregate to calve just off the coast.
The whales, which
spend most of their lives in the icy Bering Sea around Alaska, can be
watched (at remarkably close quarters; the young are sometimes left
stranded on the beaches) from an area within the Parque Natural de la
Ballena Gris , which surrounds the Laguna Ojo de Liebre. The laguna
is also known as Scammon's Lagoon after the whaling captain Charles
Melville Scammon, who first brought the huge potential of the bay to
the attention of rapacious whalers in 1857 - the town gets its name
from the Black Warrior , an overladen whaling barque that sank here
a year later.
During the season
there are organized whale-watching trips , and an observation tower
that guarantees at least a distant sighting. Although talk turns every
year to restricting numbers or banning boats altogether, there are currently
more tours and boat trips than ever. If you can take one, then do so
- it's an exceptional experience, and many visitors actually get to
touch the whales, which often come right up to bobbing vessels, engines
switched off. Whale-watching trips are run from Don Miguelito's and
Mario's : both charge around US$40 per person for a four-hour trip,
including a complimentary drink or two. Laguna Whale Watching Tours
(tel 1/157-0050, www.bajalaguna.com ) a rather professional outfit on
Emiliano Zapata next to the Motel San Ignacio , also offer the standard
trip for about the same price. Malarrimo Eco-Tours (tel 1/157-0100,
malarimo ), also run whale tours, plus they offer eight-hour
tours to Sierra de San Francisco to see cave paintings from October
until December. If you are heading south, keep in mind that you will
have two more opportunities to go whale-watching, at San Ignacio and
Ciudad Insurgentes.
To watch the whales
from the shore , you'll need your own vehicle (it needs to be sturdy):
head south from town until you see the park sign, from where a poor
sand track leads 24km down to the lagoon. Midway there's a checkpoint
where you must register your vehicle and its occupants, and at the park
entrance a fee of around US$3 is charged. To see the whales you'll need
to get up early or stay late, as they move out to the deeper water in
the middle of the day.
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