Bob H - 2-3-2004 at 08:40 AM
Does anyone know if there is a way to get out to El Mogote on Bahia de La Paz? I've heard a rumor that there are some fantastic shells there.
Bob H
El Magote shelling
Jack Swords - 2-3-2004 at 08:56 AM
Bob, We live on our boat in La Paz half the year. I go out to the Magote several times a week to run and let the dog run free. You can take a boat
(inflatable, panga, etc.) or even drive out there from the Comitan area. If you drive you will have sand dunes to deal with and some drive the beach
at low tide. You can't drive the beach directly across from La Paz as the hurricane took the sand up to the mangroves. Yes, there are shells there
as everywhere in Baja. But, they are not fantastic, nor rare, or better than other parts of the area. Some times there are shells, other times none.
The real attraction of the Magote is its isolation from the city. By the way, there are approved plans for a whole city out there: condos, homes,
hotels, and golf courses. Survey stakes are already in place. A nice place to walk great distances in isolation with the birds, flotsam and jetsam,
and sound of the surf. Jack Swords
Mogote
jrbaja - 2-3-2004 at 01:25 PM
Bob, Mogote is right next door from where I am staying right now. You can enter from the north at CIB or from the south at Los Arripes RV park in El
Centenario. There are mangroves and some beautiful camping spots but very buggy.
The La Paz sailing club is out there most every weekend and it is fairly out of the way but I have avoided camping there because of bugs. The
shelling is exactly as Jack said. It is more of a tidal flat area with lots of mud at the south end, being part of La Paz Bay.
It is a fun drive though either from north to south or vice versa. Great picnic spots.
David K - 2-3-2004 at 01:29 PM
Just don't let Tucker see you driving on the beach!
David K and Innuendo
Tucker - 2-3-2004 at 09:32 PM
What do you mean by that? Some years back you and I had discussions about encouraging people driving on beaches. I believe that trying to obey the
law of the land is appropriate. I have never pretended to enforce the law. If JR drives on the beach that is his choice, but I see by his post that
he stays on established roads.
Don't go back and edit your original post.
David K - 2-4-2004 at 12:05 AM
Just chill Tucker, it's a joke... Remember our 'friendly exchanges' of the past about beach driving. You live near Mogote, so that's why I mentioned
it.
-----------------------------------------------------
To be clear on what my opinions are, when there is NO other way to reach a location than to drive on the beach... an unoccupied beach... one that
Mexicans also drive on... one where no turtle eggs have ever been on... is the ONLY place I have driven. That is when the beach is also a 'road' to
get from point A to point B.
Like you, I am against driving on a beach for just laughs when there are people around... like I see in Rosarito and other beach front towns. Law
enforcement does nothing to stop it. The federal army once visited my friends camping on Shell Island (requires beach driving to get to), and they
said nothing about them using the beach as a road.
How do you know there are no turtle eggs before running over them?
Stephanie Jackter - 2-4-2004 at 01:49 AM
It's sad the way many Mexicans (not all, of course), treat their beaches, but not an excuse for us to buy into the same activities. Cars driving on
the beach are dangerous to people, animals and the environment. Simple as that.
One can never be sure where a turtle will lay it's eggs or where beach erosion will upset a marine ecosystem.
When I was camping on the clearly labelled turtle laying beaches in Cabo Pulmo last summer, my children and I watched as jeeps and 4WD vehicles drove
right over the hand stencilled signs that asked people not to drive on the beaches because of the turtle habitat, knocking them down on the way to
getting their vehicles right next to the palapas. My kids tried to prop the destroyed signs back up, but they got knocked right back down. Sad.-
Stephanie
[Edited on 2-4-2004 by Stephanie Jackter]
David K - 2-4-2004 at 03:48 AM
That's pretty disgusting behavior for sure. What kind of people were doing that? They did it right in front of you, too? That is just willfull
distruction... not trying to get to a camping or fishing spot.
There is no turtle egg activity in the northern gulf, around San Felipe... Never has been documented or reported or witnessed. I have been 'playing'
in that sand since 1965. I have once seen a pup sea lion sleeping on the beach near what today is Bahia Santa Maria, sleeping one morning as we drove
to the fishing spot on the bay/lagoon.
Here's the beach I need to use to ge to my camp: http://davidksbaja.com/503/page3.html as you can see, no town, no people, no animals... just sand. Twice a day, the water covers the sand and
erases my tracks.
Cartography 101
jrbaja - 2-4-2004 at 07:44 AM
It appears that those "in the know" are not. The Baja Almanac has been wrong as much as it has been right. In this case, the El Mogote area is
covered with roads. I already mentioned where the accesses are. If any of you had ever been out there rather than claiming knowledge because of what
you read in books, you would realize that unless you have an amphibious vehicle it would be very unwise to drive on the beach there.
In the meantime, take the roads. They are really there.
What kind of people were doing that?
"They did it right in front of you, too? That is just willfull distruction... not trying to get to a camping or fishing spot."
Let me think now, who would act like this with their 4WD's and off road vehicles. Haven't seen a lot of Mexicans with enough time to do that or money
to even own one.
David K - 2-4-2004 at 07:58 AM
Since Stephanie already said they were Mexicans who were doing this, my follow up was to question if they were local Mexicans or out of area Mexican
tourists. JR, not all Mexicans are poor dirt farmers.
Americans have donated a lot of time to help the turtle egg protection program near Cabo. We are not ALWAYS part of the problem, as you think...
SOMETIMES we try to fix the problem.
I recommend
jrbaja - 2-4-2004 at 09:16 AM
starting in your own back yards. The reputation that preceeds your assistance is not exactly a shining example.
Who's driving?
Jack Swords - 2-4-2004 at 09:25 AM
Wow, sure takes little to get a discussion going! Need to get outside! As I spend 3 days a week in the winter walking the outer beaches of El Magote
(those that can be driven on) I have seen the vehicles first hand (have to call the dog in). Fortunately, it is not very common. The Magote is
crisscrossed with roads, the Rodriguez Ranch, cattle, etc. It is NOT a beach, but a large sandy land area. It is rimmed with beaches on two sides.
La Paz has a very very strong offroad community with races every weekend. The SUV rules there and the larger and newer the better. There are many
financially comfortable people there and they too have their toys. It is they, the Mexicans, with few exceptions, who are driving on the sandy roads
and beaches I know well. In many homes are trophys, photos, ribbons for events with their offroad vehicles. This is a modern city, with
professionals who want their toys not unlike my local Pismo Beach Ca. where cars threaten beach goers. I won't judge them, I prefer cars stay on the
roads, but it is a local custom and I am a guest in their country. For the record, I have never seen a turtle on the beach (I walk 10 miles each
time, have for 5 years), but have seen them slaughtered on the inside of the Magote. These are brought in by local fishermen. Someone is obviously
buying the meat and immature eggs.
Turtle nest preservation
Jack Swords - 2-4-2004 at 09:33 AM
I have worked with Pinal's and the University turtle nest/egg preservation on the beaches way north of Todos Santos. I was surprised to find out that
the eggs do not survive due to the cold temperatures and university students ride out each morning to mark nests, candle eggs, and recover those
alive for incubation in a heated, protected environmnt. What a thrill it is to hold a newly hatched leatherback in your hand! After hatching they
are released on the beach to fend for their own. Without this human intervention, few would survive.