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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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7-4-09 Shell Island Time (Photos & more)
Hola amigos,
Baja Angel and I love the beach... a sand beach... and one that we can get to in less than a day's drive... just to chill and enjoy the beauty of
Baja's great outdoors.
The coast south of San Felipe has offered that to me for all my life and I can't get enough of it!
Since we bring everything we need and want on the beach, we need no services or facilities and four wheel drive is how we get to our favorite spot...
out on Shell Island*
*a barrier island seperated from Baja by lagoons, marshes and a salt flat that periodically is submerged... between Rancho Percebu and Bahia Santa
Maria.
The fastest way for us to get there from Oceanside (San Diego County) is by I-8 to El Centro, then south on 111 to Mexicali... and south on Mex. 5 to
San Felipe and beyond to Km. 26 (access road to Shell Island). We left the IHOP in Vista at 6 am and arrived in San Felipe at 11:15 am. Gasoline was
7.41 pesos per litre and the exchange rate was 12.50 pesos per dollar, making gas $2.24/ gallon.
We arrived at our camp site at noon on Friday and it was a beautiful day with a firm breeze from the south... Shade is the first thing to go up!
View south on the beach:
View north:
The truck that keeps on giving, Toyota!
View north from the dunes towards Percebu:
Looking across the lagoon towards Baja California:
Looking south down the island:
Happy husband and wife:
Later after some swimming and sunshine, we take a drive to the north and south ends of 4 mile long Shell Island and discover some changes that Mother
Nature is making... She is extending Shell Island...!!!
See the next set of photos...
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Von
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Love the pictures David i definitely need to hit shell island looks so beautiful........
READY SET.....................
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David K
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First we drive to the south end and discover the inlet to Bahia Santa Maria's backbay/ lagoon has moved from east facing to south facing, directly
into/ out of Bahia Santa Maria... making the island a tad bit longer on the south end...
View west at the lagoon entrance:
View south towards the homes of BajaRob and Baja Warrior in the Santa Maria complex:
Zoom on the homes, ~ 1.5 miles away:
On the north end we found a big extention of Shell Island just since Memorial Weekend, now extending out infront of Rancho Percebu...
These photos make a panorama from north to west to south of Rancho Percebu:
Back at our camp, we set up the tent:
Every afternoon the thunderclouds formed over the Sierra San Pedro Martir... and you could see the rain falling.
Sunday the clouds spread out to the coast and cooled us off for a while before the evaporated.
Some wildlife photos, next!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
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On Sunday, July 4th... we saw no other people... just various birds and critters...
Can someone ID these two?
We sure had a peaceful weekend! It was a great escape from civilization!
Interesting sea plant or ??? The leaves felt like nylon and were chambers, like balloons... ID?
Monday Morning... packed and leaving Shell Island at 9:30 am...
Heading back to San Felipe...
Slow down for the OH SH*% DIP!
Beautiful Bahia San Felipe...
4 lane highway now extends 20 miles north of San Felipe (a few miles only one side was open)...
Then 10 1/2 miles of dirt detour as they work on the rest of the new highway...
We came home via Tecate... gas near Mexicali was 7.72 pesos per litre @ 12.50 to the dollar ($2.34/ gallon).
Border wait was 37 minutes starting at 2:37 pm.
Hwy. 2-D tolls were $4.00 dollars at El Hongo and Mexicali bipass and $1.30 at La Rumorosa.
I may have a couple more photos to add...
Hope you enjoyed them!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Oh, and I often say how bug free it is on Shell Island... but we can get a bug or two to fly in ...
Take this gal, who smelled the juice from the fresh tomatos we just sliced for our lunch... She hung around and drank up all she could. As she moved
about, she let me take a few close ups.
The sting from a tarantula hawk is rather strong!
Okay, that was our drama for the weekend, now back to the main event...
[Edited on 7-7-2009 by David K]
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rpleger
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Those two birds were Sam and Tobias....
Sure was crowded over the 4th...
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
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David K
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Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Yah... on Friday one SUV with two gringos inside drove by and two kids on quads passed by twice. Saturday, nobody... or Sunday when we were there.
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duke62
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Thanks for the pics DK. It looks like it was beautiful. Sounds like a wonderful trip was had.
I believe the birds are Oystercatchers (someone correct me if I am wrong). Was that insect a Tarantula Hawk? The other object looked like a
vertebrae??? As my son would text, IDK.
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pal57
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Hi David,
just read your trip in Shell Island. Great photos. The beach is beautiful and quite different from what we have seen in our trip in Baja. (nothing
like Playa Balandra)
I tried to find out where Shell Island could be by your explanations, on google earth. I found Bahia Santa Maria on the Cortes Sea and a little up
north Casteneda. I'm not sure if it's the right place.
The 18th of July we are going for a moto trip in Croatia for a week. Split, Zadar, Krk, Pletvice. Coming back I'll put some photos on my forum so you
can compare the beaches we have in Europe and does in Baja.
Bye Pal57.
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Cypress
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David K., Thanks for sharing the weekend.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
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Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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in the first foto, did you photoshop the red "towel?"
  
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BajaRob
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Location: Bahia Santa Maria y Newport Or
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Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by duke62
Thanks for the pics DK. It looks like it was beautiful. Sounds like a wonderful trip was had.
I believe the birds are Oystercatchers (someone correct me if I am wrong). [Thanks!]
Was that insect a Tarantula Hawk? [Yes]
The other object looked like a vertebrae??? [It was soft] As my son would text, IDK. |
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by pal57
Hi David,
just read your trip in Shell Island. Great photos. The beach is beautiful and quite different from what we have seen in our trip in Baja. (nothing
like Playa Balandra)
I tried to find out where Shell Island could be by your explanations, on google earth. I found Bahia Santa Maria on the Cortes Sea and a little up
north Casteneda. I'm not sure if it's the right place.
The 18th of July we are going for a moto trip in Croatia for a week. Split, Zadar, Krk, Pletvice. Coming back I'll put some photos on my forum so you
can compare the beaches we have in Europe and does in Baja.
Bye Pal57. |
Here you go Pal... There is no place called "Casteneda", just Rancho Percebu (formerly Laguna Percebu)... and there has been a couple of attempts at
making a campo just south of Percebu: 'Isla San Martin' and 'Laguna del Sol' (I think the sign said):
out on Shell Island*
*a barrier island seperated from Baja by lagoons, marshes and a salt flat that periodically is submerged... between Rancho Percebu and Bahia Santa
Maria.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Cypress
David K., Thanks for sharing the weekend. |
You are welcome...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: | Originally posted by woody in ob
in the first foto, did you photoshop the red "towel?"
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No... no photos 'photoshopped', should I?
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
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Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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no, it just looks like the "towel" is not part of the picture.... maybe it's just me!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Registered: 8-30-2002
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That's okay Woody... You had a fun weekend, no doubt!
That towel can be seen again just below the tarantula hawk photos (above).
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desertcpl
Super Nomad
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Registered: 10-26-2008
Location: yuma,az
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great,, thanks for sharing cant wait to see shell island,,
are you able to drive to shell island at high tide
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
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Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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if it's an island........
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