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Author: Subject: Is this my Baja?
Sharksbaja
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[*] posted on 4-6-2008 at 10:02 PM
Is this my Baja?


I have a certain love for Baja and the suprises and joys it continues to provide. A very special place and friend.

It really is in flux as of late. The last 10 years have literally changed the face and makeup of the land we hold precious and dear.

Along with the changes in landscape come changes in the environment and a range of different philosophies regarding its' future.

There are diverse ideas on how we are to interact regardless of legality. It's legal to smoke for instance, but not to take threatened species. See the parallel?

It is not shocking to hear discourse and ridicule when the topic does not abide the looker. We DO take our relationship with the penninsula quite personal and passionately.
It is much the same in this forum.

From the realms of many fields, this Nomad group constitutes an important cross-section of social demographics and similar or opposed likes and/or dislikes.

It's a good marriage.

The field is extensive, fishermen and scholars, engineers and housewives, passionate surfers and turtle huggers alike join together in this two demenional world in order to assess,evaluate, quantify and determine their place in a 3 demensional world .....and they do it right here. Whew!

Really, look at us. We are so diverse in many aspects but a strong glue binds us(well most of us) together. We forgive the simple divisions between us so we can enjoy the mana generously served up by our brethren.

Enormous value is gleaned from our time that we take, in our precious lives, to partake here. More than that, real-time lessons of great importance are taught, provided and gleaned.

My future experiences and mindset will most certainly reflect stuff I heard and learned here. Just a matter of sorting out the chaff sometimes. That can be tedious..

Think of a circle of friends or rather "cyber" pals. Within this circle exists other circles of like-minded individuals who bond through similar interests and thoughts. .

To be fair I must add that folks new to the circle be patient and extremely cautious. I think we sometimes forget the profound effect that we sometimes have on new people.

Afterall, some of us spend "valuable" time here....and there.


On the same token, we can be a huge obstacle for those trying to express a thought or experience.:smug:

All this of course is new age stuff. We can't realize or understand trhe results or ramifications for say, 40 years from now when we will be cited for provocatives statements.
We could also have huge communities in Baja of Nomads replete with all the trimmings.:o:O:o

Is that farfetched? I'm not so sure, the number of players, lurkers or not, are acquiring the same info available anywhere, anytime on the internet.

What will we see ten or twenty years down the road? Will we see Gringos assimilated everywhere in Baja like that of Mexicans in California? Will we insist on altering Baja to accomodate our thirst for pleasure, adventure and relaxation at the cost of social and physical conversion?:?:

I wonder about that. We have seen the end product so many other places. Somehow though, I think and hope our group is a bit different.

While there are plenty of deep-pocketed aristocratic types out there, there is an equal or greater amount of nostalgic, keep it slow and low types around here.

I hold on to that notion which will slow the inevitable Catapillar from an ugly metamorpohsis. No matter how "good" it looks to some.




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Iflyfish
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[*] posted on 4-6-2008 at 10:27 PM


Well said Sharks, well said indeed.

"I hold on to that notion which will slow the inevitable Catapillar from an ugly metamorpohsis. No matter how "good" it looks to some.

Now I wish i could write just like that!

Viva Shark, Viva Mexico, Viva Baja, Viva Nomads!

Iflyfish
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vandenberg
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 07:55 AM


Very well stated Sharks.
Baja has changed tremendously in the last 25 years, some for the good and some for the "not so" good.
But we still love it here.




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Osprey
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 08:48 AM


Sharks, you touched on a lot of subjects. We're all curious about what the future will hold. I live near the shore because I'm one of your cyberpals who likes the water, fishing, snorkling. I don't have the lungs or legs to go wandering in the mountains anymore but I think the mountains of Baja California will be the last stronghold for Bajaphiles of the future who want to spend time anywhere but large cities or crowded beaches. Rancheros will sell or lease land to those smart folks who will love to live in the cool quiet of the mountains and still be close to the sea, the beaches (which will be packed like Concepcion at Semana Santa). I spent a little time exploring up there but I wish now that I had traded a little beach time for more time at the ranches. The mountains and the mountain people can change your life -- turned JR into a raving primitivo.
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TonyC
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 10:18 AM


IS THIS MY BAJA?

Very deep. I'm in my 40's, and am now just discovering Baja. Total newbie. I think I understand from where you speak, with regards to what it was like when you discovered this wonderful land, and the fact that it has changed for you. The love you have for the sea, and the bad things happening that you feel is so wrong. However, Baja was never yours, and never will it ever be mine. The passion for the sea, and the land you love, by sharing your experience with us will be remember by newbies like myself. Osprey with his post on drugs, and your love for endanger sharks, and marlin has truly helped me to understand Baja in but only a small way. Keep educating us Sharks....we need it. Slow, and low....I like that.

Thank you,

Tony
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Kell-Baja
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 10:28 AM


Wow you really put alot of thought and time into that post. I for one appreciate that.:tumble:
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vgabndo
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 10:54 AM


Nicely done amigo...

I found myself drawn to your question about 20 years from now. I have often dreamed of a time when Gringos might enjoy the same rights and priviledges in Mexico as Mexicans do en el otro lado. It seems only fair that our welcome here be matched by theirs in Mexico.

I often say, in Mexico, to friends and strangers alike: En mi corazon soy parte Mexicano. I can say it easily and sweetly because it is true.




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"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
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Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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tripledigitken
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 11:02 AM


Sharks,

I share and respect your passion for Baja. I too wonder what the future will bring to Baja. On a positive note, my passion for Baja over the last 20 years has only gotten stronger dispite the many negatives that have occured.


A very thoughtful piece you have written amigo.

Saludos,

Ken
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shari
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 02:02 PM


Oh Sharkie...I do believe we should all adopt this new logo/phrase/mantra SLOW & LO...Just this morning Juan turned to me as we were gazing at the pristine beach and hills and asked..."Do you really think this place could ever be developed, or is it just an exaggeration?" I told him I witnessed a disturbing boom in Tofino, on vancouver island..how it went from a sleepy fishing village to a tourism mecca in a few short years. I shall keep repeating from now on...slow & low...slow & lo gracias sharkie my cyber amigo.



for info & pics of our little paradise & whale watching info
http://www.bahiaasuncion.com/
https://www.whalemagictours.com/
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wilderone
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 02:29 PM


Pertinent, I think, this passage from Paul Bowles, a traveler of the Sahara:

"The answer is that when a man has been there and undergone the baptism of solitude he can't help himself. Once he has been under the spell of the vast, luminous, silent country, no other place is quite strong enough for him, no other surroundings can provide the supremely satisfying sensation of existing in the midst of something that is absolute. He will go back, whatever the cost in comfort or money, for the absolute has no price."

So too, Baja, California, has those qualities of the absolute. You wonder about the ramifications of the opinions and actions of those on this board? I think most of us will agree that the lure -- the absolute -- is a Baja that is untarnished further by mankind. Baja has been taken for granted, taken advantage of and exploited for too many years - and the realization now that the Absolute Baja is threatened, is becoming more and more into focus. So, your actions to preserve the Absolute Baja IS necessary.
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smlslikfish
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[*] posted on 4-7-2008 at 03:26 PM
Well Said!


I Remember back about 10 years ago when a couple of gringo campers were murdered near San Quintin. I actually cried thinking that I had lost the thing I loved the most, The ability to just go and camp out on a remote beach wherever I found myself. Fear almost overwhelmed me. Actually I think it was the old Amigos board that enabled me to regain a sense of perspective on the changes that have and are taking place in baja. I definitely feel that this board provides me with the best sense of the truth about what's going on in the place I love the most.
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bajalera
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[*] posted on 4-8-2008 at 11:31 AM


I appreciate the magnificent solitude and all that other good stuff, but on a practical level I also appreciate the supermercados that La Paz didn't have in those good ol' days when it took a couple of weeks get there by road..



\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" - Mark Twain
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