Kevin Delgado - Explorers Guide Los Cabos & Baja California Sur: A Great Destination ()

Recommended by National Geographic Traveler and Travel + Leisure magazines

A crisp and critical approach, for travelers who want to live like locals. USA Today

Great Destinations guidebooks are known for their comprehensive, critical coverage of regions of extraordinary cultural interest and natural beauty. Each title in this series is continuously updated with each printing to ensure accurate and timely information. All the books contain more than one hundred photographs and maps.

T HE A DIRONDACK B OOK

T HE A LASKA P ANHANDLE

A TLANTA

A USTIN , S AN A NTONIO & THE T EXAS H ILL C OUNTRY

B ALTIMORE , A NNAPOLIS & THE C HESAPEAKE B AY T HE B ERKSHIRE B OOK

B IG S UR , M ONTEREY B AY & G OLD C OAST W INE C OUNTRY

C APE C ANAVERAL , C OCOA B EACH & F LORIDAS S PACE C OAST

T HE C HARLESTON , S AVANNAH & C OASTAL I SLANDS B OOK

T HE C OAST OF M AINE B OOK

C OLORADOS C LASSIC M OUNTAIN T OWNS C OSTA R ICA : G REAT D ESTINATIONS

C ENTRAL A MERICA

D OMINICAN R EPUBLIC

T HE F INGER L AKES B OOK

T HE F OUR C ORNERS R EGION

G ALVESTON , S OUTH P ADRE I SLAND & THE T EXAS G ULF C OAST

G UATEMALA : G REAT D ESTINATIONS C ENTRAL A MERICA

T HE H AMPTONS

H AWAIIS B IG I SLAND : G REAT D ESTINATIONS H AWAII

H ONOLULU & O AHU : G REAT D ESTINATIONS H AWAII

T HE J ERSEY S HORE : A TLANTIC C ITY TO C APE M AY

K AUAI : G REAT D ESTINATIONS H AWAII

L AKE T AHOE & R ENO

L AS V EGAS

L OS C ABOS & B AJA C ALIFORNIA S UR : G REAT D ESTINATIONS M EXICO

M AUI : G REAT D ESTINATIONS H AWAII

M EMPHIS AND THE D ELTA B LUES T RAIL

M ICHIGANS U PPER P ENINSULA

M ONTREAL & Q UEBEC C ITY : G REAT D ESTINATIONS C ANADA

T HE N ANTUCKET B OOK

T HE N APA & S ONOMA B OOK

N ORTH C AROLINAS O UTER B ANKS & THE C RYSTAL C OAST

N OVA S COTIA & P RINCE E DWARD I SLAND

O AXACA : G REAT D ESTINATIONS M EXICO

O REGON W INE C OUNTRY

P ALM B EACH , F ORT L AUDERDALE , M IAMI & THE F LORIDA K EYS

P ALM S PRINGS & D ESERT R ESORTS

P HILADELPHIA , B RANDYWINE V ALLEY & B UCKS C OUNTY

P HOENIX , S COTTSDALE , S EDONA & C ENTRAL A RIZONA

P LAYA DEL C ARMEN , T ULUM & THE R IVIERA M AYA : G REAT D ESTINATIONS M EXICO

S ALT L AKE C ITY , P ARK C ITY , P ROVO & U TAHS H IGH C OUNTRY R ESORTS

S AN D IEGO & T IJUANA

S AN J UAN , V IEQUES & C ULEBRA : G REAT D ESTINATIONS P UERTO R ICO

S AN M IGUEL DE A LLENDE & G UANAJUATO : G REAT D ESTINATIONS M EXICO

T HE S ANTA F E & T AOS B OOK

T HE S ARASOTA , S ANIBEL I SLAND & N APLES B OOK T HE S EATTLE & V ANCOUVER B OOK

T HE S HENANDOAH V ALLEY B OOK

T OURING E AST C OAST W INE C OUNTRY

T UCSON

V IRGINIA B EACH , R ICHMOND & T IDEWATER V IRGINIA

W ASHINGTON , D.C., AND N ORTHERN V IRGINIA Y ELLOWSTONE & G RAND T ETON N ATIONAL P ARKS & J ACKSON H OLE

Y OSEMITE & THE S OUTHERN S IERRA N EVADA

The authors in this series are professional travel writers who have lived for many years in the regions they describe. Honest and painstakingly critical, full of information only a local can provide, Great Destinations guidebooks give you all the practical knowledge you need to enjoy the best of each region.

I arrived in San Diego, California, as a 17-year-old country boy who had spent his entire life within a few miles of a small Wyoming town. Despite the fact that I was just one generation removed from my Mexican roots, my provincial life experiences had made that fact all but irrelevant, and at the time, even San Diego seemed an exotic and frightening otherworldly place. When several months later, while waiting tables in a restaurant, a co-worker invited me to go with her and her friends across the border for a night of dancing, I reluctantly agreed to go only because I had been looking for some way to get to know her better. Although trips to Tijuanas Avenida Revolucin have long been a rite of passage for underage San Diegans, to me it seemed like utter madness. This was my introduction to Baja California in the early 90s: a bar-lined street, packed with hucksters and rowdy American teenagers. That evening, after several beers and a couple tequila shooters, I was willing to say anything to impress that co-worker of mine. I told her that I had actually been thinking about taking a trip farther down into Baja or maybe even living in Mexico for a while. You can imagine my surprise when her reaction was, Take me with you! As it turned out, we lived together in Mexico for a time, thanks to her persistence. And together we fell in love with the whole country, from Oaxaca to Mexico City to La Paz. Even when life took us to New York City, it was hard to forget the allure of Mexico. Writing this now, I realize that it was that co-worker who busted open my provincial shell and showed me the world. Thank you so much, Mary.

I am forever in the debt of the cast of characters whose stories and insights have contributed to this book. Thanks especially to Mike Brady for all the rides to and from the border and for the all of the travel and photography advice. Thanks to John Harten, Greg Zsulgit, and the other Yampounding Sherpas for your wisdom and for dragging me along on all of those adventures. Thanks to the Jason MacBeth and Andrew MacBeth for your generosity and fishing expertise. I am thankful for the kindness, support, and assistance of the hoteliers, restaurant owners, tour operators, and others whom I visited during my research. Thank you to Betty, Monica, and Robert, as well as to Penny and Todd for keeping an eye on the kids, and to Daniel, Summer, Riley, and Isabel for your patience; to my parents, for always giving me a chance; to my brothers and sisters (Mickey, DJ, Lori, Barbie, Davie, Teddy, Brian, Penny, Darren, Ryan, and Sean), for making me who I am; to my old buddy, Brian Schwartzkopf; to Mona Klausing, just for being there; and, noteably, thank you, Simon Lozano and Craig Sodaro for teaching me to write. Without you, I would likely still be a poor excuse for a waiter.

On the surface, the southern region of the Baja Peninsula is almost a world unto itself. The capital city of La Paz has a population of fewer than 200,000 people and is separated from the principle regional city of Tijuana by 946 miles of rocky desert. The Sea of Corts separates the region from the Mexican mainland with a thousand miles of open water. This state is so isolated that many people from the Mexican interior wonder what language is spoken here or if they need a passport to visit. In fact, because most visitors come from California, it is quite easy to get by with English.