Far from the sprawling, all-inclusive resorts of Mexico’s Los Cabos is a part of the Baja California peninsula that few tourists ever see, but should.
In one of Mexico’s largest federally protected conservation areas for flora and fauna is a land forested with desert plants that look like they were drawn by Dr. Seuss: candle-like boojum trees and distinctively sculptural elephant trees, towering cardon cacti and other types of succulents.
A cloudy blue sky is reflected in a flood zone used to evaporate sea salt by salt producer Salt Export Co. (ESSA), in Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on March 3, 2015. Salt is made by drawing sea water into ponds and then allowing wind and sunshine to evaporate the excess water. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Sitting in the middle of the peninsula, this little-known spot is the Valle de los Cirios, or Valley of the Boojums. The plants it is named for were dubbed cirios — or candles — in Spanish, evidently because of their resemblance to tapered church candles at the missions nearby. Southwestern naturalist Godfrey Sykes later christened that same tree the “boojum,” for an imaginary animal character in Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem “The Hunting of the Snark.”
Birds like pelicans and ospreys abound and peninsular pronghorns, once hunted to near extinction, roam the desert landscape. Under a Mexican government program, the hoofed animals are now making a comeback from their once critically endangered status. Among the oldest known mammals in the Americas, the pronghorns are known locally as “ghosts of the desert” because their golden brown or tan color and white markings helps camouflage them.
Nearby, visitors can see ancient cave paintings depicting deer, whales and humans with six fingers.
The stark beauty and solitude encountered are a far cry from the fancy restaurants, pools with swim-up bars, fishing, snorkeling and sunbathing popular on the southern end of the Sea of Cortez, the long slip of water sandwiched between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico’s mainland. The peninsula was once eloquently described in a travel journal by American writer John Steinbeck; its stunning coral reefs were praised by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.
A short way to the south, magnificent gray whales arrive every year off the Pacific coast town of Guerrero Negro, following one of the world’s longest migration routes. They mate and calve in the lagoons nearby.
Visitors aboard a boat watch as a gray whale surfaces in the Pacific Ocean waters of the San Ignacio lagoon, near the town of Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on March 3, 2015. Hunted to the edge of extinction in the 1850’s after the discovery of the calving lagoons, and again in the early 1900’s with the introduction of floating factories, the gray whale was given full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Mexico’s government says there were more than 2,600 whales in the lagoons at the end of February, including adults and calves — among the highest numbers in 19 years and 10 percent more than last season. It estimates whale-watching could continue through the end of April before the sea mammals head back to Alaska.
Guerrero Negro has a long whaling history and was named for the whaling ship Black Warrior that partially sank in the area in 1858.
Also located here is the largest salt-making facility on the planet. The salt is extracted from ocean water by evaporation, taking advantage of the region’s low yearly rainfall, its large areas of flatlands and high solar radiation.
If you go:
Valley of the Boojums is in the middle of the 775-mile (1,247-kilometer) Baja California peninsula and can be reached by car. Vehicles can be rented either in Tijuana near the Mexico-U.S. border in the north or in the resorts of La Paz or Los Cabos in the south.
Guerrero Negro can be reached by car and has a small airport with regional service. Visiting the lagoons where you can watch whales is possible only through authorized tour operators in Guerrero Negro. Guides for seeing cave drawings can also be found in Guerrero Negro.
Pictographs are seen in a cave in the Valle de los Cirios, near Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. Scientists estimate that the primitive art in the area depicting deer, whales and humans with six fingers is at least 3,000 years old. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A bulldozer moves salt for loading onto barges, at the Salt Export Co. (ESSA), port installations, in Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. The largest salt-making facility on the planet is located here. The salt is extracted from ocean water by evaporation, taking advantage of the region’s low yearly rainfall, large areas of flat lands and high solar radiation. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A Boojum tree stands on a hill overlooking the Valle de los Cirios, near the town of Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. Southwestern naturalist Godfrey Sykes christened the cacti tree, Boojum, inspired by an imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll for his nonsense poem, “The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits).” (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A group of California sea lions rest on a large buoy in the San Ignacio lagoon, in the Pacific Ocean, near Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A group of California sea lions rest in a large buoy in the San Ignacio lagoon, on the Pacific Ocean near the town of Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A trio of peninsular pronghorns roam in a large fenced area managed by Mexico’s Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Plan, near Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. The peninsular pronghorn, one of the oldest known mammals on the American continent, is known locally as “los fantasmas del desierto,” or “ghosts of the desert,” because the color and markings of their fur provide for excellent camouflage in the surrounding desert terrain. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
The last rays of sunlight illuminate a cardon cactus in the Valle de los Cirios, near Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. The Valle de los Cirios, also known as Valley of the Boojums, is a federally protected flora and fauna conservation area, one of Mexico’s largest protected areas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
An Osprey, also known as a fish eagle, perches on a metal structure as it dries off, after diving into ocean waters, in Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. One of the largest concentrations of Osprey’s in the world inhabit the city, nesting on artificial structures around the lagoon. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A decaying building near an abandoned mining operation, near Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. Precious metals have been mined in the area since the 18th century. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A gray whale surfaces in the Pacific Ocean waters of the San Ignacio lagoon, near the town of Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015 photo. The town has a long whaling history, having been named for the Black Warrior, a whaling ship that partially sank in the area in 1858. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A gray whale breaches the surface as another swims nearby in the Pacific Ocean waters of the San Ignacio lagoon, near Guerrero Negro, in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. Every year, an estimated 20,000 gray whales make one of the longest migrations of any mammal, from the Bering Sea to the warmer waters of Baja’s lagoons. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Cacti are silhouetted against a twilight sky in the Valle de los Cirios, near Guerrero Negro, Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, March 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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