All-Terrain Education

"A Lesson on Terrain" Yesterday a large group of us went on an All-Terrain Vehicle adventure. The bus takes you about half an hour north of Cabo, up the highway and into the desert. Yes, it is a desert. The locals informed me that the tip of the Baja peninsula receives ~10-15 days of rain per year. The landscape is what you'd picture from a movie (Once Upon A Time In Mexico, perhaps): tall cacti, browning in the sun, with ubiquitous short, dry trees dotting the ground in and amongst them. The land is dry and rocky, giving a sense of desolation (or at least dryness) but the mountains in the background lend a sense of majesty. http://cdn2.landscapehdwalls.com/wallpapers/1/desert-in-baja-california-1436-1920x1080.jpg I was told by our tour guide (Cactus ATV Tours) that some native groups still live in those mountains, similar to the 'Running People' in "Born to Run". We were also given a brief lesson in ethnobiology: the trees (whose name I cannot recall) bleed a type of sap that comes out red at the trunk and clear at the top. The red sap was used as a dye. The white sap, when rubbed into the skin, turns white and is a natural sunscreen. We were also told that, if dying of thirst in the desert, not to drink from the tall cacti. They secrete a toxin that causes nausea. The squat, aptly named barrel cactus, however, has an interior like a cucumber and can be cut and chewed to draw out the water. On our tour we didn't drive through such difficult terrain, however. The trek (on Polaris RZRs) took us to a Pacific beach, then through a dry riverbed. We were told that during the hurricane the riverbed filled and took out anything in its path. It was a fun tour, but very expensive. The insurance for the vehicles (which was only optional if you left a credit card behind) wasn't disclosed to us ahead of time, so the entire tour wound up costing us ~$160 U.S. each. Due to the semi-dangerous nature of taking a high-powered vehicle out in unfamiliar country, we rode single file and could only take it up to a speed as dictated by our guide. Understandable, but a touch limiting to those who know what they're doing. I would recommend the tour if money is not an issue or if you are a diehard vehicle sports fan. I also learned more than I expected to about local culture and biology. For those on a budget, however, I'd say the snorkelling adventure packed more bang for my buck. --James