Hola amigos--

Since signing off last, we have driven from Loreto to Guerrero Negro, a little town on a bay in the Pacific that is famous for its whales. The town itself was built in the 1950s around the salt factory, which is the biggest salt producer in the world. Besides the whales and piles of salt, there is not much here, and our campground is God forsaken.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

On our last night in Loreto we actually had a live concert in camp from a father-son guitar duo appropriately named "Dos Generaciones." Except for their blabby promoter it was really fantastic. They do traditional pieces (Besame Mucho), original compositions, and the odd cover (Stairway to Heaven and The Wall, for instance). I bought a couple of their CDs and really enjoyed the evening.

We were up for an early start the following morning because we had a long 255 miles. That doesn't sound like much unless you have driven the heart-stoppingly narrow Mexico 1 through winding mountains and avoided herds of goats, cattle and burros crossing the road along the way. There was a terrible wreck in the morning that stopped us completely. A truck had lost control on some steep grades and into a ditch. The cab was crushed but the driver made it out alive with only a scratch on his lip and back. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a strong protector.

Last night we had a delicious meal at our campsite of grilled chicken and carne asada. Mario and his wife Sarah are wonderful hosts but I'm afraid their campground has seen better days. There is no water, and there are several broken-down vehicles strewn here and there. The bus that should have taken us to the whale watching expedition this morning stood on blocks, so we took a couple of vans instead, one of which looked to be held together with hairpins.

The whale watching expedition was the highlight of the trip thus far. The bay here is a breeding and baby-rearing ground for about 20,000 grey whales. The mothers and babies stay in the bay (unpopularly named, at least for the local conservationists, "Scammons Lagoon" for the man who found the whales and started the hunting that nearly decimated them). The boys hang out in deeper ocean waters outside the bay where the mating action takes place. Mothers calve every two years and stop in for woo-hoo in the off years.

We departed in three small fishing boats (or "pangas"). My boat was approached by about four mama and baby pairs and a couple of lonely ladies who were killing time before heading off to see the boys. The mothers feed and rear their babies in the calm and shallow waters of the bay, safe from orcas. The mothers do note nurse in the human fashion but rather float near the suface and squirt milk from their mammary glands into the babies mouths. Babies consume an amazing 80 gallons of whale milk per day. By this time of year they have become accustomed to humans and are not shy approaching the boats. In fact, mamas seem proud of their babies and want to show them off. In late April, the pod will migrate to Korea and Japan for their feeding season. It's a 6,000 mile journey, the longest migration of any living creature.

I got to pet one of the babies and Grandma came close very close to falling off the boat trying. One baby found a piece of kelp and played with it by our boat for several minutes. I cannot describe the experience of being so close or the curiosity and trust they showed us. It's something I'll surely never forget.

This afternoon, Mary Lou, Patricia and Don and I headed for a local bird sanctuary where we saw osprey, two different kinds of blue heron, two different kinds of egrets, several species of what we would call ducks, and lots of other sea birds. Earlier on the trip Patricia and I went kayaking when we were camped in Bahia Concepcion and spotted a black-crowned night heron in a mangrove patch, and she and I have been on a bird watching kick ever since. The osprey, a kind of eagle, is populous here and something of a local mascot. Conservationists have built perches for them to nest and raise their young. We saw many with babies in their nests.

Tomorrow we cross back into Baja Norte, the northern state of Baja. Many kinds of vegetables and fruits will be confiscated if we don't eat them up tonight, so I should head back to camp and try to concoct some kind of casserole that contains potatoes, avocados, oranges and grapes, all of which are on the no-no list. I'm sure if I can find a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom I'll be able to figure something out.

Thanks for your hellos. I do miss you all. We'll be crossing back into the U.S. next Wednesday and we plan to take old Route 66 to Oklahoma and then north to Kansas for some time with the family. But that's really getting ahead of myself, the Mexican adventure is not yet over.

Guillermo.