Laguna San Ignacio Feb 22 -23

There is a laguna off the Pacific Ocean about a 2 hours  drive from San Ignacio where we were told that we could watch the whales from the beach. The plan was to drive down hang out for the day , stay over night and come back the next day. It took us a bit longer because the last 10 kilometers were very rough gravel.

This is a salt flat formed over hundreds or thousands of years when the ocean covered this area. Eventually the area became a lake, as the water was not able to run back into the ocean. As the water evaporated the salt was left behind. To day salt is surface mined in this area. This area is probably four or five kilometers from front to back in the picture

this is a closer up of some ponds close to the road

 

a close up of one pond completely covered with salt

Before we arrives at the tour area, the last few kilometers had what looked like truck loads of shells
dumped on the beach.

We forgot to get the story on them , and I couldn't find any thing on the internet. There would have been hundreds of truck loads

Entrance to the tour camp.  

People book a tour that includes an overnight stay in one of these cabins. Twin beds and a sink. Out door toilets and solar showers. Warm showers at night and cold in the  morning as the temperature all through this area drops to ten to twelve degrees every night

They put 10 to 12 people in each of these whale watching boats

View from our campsite

Watching for whales, no luck but still a nice two day trip 

The restaurant serves a catch of the day every night for $12.00.   The night we were there they served an assortment of freshly caught clams with rice and vegetables.

Sun rise the next morning

We spotted these cows on the way back, I have no idea how they stay alive most of the year
 as this is just scrub brush

Where ever you travel in this area they have built nesting areas for the Osprey

the spring here just is starting to arrive, this is the first week we have started to see desert flowers, and the cacti are starting to bloom as well

These flowers bloom on purple , yellow and white