Most of the baja penninsula is arid desert, with cacti living right up against the shore line. Everything living seemed to be struggling to survive until that next drop of water.

When I was down there, I rented a VW bug (fresh of the production line) that became my best companion. I took the bug on more Baja backroads than should be legal. It was an engineering feat in simplicity and reduction. For instance, the gauge panel was just the spedometer and odometer. The gears were economized, with first gear strong enough only to prevent you from going backwards, and the top, fourth gear a roaring 35 mph gear. I kept thinging the car was going to overheat. 

The cactus forests were a new thing to me. I spent several hours just hiking through the massive cactus plants, each one twisting on top of itself in search for every drop of water. 

From what I could gather, I missed the cacti flower blooming season by a few weeks. Nonetheless, I could still spot a few later flowers here and there. It is definitely a different display than the wildflower carpets on Mt. Hood in Oregon. 

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