Baja California, January 2008

Lesson #1: Don't follow the guidebooks when road tripping in Baja.

"No kayaking," the Bahia de los Angeles native told us. "The winds are too strong now." We looked away at a point far off in the horizon line. We had driven a long way to be here in this blue green bay. We walked along the beach, dejectedly, exhausted, dragging our toes in the sand.

We jumped in the car and three hours later found ourselves in Geurrero Negro, checked into our hotel, and went to book the morning run to the lagoon.

"No whales," the el Malarrimo guide told us. "At the end of February there will be about 1,500. Now you are lucky to see maybe 6 at most from very far away." We looked at each other and later, decided we were going to make the best of it. The next morning we arrived 25 minutes early for the boat.

The receptionist glanced up when he saw Asa, with a curious look, before explaining, "When you crossed into Guerrero Negro about 15 miles back, you actually entered Baja California Sur which is 1 hour ahead of the northern region. So you are actually half hour late and have missed the boat for the morning."

And so it went.