This beautiful body of water is known as the world’s youngest sea.  The Baja Peninsula is the world’s third longest peninsula with over 2000 miles of coastline.  The cool waters of the Pacific Ocean are found off the west coast and the much warmer Sea of Cortez is on the east.  The Sea of Cortez is a thousand-mile ocean trench between the Baja on the west and the Sierra de la Madre Mountains of mainland Mexico on the east.

It is recorded that about 4-6 million years ago, a segment of the East Pacific Rise split, separating Baja from mainland Mexico   shifting the Baja and much of southern California in a northwesterly direction.  Organisms flourished in the sea created and the Sea of Cortez is now home to at least 3,000 species of marine creatures. It is known to have the richest abundance of sea life of anywhere on the planet.

The Sea of Cortez was discovered by Spaniard Francisco Ulloa in 1540.  He named it for Hernan Cortes and although its official name is the Gulf of California, it’s widely known as the Sea of Cortes, the original name given.

The Colorado River empties into the northern end of the Sea  of Cortes.  At this point the area is flat and shallow with tides that vary by almost a mile between highs and lows and a heavily silted bottom.

The lower portion of the Sea of Cortes is a deep trough between the continental blocks that comprise the American continent and the Pacific shelf.  The initial drop is about 2500 feet but just south of Cabo the depth increases to about 4,000 feet.  The waters are warm ranging from 65 degrees in the winter to 88 degrees in the summer.

Most of the shoreline of the Baja is inaccessible by road and largely uninhabited.  There are rugged islands surrounded by pristine bays that dot the Sea of Cortez.  Jacques Cousteau, how explored the region, referred to the sea as the “world’s aquarium.”   The Sea is renowned for its sport fishing, diving, snorkeling, boating and windsurfing.  The amazing bounty includes shrimp, yellow fin tuna, dorado, red snapper, squid, black and striped marlin, sailfish and a huge variety of tropical reef fish.

Catch and release has become more common than not and the Mexican government has made efforts to prevent this rich sea from being fished dry.  Cabo Pulmo, located on the East Cape has been designated as an underwater national park.  Divers and snorkelers are welcome but no one may fish in this area.

A variety of water activities are offered in Cabo and there are several weeklong adventure and wildlife cruises that depart from Cabo, going as far north as Loreto. Whether you enjoy the Sea of Cortez in Los Cabos or take a longer cruise, this body of water is worth the adventure.

****Photo:  Punta Chivato near Mulege on the Sea of Cortez

The brand new Cabo San Lucas Cultural Center, on the marina in downtown Cabo, officially opened last month to much fanfare.  The mayor, Mirna Xibille and Governor Narcisco Agundez led in the opening to 600 invited guests.  Governor Agundez had vowed to open the center before his term expired and this was accomplished with just three days to spare!  There is a plaque bearing the governor’s name that was unveiled during the ceremony.  In addition, a huge marlin statue was presented as a gift to the city from Mr. & Mrs. Marco Eherenberg, owners of Pisces Fishing Fleet and Pisces Real Estate.  The cultural center will house international cultural events and is expected to be an important tourist attraction.

The Baja Peninsula consists of 2 states.  Baja Norte and Baja Sur.

Cabo is located in Baja Sur and the state capital is La Paz, located about 1 1/2 hours north of Cabo.

Recently I came across some interesting facts about Cabo and Southern Baja.  

Almost 40% of the Southern Baja residents were born in another part of Mexico.  (I always enjoy locating a Cabo native and learning from them about Cabo in the early years)

Baja Sur is the least populated state in all of Mexico, however the population of Southern Baja has doubled in the past 20 years. (637,026 people at last count) 325,433 men and 311,593 women. 96% of those age 6-14 attend school.

There are almost 11,000 people who speak an indigenous dialect.

Religion:  82.7% Catholics,  7.5% Christians of different denominations.

Commerce and Service employees 72.4% of the population with 17.5% working in manufacturing and construction.  9.2% work in agricultural activities.

Electricity has reached 96.7% of the homes with 87.8% receiving water from the city.

94% of homes have TV, 88.6 have refrigerators, 69.7% own at least one car, 40.7% have a telephone, 41.5% own a computer, 33.2% have internet and 86.5% own at least one cell phone.

Please feel free to add any other interesting facts you may know about Cabo and Southern Baja.

We always enjoy reading the Gringo Gazette, one of Cabo’s local English newspapers.  The owner/editor Carrie Duncan is always creative as are the other contributing writers.  Next time you are in Cabo pick up a copy or go online.  Here’s the link:  http://www.gringogazette.tv/

In a recent issue, March 28, I found the following article and thought it would be fun to share.

Who Reads What?
And is anybody reading the Gringo Gazette?

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the U.S.

2.  The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the U.S.

3.  The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the U.S. and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4.  USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the U.S. but don’t really understand The New York Times.  They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5.  The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the U.S., if they could find the time–and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.

6.  The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it.

7.  The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the U.S. and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8.  The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who is running the U.S. as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9.  The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.

10.  The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure if there is a United States or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for.  There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feminist, atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens form any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.

11.  The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12.  The Gringo Gazette is read by people in Mexico who have recently caught a fish and need something to wrap it in.

March 21 is a national holiday in Mexico celebrating Benito Juarez Day.   Benito Juarez was born on March 21, 1806 and died July 18, 1872.  His full name was Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia and he was a lawyer and politician from Oaxaca.  He served 5 terms as President of Mexico from 1858 to 1872.  He is known for being the first Mexican leader who did not have a military background and was also the first full-blooded indigenous national ever to serve at President of Mexico and to lead a country in the Western Hemisphere.  During his reign he resisted French occupation, overthrew the Empire and restored the Republic.  He is also known for his liberal efforts to modernize the country. 

Today he is remembered as a progressive reformer dedicated to democracy and equal rights.  His time as President is known as La Reforma (the reform), and “constituted a liberal political and social revolution”. His photo is on the 20 pesos bank note.

Mexican banks, state and federal offices and local offices will be closed today.