"Just when you think you've seen... " a Cataviña Travel Page by malecon

Arriving in Catavina is like descending onto a strange planet inhabited by tall slug like creatures and a landscape covered with large white boulders and a wild assortment of mutated plantlife. Those tall creatures are actually the famous Boojum Tree (Idria Columnaris), and you're in the midst of a pervasive forest of them with numbers reaching into the gazillions.

In the expanse between each Boojum are varieties of barrel cactus, some are hardly a foot high while others stand greater than a man's reach. They call this the largest cactus garden in the world and right they are. Who can argue when in ten square yards are a half dozen different species of cactus. Now multiply that by 250 square miles; we're talking a lot of cactus.

Competing as the most dominating spectacle in the desert is the mighty Cardon, a massive cactus with a single stock and multiple columnar arms reaching to the sky. Get used to seeing these wonderful giants as they are a permanent part of the landscape. I figure I was no farther than 20 feet from one no matter where I was in the lower part of the peninsula. Without the Cardon the Baja landscape would be much less interesting.

Catavina is nothing of a town, just a few empty buildings and some houses. The government runs a La Pinta but no gas station. The La Pinta is very comfortable and actually affordable at $75 a night.

While staying at the La Pinta I took a short hike into the desert in search of various cactus. I wandered close to some houses and wished they'd invite me in. The homes were small and busy. The women prepared dinner inside and the kids played outside. Every available man attended a broken down diesel truck. It finally got cranked up and sputtered away.

The La Pinta's electricity doesn't kick on until 4:00pm. Not sure when it turned off but I'm sure around 10:00pm as in Bahia De Los Angeles.

The little oasis of Catavina is smack in the middle of what is called the Central Desert, but it's still a part of the great Sonoran desert. The area has a mission and cave paintings to view. This is an amazing land even if you have no intention of stopping. One thing for sure, you've never seen anything like it.