Today's 411 km long haul from Guerrero Negro to San Quintin finds us crossing El Desierto de Vizcaino - Top Half.
Midway & Midday we stop for a Picnic. Not anywhere special or signposted - just a patch of barren scrubland next to Highway 1 where there's enough dirt to pull up off the tarmac. Only when we get out to stretch our legs do we find ourselves in a Cacti Wonderland!
Amanda's fab photos show the splendour of these hardy plants, blossoming in the Mexican Spring despite the arid climate and rocky ground where rain probably hasn't fallen for a decade. Amid them we spy the elusive Boojum Tree or Cototaj. The Boojum (name taken from Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Hunting of the Snark') is endemic to Baja California and said to look like a giant inverted Parsnip topped by a crop of yellow fluff. It's just one of many prickly botanic characters we encounter whilst munching our enchiladas!!
The Royal Horticultural Society would surely make this Picnic Spot a Gold Medal Winner if only we could transmogrify it to the Royal Hospital Chelsea for this year's Show! Never mind 'Welcome to Yorkshire' bring on 'Bienvenido a El Vizcaino'.
