Isla Magdalena, Baja California Sur, México
In 1734 the Pericu natives of Baja California were involved in a great uprising against the Spanish conquistadores, and were almost annihilated. The few who survived were taken to Santiago on the eastern side of the peninsula, where they eventually died of smallpox and measles. Magdalena Island was the home of a number of these natives, all of whom disappeared around that time. Today we disembarked the Sea Bird and visited this 60-mile-long island, which includes endless sand dunes and two massive coastal mountains. The dunes are changing daily, but are really ageless; the plants are rich with water and life, benefiting from recent rains; and the coyotes still chase the jackrabbits. Shell middens or “concheros” adorn some dunes, giving witness to countless seafood feasts of the Pericu through the centuries. The intermittent winds are just as strong today as they were when the natives lived here. Myriad tracks of the great blue heron, the coyote, the jackrabbit and the desert rat mark the sands. Those of the rat are always to be found in the vicinity of dune clumps of wolfberry, sand verbena or cord milkweed. And, Oh! When we reached the Bay of Saint Mary on the Pacific side of the island, what a view! Breaker upon breaker in long lines roared onto the soft, flat sand. Here we were regaled by a breathless view of the open ocean and an untouched beach that extended out of sight.
In 1734 the Pericu natives of Baja California were involved in a great uprising against the Spanish conquistadores, and were almost annihilated. The few who survived were taken to Santiago on the eastern side of the peninsula, where they eventually died of smallpox and measles. Magdalena Island was the home of a number of these natives, all of whom disappeared around that time. Today we disembarked the Sea Bird and visited this 60-mile-long island, which includes endless sand dunes and two massive coastal mountains. The dunes are changing daily, but are really ageless; the plants are rich with water and life, benefiting from recent rains; and the coyotes still chase the jackrabbits. Shell middens or “concheros” adorn some dunes, giving witness to countless seafood feasts of the Pericu through the centuries. The intermittent winds are just as strong today as they were when the natives lived here. Myriad tracks of the great blue heron, the coyote, the jackrabbit and the desert rat mark the sands. Those of the rat are always to be found in the vicinity of dune clumps of wolfberry, sand verbena or cord milkweed. And, Oh! When we reached the Bay of Saint Mary on the Pacific side of the island, what a view! Breaker upon breaker in long lines roared onto the soft, flat sand. Here we were regaled by a breathless view of the open ocean and an untouched beach that extended out of sight.
