Confessions of a Bamboo Thief

 My work as a tour guide takes me to so many interesting places.  One of my favorite places is China.  China’s a huge country, with slightly less land area than the USA, but 4 times the population. 

When I’m in China, I always take my tour groups to a panda breeding preserve where we perform a few days of volunteering.  My tour group members work alongside the panda keepers as the keepers go about their daily chores of caring for several pandas.  Cleaning cages, feeding and monitoring activity of the pandas in their care are the regular daily tasks.

 

Feeding and clean up always involves taking out the bamboo from the day before and bringing another 50 pounds of fresh bamboo.  The bamboo is trucked in fresh daily because pandas are great connoisseurs of bamboo.  If bamboo is not fresh, the pandas will not eat it.  If it is too dry they will not eat it.  If it is too old when cut, they will not eat it.  They can be quite fussy about their bamboo and the preserve staff has learned to accommodate this finicky diet.

There was a time in the 1970s and 1980s when uneaten; one or two day old bamboo was not removed from the panda enclosures.  Bamboo was and is expensive to truck in to the panda preserves daily.  The old drying bamboo was left in the panda enclosures for several days if uneaten, for the pandas to eat or not.  Panda keepers just thought that pandas would only eat one or two varieties of bamboo.  The world thought that pandas were just too finicky about their diet.

We know better now.  Pandas will eat any of some 35 varieties of bamboo.  But it must be fresh, like homemade bread is best eaten fresh from the oven.  Old bamboo just won’t do for these bamboo gourmands. 

Around the panda preserves at Wolong and Bifengxia are groves of bamboo. These are grown for landscaping and decorative purposes and are not put there to be used as panda food.  The bamboo for pandas is purchased from local farmers who are contracted to grow and harvest fresh bamboo.

But this contracted bamboo comes to the preserves a day after cutting, perhaps two days after being cut.  The pandas recognize this difference between fresh bamboo they harvest as they eat, but they learn to accept this harvested bamboo, which is kept covered and moist until it arrives in the morning for delivery by the panda keepers to the panda enclosures. 

 

Several times I helped panda keepers sneak into these ornamental bamboo groves to illicitly harvest tasty, moist fresh young bamboo for some special panda.  This might be some panda who was not eating well or who was recovering from one of the frequent stomach disorders the captive pandas suffer.

While my friend the panda keeper would casually slip into the grove of 6 foot or 7 foot high bamboo, her knife hidden in her jacket, I would play lookout.  Then quickly as possible the panda keeper would harvest a dozen 4 foot long fresh young bamboo stalks and we would quick walk back to the panda enclosure. The grateful panda would always chow down on that illicit bamboo like it was 20 year old bourbon during prohibition.

Once given to the panda the evidence would disappear in 15 minutes.  This illicit cutting of the bamboo was considered a minor infraction of the work rules. Something akin to a parking meter violation vs. the more serious crime of drunk driving. 

The punishment for this illicit cutting of decorative bamboo would have been for the panda keeper to take on some extra work duty.  Work such as working a double day and then night shift during the panda mating season.  Or perhaps taking over the work of a sick or vacationing panda keeper while also continuing the care of her own 2 or 3 pandas.

What I have to wonder right now, is if as a self-confessed bamboo thief, when I go for my next visit to Bifengxia in October will I be penalized and given double panda poop scooping duty?

Photo below: The man responsible for catching bamboo thieves. . . . .

 

Mr. Han, my good friend and the head panda keeper responsible for all of the panda keepers at Wolong until 2008. He has had the same and added responsibility at Bifengxia since the 2008 earthquake.

Here What’s on My Bag

With the airlines beginning to tighten their enforcement of carry on rules I thought I would pass along what I carry on the plane. The difficult choices we must make are those items we cannot live without and that are too expensive to replace if they get damaged in the check in luggage. I once put a nice Nikon camera safely in the center of a checked bag, wrapped in bubble foam and then padded by T-shirts and socks only to find the attached lens cap and UV filter destroyed. I was lucky the camera and lens survived.

Well here’s what’s usually in my carry-on bag. I took these photos after arriving in the USA on my last trip back from the Philippines.

 

Begin in the top left corner of the photo and working clockwise.

A lightweight sport windbreaker that roll into a small, roll to easily slide into the bottom of the backpack that I use as my carry-on bag.

Small tube of roll on waterproof sunscreen spf 50

Tic Tac breath mints

Cell phone

Headlamp

Small Ziploc baggie with toilet paper and napkins folded in it. An empty Ziploc is also folded inside this storage baggie to hold my dirty socks if I change socks on the plane. Also inside the T.P. baggie are a few IBprofen, a couple Imodium AD and a couple tagament in a small plastic bottle. One extra pair of warm clean dry socks

A can of Pringles. Crushable foldable hat. Sunglasses inside a hard shell carry case. When traveling from Asia to USA or back I customarily put the hat and sunglasses in my checked bag.

My laptop is inside a cushioned case that slides into a cushioned pocket in the backpack. Thus providing two layers of padding for my precious laptop. I usually carry the laptop charger and cord in the carry on not in checked luggage.

A fabric money bag that can hang from my neck by a cord, but normally just lay in the bottom of the backpack. Inside this bag I carry small sums money from the countries I’m traveling through, a few extra passport size photos for visas, my frequent flier cards, and my California driver’s license. My passport when traveling is in a special easy to access pocket inside the backpack or in my shirt pocket.

A small but really terrific Kodak video camera that is waterproof to 15 feet. The small digital camera I used to take the photos for this article, which is a Canon Power, shot A3100.

A thermal drink cup with lid ($1.00 at 7-11 or Starbuck’s) inside the cup I carry a Ziploc baggie filled with sweetener and tea bags. You can usually get hot water for free on the plane simply by walking to the galley and asking. Easier and faster than waiting for the food service. With this large cup you can actually drink some tea, not just have a sip or two like you get with those tiny plastic airline cups that they only fill halfway. Sometimes I add a couple Snickers bars to this tea service bag.

A notebook and several pens in different colors with waterproof gel ink so the ink doesn’t run if my notebook gets wet.

My kindle eBook reader I still use the cheap and simple black and white model because I only use this for reading books. This and my laptop are two of the most important items I carry.

A backpacker’s headlamp for reading. Frequently the lighting on airplanes is misdirected or cannot be adjusted so as to shine where I want the light.

 

Sometimes I carry maps in my carry-on bag if I’m going somewhere new and I want to make notes while I’m on the flight.

I almost never carry liquids in my carry-on bag. If traveling to an area with mosquitoes I will place a small spray tube of DEET repellent in my bag so I can dose up before leaving the plane. I might carry roll on style sunscreen in tube if I will be going directly into hot bright sunlight when I land. Otherwise I don’t carry sunscreen onto the plane.

I brush my teeth either using the miniature tubes of toothpaste provided by the airline or I brush without toothpaste. I just use the salt packet from my airline meal and sprinkle that onto a wet toothbrush.

In addition to this day pack as my carry-on bag I normally also carry my Nikon SLR camera with the zoom lens mounted onto the camera body in a smallish camera bag that becomes my “personal” item as customarily allowed.

This carry on back pack was purchased at Costco. I looked for months all over the world for a quality bag that had a cushioned laptop pocket, a separate large pouch or pocket and some small pouches and pockets to tuck away various items. This bag is now 3 years old and appears almost new. I carry it every day as I walk so I’m quite pleased with the bag.

I hope this helps you when planning your next adventure.

Keith Jones

Writing this morning in Covina, California

March 19, 2013

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

Everything You Need to Know About Tacos When Traveling in Baja California

Here are the basic styles of tacos with the names as you will see them at the various taco stands and restaurants in Baja. Most of the tacos named below can also be ordered as a torta. Tortas are Mexican sandwiches prepared on some tasty bread rolls.

When handed or served your taco across the counter at a small taco stand, traditionally the corn (mais) or flour (harina) tortilla will be laid flat on a plate and have a serving of the meat you ordered placed in the center of the tortilla. Some taco stands cover the plate with a plastic bag so the plates don’t get dirty and are easier to wash.

You then pick one soft taco up in one hand, ( I use my left hand) folding the tortilla into a U shape with the meat held inside the U. Then you use the condiment rack or tray and spoon the various toppings onto the meat to make your taco a finished product.

Condiment options include salsa fresca (onion, tomato, celantro mixed fresh as needed), a finely chopped cabbage, liquidy guacamole, spicy hot (picante) salsas, sliced limes and sometimes other extras. The better taco stands will also have grilled chilies, along with slices of cucumber and round red radishes that are free with the tacos.

It is customary at taco stands to first order your food, to then eat and to finally pay before leaving. Most taco stands don’t write your orders on paper so each customer is on his or her honor to tell the money taker who finally tallies their bill, the true quantity of food and drinks consumed. Frequently the drinks are in an ice box or a glass fronted refrigerator and the customers simply grab what they want and pay with the food. No cheating at the taco stands please.

A typical taco order sounds like this in Spanish: “Dos tacos de carne asada con harina”. This is saying two carne asada tacos with flour tortillas. Or you might order “Dos tacos de pescado con mais”, which would be two fish tacos with corn tortillas.

When you eat inside a Mexican restaurant you are usually served a bowl of corn chips (totopas) and some salsa. When eating at a taco stand, you almost never get served chips. But there are an infinite variety of taco stands and service. My favorite taco stand in Loreto is called La Pangalapa. This place servee chips at your table before the tacos and condiment tray are delivered. It is a sort of upscale taco stand with sit down tables, a large covered dining area, two pretty sisters serving and taking orders and wide variety of soft drinks, beer and hard liquor.

Taco stands come in all styles and sizes. There are small portable stands where the meat is cooked and the tacos prepared on a small wheeled cart. There are small fixed stands just large enough for the cook to stand behind the counter. There are very large stands that can have half a dozen or more workers. There are taco stands housed inside catering trucks.

Most stands specialize in one or two varieties of tacos. A typical taco stand might have carne asada and pollo tacos, but not have fish tacos. Most often birria tacos are at specialized birreria stands. Frequently fish tacos are served at a stand specializing in seafood. A taco stand featuring fish tacos might also have seafood cocktails and ceviche available. Pangalapa, in Loreto is like this. They have seafood cocktails (pulpo – octobpus, camaron – shrimp and almejas –clam) and excellent fish ceviche along with shrimp tacos. Pangalapa sometimes has carne asada tacos, but not always.

Each taco stand keeps its own hours of operation. Sometimes there are two stands side by side, but the two stands are open at different times of the day. Sometimes several stands are lined up in a row, with each stand serving some different style of tacos.

A variation on the taco is the authentic Mexican burrito. These burritos look nothing like an American style burrito. What we in America think of as a burrito is now commonly referred to in Baja as a “super burrito”.

An authentic burrito can be made with either corn or flour tortilla, but is more commonly made with flour tortillas. The flat tortilla has some beef, machaca or beans and ranch cheese spread on and then is rolled into a long thin tube. These burritos do not have rice, salsa, sour cream, lettuce or tomatoes rolled inside. When those toppings are placed inside the authentic burrito becomes an American style super burrito.

In the USA we have something called a taquito, which is a corn tortilla rolled up with meat or beans inside and then fried to a crispy light brown. The authentic Mexican tortilla resembles a taquito, but is not fried and is filled with tasty meat or beans, not some kind of fake soy filled ground beef.

Taco varieties:

Carne asada: This is a flat pancake thin piece of beef (flank steak) that is chopped into small 1/8 to 2inch square pieces and then is spread onto the taco. Asada means seasoned and this is usually cooked on a charcoal barbeque. Carne asada meat seasoned and prepared by placing a layer of beef in the bottom of a pan, then some salt and maybe some onion and chili peppers, then alternating layers of beef and this seasoning. This is “seasoned” overnight in the refrigerator and then the beef is fried on a grill or barbeque and then chopped into taco size pieces.

Machaca: Dried beef that is purchased from the butcher shop pre-seasoned with the peppers and onion. While made by hundreds of different cooks and butchers across Baja, the flavor of machaca is remarkably consistent. One of my favorite rolled burritos is the machaca burrito.

Adobada: When you see a large ham or pork leg reddish in color being slowly turned in a manner similar to shawarma with a ceramic gas flame on one side of this upright spitted ham, then you are seeing adobada being prepared. The pork is slightly sweet from an infusion of pineapple. The ham on the skewer has been sliced paper thin in both a horizontal and vertical direction. The cook slowly turns the meat as a gas burner cooks the outside of this big ham. As meat is cooked properly the cook uses a sharp knife to peel thin layers into the metal pan that is beneath the skewer. This meat is then placed on your tortilla. If you like cooked ham you will enjoy this taco.

Pescado or fish: The type of fish varies throughout Mexico, but is always a white fleshed boneless variety of fish fillet. On the west coast of Baja in the north and central regions of Baja the most common fish is probably sea bass or corbina. On the east coast yellowtail tuna or dorado are common. Small pieces of this fish fillet are dipped in a batter and then deep fried. Two or three pieces of this battered fish will be placed on to your tortilla. Absolutely a must try if you enjoy fish and chips.

Pollo: Chicken fillets that are shredded and then placed onto your tortilla.

De cabeza: Cabeza means head in Spanish. Yes these are the “head of a cow” tacos. To prepare the meat the head of a cow is placed onto a specialized steam table. A heavy canvas is laid over the top of the cow head. Some spices and seasonings are added beneath the canvas. Then the head is steamed until the meat is thoroughly cooked. The cook slices or spoons pieces of this meat onto your tortillas. Frequently the entire head is on display beneath the steam cloth at the taco stand.

Dorado: Nope these are not dorado fish tacos. A dorado taco is beef or chicken filling rolled into a tortilla and looking like an American “taquito”. There is no such thing as a taquito in Baja. This rolled meat taco is then fried lightly and served on a plate, usually three of these to a serving. This is restaurant, not taco stand food. Normally served with guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and tomato.

A staple for fishermen and lovingly prepared by their wives are machaca and bean &cheese rolled burritos. A foil wrapped package of 6 or 12 of these burritos will be handed to the fishermen by his wife as he leaves home in the early morning heading out for a hard day of work on the water.

Quesadiilla: Flour tortilla filled with white ranch cheese, folded in half and then grilled to melt the cheese.

Sincrinazado: This is a quesadilla with beef or pork added to the cheese filling.

Milaneza: Beef is breaded and fried in bite sized pieces. Two or three pieces are placed onto a tortilla.

Birria: NO this is not burro meat. This is a style of preparing goat meat for tacos or tortas. This goat meat will usually be oily and reddish in color from the chili and spices used in the sauce. Birreria this is the sign frequently seen on street vendor stands that basically means “goat meat restaurant”.

While this description of taco making is a bit long winded, after reading this you can be assured that when you approach any taco stand you will now be quickly known as the “taco expert” of your group.

Link to the youtube video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCc9kDu6rHE

Buen provecha

Author Bio:
Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

Baja Jones After Action Review of the 2013 Gray Whale Watching Season in Baja

This year we added a full complement of whale watching trips originating at the La Paz and the Cabo Airports and targeting gray whale watching in Magdalena Bay.

Our first trip of the season to Mag Bay took place as one of the worst wind storms to hit the lower Baja Peninsula in many years moved across Magdalena Bay. This gave our group rough water, bumpy and very long boat rides to find the whales and in general made their first two days of whale watching less than hoped for. Our third day of whale watching was much improved as we moved to a smaller fingerlike element of Magdalena Bay and had some excellent whale watching and the hoped for close encounters our trips are so well known for..

Wind was the one element that affected our entire season. We had several days of blue whale watching where we were forced to cancel and change to gray whales at Mag Bay due to the high winds. The blue whales were here in record numbers, but some days we struggled to get to them.

Having said all this negative stuff about the wind, I do believe that every group this year had some very excellent whale watching encounters. The photo at the top of this newsletter was taken this year and is of Calabaza, a frequently seen blue whale off the coast of Loreto.

Our gray whale trips on the ride down from San Diego continued to decline in popularity. It seems Americans are less willing to sit in a van for 10 hours as we drive south. Our combination gray and blue whale trips continue to gain in popularity, especially with our many UK clients. This year about 40% of our guests traveled from the UK to see whales with Baja Jones Adventures.

This year at Laguna Ojo de Liebre was another banner year for baby whale births. After a friend passed me a forecast by some researchers predicting this year might see a dramatic drop in gray whale births, I was thrilled when the first census of the year proved that prediction wrong. We had over 500 baby whales inside the lagoon this year.

Better yet for the 5th straight year the whales stayed around longer than I have been used to. As I write this newsletter article the date is April 5. 15 years ago, maybe there would have been a dozen whales left inside Laguna Ojo de Liebre or San Ignacio Lagoon. This year there are still hundreds of whales remaining right now and these are the friendliest of the friendly whales.

The 9th census of the season, performed March 15, still had a count of 343 baby whales and a total of 740 whales count at that time. To put this into some historic perspective a typical average season has only 200 to 300 baby whales counted at the peak count.

So both blue whales and gray whales had really excellent nearly record setting migration counts this past season. I’m thrilled with this.

I am also curious to see what next year brings. There was a noticeable decline in the number of mating whale groups that I saw this year inside the lagoons. Will this convert to less baby whales being born next year? Or did more mating take place out in the cooler open Pacific Ocean just offshore of the lagoons?

Like the season ending TV show teaser, you will have to come back next season to find out what happens. But unlike TV, I can’t script this show. It is real, live action and reality at its finest.

Thanks to all of you whale lovers,

Happy Whale Watching wherever you see them,

Keith

My impressions of the Baja Desert

My impressions of the Baja Desert

In the newsletter today, I want to talk about the desert areas we pass through as we drive to and from the lagoons of Central Baja. I usually talk about the whales in these newsletters. This time I will say something about the desert and the mountains of Baja. We travel through this desert week after week as we bring people south to see the whales of Mexico.

This narrow region of hot desert mountains visually characterized by huge rock gardens and dry stream beds stretches 120 miles east to west, from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of California and 1,000 miles north to south. It has mountains, sandy white beaches, high and low desert, bustling industrial towns and remote villages without electricity.  There are mines that have been chiseled deep into raw rock and factories along the border that produce everything from auto parts to kids toys.  There are areas so remote they have remained unchanged for thousands of years.  There are resort hotels with swimming pools where the guests float in heavily chlorinated fresh water while viewing the salty Pacific Ocean just a few steps away.

In this newsletter I will only look at Central Baja, where there are no large concentrations of people.  This area of few towns and a population of about 50,000 people stretches across an area over 700 miles long. Beginning at the small village of Socorro just south of San Quintìn the area I think of as Central Baja continues south to Ciudad Insurgentes and spans both Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur.

Much of the moisture that the plants and animals survive on in this region is deposited on the plants and rocks during the fog shrouded nights that are a regular phenomenon throughout much of the year in Central Baja. All along the Pacific coast of California and Baja California a vast layer of low lying marine clouds seems to always hang just offshore.  In the evening this marine layer moves in over the shoreline covering all exposed surfaces with a cool moist layer of dew.  Mice, insects, plants and birds obtain some of their water from this moisture.

As we drive south on our whale watching trips that depart from San Diego, the scenery undergoes radical changes.  The bustling frenetic energy of the border towns of Tijuana and Ensenada is replaced by the more serene, but highly productive agricultural industry.

We pass thousands of acres of cultivated farmland.  These fields are tilled and manicured month after month, year after year to produce an unending supply of tomatoes, peppers, onions and other assorted vegetables that go from the field to tractor trailer rigs to the dinner tables of Americans in the USA.  San Quintìn is a large town, getting bigger, that marks the end of this agricomplex.  Now we see the scenery begin to change from rolling oak and grass covered hills to the rugged desert I’ve grown to know and love.

The roadside rest stop at Cataviña is in the mountains at an elevation of about 2,500 feet.  The town grew up near a spring known for centuries to the native Indians who populated this desert, long before the Spanish padres began building missions in Baja.  This tiny village survives on the money spent here by people driving the highway north and south.  Just a few years ago, Catavina was an essential gas stop.  Now, with new stations in El Rosario and Villa Jesus Maria, it is possible to drive right by without even thinking about gas.

There are thousands of Cardon Cactus dotting the landscape surrounding the town of Catavina.  A look alike to the southwest Saguaro Cactus these slow growing plants live over 100 years.  Slow growing to a height of 30 feet, the tall frame is supported by a hidden hardwood core.  Cardon wood is used by ranchers for corrals and buildings.

At first sight this land seems barren and lifeless. A typical first impression is that there is nothing here except cactus and rocks and of course the ever present turkey vultures soaring high overhead. Nothing could be further from the reality. This land is teeming with life.

The oceans that surround this desert peninsula are well known for the abundance of fish they contain. Fishermen from around the world dream of traveling to Baja for at least one great fishing adventure! The land has its share of wildlife, too.

On the way home from Guerrero Negro one morning, I stopped in the mountains just north of Catavina to stretch my legs. There, where our ride down trips stop for lunch I decided to climb up to the cave painting site that I hadn’t been to for several months. My good friend, the Indian cave guide Alex was back after a brief stay in the hospital and had a new palapa style home half finished.

I talked with Alex about his new home and then walked alone up to the cave paintings.  I sat quietly for two or three minutes admiring the blossoming scenery around me.

The Elephant trees were in bloom.  The flower is not colorful, but the insects seem to find them anyway.  There was a ribbon of blue and yellow wild flowers running alongside the highway paving.  The colorful flowers that were bright yellow or a nice shade of pale blue as I drove south a few weeks earlier were fading now.  The cardon cactus was about to bloom.  Dozens of green appendages sprouted near the top of each cactus.  The flowers sprouts grow mainly on the west facing side of the plant.  The pitaya cacti were loaded with green fruit that ripen by mid-August or early September.  The cirrio trees were as full of life as I’ve ever seen them.  The top notch of every cirrio was crowned by a starburst of blossoms.

The heavy winter rains of the year past caused the desert to bloom with life.  With more green plant life growing, the fauna increased noticeably.  The population of rabbits and kangaroo rats had doubled or quadrupled.  This undoubtedly would lead to an increase in coyote and cougar populations later.

Sitting up on the big rounded rocks by the cave site my senses gradually slowed down, following my quick drive up the peninsula.  As the vibrations from the road slowly subsided, my fingers uncurled from the shape of the Suburban’s steering wheel. I felt myself come into sync with the just awakening desert.  All around me there were animals moving in search of an early morning meal.

Across the road I noticed a cottontail nibbling on some tender green shoots that were just beginning to sprout. Then there was a flock of 25 small birds pecking at the ground near the rabbit. I was too far away to identify what type they were or what they were eating.  Nearer to me, hundreds of large red ants swarmed from an anthill to harvest food scraps stuck tight to a paper plate that had been carelessly discarded by a previous cave painting explorer.

Overhead a pair of midnight black ravens cruised north, following the highways’ white striped centerline.  The clever ravens have learned to search for crushed insects and the occasional rodent to be found early in the morning on the highway.

Drawn from my momentary study of the many critters searching out their morning meal by the deep rumble of a diesel engine, I turned and watched a heavy tractor trailer rig creep by in slow motion. The driver shifted gears, gashing the metal teeth together, slinging Spanish curses out into the morning air while he fought his ancient rig to get up the momentum needed to carry him over the steep incline that is the road north from Catavina.

His noisy passage broke my quiet contemplation of the land around me.  I thought back on the days past when Cataviña was nothing more than the La Pinta hotel and a Pemex station.  In the last 20 years an entire community has grown up here as I’ve zoomed by.  There’s now a police station, city hall building and dozens of other stores and houses scattered about.  There’s even a new and very strange dome house that was just built north of town and has a sign saying it is a museum.

Looking at the many graffiti covered boulders off in the distance I continue to believe that it is only a matter of time before someone defaces this ancient cave that I’m sitting just outside of.

Thankfully my thoughts were pulled from those unpleasant thoughts by a ruby throated hummingbird that darted from my left side to hover momentarily in place while she sipped nectar from a yellow wild daisy. She moved on and was replaced by a string of honeybees. I watched a stream of these yellow and black insects move to and from a narrow black crack up high on the rocky hillside. Near the entrance to the honey drop a fat horned lizard lay sunning himself in the brisk morning air. The time was 6:35 A.M. and the temperature was 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

A fuzzy black fly landed on my cheek and brought me back to the moment at hand. That was one animal too many for me. I waved the irritating critter away and climbed down the hillside returning to the Suburban. The knobby tires rumbled as I bounced onto the newly re-paved highway, quickly getting up the speed necessary to pass the still struggling big rig that I had observed from atop the Cave hillside.

Two or three miles down the road I got a clear stretch and passed the smoky truck.

It is true that life is hard here. Whether living in the mountains or on a sandy shore side beach every creature must work at survival. Alongside the road ahead of me a trio of vultures squatted down protectively as I roared past them and the remains of an unfortunate cow. There are few fences along this highway. The range cattle roam freely, constantly returning to the string of green plants that grow along the pavement of the highway where the nighttime dew runs off and provides irrigation for this foliage upon which the range cattle feed.

There is more diversity of life forms in this desert than most people realize. After traveling through this dry region just once none of us are surprised to learn that there are over 80 species of cactus to be found up and down the length of the Baja peninsula. But to be told that there have been 192 species of bird identified in the Baja Peninsula region is a big surprise to most people.

One of those birds is fairly common here and that is the roadrunner.  Although I didn’t see one on this trip, last month I saw one sprint across the road with a dead snake in its mouth.

Although I haven’t seen a rattlesnake in more than 10 years, I always advise my fellow travelers to tread carefully lest they disturb a sleeping rattlesnake. All told there are 43 reptilian species (and dozens of sub-species) present in the Baja desert.  Although primarily dry desert there are 4 amphibian species found here.

The morning was still too cool, so I hadn’t seen many reptiles moving around.  Sometimes with a little luck we can spot a desert iguana or a chuckwalla.  The vegetarian chuckwallas are the largest lizard in the Baja Peninsula.  Their favorite food is yellow flowers.  I have smelled and tasted several different flowers that I’ve seen chuckwallas eating and they have all had different flavors.  I don’t know what it is about yellow flowers, but it’s almost comical to see one of these large lizards sprawled in the middle of a clump of green foliage with bunches of yellow flowers stuffed in its mouth.

Included among the 69 species of mammals found on the Baja Peninsula is one of my favorites, the kangaroo rat. Those of you who have camped on the shore at Laguna Ojo de Liebre have certainly seen one or two of these interesting rodents early in the morning or late in the evening. When I used to camp on the shore regularly, I loved to wipe the sand smooth around my camp, place a few flakes of oatmeal on the sand, then in the morning I would marvel at the hundreds of tiny rodent prints left by these industrious mice.

Kangaroo rats are nocturnal animals that live in shallow burrows.  They have cheek pouches for storing the seeds that are their primary food. They are all well adapted to living in the dry Baja Desert environment since most of them never need to drink water. They have super-efficient kidneys that can conserve water by concentrating their urine.  This small and prolific animal is an important food source for coyotes, bobcat and owls.  If you see them in the night, hopping across the roadway you probably will not be able to tell that their tail is longer than their body.

In addition to the native endemic species, there are some newcomers.  One interesting and successful transplant was brought to the peninsula by the whaling ship captains.  This is the Osprey or Sea Hawk.  Here’s one raptor that doesn’t eat mice. Guerrero Negro has many osprey nesting on manmade perches placed atop light buoys and power poles all around the town.

Central Baja is home to a small endangered population of less than 200 pronghorn antelope. Near the town of Vizcaino, which is located inside the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve there is an important antelope preservation project underway. The biosphere reserve has set up a breeding area intended to add to the sparse pronghorn antelope population.

It’s interesting to note that the wild pronghorn antelope are so reclusive that from one year to the next, when the biosphere reserve biologists attempt to take population counts, the number can vary by several hundred percent. One year they may only count 30 or 40 and the next year nearly 200.

Many of the cave paintings found in Baja contain depictions of the antelope. Recently I was thumbing through a book of photos of Baja wildlife when I came across several images of the pronghorn antelope. The photos were made from an aircraft flying at low altitude.

I was instantly struck by the startling resemblance between the photographic image of the antelope herd running and some of the primitive rock paintings I have seen on past trips. I will never again view those ancient drawings as "primitive". The rock artists have captured the spirit of these antelope perfectly! That photo is the glaring proof of my own narrow minded preconception about the rock paintings. Those early painters obviously knew the antelope with an intimacy that I will never know.

The gray whale has been given many nicknames over the years.  One of them is “the desert whale”.  Since these friendly giants live three months each year inside lagoons that are surrounded by this desert environment, they too might be considered a part of the desert ecosystem.

Where else, but here in Baja, Mexico can a person sit on a remote desert shoreline and watch whales spout just a few yards away.

A different version of this newsletter was first printed in 2001, revised and then published again in 2005.  It’s been revised and updated to reflect what I've seen on recent trips through Baja.  This time I added information about the Kangaroo rats.

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.

The Ghost of Pan Tao Mountain

Close animal encounters
Rub noses with a gray whale,  Pet a Giant Panda Bear,  

Story introduction

This story takes place in a city and in a village about 150 kilometers northeast of Beijing. I have been on some really difficult hikes in China, but this hike was not one of them. This is a simple story about one day when a group of longtime friends and ex-coworkers get together for a Saturday of drinking and relaxation at a country inn 50 kilometers from the City of Qinghuangdao, where they all live and work.

The legend of the Pan Tao fruit and the fruit’s ability to give long life goes back in Chinese history more than 2,000 years. The ghost of Pan Tao Mountain perhaps will prove to be a long lived legend too.

When Chinese friends gather outside their home to share a friendly meal together, rice liquor and beer are sure to be consumed by the liter and by the gallon. This day was no different. After the morning hike up the small hill, while my Chinese companions drank and gambled over a card game, I sat outside alone on a sunny patio overlooking the Pan Tao River and penned the first draft of this story.

China is a nation rich in history and culture. China is a modern, busy nation with more rich people every day. This group of friends was in many ways typical of those modern Chinese people. None of them are poor. Several are rich. Several work for the government. One is a famous dissident, whose rebellious nature can be traced all the way back to the Tiananmen Square incident. One is a rich foreign trader. Two are college professors. One is a police chief. 

One is unemployed. Only one spoke English well.

While the ghost may or may not be real, all of the people and all the descriptions of their activity that day, as told in this story are real. I hope you enjoy this tragic tale of true love.

Pan Tao Mountain

Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, China,

200 km. northeast of Beijing

The early morning air was cool and the sky was still dark as I plodded down six flights of stairs, from the small walk up apartment where I’ve been staying with my friend Sarah. At the sidewalk our friend Fu waited. Fu owns an old battered French Citroen that has carried the three of us on several hiking adventures.

Fu doesn’t speak any English so ours is a quiet friendship. But together Fu and I have visited several sections of the Wild un-restored Great Wall. Our destination this time was not the Great Wall, but rather a small mountain peak near the town of Pan Tao Yu. (Yu is Mandarin for village)

When inviting me, Fu had told me this would be an easy hike and a fun day in the countryside. We would drink some pijiu (beer), eat some country dumplings (corn not flour), drink some Baijiu (rice liquor), eat some wild greens, drink some Great Wall red wine (ugh) and finally the farmer was roasting a whole sheep for our dinner.

I squeezed into the front passenger seat. Fu gave me a big smile, then without warning stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated away from the curb barreling into the stream of traffic with a few taps on the horn.

As Fu skillfully oozed his way through the central Qinhuangdao traffic, heading for the road out of town, I asked him the meaning of Pan Tao. He and Sarah talked for a bit and then she began to translate. “Pan Tao is a peach,” she said. “But it is flat and the size of a dinner plate. We believe if a person eats an entire pan tao, those that grow only in an orchard near to heaven, they will live another 500 years.”

I grinned at this and pondered the idea of a huge flat peach hanging from some tree in the forest high on a mountaintop close to heaven. Fu suddenly pushed hard on the brakes. I slid down off the car seat so my knees were pushed up close to my chin. Looking between my knees I saw we had almost ploughed into the rear of a huge rock hauling truck that had cut into our lane, to avoid stopping behind a bus.

I pulled myself upright and fastened the seat belt, while Sarah continued Fu’s story. “The legend says that the pan tao are delicious peaches grown in an orchard at the top of the mountain near Pan Tao Yu and to be eaten only by a god in heaven. We believe the god Yu Huang Da Di eats these peaches.” “Because Da Di valued the pan tao tremendously he caused the fruit to only ripen on one winter day each year.”

Sarah smiled as she said this. “The pan tao we see in Qinhuangdao ripen in July and only grow to the size of a small baseball. But Yu Huang Da Di gave the orchard at the top of Pan Tao Yu Mountain special characteristics. Because of the extra-large size only one piece of fruit grows to become a ripe pan tao each year.”

“The fruit ripens on the coldest stormiest day in February. Da Di made the fruit ripen in the winter to protect his precious crop from the villagers of Pan Tao Yu.”

Sarah’s face was serious as she continued to translate Fu’s story. “Each year a fierce storm blows in from the north bringing icy rain, sleet and snow to the mountain. The trail becomes impossible to traverse. On that day the rivers in the area freeze over. A dense fog always accompanies this blizzard. That is the day that Yu Huang Da Di sends his demon to the orchard to pluck the ripe Pan Tao and then to bring the single fruit up to the temple of Da Di in highest heaven.”

Fu’s pounding on the car horn interrupted the tale as he changed lanes rapidly several times, throwing Sarah across the back seat from one side of the car to the other. She sat herself upright and then snapped her seatbelt tight. I was gripping the dashboard with both hands, pushing my feet hard against the floorboards as the Citroen veered from lane to lane like a downhill skier through a set of race gates.

The drive from town took us about two hours. Entering the main highway out of town, three cars moved off the shoulder of the road to fall in line behind us. Fu was to be the leader of this pack of 15 people and 4 cars because he was the only one of us who had ever been to Pan Tao Yu.

We passed quickly from urban China to rural agricultural China. This region is a major producer of coal. The tall corn growing in the fields was covered by a blackish gray dust, as was every building we passed.

Qinhuangdao is a seaside city and has relatively clean air. But here outside the city in the heart of the coal mining region the air was thick with a black haze. I could almost feel the black dust coating the inside of my lungs with every breath I took. Thankfully the village of Pan Tao Yu is away from this pollution and we drove the second hour in air that grew ever cleaner and fresher smelling.

The conversation between the three of us rambled, touching on such topics as the Jasmine Revolution and China’s political bosses. We talked about how the government blocked any mention of the word jasmine on the internet, and then we got on the subject of traffic and how Beijing was limiting the number of license plates that would be issued each year in order to slow the increase of the number of cars on the roads.

I mentioned that a recent story I wrote called Ghosts in the Temple, about sleeping in a Thailand temple property overnight had been a surprisingly big hit with my readers. Ghosts got Fu excited, but Sarah became withdrawn and did not want to discuss ghosts.

Nearing the village, Fu began to tease Sarah about the Ghost of Pan Tao Yu. I didn’t understand what was being said, but Sarah’s look of concern told me something was going on between the two of them. Finally I asked, “Sarah, what’s Fu saying? You seem worried.”

Sarah looked at me in a very serious way and said, “Fu is just telling me about the Ghost of Pan Tao Mountain. I’m a little "scared”

I smiled and asked “Are you afraid of ghosts?” She replied, “ I have felt them pass me by before this and every Chinese knows there are ghosts. I hope we don’t see this ghost.”

We arrived at the inn that was our destination along the river, as Sarah was answering me and so our conversation about ghosts came to an abrupt end. The inn would be our base for the short 10 kilometer hike up Pan Tao Mountain. Later following the hike we would sit, drink, talk, drink, relax, play cards or mahjong, drink, watch the river below and eat dinner before going back to the city.

Fu opened the trunk so Sarah could change into hiking shoes. I placed some valuables in the trunk out of sight.

The other members of our group of 15 pulled in to the gravel parking lot right behind us amidst a flurry of dust and laughter. At my urging, Sarah had brought along a pair of Nike sports shoes. But some of the women were wearing flip flops and one stylish woman even had a pair of heeled pumps on her feet. As always I was wearing mud colored Columbia Birke trail shoes.

The day was warm and sunny. By the time our group started walking the time was already 11:00 am. Some of the women opened umbrellas to shade their skin from the sun. Everyone wore a hat of one sort or another.

I was the only foreigner and as usual in this kind of situation I felt a little bit like a celebrity and a little bit out of place, somewhat like a gate crasher at a high society event. In our group were a doctor, a surgeon, a lawyer, a police station commander, two university professors, Sarah who is an English translator and a graduate accountant, plus a well-known and nationally respected political activist who demonstrated in Qinhuangdao at the time of the Tiananmen Square incident and who is now a successful (rich) foreign trader. As a counterpoint to the activist we also had along a high level Qinhuangdao Communist Party boss and his wife.

Then there was me, the solitary American whose credentials as a dropout from junior college, recently fired construction manager and owner of an ever slimmer bank account left me feeling just a bit inadequate amongst this group of 14 over achieving Chinese.

But as hikers we were all there to enjoy the fresh air, stretch our legs and enjoy beer, wine, whiskey and food. I knew before the day was over some serious drinking would take place in the private rooms reserved for us.

With a lot of laughing and shouting our hike began.

The trail into the mountains was clearly marked. Our group was quickly spread out along half a kilometer of trail. Because of the many photos I stopped to take, I was in the rear. A couple of the younger men kept asking Sarah if I was okay. Since the trail started out almost flat, I did not understand their concern. I’m 63, but can still walk up a little hill without having a heart attack. Of course here in China the age of forced retirement is 55. People my age seldom leave their local neighborhoods. This group of Chinese was all in their prime with ages of 35 to 45 years. Many of them had worked together several years past in a local foreign trading company. That was the thread that tied the 14 together. I was there because of Sarah.

As we hiked, Sarah stayed back with me to finish the ghost story. For more than one thousand years the god Yu Huang Da Di lived happily knowing that each February his trusted demon would descend from heaven to once again bring him the single ripened Pan Tao fruit.

Then in December, 1923, a local Pan Tao Yu village woman named Dongwei became ill with consumption. Her husband Wolaw loved her more than he loved life. She was his life. January came and Wolaw was heartbroken by the diagnosis of the Qinhuangdao big city doctors who told him there was no hope left for Dongwei. They said she would be dead by the end of February.

On February 9, 1924 a dangerous freezing blizzard moved over the Pan Tao Yu region. Dongwei’s voice was weak that morning as she whispered to Wolaw. “My love, if you want us to share another year together you must steal the pan tao from Yu Huang Da Di. Today the fruit will ripen. If you leave now you will be back by my side before dark.”

Wolaw did not hesitate. He kissed Dongwei, hugged her close to him, and then without hesitation began to dress for the 10 kilometer hike. Wolaw pulled on his sheepskin boots and the warm winter coat made of dense wolf fur.

With the icy wind howling down through the canyon, Wolaw began the hike up the trail. The wind was so strong Wolaw was repeatedly thrown to the ground as he climbed through snow and ice. By noontime Wolaw was exhausted. He had only hiked 5 kilometers, but his energy was almost gone.

Seated in a massive gold gilded throne high in Heaven above, Da Di watched Wolaw’s progress, his anger growing with every step Wolaw made up the hill. When a God laughs the mountains shake. But when a God is angered hills tumble and travelers die. Da Di’s anger fueled the intensity of the storm.

The wind grew colder. The trail disappeared beneath a thick layer of fresh snow. Drifting snow piled higher than Wolaw’s shoulders. But Wolaw could not be stopped. By 2:00 pm he was only one kilometer from the mountain top. By 3:00 pm he could no longer feel his toes or his fingers as he crawled the last 15 meters up the steepest section of the trail.

During the last 500 meters, a vision floated in front of Wolaw. He saw an image of a healthy and beautiful Dongwei. His mind kept the image there like a carrot dangled in front of a recalcitrant mule. That was the only thing that kept him moving forward. When Wolaw finally reached the orchard the sky magically cleared and the blizzard disappeared.

There in front of him was a single ripe orange and yellow pan tao peach. He didn’t hesitate, but plucked the fruit and immediately turned to head down the trail.

Sarah stopped the story telling again to point off the trail to the right. There in the pine forest were what appeared to me to be a half dozen camo clad soldiers creeping from tree to tree. They were carrying weapons and wearing helmets and goggles. These were not soldiers, but some youth playing a paintball war game. We watched them shoot at each other, then at the shouted calls from our group we turned back to the trail.

By now our group was deep inside a tall evergreen forest. These conifers had an exotic oriental style to them. They did not grow in the familiar tapered shape of the pine or cedar trees I’m familiar with, but had a layered appearance to them. This forest was familiar smelling, but exotic to see.

Sarah began the ghost story once again. This is where most love stories would tell of the hero’s valiant struggle and eventual success in saving his lover’s life. But Sarah said, “Wolaw perished on the trail that afternoon, never to be seen again. With him the pan tao life giving peach also disappeared. When Wolaw did not return, Dongwei lived only two more days before consumption and a broken heart ended her life.”

She ended the ghost story by saying, “The people of Pan Tao Yu village believe that the God Yu Huang Da Di was so angered that he sentenced Wolaw to forever walk the trail leading to the top of Pan Tao Mountain. His soul would never be re-united with Dongwei.”

By now we had reached the cliff side ridge that was the destination for this short hike. Our friends were sprawled all around the mountainside relaxing and enjoying the fresh air. Eventually one of the men mentioned he was hungry. Everyone stood and one by one the hikers began walking downhill.

I still sat, with my legs dangling over the side of the cliff. Sarah asked “are you ready to go. Everyone is leaving.” “Hmm,” I mumbled, “I would like to stay here alone for 5 or 10 minutes. I’ll follow soon; you go ahead and start back.” Her look of concern made me wonder and I continued, “Look I’ve hiked alone all over the world, I won’t get hurt or lost.”

“I’m not worried about you becoming lost. I’m scared that the Ghost will come after we leave.” “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

I took her hand for a moment and since nobody was around I kissed her quickly and said, “I promise I will be okay. Go!”

Sarah left then, but kept looking back over her shoulder at me. I sat on the rocky ledge, brushed the big fuzzy black ants from my legs each time one would walk on me and thought about the Ghost of Pan Tao Yu. A man so brave, a man so much in love. I wondered if I would do the same thing. Do I have that same capacity for love within me?

The air was still and calm. For some unfathomable reason I felt tears coming to my eyes. I thought of Sarah, my friend, my lover who had just walked away.

An icy cold chill whispered down my back, but the leaves on the bushes around me did not move. A dove cooed in the branches of the tree above me saying “dongweee. dongweee” over and over. I could feel the Ghost of Pan Tao Yu standing behind me. The hair on my arms stood on end.

As the whispering breeze moved on up the trail, I stood and began to quickly pick my way downhill, racing to catch up with Sarah.

The Ghost of Pan Tao Yu touched my soul that day. I wrote this story as a way of saying thank you to my friends and to the inn keeper for another close encounter with a ghost.

Later while we enjoyed a feast back at the inn, a news photographer came by and took a dozen photos of me with the other hikers drinking rice wine and eating roast sheep. My photo appeared in the Qinhuangdao City newspaper along with an article memorializing my place in history as the first foreigner to hike up Pan Tao Mountain. But there was no mention of the Ghost of Pan Tao Yu.

The End

By Keith E. Jones

Author Bio:

Keith Jones is the founder of Baja Jones Adventures, Jones Adventures, Tigress Tours in Thailand and Butanding Tours in the Philippine Islands and has led thousands of people to Mexico and other interesting locations around the world. He specializes in gray whale tour, blue whale tour, gray and blue whale combo tour, giant panda bear tour, walk a tiger tour, shark tour, African safari tour, African gorilla trek, arctic narwhal tour and Magdalena Bay whale watching tour. He also writes about Baja travel and gray whales. Keith Jones is the author of Gray Whales My Twenty Years of Discovery.