Riders on the storm

Guide Report: 

Campo Cortez, San Ignacio Lagoon, BCS, Mexico

Rodrigo Manterola
March 2017

Storms are agents of change… they come and revolve everything they touch. Destruction and creation meet in stormy weather allowing the new to replace the old, where justice has very little to do.

San Ignacio lagoon is located in a desert, El Vizcaino desert, rain at these latitudes is a rarity that brings surprises even to the most seasoned residents as it happened at the Camp. Maldo’s and Catalina’s families have lived in the area for many years. They know everything there is to know about life in the lagoon and the desert; they know every plant and every animal in the area. They know their footprints and their habits just as we know the name of our daughters and sons; yet the rain of last week was a surprise even for them.

Campo Cortez changed after the storm, the sand washed off from some places just to pile up some were else, a nest was abandoned, and the couple of ospreys that used to live there have not been seen again. 3 little eggs were also lost from the nest. By the airstrip, the lifeless body of a baby whale washed up on the beach, you can tell he died way before the storm but the high tides and strong winds pushed it to the beach.

They say there’s calm before the storm, but there’s also calm after the storm. We shoveled the sand back again. We still have 2 and half nests with 6 ospreys and at least 3 eggs in one of the nests (one of the couples has not finished building their nest) and many newly born babies and a couple of pregnant future mamas and a beautiful rainbow above the lagoon.

The endless cycle of life is back to sunny days with the lessons learned; even the oldest and experienced ones carved a notch on their canes and got back to life as usual, with extra flowers in the landscape as the desert welcomes the new life.

Storms are good, change is good. Life is good.

Enjoy the rainbow