Todos Santos is beloved for its rugged coastline and water. Josh Withers/Unsplash
The shimmering emerald cove beckons; reaching it requires a trek up the cacti-dotted cliffs under the Baja sun, then a scramble across boulders on a small beach. But if you arrive at the right time, the water is calm enough for a swim, and you may spot sea lions on the rocks or a whale in the distance. You might also, unfortunately, see a few plastic bottles.
This popular trail in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, became a favorite of mine during the nearly two years I was based there. Now the small town is grappling with the effects of enchanted visitors who end up staying (hello, me), and it’s trying to avoid going the way of other overdeveloped coastal areas—ones without the infrastructure to support rapid growth, thus ending up with overflowing landfills and waste that leaches into the ocean (hello, Tulum).
“How do we prevent ourselves from becoming just another overrun beach town?” Bryan Jáuregui says. She’s a founding member of Alianza Cero Basura – Zero Waste Alliance, a community-led initiative to implement a plan for a zero-waste future for Todos Santos and the neighboring town of El Pescadero. Jáuregui’s question has urgency: These towns are located in Baja California Sur, the least populated but fastest-growing state in Mexico. As the co-owner of Todos Santos Eco Adventures and Los Colibris Casitas boutique hotel, she calls it “enlightened self-interest” to take on her town’s waste problem.
This tension is not unique to Baja. Around the world, destinations are struggling to balance tourism and economic growth for locals while protecting their natural resources. And even though travelers are more conscious of their environmental footprints than ever, what can they realistically do about them? Is leaving behind zero waste during travel even possible?
Born out of the 1970s ethos of environmental advocacy, the zero-waste movement is focused on sending as little material waste to landfills as possible. The “five Rs” of a zero-waste lifestyle, coined by Bea Johnson in her book, Zero Waste Home, are the movement’s mantra: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot (i.e., compost).
A growing number of individuals are embracing these concepts at home: They are eschewing single-use plastics, purchasing bulk items at grocery stores, and taking their food scraps to community compost centers. It gets harder, however, to keep this mindset on the road: Most travelers eat out for most meals and, depending on where they go, don’t necessarily have access to potable drinking water. Travelers are inherently overconsumers.
In some places, tourists generate up to twice as much waste as residents due to the packaged goods they buy, including travel-size toiletries. Eight out of 10 tourists visit coastal areas, contributing to the 8 million tons of plastic that enters oceans and kills 100,000 marine animals a year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. But it’s more than plastic; often overlooked is food waste. The hotel industry alone produces 79,000 tons of food waste yearly. Cruise ships can generate about 1.3 pounds per person per day on average. Cutting down can make a significant difference, says Vishal Kumar, CEO of Waste Warriors, a nonprofit in the Indian Himalayan Region.
“The creation of less waste means less demand for the production, packaging, and distribution of goods, which results in reduced greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain,” Kumar says. When organic waste is dumped into landfills, it releases methane, which has 20 to 80 times more global warming potential than CO2. Aiming for zero waste, then, is a climate solution.
We don’t need 12 people doing zero waste perfectly each year. We need 12 thousand, or 12 million people doing it imperfectly. Court Whelan
In 2007, Natural Habitat Adventures eliminated plastic water bottles from their trips and became the world’s first carbon-neutral travel company. It then took on another ever-growing environmental issue: waste.
Twelve years later, in July 2019, the company led the world’s first zero-waste trip in Yellowstone National Park. To divert 99 percent of the trip’s waste—which would otherwise end up in a landfill—guests carried bamboo cutlery that they washed between meals and a compost bucket for all uneaten food scraps.
While Natural Habitat Adventures isn’t leading 100 percent zero-waste adventures anymore, that doesn’t mean the experiment failed. “We learned that zero waste is possible. However, it is indeed very resource- and time-intensive,” says Court Whelan, chief sustainability officer of Natural Habitat Adventures, of the 18 months researching and planning for the trip.
“I don’t think the extreme confines of zero-waste travel is the end goal. I think examples of zero waste, whether it’s on a certain trip or camp, leave an inspirational echo across the industry.” It’s more about instigating change, and any “waste-lessening movement” is moving toward the goal line, he adds.
“We don’t need 12 people doing zero waste perfectly each year. We need 12 thousand or 12 million people doing it imperfectly.”
One of the best ways travelers can work toward a zero-waste mindset on the road is to dig deeper into where their dollars are going.
Alianza Cero Basura created a way for travelers to support businesses in Todos Santos and El Pescadero that self-assess their waste-reductions impact with a directory of Waste Wise All Stars. Beyond using this guide to find local restaurants and hotels actively working to reduce their waste, travelers can fill up their water bottles at one of Alianza’s refill stations installed throughout town. Alianza also created the first community-led organic waste farm and research center in Baja California Sur; it produces soil-enhancing products and compost, diverting 60 percent of the town’s organic waste from the landfill.
Meanwhile, Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten—which banned single-use plastics in 2018 and has introduced zero-emissions vehicles and hybrid-powered cruise ships—in April 2024 launched a zero-edible-food-waste program with a goal to, well, reduce food waste to zero grams per guest. Edible food waste from Hurtigruten’s Original Coastal Express ships, which sail along the coast of Norway, will be composted and sent to a local farm that will use it to cultivate products that Hurtigruten will use in its menus. “Farm to fleet to farm” is its goal.
Still, the most obvious and easiest way to create less waste is by refusing. Consider: The more things we acquire, the more things will become waste. On the road, think about what you need. Can you split dishes with your fellow travelers? Get bulk snacks for your road trip? Share some gear instead of everyone packing their own?
Another simple habit is employing reusables—and not just a water bottle. You can buy a zero-waste travel kit, or make one of your own, which could include a reusable tote bag (I carry my trusty Baggu bag on every trip); a reusable silverware kit that doesn’t look like camping gear; and bags and capsules to carry toiletries. My collection of silicone Stasher bags are for more than packing snacks; I use them to carry all my toiletries, which are poured into my magnetic, stackable Cadence Refillable Travel Capsules.
Pack light, and pack items that have multiple uses. Not only does doing so lessen your carbon footprint, but also it can save your sanity and budget. Instead of buying new gear for every trip, consider renting or buying used gear: On a ski trip in Aspen this year, I rented ski pants from Suit Yourself, a mobile ski clothes outfitter. Kit Lender rents outdoor gear and apparel, and Patagonia and REI let you buy and sell your clothing. (Check out AFAR’s guide to places to buy used clothing gear.) Root Adventures also discourages buying new gear by offering a subsidy for any pretrip gear repair, and it includes gear rentals in the trip price.
Mindsets change—maybe not overnight, but slowly, actions create momentum and conservation culture grows. One of the best ways to do this is to let your dollars do the talking, Whelan says. “Single-use is technically easier. Are we happier people because we are consistently able to make and do the easiest thing possible?”
Zero-waste travel is indeed complicated to attempt and even more difficult to adopt perfectly. When we travel, we’re always pushing ourselves—to climb that mountain, to make that plane connection, to attempt that phrase in Spanish. When we put the effort in, we’re rewarded. Leaving nothing behind is just another mindset to get used to.
Kathleen Rellihan is a travel journalist and editor covering adventure, culture, climate, and sustainability. Formerly Newsweek‘s travel editor, she contributes to outlets such as AFAR, Outside, TIME, CNN Travel, and more.
WOW! We are so thrilled with the recent feedback we’ve had from guests and we’re excited to share some of it here. Read on to see what folks are saying or check out our instagram page! Spoiler Alert: Our guides, chefs and support staff are at the heart of everything we do and we couldn’t be more proud of our entire Todos Santos Eco Adventures family! Click here to read more about us.
“We have been all over the world with all kinds of companies, and this one is and always will be one of our most favorite and cherished trips! We had the most amazing and unforgettable time
at Camp Cecil. What a fantastic operation and experience! Paulina was an exceptional guide, all
of the staff were so kind, friendly, helpful, accommodating, and fun to be around. The food was unbelievably fantastic (we couldn’t believe how creative and delicious every single thing we ate
was and what the staff were able to come up with in a remote camp). The tents were fantastic,
the bathrooms were super nice, and of course the experiences we had were the absolute best.
Literally everything was perfect and I was so impressed with every single step of the
experience.” Maria B. Nov 2023
“Our guide Octavio was superb in every aspect! He is easily one of the top 5 guides we’ve ever
had anywhere in the world.” Erin M. March 2024
“I want to share with you that you really do have the best guides working with you at TOSEA.
Our excursions and activities were wonderful, and I really have to give an extra special thank
you to Guide Hugo and boat Captain Omar. What an incredible duo. They work so seamlessly
together. Omar is wonderfully passionate and dedicated to providing an incredible experience
on his panga and Hugo is quite possibly one of the best guides I have ever had anywhere in the
world. We just don’t quite have the words for how special they made the visit to the
island.” Kelly C., Jan 2024
“Thank you and your team again for a brilliant and enriching experience. Axel & Bernardo were exceptional guides in their consummate professionalism, passion for the natural world and
unruffled patience.” Mia C. March 2024
“Our guide, Axel, was simply the best! So knowledgeable about everything in the sea, on land,
and in the air. And his kind, fun, and friendly demeanor made our days. Probably our favorite
part was the 3 nights at Camp Cecil on Isla Espíritu Santo. The snorkeling, kayaking, turtles,
manta rays, sea lions, bioluminescence, hikes…really everything about it was fantastic. We
were especially impressed with the delicious meals that Ricardo and team prepared on a 4-
burner stove in a tent!” Penny F. Jan 2024
“Don’t know how they do it, but every meal exceeded my expectations! They even cooked a
special meal for me since I don’t like fish, which I really appreciated!” Diana W. Feb 2024
“Our guide, Manuel, was superb. We have taken many guided trip and he ranks at the top:
knowledgeable, lively, kind, funny, flexible and able to “read” a group.” Josh O., Dec 2023.
“Martin, our chef at the Sierra Camp, was amazing and that was some of the best food we have
had anywhere.” Bev W., Feb 2024
“Hugo is smart, mellow, accommodating, knowledgeable, energetic, enthusiastic, spiritual and caring. His knowledge of the history, culture, plants, animals and other aspects of the peninsula
is tremendous. He has a perfect demeanor for handling a group.” Jack S. Jan 2024
“Axel is a fantastic guide. 10/10. Gracious, accommodating, friendly and knowledgeable. I’ll
request him again if I go on this trip again.” John J. Jan 2024
“The guides were amazing. The food was amazing. I can’t really choose my favorite activity –
snorkeling with whale sharks, snorkeling with sea lions, the cooking class. It was all a lot of fun.”
Shelley J. Feb 2024
“I have traveled for many years and I think this trip connected all the activities in a unique way. The trip was truly outstanding on every level. Sebastian was a fantastic guide, both very
knowledgeable and tuned in to our needs.” Jeff C., Feb 2024
“Our guide Sergio N. did an amazing job with our family of 8, orchestrating everyone’s interests
and activity level at all times, from the young teens up to an 80-year-old. His knowledge of the
land and sea, and his sharing of so many little secrets opened up the island to us and made it so
special. My heart wants to return back sometime soon.” Mark S. Dec 2023
“The food at Camp Cecil de la Isla was some of the best I have ever eaten-SUPER FANTASTIC! HIGH compliments to Chef Ricardo and full respect for what he was able to do and provide in
such a tiny kitchen space! The menu was creative and fun and the presentation of the food was
FABULOUS. So many small details and I appreciated every little thought and action put toward
the food, camp, and our guides/crew. Our overall experiences will be forever in our hearts, minds, and souls.” Tanya T. Dec 2023
“Our guides, especially Andrea, were excellent and I have only the highest praise for them.
Andrea was knowledgeable, clear and patient. I also want to say that our boat captains were
the unsung heroes of our trip. We always felt safe and they certainly know how to approach
wildlife safely. Kudos to them all and five stars all around.” Bev W., Feb 2024
“Absolutely incredible experience! Amazing guides, excellent activities, incredibly well- organized, and fun. From booking the trip until we said ‘hasta luego’ to our wonderful guide,
we had a ball, ate well and learned a lot about the Baja peninsula. Can I give more than 5 stars??” Dianne Z, Jan 2024
Sustainable Ranching and the Cowboy Museum in El Triunfo
The new Museo de Vaqueros del las Californias in El Triunfo – The Cowboy Museum – is an intimate, yet gorgeously expansive look at the 300 years of families, traditions, skills and tools that bind the Californias of Mexico and the United States in ways that no war or border can erase. It is a celebration of the great vaquero / cowboy culture that was born in Baja California, moved north with the cattle to Alta California, and still thrives today throughout the western United States.
The museum exhibits are punctuated with the fantastically beautiful paintings of La Paz artist Carlos César Diaz Castro, who created ten paintings and two murals to help tell the vaquero’s story, as well as stunning photos of present-day vaquero life by renowned Baja California Sur photographer Miguel Angel de la Cueva. As with its sister museum in El Triunfo, Museo Ruta de la Plata / the Silver Route Museum, one of the museum’s most compelling exhibits is the oral history section, in which members of local ranching families share their stories, histories and anecdotes.
But perhaps one of the most interesting themes running throughout the museum in small plaques and chalk drawing prints is that of sustainability. Interwoven with exhibits of criollo pigs and cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula, is the explanation of Transhumance, livestock practices with minimal environmental impact that the Spanish brought with them to the New World that involved the environmentally sustainable practice of seasonal livestock migration. This practice is now a cornerstone of regenerative cattle ranching, and you don’t have to go far from the museum to see it in action. Christy Walton’s innovacionesAlumbra, an alliance of sustainable businesses in Baja California Sur, is the owner not only of the Cowboy Museum, but also of Rancho Cacachilas – about an hour’s drive from the Cowboy Museum – where modern day cowboys are fast at work restoring the land.
Florent Gomis, a Frenchman who came to Baja to study the Ecology of Desert Climates, is the Director of Sustainability at Rancho Cacachilas, and Transhumance is at the heart of his efforts. “In Baja California Sur as elsewhere in the ranching world, livestock has been blamed for the destruction of the land. In reality, the cattle aren’t the problem, it’s the management of the cattle.” Florent explains further. “Before there were vaqueros, herds of herbivores were motivated by predators to keep moving from place to place and that movement kept the land from being overgrazed. What we are working to achieve here at Rancho Cacachilas is the restoration of the impact that wild herds of herbivores once had on the land. These wild herds would continually move location, giving lands time to recover from their impact before their return. Here at Rancho Cacachilas we manage animals in groups and keep them moving, letting the land they had previously occupied rest for at least a year.”
While cattle are typically decried as destructive, Florent sees them as part of a restorative, creative process. “We really view the cattle as gardeners. When they move to a new grazing area, their hooves break the hard-packed dirt, allowing water and minerals to infiltrate the land. The cattle’s dung and urine are full soil-revitalizing carbon and nutrients, and as the cattle graze they trample these riches into the ground, resulting in the regeneration of the land. In a relatively short period of time we have seen these eroded, barren lands become covered in vegetation.”
The benefits of Transhumance don’t stop there. “One of the really cool things about this process of regenerating the soil is that it also regenerates the rain cycle” explains Florent. “Lots of vegetation on the land has a cooling effect on the atmosphere, causing clouds to precipitate on the land. So from what was once this vast cycle of death – overgrazing, monoculture, fertilizers and pesticides – you get this great cycle of life. The cows create nutritious soil so chemicals are not needed, the soil retains water and supports vegetation, the vegetation improves the soil, attracts more rain and feeds the cows, and the rain replenishes the whole, holistic system.” Florent notes that at Rancho Cacachilas, the same amount of land that could previously support only one cow, will soon support four. Moreover, with the increased vegetation for the cattle to eat, the ranch’s need for nutritional supplements for the cattle has dropped dramatically, resulting in substantial savings.
Rancho Cacachilas aims to be its own kind of Cowboy Museum. They’ve taken the lessons from the past, applied them to the present, and plan to share what they’re learning about managing cattle in the specific conditions of Baja California Sur with ranchers throughout the peninsula. The past comes alive at the beautiful new Cowboy Museum in El Triunfo. The past is alive down the road at Rancho Cacachilas.
When Christian Liñan decided to open his third restaurant in La Paz in 2017, he resolved to work only with 100% traceable, sustainably-caught local seafood. That made his seafood supply chain logistics pretty simple: he bought totoaba from Earth Ocean Farms in La Paz and oysters from Sol Azul in San Ignacio. That was it. “I have at least 15 different recipes for totoaba” he notes.
A combination of the pandemic and interminable neighborhood renovation forced the closure of that restaurant, but Christian’s commitment to traceable, sustainably-caught seafood has spanned decades and was not snuffed by a mere change of circumstance. His talent was recognized by COMEPESCA, the Mexican Council for the Promotion of Fisheries and Aquaculture Products, and as of January 2023 Christian is the Baja representative of COMEPESCA’s wildly successful program Pesca Con Futuro / Fishing with a Future. Explains Christian, “Pesca Con Futuro started in the Yucatan peninsula in 2017 and became a highly successful, high profile coalition of chefs, fishermen, producers, marketers and distributors, all committed to responsible, sustainable, in-season consumption. They all agreed to abide by the rules that promote biodiversity of species in Mexico and avoid overexploitation, thereby guaranteeing the future of fishing and aquaculture in Mexico. The 120 eminent Mexican chefs in the Yucatan peninsula who committed to Pesca Con Futuro have had such a huge impact as they are able to transmit the concept of responsible consumption and sustainable fishing and aquaculture directly to consumers via their menus and cuisine. It is truly impressive to see what they have achieved.”
COMEPESCA didn’t tap Christian to be the Baja representative of Pesca Con Futuro just because he’s a chef with an interest in sustainability. Nor did they choose him just because of his degree in Marine Sciences from CIBNOR in La Paz. One of the key reasons they chose him is because he has witnessed firsthand the importance of engaging the full chain of players in protecting marine species. In 2009, fresh out of CIBNOR, Christian joined Noroeste Sustentable (NOS) in the upper Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). At that time the fisheries of the upper Gulf had thousands of pangas, each of which was catching roughly three tons of fish daily, mainly with gillnets. There was no management system or operating agreement among the fisheries or with the distributors, with the result that all those thousands of tons of fish were just being dumped on the market and collapsing prices. Fishers were taking home only 6 to 10 pesos per kilo of fish and fish stocks were being rapidly depleted. It is therefore not surprising that some fishers were tempted to traffic in the highly lucrative totoaba swim bladder trade. The totoaba is an iconic, endemic marine fish species of the upper Gulf. Its swim bladder is highly prized in some parts of Asia for both its purported medicinal properties and as a status symbol. As totoaba swim bladders can sell for as much as USD 80,000 per kilo, they became known as the “cocaine of the sea” and attracted the same cartels in Mexico and China that traffic in such illicit substances.
Violence came to the upper Gulf, and to say that it was a complex and dangerous work environment is a severe understatement. And humans were not the only mammals that suffered from the totoaba swim bladder trade. The totoaba shares its habitat with the Vaquita porpoise, the smallest dolphin in the world. The illegal gillnets used to trap the totoaba caught and killed huge numbers of Vaquita, which rapidly became critically endangered.
It was in this environment that Christian and NOS started the Fish Less and Gain More campaign. Through incredibly hard work in the communities they were able to create an agreement among the fisheries to catch and sell fewer tons of fish, with the result that prices rose from 6-10 pesos per kilo to 20 pesos per kilo. To protect the Vaquita, they also enforced the ban on gillnets, as well as the ban on fishing in the Vaquita’s habitat. It was all going extremely well, until it wasn’t. “Unfortunately there was really no way to enforce the agreement across all the fishing communities of the upper Gulf, with the result that some areas simply ignored the agreement and ultimately after two years prices collapsed again. Gillnetting in the Vaquita habitat resumed. The NGO and donors that had supported the program decided to close it. I was so sad and frustrated.”
Which is exactly why the Pesca Con Futuro program excites him so much – all the key players in the seafood supply chain are engaged, not just the fishermen. With chefs on the front line creating demand among consumers for eco-friendly caught, traceable seafood, the fishers, distributors and marketers realize that they have to get in line with market expectations. But, notes Christian, “It is almost impossible for fisheries to get sustainable certification.” That is why Pesca Con Futuro is a champion of the Fishery Improvement Project, FIP. “The FIP is a group of organizations and people who work collaboratively to achieve the sustainability of a fishery in the shortest possible time” notes Christian. “It is a clear and simple way to share good practices and teach about traceability. Organizations that participate in credible FIPs are considered reliable sources of supply and allies of sustainable products.” The list of FIP projects in Mexico can be found at: https://fisheryprogress.org/
Christian continues, “Sustainability is the responsibility of each of us who make up the consumption, production and supply chain, a task that must be permanent. At Pesca Con Futuro we link the different actors in the value chain, making various support tools available to them to achieve informed and responsible purchases of sustainable seafood.”
Christian believes that sustainability’s time has come for the seafood market. “In the 1990s consumers were all demanding “light” products. In the 2000s it was organic produce, and now in the 2020s the public is really turning its focus to sustainability. Pesca Con Futuro is here to both increase that awareness, and to make sure that in Mexico in general and Baja California in particular that sustainable seafood practices are widespread and sustainably-caught, 100% traceable seafood is widely available to the public.”
What about that totoaba he was cooking with at his restaurant in 2017? It represents the future he hopes to see for all of Baja. Pablo Konietzko, vice president of COMEPESCA and the founder of Earth Ocean Farms, a state-of-the-art facility in La Paz which raises the totoaba explains. “In 2012 we got special permits from SEMARNAT, the agency in charge of protecting marine species, to fish for totoaba breeding stock in the upper Gulf of California. Since we brought in those first fish we have kept meticulous records such that we can fully trace the bloodline of every fish from the hatchery to the table. It is impossible for someone to imitate our fish or pass off wild totoaba as EOF-raised.” Not only is Pablo raising totoaba for the seafood market, he is helping the totoaba to recover in the wild. Notes Pablo, “For the past 7 years we have held totoaba restocking events in Bahia Concepcion in the Gulf of California, near Mulege. We have successfully released over 175,000 juveniles into the sea, and we will continue the program each year.”
Christian could not be more thrilled to be working with Pesca Con Futuro in Baja. “It is truly an honor and a privilege to do this” he says. But the work falls to each of us. Next time you order seafood at a restaurant, ask if it was sustainably caught, and if it can be traced. Only in this way can you be sure that your favorite seafood will continue to be on the menu not only for you, but for the generations to come.
A tumultuous, exhilarating, infuriating and irrevocable shift of population, outlook, culture and vision is sweeping the lower part of the Baja peninsula. Some residents who have been here for a time are eagerly embracing the evolution, spreading the new concepts one joyous Instagram post after another. Others remain faithful to the old days and ways, testily resisting the transformers one grumpy Todos Santos Newsfeed post after another. Who is really a Todos Santeño? Paraphrasing Colson Whitehead’s beautiful tribute to New York, “No matter how long you have been here, you are a Todos Santeño the first time you say, ”That used to be Café Santa Fe” or ”That used to be Santana’s.” … You are a Todos Santeño when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now….You start building your own private Todos Santos the first time you lay eyes on it.”
For Greg Schredder the first time he laid eyes on Todos Santos was in 1961 from the sea, but he’d been driving down the Baja peninsula for a couple of years by then. “A bunch of us southern California surfers started coming to Baja in 1959” recalls Greg. “Because there was barely a road and certainly no gas stations at that time, we retrofitted our old truck with a custom-built 55-gallon gas tank and brought what we called our Tijuana credit card, a one-inch tube that we’d use for siphoning the gas we bought at the ranches. The ranchers were always incredibly welcoming and ready to help us with gas and anything else we needed. Of course, we didn’t always find them in time and we were often stranded for days. We didn’t care, we were just always looking for waves.”
The fishermen were equally welcoming. “We would travel with 10-pack cartons of unfiltered, Delegado cigarettes, and one carton would get us up to 50 pounds of lobster. Everything was so abundant then. We’d actually get tired of eating lobster and so we’d use it as bait to go fishing. It was not uncommon to see 600-pound groupers in the Pacific lagoons in those days, and the fishermen would actually catch these giants with their hand lines. We loved staying in the fishing villages on these trips. We would surf, dive, fish, and learn incredible stories of these people living in the most remote locations. You could hear your heartbeat for a quarter mile it was so quiet and still. We would always bring baseballs, gloves and Playboy magazines, and we made friends and had a great time everywhere we went.”
Greg’s introduction to Todos Santos was rooted in much more glamorous transportation than the type that required a Tijuana credit card. “In the 1950s and 60s, most of us surfer kids in Newport, California worked on the yachts of famous people like André Previn, Julie Andrews, and Humphrey Bogart to make money, and they really treated us like family. In 1965 I came to Cabo on Ralph Larrabee’s yacht, Goodwill, and stayed for about a month. At that time Cabo was really just a small village with no electricity. Larrabee’s friends like Donald Douglas (of Douglas Aircraft fame) and John Wayne would fly in to spend a few days partying and fishing, then fly back home. It was during these downtimes that I first explored the Pacific Coast between Cabo and Todos Santos. It was a surfer’s paradise.”
Greg’s friendship with the likes of Douglas and Wayne ended up lasting decades and inspired many of his business ventures across Mexico and Costa Rica. “I would often travel with them over the years, and they are the ones who motivated me to get a real job. As a surfer and diver I decided to set up factories in La Paz and Tijuana to make rubber products related to those activities. We expanded that business into setting up factories for many Fortune 500 companies who needed inexpensive, repetitive labor. We were the largest employer in La Paz and Ensenada for over 20 years. Of course, before the highway came in, it could take up to 2 days to drive to Todos Santos for some surfing.”
“I have always loved the Pacific side of Baja, and in 1979 I bought Rancho Gaspareño, 50 acres of remote land along a quarter mile of the Pacific coastline, not too far from Todos Santos. One of the people who drew me to the area was Carmen Salgado Agramont. She had a little cantina with a hitching post out front for horses where she’d serve up warm beer and hot food. She was quite savvy, and bought the first gas refrigerator in the area. She almost couldn’t keep up with ranchero demand for cold beer after that, and there were always dozens of horses around her cantina. I loved that place, and it was Carmen’s son who set me on the path to buying the ranch, which actually has the name and signature of Benito Juarez on the original land grand title. Since then I’ve been growing coco palms on the ranch, and have also been experimenting with growing plants from Hawaii like breadfruit that have excellent potential in Mexico.”
Greg loves the history of the area. “Rancho Gaspareño was named after a Spanish galleon that went aground on the point, the Gaspareño. It was one of the so-called Manila galleons, Spanish ships that sailed between the Philippines and Acapulco for 250 years, bringing spices, silks and other luxuries from the far east to New Spain. All these galleons sailed the Pacific coast of Baja on their way to Acapulco, so naturally enough the area became riddled with pirates, many of them English and Dutch. There are many tales of buried pirate treasure in the area, and local school groups still come to explore the cave at Rancho Gaspareño each year to tap into the lore. Treasure hunters have reason for optimism; in 1974 when the road from La Paz to the ferry terminal at Pichilingue was being built, a pirate chest of plundered loot was discovered by road workers.”
“I think of this part of the Baja coastline as the forgotten area” continues Greg. “People drive past Rancho Gaspareño going a hundred miles an hour on the new 4-lane highway and have no idea of the history of the area.” The Guaycura and Pericue Indians were the original inhabitants before the Jesuit’s arrival in 1697, and they were essentially wiped out by the time the Jesuits left in 1768. The Jesuits built their theocracy based on a promise to the King of Spain to get rid of the pirates who were plundering his ships, and the pirates faded away with the demise of the Manila galleons in 1815. Dominican Padre Gabriel González had a ranch near Gaspareño from 1825 to 1850, and the tobacco, rum, sugar, corn, and livestock he produced there made him the richest man in Baja California. From his ranch the padre engaged in espionage and guerilla warfare during the Mexican-American war of 1846-1848, and – thanks in part to the Padre – Mexico won a major victory near Gaspareño (but lost the war). By 1855 the Padre had lost his political backing and left Baja for good. For the next one hundred years entrepreneurs made fortunes in the sugar cane industry with fields in areas like Gaspareño, but in the 1950s a severe drought and price drop lead to the demise of the industry; the last sugar processing plant closed in 1974. In that same year the trans peninsular highway made its way to Todos Santos, bringing new life to the town, and in 1985 renowned artist Charles Stewart arrived from Taos, planting the seed for Todos Santos’ current incarnation as an artists’ colony. It remains an agricultural center and surfing hotspot, only now it is firmly on the radar of major developers.
62 years after his first trip down the Baja peninsula, Greg is ready to carve out a little hacienda for himself and his art collection, but let someone else take over the bulk of the land that is Rancho Gaspareño. He has kept his 50 acres wild and free, but would love to see someone with vision and passion create a place of beauty that celebrates the area’s thrilling past, and embraces an artistic, sustainable future. Someone who started building their own private Todos Santos the first time they laid eyes on it.
Of course, letting go of a big piece of the ranch is bittersweet for Greg. Paraphrasing Colson Whitehead’s tribute to New York once more, “We can never make proper goodbyes… Maybe we become Todos Santeños the day we realize that Todos Santos will go on without us. …. Naturally we will cast a wary eye toward those new kids on the block, but let’s be patient and not judge too quickly. We were new here, too, once.” Yes indeed. A tumultuous, exhilarating, infuriating and irrevocable shift of population, outlook, culture and vision is sweeping the lower part of the Baja peninsula. It always has.
By Bryan Jáuregui based on research by Dr. Shane Macfarlan. This article first appeared in Janice Kinne’s Journal del Pacifico.
He really was just a good Catholic boy trying to make the padres proud, but suspicion and cruelty transformed him into something they foolishly feared he was all along, the vicious leader of a rebellion.
It was 1734 in Baja California Sur and the indigenous Pericue and Guaycura peoples had dropped their grievances with each other to join forces against their common enemy, the Jesuits. Promises of eternal salvation did nothing to alter the Indians’ view that the byproducts of Jesuit rule – physical decimation by measles and smallpox and cultural devastation by Christianity and monogamy – were assaults that demanded a resolution in the here and now. But the Jesuits, who had been the ruling arm of the Spanish crown in Baja since 1697, did have some faithful converts among the native peoples. Among them was a young Pericue named Fabian, a member of the Todos Santos mission. Dr. Shane Macfarlan, professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah, has painstakingly pieced together some key elements of Fabian’s life and this account is based on his research.
When the Indigenous Rebellion broke over the Jesuits with the bludgeoning deaths of Padre Tamaral in San Jose del Cabo and Padre Carranco in Santiago in October 1734, Fabian firmly sided with the Jesuits against the rebels, many of whom were Pericue like himself. He left behind his family and traveled with the founder of the Todos Santos mission, Padre Taraval, throughout the southern part of the peninsula to understand the full nature and extent of the rebellion. He worked with the Spanish military in 1735 during the retaking of La Paz and the reconnaissance of the south, and again in 1736 to locate rebels and gather more intelligence. The Indian rebels were stunned by Fabian’s fealty to the Jesuits. They attempted to lure him to the rebel side with promises of earthly gifts and rewards. When that failed they threatened to kill his family. Nothing worked and Fabian remained steadfast in his loyalty to the Jesuits. Noted Padre Taraval, “Nothing could move him; nor did all of this prevent him from talking to them, entreating them, and even upbraiding them for their ungrateful apostasy and misconduct.” (Wilbur, 1931)
By 1734 the indigenous rebels weren’t the only ones taking an unkind view of the Jesuits in Baja. The Spanish rulers of the rest of Mexico, and by extension the crown, strongly suspected that the Jesuits were harboring hordes of gold, silver and pearls in Baja that they were not sharing with the king. When the anti-Jesuit Spanish viceroy of Mexico sent the governor of Sinaloa, Huidobro, to quell the indigenous revolt, he urged leniency. Jesuit historian Father Peter Dunne notes, “For the tranquility and pacification of the uprising there was given to the governor of Sinaloa a commission to proceed against the rebels with propriety…but without offensive warfare.” Accordingly, Huidobro sought to pacify the rebels with gifts of food, clothing, tobacco and full pardons. For their part, the native groups who remained loyal to the Jesuits and the Spanish crown couldn’t win for losing. They were despised by their own people, yet their allegiance to the Jesuits and to the crown, which they were forced to demonstrate by working to the point of exhaustion each day, was regarded with great suspicion by both the Jesuits and the Spanish soldiers who considered many of them rebel spies.
By Padre Taraval’s own account, Fabian proved himself loyal to the Jesuits at every turn, even attempting to convert the rebels who threatened his family. But this allegiance did not afford him sufficient protection and Spanish soldiers attacked his wife. While the record is not clear, this attack likely involved sexual assault and when Fabian tried to intervene, he was forcibly restrained by the soldiers. It was this extreme provocation that caused Fabian, the most devoted of indigenous converts at the Todos Santos mission, to become the thing the soldiers had suspected he was all along – a rebel leader. Even though the Jesuits had already retaken the Cape region and reoccupied the Todos Santos mission by this time, Fabian put together a small contingent and planned an attack. But the plot was soon discovered and Fabian gave himself up so his compatriots could escape. While he had lived most of his life as a loyal friend to the Jesuits, his brief stint as a rebel lead rapidly to his trial, conviction and execution. Padre Taraval noted with some satisfaction that, like the true Catholic he was trained to be, Fabian repented on his way to the gallows.
This brief account of Fabian’s life is one of the few stories of an individual indigenous person on the Baja peninsula that is part of the written historical record. The few others mentioned by name in connection with the native uprising – Domingo Botón, Chicori, and Bruno – were all described as being of mixed race, a fate of birth that the Jesuits saw as a factor in the rebellion. Notes Jesuit Father Peter Dunne in his 1952 book, Black Robes in Lower California, “There was a mixture of breeds in the south: mulattoes, the offspring of Negroes dropped off here by the Manila galleons, and mixtures of white blood from the English and Dutch freebooters who had long known these coasts….A mixture of bloods probably explains the aggressive malice of some of the (natives), especially…of the leaders of the revolt.” Climate was also considered a factor. Continues Dunne, “Doubtless climate had something to do with the disparity in the quality of the southerners…A climate with no prolonged cold or vigorous winter often seems to dissipate the energies of men and sometimes even their virtue.” In other words, the Jesuits grasped at straws when trying to explain the revolt when in fact the reasons were remarkably clear. At the time the rebellion started, raging epidemics of measles and smallpox had decimated the Guaycura and Pericue populations, reducing their populations by half in a single generation. Moreover, just a year before the rebellion started the Jesuits had launched a campaign to eradicate polygamy among the native population. In all the Indian groups of the Baja peninsula women were the chief procurers of food, so the more wives a man had the higher his status, and important men like chiefs and shamans had several. In a direct challenge to local leaders, the Jesuits made explicit efforts to recruit young women as neophytes. It was these twin assaults upon health and culture that united the once warring factions of the southern Baja Indians against the Jesuits. It was a fight in which both sides won some battles and both sides lost the war. The Spanish crown expelled the Jesuits from the Baja peninsula in 1768, but by the time their enemies were vanquished, the Guaycura and Pericue Indians were essentially living ghosts, by and large culturally extinct. No more padres, no one left to convert. But the peninsula did retain its sense of independence, and the ranchero culture that followed that of the indigenous people definitely retains some of that spirit of rebellion that was sparked, however belatedly, in a Todos Santos Pericue name Fabian.
The new Museo de Vaqueros del las Californias in El Triunfo – The Cowboy Museum – is an intimate, yet gorgeously expansive look at the 300 years of families, traditions, skills and tools that bind the Californias of Mexico and the United States in ways that no war or border can erase. It is a celebration of the great vaquero / cowboy culture that was born in Baja California, moved north with the cattle to Alta California, and still thrives today throughout the western United States.
But perhaps one of the most interesting themes running throughout the museum in small plaques and chalk drawing prints is that of sustainability. Interwoven with exhibits of criollo pigs and cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula, is the explanation of Transhumance, livestock practices with minimal environmental impact that the Spanish brought with them to the New World that involved the environmentally sustainable practice of seasonal livestock migration. This practice is now a cornerstone of regenerative cattle ranching, and you don’t have to go far from the museum to see it in action. Christy Walton’s innovacionesAlumbra, an alliance of sustainable businesses in Baja California Sur, is the owner not only of the Cowboy Museum, but also of Rancho Cacachilas – about an hour’s drive from the Cowboy Museum – where modern day cowboys are fast at work restoring the land.
While cattle are typically decried as destructive, Florent sees them as part of a restorative, creative process. “We really view the cattle as gardeners. When they move to a new grazing area, their hooves break the hard-packed dirt, allowing water and minerals to infiltrate the land. The cattle’s dung and urine are full soil-revitalizing carbon and nutrients, and as the cattle graze they trample these riches into the ground, resulting in the regeneration of the land. In a relatively short period of time we have seen these eroded, barren lands become covered in vegetation.”
Rancho Cacachilas aims to be its own kind of Cowboy Museum. They’ve taken the lessons from the past, applied them to the present, and plan to share what they’re learning about managing cattle in the specific conditions of Baja California Sur with ranchers throughout the peninsula. The past comes alive at the beautiful new Cowboy Museum in El Triunfo. The past is alive down the road at Rancho Cacachilas.
When Christian Liñan decided to open his third restaurant in La Paz in 2017, he resolved to work only with 100% traceable, sustainably-caught local seafood. That made his seafood supply chain logistics pretty simple: he bought totoaba from Earth Ocean Farms in La Paz and oysters from Sol Azul in San Ignacio. That was it. “I have at least 15 different recipes for totoaba” he notes.
