Melanie Lamaga, Writer, Editor, Photographer
Fiction on the Border Between the Real and Unreal
2018 Update Baja Magic Lodge (and Cedros Outdoor Adventures) are still going strong (original post below). This is the business that funds my life as a writer and editor, takes me Mexico for half the year, allows me to interact happily people from a very different culture (Cedros Island, where we employ about 15-20 people during the season, which is […] Read more »
Last week I wrote about the town of San Antonio de Las Minas (in the wine country of Baja California, Mexico), but I have one more highlight to share with you: an old ranch called La Casa Vieja. The historic adobe home dates back to at least the 1800s, and the rhythm of this place […] Read more »
One of my favorite places in the Baja California wine country (along Rt. 3 between El Sauzal and Tecate) is San Antonio de Las Minas, named for the mines where prospectors once hoped to find gold. Alas, they mostly found chalk. The true gold of the region lies in its rich soil, abundant water and […] Read more »
I recently visited San Antonio Necua, a community about two hours southeast of San Diego in Baja California, Mexico. This village is home to approximately 200 of the 600 living members of the Kumiai tribe. The Kumiai are indigenous to Baja California and California, and their culture goes back in this region for at least […] Read more »
Ever wish you could fly? Visitors to the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California might be tempted to take a plane ride in order to better view the dramatic topography. A five-mile ridge of mountains and hills rise from sea level to 2,000 feet. On one side, steep cliffs rise above barking sea lions and […] Read more »
South of Ensenada, on the road to the world-famous blowhole known as La Bufadora, there are some lesser-known delights often overlooked by tourists and even locals. A large portion of the pueblo of Punta Banda consists of a five-mile sandbar extending between Todos Santos Bay and El Estero de Punta Banda. This estuary, and the […] Read more »
Who’s Watching Whom? January through early April is the height of the whale-watching season in Baja California. During this time, some Pacific gray whales mate, while others return to give birth in shallow coastal lagoons. Even more remarkably, some of the whales exhibit a behavior seldom seen among wild animals: they actively seek interaction with […] Read more »