What is West: From Suburbs to Shantytowns, a 1,000-Mile Trek Down Baja Mexico Lauren Ward - National Geographic
go to original March 15, 2013

Approaching Ensenada on foot we walked alongside an incredible mural commissioned by the binational conservation group, WiLDCOAST. (Justin DeShields)

A breathtaking, albeit often overlooked extension of the California coastline, filmmaker and Young Explorer Justin DeShields conducts a 1,000-mile transect of the Baja Peninsula, intimately documenting the beautiful expanses of waterfront between major cities.

By Justin DeShields, National Geographic Young Explore

On February 2nd 2013, we left a quiet suburb of San Diego for an untamed Tijuana. We are now 22 days in and have made it 220 miles south, well into our 4 month journey to traverse the Baja peninsula by foot and standup paddle board. Armed with a myriad of cameras, camping gear and a desalination pump we are on a mission to explore and document Mexico’s Baja peninsula in the name of conservation.

With its proximity to the densely populated Southern California, a small percentage of Americans venture into Baja though it rivals Upper California in length and natural diversity. Large portions of Baja still remain under developed enough, though this is changing, to the extent that it can be described as Galápagos-like.

With this in mind we have targeted five areas of interest and will address overarching ecological issues relevant to the region. Over the course of our 1000+ mile journey we will reveal through our lens why Baja has been deemed important to conserve and if there’s anything further to be done.

Read the whole story at National Geographic

Follow What is West on Facebook

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!