Okay, I just wanted to throw in this picture of "Rabobank"...why would a bank be named this? Prophetic? This is in El Centro, just south of the Salton Sea.
Driving up to the Salton Sea was astounding; the sleek shimmer of the water under the hazy mountains...the birds cascading through the water. How could this jewel of the desert become so abandoned?
I admit that I've never been to a visitor center for any place where the first information sign says "What's That Smell?" And I like the pelicans w/ the clothes pins on their beaks.
This is that smell. The farm water run off goes into the sea causing bacteria to grow. The bacteria uses up oxygen in the water. The fish don't get enough oxygen & die. Then wash up on the shore. Surrounding this lil' guy are hundreds of Tilapia vertebrae.
The sea is about 15 x 35 miles in size. There are millions of Tilapia vertebra covering the shore in little piles like this one.
The fish that are in the process of dying are easier for birds to catch and so there's a lot of dead birds from botchulism. But they have no crows feet. (ba dum cha!)
Despite bacterial concerns, the Salton Sea is one of the best avian viewing spots in the country.
There's several small towns dotting the sea, though for random things encrusted to the shore, Bombay Beach is probably the best source. This is a crane rotting away.
And a place to watch the sun set from the mud flats.
Everything had these odd little silver/white strands blowing from it. They made me think of balloon spiders.
Even w/ the threat of botchulism, there were tons of people fishing from the jetty just off of the visitors center. I suppose you do have to eat a fair amount to get sick, but still. It was a year before I could get Jason to eat Tilapia again.
It's almost 100 degrees at this point and I'm hiding in the shade of a palm. And yes, that's a fly on my boob. Oh good god the flies...they were EVERYWHERE!
More birds & water.
And lizards!
Besides the sound of the waves & birds, the Southern Pacific rail chugs on by several times a day...and night.
We camped at Salt Creek Beach. When the temp started to inch over 100, we wandered to the south part of the camp that houses an abandoned kayak camp...but has shaded sheltors!
Me wandering the beach off of the kayak camp. A major part of the San Andreas fault runs under the east shore of the Salton Sea. That's not a shadow behind me, it's a crack in the earth.
Beyond shade, the other perk of the kayak camp are a few showers. The bees love the water dripping as did the lil' snake that slithered quickly away when I opened the door to the stall. It wasn't so much about the shower saving us from the heat-- I'm alright w/ dry heat-- but the flies won't land on you when you're wet.
When the sun starts to set the sea turns back into the stunning paradise it once was. The flies go wherever they do to rest and the warm evening winds start to blow off the land sans of any sulphur smells. I highly suggest clicking on this photo for the full image. The little spots you see in the water are the dead tilapia coming up to the surface.
The camping spot right next to ours as the sun slips further behind the mountains.
There's several small towns dotting the sea, though for random things encrusted to the shore, Bombay Beach is probably the best source. This is a crane rotting away.
And a place to watch the sun set from the mud flats.
Everything had these odd little silver/white strands blowing from it. They made me think of balloon spiders.
Even w/ the threat of botchulism, there were tons of people fishing from the jetty just off of the visitors center. I suppose you do have to eat a fair amount to get sick, but still. It was a year before I could get Jason to eat Tilapia again.
It's almost 100 degrees at this point and I'm hiding in the shade of a palm. And yes, that's a fly on my boob. Oh good god the flies...they were EVERYWHERE!
More birds & water.
And lizards!
Besides the sound of the waves & birds, the Southern Pacific rail chugs on by several times a day...and night.
We camped at Salt Creek Beach. When the temp started to inch over 100, we wandered to the south part of the camp that houses an abandoned kayak camp...but has shaded sheltors!
Me wandering the beach off of the kayak camp. A major part of the San Andreas fault runs under the east shore of the Salton Sea. That's not a shadow behind me, it's a crack in the earth.
Beyond shade, the other perk of the kayak camp are a few showers. The bees love the water dripping as did the lil' snake that slithered quickly away when I opened the door to the stall. It wasn't so much about the shower saving us from the heat-- I'm alright w/ dry heat-- but the flies won't land on you when you're wet.
When the sun starts to set the sea turns back into the stunning paradise it once was. The flies go wherever they do to rest and the warm evening winds start to blow off the land sans of any sulphur smells. I highly suggest clicking on this photo for the full image. The little spots you see in the water are the dead tilapia coming up to the surface.
The camping spot right next to ours as the sun slips further behind the mountains.
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