Diarios de Viaje

Often when I travel on business, I'll extend my stay over a weekend so that I can get off and explore some new places. But occasionally I get the opportunity to visit a place I knew as a child, but only had mememories, that at times have seemed perhaps too grand or too romantic.

On this weekend, I had one of the latter opportunities so I took advantage and revisited an are I had not been to in nearly 40 years. This is the area in California north of Los Angeles and south of Big Sur. In my memories, I could see animals everywhere I turned, vistas that seemed were perhaps unreal. Well folks, I'm now sure my memory is still accurate, because what did I see?.. I saw sea life almost every where I looked, flora and fauna on land at virtually every turn.

During these two short days, I poked along many locations along the coast from Malibu to Ragged Point. Malibu holds little attraction to me, in spite of the fact that so many famous people live there. It's so developed along there, that few of the things I look for at the beach remain. However as you move north of Morro Bay, there many places to pull over and venture to the waters edge.

Once there, one can see, as I did, Elephant seals, who are truly gigantic, with the males weighing in over 5,000 pounds. Sea Otters frolicing and foraging just off shore. Sea Lions perched on rocks, basking in the warm sun. Shore birds of many descriptions and sizes. Tide pools are filled with so many crustaceans, mullosk, etc, that only a marine biologist could possibly know thier names.