WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REVIEW I ALREADY WROTE?

I disagree with the above rating as that of a consumer. I do not believe Midwest Book Review can be considered a consumer. I am a consumer and I have this book. Although some of the pics are the work of one of the best photogs in herp photography (i.e., John Tashjian), many of the other, unattributed photos could have been sharper. For some species of lizards, both dorsal and ventral views were shown. I feel that many more species should have had ventral views and comparisons between male and female animals. This is a picture book, make no mistake. If you are looking for natural history information or range maps, this may not be the book for you. But, since it is the only recent book out with color pictures, it can be a valuable addition to a herp library. Another slight criticism is the observation that no subspecific designations are used. The way things change in Baja, that may be a good idea, but then, down there, species also change fairly frequently. I do not think it would have hurt to put in presently recognized subspecies. For instance, there are three subspecies of zebratail lizards (genus Callisaurus) in Baja. Two are very similar to each other but the third, Callisaurus d. crinitus of the Vizcaíno Peninsula, has some very unique adaptations and should have been noted and depicted. There should have at least been a table of former names with the relationship to the name used in this book. Many of the names used are proposed names and have not yet been accepted, Chances are the names will be approved but still, the former names are quite familiar while the new ones are going to take some getting used to. The Baja California Peninsula is a land of mystery and new discoveries. This book fills a void that has existed for years. I hope that more informational books are forthcoming in the near future.

Color photos of each reptile and amphibian feature Baja residents, with families explained, habits explored, and natural history revealed. This will appeal to a wide audience with a regional interest in the Baja region, from travelers and natural history students to those who want an overview of the creatures to be found in Baja. The details are easily read and the photos are strong identification aids.

I have been going to Baja for almost 25 years and have a place near Loreto. I ordered Baja Legends the other day because of the title thinking it would be full of interesting characters and new information. It is more like an encyclopedia. Facts. Lots of them.

I used to live down in Baja and this book sure makes me want to go back. The author has put a lot of information--history and the like--in his book, but what really comes across is the fun he's had traveling there, especially the people he's met. He writes about all the people I remember, like Mama Espinoza and the Reyes' family, but also about places I haven't been, like down in the East Cape. Can't take a vacation yet this year--guess I'll just reread the book!

It tends to ignore important information (whats the best way to get a Mexican fishing license?)while going over info that should be a no brainer to the most novice of angler, (Sharpen your hooks? Tip your skipper?)
Spanish fishing dictionary in the back is a nice touch. Location information is bare bones but adaquate. Maps are spare and the rest of the illustrations leave a lot to be desired. Particularly those of the fly patterns. All in all, it looks like something thrown together for a quick buck.

A Great Addition to your Baja Library. For the fly fishing angler, Baja Sur has always been a big mystery--too remote, too exotic, too many kinds of fish to try for, and not enough real information to tell you EXACTLY where to go and how to fish. Now, multiple IGFA recordholder--Gary Graham-- has solved that mystery with his expertly-written book. Gary Graham has been fishing Baja Sur for over 20 years. He's the owner of the Orvis Endorsed "Baja-On-The-Fly" a Fly Fishing Expedition Company operating in Baja. His new book tells you the best spots to cast a fly from Pacific mangroves of Baja's fabulous Mag Bay, all around the 'Los Cabos' southern tip, and on up into the Sea of Cortez as far as Santa Rosalia--the very richest saltwater fly fishing grounds in the entire world. Graham's NO NONSENSE GUIDE TO FLY FISHING SOUTHERN BAJA will show you exactly how to catch everything from roosterfish, ladyfish and jacks to offshore dorado, tuna and billfish--and dozens of species in between. Large scale maps put you directly on the best fishing beaches and specific recommendations on flies, rods, expected species and proven local techniques let you approach Baja's rich waters with confidence and finesse. NO NONSENSE GUIDE TO FLY FISHING SOUTHERN BAJA is about how and where to catch fish--plain and simple--and from a leading expert in the field. This book gives you good, solid information that works.

Disappointing. I have used lp guides in latin america before with a great deal of satisfation and I understand that prices go up and things change. However the guide to Baja was not up to lp's usual quality. I think the research for the update was just not as thorough as it usually is for lp guides. The bus schedules were way off and didn't make sense. In the town of San Quintin there were three bus terminals and five bus companies with widely varying prices and none of that was mentioned in the book. Some ommisions and mistakes are to be expected in a guide book but in this one they occured far too frequently. In short, this guide is rarely valuable for a budget traveler, and if you are headed to Baja (which is by the way a beautiful place) I would look into other potentially more accurate guides.

I'm just back from a two week travel in the beautiful BAJA and I have to say that this Lonely Planet guide book is excellent. The good thing about this book is the really good maps of a lot of town. With this book I was able to saw everything i wanted. I really recommand this book to someone who is planning to go on bus, its got all the precise information about bus schedule, bus terminal, etc...... A real good guide !!!!!

... and with about as much personality and selectivity. Like the Moon guide, a very useful book to have once you find yourself in Town X but not very useful for figuring out whether it would be better to plan a trip to Town X versus Town Y.

Lonely Planet's Baja book is an excellent guide to the peninsula. I especially appreciated the detailed info on how to get around in Baja. The section on health in the front of the book came in handy after a small altercation with a manta ray! It was excellent for travelers on a budget. The descriptions of cities, places to stay and restaurants were all very accurate, but left enough room for our personal tastes to guide us to the spots that seemed especially fitting.

I felt as though once we arrived at our final destination there was a lot more there than was really covered in the book, but I guess they only have so many pages to work with!

This was the only book we brought with us, and it made for a great trip!

I bought this book- and what a waste. This is for people who have never taken a biology or geology or ecology course in their life and aren't particularly observant when they walk outside in the desert or forests in the first place. If I could return the book and get my money back - I would.

At last, a book that allows you to see what will be happening at a destination at the time of year you will will there. No more missed whale-watching opportunities (unless you are looking for gum), or wishing you had gone someplace LAST week instead. The monthly arrangement is very useful, and the index at the back is cross-referenced so you can look up places you are interested in by location as well as time of year. A welcome addition to my travel book shelf

This book is one of the strongest in the series. Travel books generally have no personal warmth - not so this one. Wade takes us to wonderful places, with feeling. Her appreciation of nature is unmistakable. The abundance of factual information contained in the book is delivered in pleasant, enjoyable to read narrative. I plan, as I urge others to do, to become thoroughly familiar with this book and then travel with it to So.Cal. and Baja. I certainly will visit Santa Catalina, which I am sure has been awaitin' for me since high school, and perhaps even do a little "grunion grabbing"

I took a 2 week road trip through Baja, so I know something about the place. Sadly, from these 2 weeks, I know infinitely more about Baja than the author of this book. It is terrible.

First of all, the title is misleading -- rather than describing both Southern California and Baja with roughly equal lengths, the author dedicates only 45 of 337 pages to Baja. Secondly, what he does describe is often incomplete, poorly presented, INACCURATE, and/ or useless. If you're going to Baja, get the Peterson's "Baja Adventure Book", which is much better.

Don't buy this book for Southern California, either, because it is equally useless in this respect. I spent a few days there, and this book didn't help me at all.

I wish that I hadn't wasted my money on this book.

Since I moved to San Diego two years ago I've used this book on a regular basis. It's a great cross-section of outdoor activities for people like me who like to do a wide variety of outdoor sports. I spend a lot of time hiking plus enjoy ocean activities such as scuba diving and hanging out at the beach. This book showed me places I'd never have found otherwise.

This is a useful, detailed and interesting book, but it suffers from a number of defects as a practical travel guide. Firstly the layout is confusing, as the book is divided according to subject rather than location, which necessitates much cross-indexing and use of yellow stickies in order to find your way around (For instance, if you wish to visit La Paz you will find it in many different parts of the book, under such headings as accomodation, restaurants, camping etc). More disturbingly, the information on "side trips" contains many inaccuracies, as well as maps which can be feeble to the point of being misleading. Anyone who has tried exploring Baja by car knows that roads tend to turn into tracks, and tracks often disappear altogether. Good maps and clear information are essential if you want to avoid getting hopelessly lost. Maybe the trick is to take this book with you, but not to be too trusting.

Waterman spends most of the book whining. The three main threads of his complaint are the ecological devastation, how the native peoples were taken advantage of by the various colonizers, and how his one year old marriage seems to be on the rocks. When he talks about the stark beauty of the land, it is always in the same breath with how badly the place is getting ruined.
I read the book when I was in Baja California Sur in May, 2003. The place was beautiful, the weather was great and the people were extremely friendly. The book's doomsday predictions were very much out of whack with the reality.

I read the book after sailing the Sea of Cortez. It was a depressing book by a disenchanted romantic written during what appears to be the breakup of his marrage. The wife sounds great but he can't maintain her paddling pace and she does not share his penchant for whining.) If you are looking for a guide book to the Sea of Cortez, this book has little to offer. I meet some folks at Bay of Conception who were among the few who had received favorable remarks from the author. They were furious that he had totally distorted their comments. Save yourself the greif and try something else.

It's very well written and full of interesting information. but it's one of these misanthropic ecology tracts. Much of what he says is well justified but, considered as entertainment, it was so full of grouching about the adverse effects of everything on the environment that it ended up with too many sour notes.
I was struck by how close his moral attutudes were to those of the early missionaries he describes. He extols the virtues of mortifying the flesh, and relishes describing the hardships he has inflicted on himself. He keeps encountering residents who do not share his beliefs about how life should be lived. They commit such crimes as fishing and using toilet paper. They are not the original inhabitants of the country.