San Carlos: Desert oasis hike with biologist + ceviche

5.00

(18 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We met up at Mariscos El Esterito, which honestly smelled like fried fish and sea air even before we got out of the car. Our group was small—just me, two other travelers, and our guide, Luis, who’s actually a biologist from here. He handed us these battered field guides and said something about “fan palms” being special in this part of Baja California. I didn’t really get it at first—palms are palms, right? But he grinned and told us to wait until we saw them up close.

The drive out to the trailhead was bumpy enough that my water bottle rattled against the door. Once we started hiking toward Canyon El Silencio, the air felt cooler than I expected for the desert—almost damp. Luis pointed out tiny lizards darting between rocks and showed us how the canyon walls had these weird ripples from ancient water flows. At one point he stopped mid-sentence because a bright green bird zipped past; he called it by its Spanish name (I forgot already), but it made me realize how alive this place is if you slow down enough to notice.

After looping back to the cars and heading to the next spot, El Ojo de Agua, things changed again. The path got softer underfoot—almost spongy in places—and suddenly there were ferns and mosses clinging everywhere. It felt like someone had dropped a slice of jungle into the middle of Baja. The Mexican fan palms towered over us, their leaves making this soft rattling sound every time the breeze picked up. I tried to take a photo but it just didn’t capture how strange and peaceful it felt standing there with sunlight filtering through all that green.

We ended up back under a palapa where someone had set out plates of ceviche on tostadas—fish caught that morning, apparently. There was lime juice everywhere (my fingers still smelled like it hours later) and Luis laughed when I tried one of the spicier salsas without warning. We talked about what we’d seen—the mosses, those palms—and for some reason I kept thinking about how quiet it was in those canyons compared to town. Not sure why that stuck with me so much.