Just got back from a fabulous journey through the hinterlands of Sonora, Mexico... [links open smallish photos]

My quick impression was that Sonora is very big, very hot, and very sparsely populated, which made for some incredible landscapes of sun baked desert, impossibly rugged mountains, and dusty but friendly towns.

After crossing at Nogales, we sorted out car permits with surprising ease, and headed south into the dusty unknown. The landscape is wide open and very untouched by development.

Sonora is known for having excellent meat dishes, and our stop at the "Paradilla del Sur" in Hermosilo did not disapoint. In fact, i think it ranks as one of the best platters of meat I've ever dived into.

South of Hermosillo the landscape was even more dramatic, and hot as a frying pan, a place where people covet shade wherever they can. The day's drive culminated with some wild formations over the beach town of San Carlos, where we spent the night.

San Carlos was a bit of a gringo-land, but it was nice to be on the shell-strewn beach, and eat some ceviche while the sun went down. The next day, we wasted no time rising and motoring another 5 hours south to the town of Alamos, which was also a bit of a gringo land, but in a far more subdued way, where gringos come to appreciate old mexico among the lavender hills, and sit quietly in restored colonial mansions or in the palm studded square. We stayed at a fabulous old mansion called Los Amigos - which I have to recommend highly, if for no other reason than their fabulous rooftop palapa. We also managed to take over the municipal theatre for a little production.

Nonetheless, trying to pack it all in, we left the next day and hit the coast again to a camp known as Navopatia at the very end of Sonora. This was a very quiet, off the grid place, where we slept in palapas right were the baking desert meets an enormous estuary. Navopatia is sort of eco camp, vaguely hippyish, where locals are offered education in sustainable practices, and tired travellers can unwind. We had a great time canoeing through the mangroves [photo 1][photo 2] in a quest to find the open sea, which ultimately proved to feature sparkling waters and miles of untouched beach.