After a road trip from Peñasco to Cabo San Lucas through Baja California, I visited some interesting places, But I have found out that Peñasco has it all! Beautiful beaches, amazing dunes, stunning volcanoes at El Pinacate and wonderful wildlife. At CEDO, where I volunteer, you can learn about it all! The staff are welcoming and ready to answer all your questions and concerns about wildlife and ecosystems from the Sonoran Desert and the Gulf of California.

Spring is coming and the CEDO staffs are gearing up for the arrival of tourists and visitors to its field station at Las Conchas. The Earthship visitor centre has had a spring clean with a revamp to existing exhibitions and new ones added. The CEDO gift shop at the heart of the visitor centre is run by the friendly, informative and bilingual manager Zaida. “We have some wonderful gifts and souvenirs that you can only get at CEDO. All our T-shits have the CEDO logo, the endangered Vaquita and whale skeleton ones are very popular. We have a new range of kids T-shirts with color prints of tide pool creatures, the boys love these! Also sea birds and Sonoran desert animals”.

The gift shop has a wide range of natural history books about the region including books on the Pinacate. Also, in the visitor centre, you can find children’s books about the marine creatures that live in the Gulf of California and the desert. There are also specialist books on wetland birds, cactus and desert plants and sea-life. Zaida says “The laminated charts for tide pooling and bird watching are much in demand”. For all residents and visitors to Puerto Peñasco, the CEDO tide calendar is, a must have buy, to get the most out of using the beach and enjoying the sea and shoreline.

Visit CEDO this spring. Come and learn more about the amazing environment of the upper Gulf of California and the surrounding Sonoran desert by joining us for a free natural history talk in English at 2pm on Tuesdays, and 4pm on Saturdays and visit the earth ship, gift shop and exhibitions.

If you would like to help support CEDO and have a great afternoon out, why not come to the ‘Spring Fling Fashion Show’ on Monday 8th April at 1pm at Puesta del Sol Restaurant at Playa Bonita. This is a free event, just come on the day; any donations will go to CEDO.

CEDO is a conservation charity, working with the people of Puerto Peñasco and surrounding communities of the upper gulf to promote sustainable use of the natural and cultural resources. All profits made in the shop and donations, help fund CEDO’s valuable work. More information can be found about CEDO by visiting our website: www.intercultural.org or follow events at CEDO by liking our Facebook page.