Guerrero Negro is a town built on salt and whales, in that order. Clocks change here too, with Baja California Sur an hour ahead. Beyond the town, the lagoon of Ojo de Liebre stretches out in a flat, glittering sheet.
The salt works are the world's largest, with evaporation ponds covering hundreds of square kilometres, and the white piles of salt gleam in the sun like snow. The name of the town, Black Warrior, comes from an American whaling ship that was wrecked on the sandbars at the entrance of the lagoon in 1858. A century and a half later, the lagoon is a whale sanctuary, part of the El Vizcaíno biosphere reserve listed by UNESCO. Every winter, from about January to April, grey whales travel here from the Arctic to give birth, and boat trips take visitors close enough to touch the barnacled backs of curious mothers and calves.
The riding that leads here is long and open. Highway 1 crosses a flat, scrubby desert, with the road laid out in straight lines, wide skies and the occasional gust of crosswind. The surface is generally good, though trucks coming the other way throw up grit, and the distances between settlements are great. The ride from Cataviña takes several hours, and a stop in the middle, at a roadside restaurant, is welcome. In the evening, the light on the salt flats is extraordinary.
Fuel is available in Guerrero Negro, a town of thirteen thousand, and it is the place to fill up before the long run south. Restaurants serve fresh seafood, particularly clams, scallops and fish tacos, and a few simple motels offer rooms. Whale-watching tours should be booked in advance during the season. Keep cash in pesos, and carry water for the road. If you arrive at dusk, the cold air smells of salt and the sky fills with stars.