A Day Trip to Balandra, Mexico

The unlittered and silky-white shores lining Mexico's Baja Peninsula exist, still, hidden somewhere among the luxury Cabo hotels and the clumps of tourists that paint its beaches and fill its waters. But for every 'hotel zone' or row of bars, there are still little secluded paradises nestled into small towns and anywhere commercialism has yet abused and remolded.

One such place, Balandra, is a natural protected area outside La Paz, just short of two hours from neighboring Cabo San Lucas.

It's easy to imagine that this is how all of the Baja, Cabo included, might have looked a century ago. Before it was overdeveloped and touted as a premier destination for tropical vacations. The good news—as long as Mexican locals and conservationists have their way, Baladra will remain as pristine and timeless as the above image depicts.

According to the Guarding.co.uk newspaper, it's not the first time Colectivo Balandra has been compelled to thwart off the destruction of a last remaining vestige of Mexico a la natural.

"The landscape of the rest of the beaches of La Paz have already been modified with various types of constructions and installations; Balandra is the only one that remains to use," said the group's website.

Seemingly a public cry for help, one can not help but feel sympathy for these Balandra-natives, because losing one's home is much like being stripped of identity—it's an awkward, unsettling sensation.