Campo Cortez: Baja’s Remote Gray Whale Lodge
About Our Ecolodge and the Wildlife
Situated at the heart of the Vizcaino Biosphere, Campo Cortez solar and wind powered Ecolodge lies on the shores of San Ignacio lagoon, at the mouth of a thriving bird estuary offering spectacular opportunities to view breeding and birthing Gray Whales throughout the day. A variety of species of migrating birds take refuge in the mangrove forest along our shoreline, which provides excellent bird watching and tide-pool walks. The local shoreline here is covered with millions of years of ancient whale fossils, bones, and shells.
This region of the Baja Peninsula is truly a piece of paradise that has been left untouched throughout thousands of generations and offers visitors a look at how the peninsula once was before man’s arrival.
Cleanliness, Comfort, Location and Local Staff
Seemingly perched on the edge of civilization Campo Cortez offers many modern amenities while maintaining a clean, comfortable and eco-friendly environment. Accommodations include private cabins with their own solar electric source along with fresh bedding and linens. You are never more than a stone’s throw away from the ocean’s edge.
Our Ecolodge and base camp provides a modern solar and wind generation system in our dining palapa and well stocked Baja library and an electrical system that provides 110 ac or 12 volt dc power for all of your charging needs. You can charge up your video and camera batteries anytime in the dining palapa during the day. Constructed from local materials and by traditional building methods, our palapa is the gathering point for all of our daily activities.
There is no place like Campo Cortez at San Ignacio Lagoon. Remote, far from the daily car traffic of the lagoon, Campo Cortez is at the end of a long, winding dirt road over dunes and through low water crossings. Remote, quiet, peaceful, and far from civilization is what best describe the location of Campo Cortez.
Harvesting Solar to Power all our Needs
Our Ecolodge and base camp provide a modern solar and wind generation system in our dining palapa and small solar systems for each cabin that provide 110 ac or 12 volt dc power for all of your charging needs. You can charge your phone, camera, video and camera batteries anytime in the dining palapa during the day and maintain devices within your cabins. There is also a well-stocked Baja library and science area that our guides will instruct you on upon your arrival. Constructed from local materials and by traditional building methods, our dining palapa is the gathering point for all of our daily activities.
Always available in the palapa daily are:
- Book and video library of Baja and marine mammals
- Large Screen TV to view daily videos and presentations
- Science and weather monitoring station
- Coffee and hot water for tea
- Snacks and fruit
The Heart of The Ecolodge’s Power: Sun and Wind
We are very proud to offer a unique and eco-friendly style of producing power from the natural environment. Campo Cortez has a modest sized solar and wind generation system that supplies all our power and is sufficient to power refrigeration, lights, charging systems and a variety of safety equipment such as CPAP machines that our guests may use. Our dining palapa houses the entire system and contains a twenty amp solar panel system as well as a fifteen amp wind generation system. Our two fold system is unique in that we can harness the elements of wind and sun. If we have a cloudy day and cannot generate solar power, then we can always harness the wind to produce electricity that is stored in our six volt battery bank.
