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Into a Desert Place: A 3000 Mile Walk Around the Coast of Baja California | 
 enlarge | Author: Graham Mackintosh
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $5.15
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Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 274967
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 312
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0393312895
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.2204834
EAN: 9780393312898
ASIN: 0393312895
Publication Date: April 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: good condition, clean pages
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Englishman Graham Mackintosh seems an unlikely candidate to walk the 3,000-mile coast of Baja, California--after all, he calls himself "the most unadventurous person in the world." Yet Mackintosh spent 500 days in that loneliest of deserts, carrying his world on his back, dining on rattlesnake and cactus, drinking distilled seawater, and living with fear as a constant companion. So, just what was this "most unadventurous" man doing in a place like Baja? In Into A Desert Place, Mackintosh blames books for his transformation from armchair traveler to hardened adventurer. A taste for adventure travel literature soon developed into an addiction; when the library shelves had surrendered the last of their treasures, he went into a kind of withdrawal: "It got so bad that I even thought of doing something adventurous and crazy myself.... " Walking around Baja was not Mackintosh's first choice--he considered getting married--but a trip to visit friends in Los Angeles led him to the little Mexican village of Ensenada, which had been prominently featured in one of those adventure travel tales he'd read in England. Like Tolkein's Bilbo Baggins, running down the road toward adventure without a hat or coat, Mackintosh set off to Baja without a tent or sleeping bag, hitchhiking his way around the peninsula until his money ran out. By that time, he'd fallen deeply in love with the harsh environment and was determined to come back and explore it more thoroughly. Into a Desert Place is his account of what he saw and learned on that second trip, and how he survived.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Not for the true adventurer August 8, 2008
I have to say I completely disagree with the 4- and 5-star reviews of this book. In fact, I am astounded by them in some ways. About the only positive thing I can say about this book is that the descriptions of the landscape and the people the author encountered on his journey are interesting and seem pretty accurate, especially for the timeframe of his walk (1980's). But the author himself comes across as an ill-prepared, narcissistic tool who despite his protests to the contrary seems to have little respect for the land or the wisdom of local peoples and cultures.
I am not saying that the only people who do adventure travel should be well-honed experts. Everybody has to start somewhere, and even the most experienced of adventurers will make mistakes and have accidents. But in this case, the author did very little research, did not bother to gain any practical skill or experience prior to his journey, he blatantly disrespected the land and disregarded the experienced advice of Baja locals, and ultimately he behaved more stubbornly than the mule who helped him during the final leg of his trek.
Here are some examples from his book:
- The author claims that he is the "one in a million" traveler through Baja who does not pollute or damage the land. Nearly in the same breath he describes throwing his dead flashlight batteries as far into the ocean as he can. He scatters his empty food cans and packages with no thought other than ensuring the garbage was away from his campsite. He tosses a full jar of rancid butter into the sea. Really? If the author had ANY common sense or had bothered to learn anything in advance, he would have known that butter wasn't such a good idea for backpacking through a Baja summer. More importantly, why should the ocean have to absorb his mistakes and be his private dump? A few chapters later he describes with disdain the amount of garbage he finds washed ashore in one particular bay, and he criticizes Mexicans in general as not having much concern for trash disposal. The author's hypocritical actions add to the pollution, and he fails to even acknowledge this.
- The author repeatedly disregards the advice given to him by locals, stubbornly claiming that he will proceed with his original plan. He mentions doubting the accuracy of their information several times. This arrogance leads him repeatedly into situations that cause him injury. Laying at the bottom of a cliff, bloody and injured, he decides that his best course is to climb back up and take the same route. Two pages later he falls back down again, further injuring himself and destroying some of his equipment.
- At one point, the author claims that the desert tells him that it exists solely for him and that he should take whatever he needs from it, which he repeatedly does with glee. The only reason he even needs so much from the land at that point of the book is because he didn't prepare well enough or act rationally enough to prevent his then-current predicament.
If everybody who went backpacking, climbing, or otherwise journeyed through wild areas behaved like this author, nature would be a trash heap full of dead fools. this guy lived to tell his tale in spite of himself, not because of himself.
I obviously did not like this book at all. I did not find this story to be inspiring in the least. Honestly, I cannot believe that anyone published it. If you are a true adventurer, this book will likely frustrate or anger you. If you are an armchair adventurer, choose virtually any other similar book and you will get a far better story. And if you are seeking an adventure travel role model, please choose someone who journeys with greater humility, respect, and common sense.
 Great reading! January 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is an wonderful read. Graham Mackintosh somehow manages to convey the beauty, loneliness, danger, and culture of Baja in a way that is absolutely captivating. I have spent a fair amount of time in Baja myself working with the fishermen, and I thought his portrayals of these interesting folk was spot on and entertaining. I normally don't write reviews, but I could not put this book down, and good books are few and far between in my opinion! Besides being a great adventure story, this book has another side, which in a sense describes the author's spiritual awakening. He's not there, as are so many foreigners, to amuse himself in Baja as if it were a giant playground; rather he immerses himself in the land and the culture in a way that even most of the locals have failed to do!
Baja is a magical place that you simply can't appreciate from the comfort of your hotel room, RV, or (God forbid) your off-road vehicle. This book will hopefully inspire many people to seek out solitude in one of the last places in the world you can still find it.
The word incredible barely lends justice to Graham's effort August 12, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Baja is an adventure, even if by air in your own airplane. Hopscotching from place to place on a peninsula that stretches almost a thousand miles south of California, is quick and efficient but, as always in a single engine aircraft, the prospect of an off field emergency landing is on the pilot's mind.
In Baja, where an arid, desolate landscape, and rugged mountains stretch endlessly below the wings and dry riverbeds host cactus and rattlesnakes, nature ups the ante. These inhospitable thoughts are a memory of my flying adventure to "The Baja" in October 1993, but they are nothing in comparison to Graham Mackintosh's incredible journey on foot following the coastline.
As luck would have it Graham was in Mulege (about midway down the eastern coast of Baja on the Sea of Cortez) and attended the well known Hotel Serenidad's pig roast fiesta with us on Saturday evening. In response to our questions, Graham (this was before I read the book) told us how ill-suited and inadequately prepared he was for his adventure. But his appearance belied an iron will, unyielding perseverance, and an indomitable spirit. It took two years to achieve his goal, then another two more to write the book. My fellow travellers and I sat in awe as he recounted his tale.
The inscription he wrote for me in my copy of the book shows his humility. He very generously referred to me as "A Fellow Baja Adventurer," but I know there is no comparison in our experiences. Thanks Graham, I wish you well. Is there a movie in the works?
Husband's birthday present May 12, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was the perfect gift for my husband. He keeps talking about his dream of going in the desert, walking, exploring, being away from civilization for a while,... but he's never done it. This book author DID IT!
 True Baja experience August 24, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have traveled many times down to Baja, his descriptions reflect my impression of the people and places.
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