The latest on impacts from Hurricane Odile, which strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday.

Good video and stills of enormous waves in Cabo. The weather here remains calm. It’s dark now, so hard to see the sky. No rain, Only a slight breeze. The main force is expected in the morning.

Sitting in our cement-block house, listening to Charlie chat with Ben, Blue, and Ethan via Skype, it’s easy to forget how good we have it, and how so many people here are at risk – those living in corrugated metal and cardboard structures in the colonias (shanty towns) outside the city.

I tried to find some photos to share – curious that none exist. I’ll see if I can address the deficiency of documentation of the poor later in our trip. Charlie and I have an open invitation to volunteer in a children’s center in one of the colonias.

Loving this book, with tales of what it was like to travel El Camino Real in Baja California in the 60s, prior to its paving, and a quirky history of what little is known about the original settlement of Baja and its conquest by the Spaniards and Jesuits (turns out the Jesuits were a lot more effective and culturally destructive). The writing gets to me a bit at times – words that seem strangely combined and long sentences that are tough to follow – but Bruce Berger’s passion for the land is clearly heartfelt.

Nice historic photos here of those days, including a great shot of what I believe is the unpaved Trans-Peninsular Highway, now known as Mexican Federal Highway No. 1.

Shane Koyczan is a Spoken Word Poet, Writer and Performer. Get Free downloads, latest tour dates and access to Shane’s latest creation. Join us!

Jon Lee – more spoken word poetry from Canadian spoken word artist Shane Koyczan. You might enjoy To This Day … for the bullied and beautiful, or Remember How We Forgot, or Instructions for a Bad Day.

Cool site where we can track Hurricane Odile in near-real time.

Major Hurricane Odile will bring life threatening conditions and Baja California Sur.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s been downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane. “The southern tip of Baja California will experience the worse conditions from Odile Sunday night and into early Monday as 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) of rain floods the area. Sustained winds of 80-130 kph (50-80 mph) are expected and wind gusts approaching 160 kph (100 mph) will cause widespread power outages and structural damage.”