National Geographic Traveler Rates 133 Places...

And the Cabo San Lucas region scores a 37. Here is what they had to say:

Mexico: Cabo San Lucas Region
Score: 37

Sleepy fishing villages have been transformed into places "where drinking tequila shots upside down is the number one tourist attraction and gated communities are the main economic activity."

Here is a representative sampling of additional anonymous comments from the panelists. They are not necessarily the views of the National Geographic Society:

"A tourism catastrophe. Total focus on money, lack of environmental attention, lack of local benefit except in menial jobs. Entire coast bought up by developers destroying turtle beaches and places that should remain natural and protected. Very little authentic local culture presented."

"Suffering under unregulated mega-development and all of the related environmental, cultural, and geographic impacts. This being said, the East Cape extending up to La Paz and the Pacific coastline up to Todos Santos are exceptional and relatively authentic and unspoiled. Due to the limited supply of water in these areas, it is likely to stay this way, although cheaper desalination could change this in the mid- to long-term."

"This can only really be seen as an extension of the United States, and not even its more admirable parts. Although not quite to the same level of Cancún, it's still terribly gringofied and bears little resemblance to the rest of the wonderful country."

"Cabo San Lucas and the Corridor are tourist playgrounds, but Cabo Pulmo around the bend on the Sea of Cortez is wonderful (if a little touristy)."

More about this soon. Here is the link to the whole article.

The Last Roll of Kodachrome

NPR has a story about the very last roll of Kodachrome ever produced. Kodak gave the roll to photographer Steve McCurry, who took that iconic National Geographic image titled "Afghan Girl" in 1984. The roll was dropped off at Dwayne's Photo Service, which is the last lab that can process Kodachrome. The contents of that role, according to NPR, will be the subject of an upcoming National Geographic documentary. It may seem like a lot of attention for one little roll of film, but the end of Kodachrome for photography is one of those "end of an era" moments that has come to pass. It's kind of like the shift from old Underwood typewriters to laptops--there is always something a little different with any new technology. I am by no means someone who laments the onset of digital photography. And while I was never a Kodochrome user (my favorite was probably Tri-X or maybe Agfapan 100), I can certainly attest to the fact that film absolutely had its own unique character and feel.