When headed for Mexico, many tend to focus on the southern coastal resorts and overlook the wilder borderlands.

But that's where we'll be exploring in the hour ahead.

Hi, I'm Rick Steeves.

Keith Bounton canoed the entire 1200,200-mile Texas-Mexico border on the Rio Grande.

He tells us what he learned as he camped out in wild country favored by smugglers

and encountered a few surprises from the U.S. Border Patrol and from an unexpected visitor to his

campsite.

I would challenge anybody to be in a 30-foot face off of the Cougar and not stare at it.

And Nicki Goth Itoy author's guidebooks to Baja California. She fills us in on

desert solitude and resort playgrounds along the 800 miles of dual coastline

including where to get close to some very happy marine life.

For some reason, no one really knows why, but the whales there are known to be more playful to even make themselves put on bigger shows for the boats that go out.

It's wild Mexico, from Baja to the river. put on bigger shows for the boats that go out.

It's Wild Mexico from Baja to the Rio Grande, just ahead on Travel with Rick Steves. The Mexican borderlands may be mostly wild desert and dusty towns, but the river that

forms the Texas border has its own stories to tell.

Keith Bowden lives and teaches in Laredo, but he learned a lot more about his borderland home over the better part of a winter by canoeing all the way down the Rio Grande from El Paso to the Gulf.

He joins us in a moment to tell us what he saw along the river.

Later in the hour, we'll hop over the California border to explore Baja as well.

We're at 877333 Rick and you can email us at radio at Ricksteeves.

com. and you can email us at radio at Rick Steeves.com.

There are a lot of great rivers on this planet that attract travelers from all corners

and rivers that have a certain mystique and a majesty.

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