We really liked the town of Loreto with its gentle breeze, sunshine, sparkling waters in the Sea of Cortez, and its kind and gracious people.
Our last glimpses of the Sea of Cortez.
A rose planted at a memorial.
We were headed back across the Sierra La Giganta in the RV this time and on pavement!
We settled at the Misiones RV Park in Ciudad Constitucion. We were warmly welcomed by the owner. We had a brunch of eggs in her small restaurant adjacent to the campground. She chatted with us, answering questions, and offered to take our postcards into town. She also called for prices for whale watching tours.
We decided to follow Route 22 out of town to San Carlos.
The very nature of exploring implies that you don’t know what you will find at the end of the road you are traveling. Most of the time we are pleasantly surprised. The village of San Carlos had a power plant puffing away. The center of town had many abandoned buildings and lots of very small shacks.
There was also a fish packing plant that smelled rather organic.
We took a sandy road that led us to a derelict fish camp.
On our way in we passed a beer truck on that sandy road. We wanted to find out where it had made its beer delivery. We finally arrived at this little spot.
We were still not disappointed. We saw lots of osprey and open flat land. The air was balmy and warm. If it is our quest to see the real Baja…then this back-country road is all part of the bigger picture.
The morning was spent cleaning the inside of the RV and publishing the pictures for the blog since the 23rd of January…we are finally all caught up!
Our first stop today was at the post office. We ordinarily mail post cards to the boys and we haven’t been able to find a place to get stamps.
Next, we stopped at this stand to get fresh oranges. We were able to get some in Mulege and they were so good…we wanted more. 6 oranges for 15 pesos…less than a dollar.
We drove to the promenade and parked by the beach.
I’m not sure why they try to conceal cell phone towers and make them look like palm trees…
We walked through the arch and into a nice plaza with shops and restaurants. Today was NOT a cruise ship day…luckily for us! The ship would anchor in deep water and then small boats would bring the cruise ship guests to town. We were fortunate to have a quiet walk, meandering in and out of shops.
The Mission Church of Loreto.
We went to Mi Loreto Cocina Mexican and had fish and shrimp tacos for lunch.
Of course, we took the gravel road out of town to see what we could see.
Some substantial compounds and villas by the sea.
Some sweet little condos right along the beach in front of the campground.
It is always difficult to leave a beautiful place. El Requeson with its glistening blue water, ragged coastline, protected inlet, and glittering starry nights, made this little sand spit a very special place…but we get restless and eager to discover what’s up and around the next bend…to find our next adventure.
We said hasta luego to our new friends Brian and Carol and Lucy. They are traveling on a different timeline and need to be in Los Barriles on February 1st.
Our destination today was Loreto. We needed a full-service campground. Loreto was founded in 1697 and it is the longest continuously occupied town in Baja. Here there are 3 big grocery stores, lots of shops and restaurants and even some resorts.
Our afternoon was spent doing laundry, working to catch up the blog, and going to the grocery. The Ley Store was the first real grocery we have been to in Mexico…even as we wandered up and down the aisles searching for our familiar stuff, we were reminded again how very spoiled we are. It was fun though to get some different things and I look forward to experimenting!
We went to find dinner in town. A woman in the RV Park told us about this new soul food restaurant called Alma Del Sur. She said that the food was delicious and the place had a funky, fun vibe. We went to try it out. The chef, John, is from Louisiana where he was a chef in New Orleans for 15 years. His wife is from Canada. She was a dive instructor in the Caribbean. They decided to open a restaurant here in Loreto and they have only been open for 2 weeks. The food was outstanding! I had the house special…the gumbo. The restaurant owner said that she married John because of his gumbo and that is completely believable!!! Tim had shrimp and grits. The corn was hand ground in the restaurant. It was by far the best meal we have had on this trip. I wanted to go back tomorrow but they are closed on Wednesdays! Make sure you stop and eat at this restaurant next time you are in town!!
After dinner we took a walk in the twilight along the malecon. It was a lovely evening. This is a resort town.
Today we headed to the town of Mulege (moo-lah-hay) to explore, gather supplies, have some lunch and use WiFi.
This town sits at the mouth of the Rio Santa Rosalia. Date palms line the riverside. We entered the historic part of the town and parked on a side street not far from the square. We had some cell service and so we checked messages and tried to work on the blog…but internet speed was just too slow. We walked into town and had a good omelet especial at Doney Mely’s.
We stopped in the little shops along the street looking for postcards for the boys…but without success. Main Street.
A primary school.
A Mexican dog…they are everywhere…big ones, little ones, noisy ones…but not one has bothered us as we walked by. No collars of course!
We saw a small mini mercado and walked through but did not find any groceries there. We drove to Saul’s and got some milk, strawberries, and yogurt.
Such a sweet little girl…her mom granted permiso for a picture.
Cockfighting event last week.
There was free WiFi back in the restaurant so we returned with the laptop and tried to load pictures but it was much slower than we are accustomed to. We will try again in Loreto.
Earlier in the day a fish vendor brought us fresh sea bass. We grilled it in a lemon butter garlic sauce and prepared elote as well. We ate our dinner again under the palapa soaking up the ambiance of this place and remembering just how blessed we are. We ended our evening with the stars.
At 2:22 am I was awake. I decided to look at the stars. They were big and brilliant and looked so close. The stars were casting a reflection in the still water of the bay…so very pretty!
We headed south on Mexico 1 and again saw dolphins in the bay. We stopped to watch them and counted more than 30. They were swimming in a long line, feeding and cavorting.
Enjoy the videos.
Today it was our goal to travel across the peninsula from the bay to the ocean on an improved gravel road. It was 61 km to the town of San Isidro. We traversed the Sierra La Giganta Mountains.
Cool little lantern like blooms.
We saw lots of critters today; lizards, chipmunks, ground squirrels, jackrabbits, hawks, roadrunners, burros, horses, cows, and goats.
The landscape was craggy and rugged and harsh, with lots of sharp edges. The vegetation was scrubby and thorny. It was still and silent but for us. It was though quite beautiful in its desolation and austerity.
San Isidro is a desert oasis fed by the Purisima River. There are date palms and flowers. It was green and lush.
The gravel road dumped us right onto pavement, Route 53, at the edge of town. We took 53 south and turned toward Las Barrancas and the Pacific Ocean.
Lunch spot.
There were osprey nests everywhere. We counted more than a dozen in the small village. They were perched on telephone poles but also on roofs and in vacant buildings. The beach was strewn with lobster heads abandoned by fishermen after the claws and tails were harvested. The heads were almost the size of a football! We saw this little crab scuttling around in the sand.
Goats on the beach?!?
Every school has a fenced yard with a shade shelter.
We turned around and went back the way we came. I drove part of the way.
It was 4pm when we got back to the RV and Lucy, Carol and Brian’s dog, was waiting for us. She is the sweetest and best-behaved dog I have ever met. She joined us for an afternoon snack.
We grilled our dinner and ate outside again this evening. This is the mildest night we have had so far. We watched the sliver of moon dip behind the mountains and then watched the stars pop out. The Milky Way was vibrant. It was the most spectacular night sky we have ever seen.
Today we were excited for a backroad adventure. We packed the cooler and headed to Mulege, 22 miles away to fill the Jeep. We also called mom and had FaceTime with David and the boys. We posted the blog from the 23rd with a note that we were out of service range. No worries… we are out having a blast!
We saw about 8 dolphins sluicing through the water just 100 feet offshore. We stopped to watch. From our elevated vantage point, we could see them clearly. It was so quiet that we could hear the spray from their blowholes as they swam.
This is the path that we intended to follow.
We missed the first gravel turnoff but we found the road to San Nicolas. The ride took across desert. We saw wild burros and their foals and lots of beautiful desert landscape.
We arrived at San Nicolas…really just a very small and simple village on the water. I love the contrast of the cacti and the desert landscape abutting the water of the bay!
We stopped for lunch after passing through La Ramadita, another small, modest fishing village.
San Sebastian was nestled in a protected cove and had nicer resort style buildings.
Here we turned back toward the Bahia Concepion. We walked along the beach gathering shells.
When we arrived at the end of the road…we knew why we had missed the turn earlier in the day…the gate was easily moved and replaced!
The view of our campsite from a lookout on Mexico 1.
We grilled avocados and salmon for our dinner and sat beneath our palapa to eat, enjoying the lapping of the water and a small fire.
We left San Ignacio and went across El Vizcaino on Mexico 1 to Santa Rosalia. The road was a roller coaster ride but the road surface was good and the lanes mostly wider, and even with decent shoulder. Tim made the driving look easy.
Santa Rosalia was an industrial town on the Gulf of California also called the Sea of Cortez. It was a busy little place and we drove straight through…we were headed for warmer weather.
We passed through Mulege and stopped just south of town to fuel the RV. As we left town, we lost our cell service. The road wound along the coastline and we began to see campsites on the beach. We decided to check out the best of the camping spots according to our guidebook and then choose where to stay. This area is a favorite for people overwintering in Baja. El Requeson is the beach that is pictured most often in travel brochures. The beach sits on an inlet in the Bahia Concepcion. The turquoise waters, blue sky, and warm temperatures beckoned to us.
We were able to park our rig just feet from the water’s edge. It cost 600 pesos or $32.00 for 4 nights.
We walked and rested and relaxed in the sunshine. This camping spot is definitely in our top ten of all time!
At sunset we walked around the small lagoon.
This sailboat anchored in this protected cove overnight.
This little blue house has no door and no windows. It is open all the way through. There is a family living here. We are constantly humbled by families Working hard to survive and care for their children.
Vendors drove by offering trinkets and blankets and ponchos and later fish and vegetables. We purchased a kilo of jumbo shrimp for 400 pesos. We grilled them for dinner and they tasted delicious, sweet and tender.
Carol and Brian had arrived in midafternoon. The four of us spent the evening in our palapa enjoying the mild temperatures and protection from the wind.
It was too cloudy to see stars before we went to bed. I woke up sometime during the night and the heavens twinkled with a zillion stars…Who has it better than us???
NO ONE!!!
Our journey today took us across the Vizcaino Desert. The desert is dotted with dotalillo, a kind of yucca, and giant cordones.
The road was initially straight and smooth but very narrow. There were tense moments and terse words as tractor trailers coming from the south, passed us. The best strategy was to hold your breath, pullover as far as possible, slow down, and hope for the best. More than once, the trucks and busses were too close!
Maybe we should have taken the parallel dirt road…no tractor trailers here!
The trip today to San Ignacio was only 90 miles but it was intense. We encountered an area of very dense fog in combination with the narrowness of the road and the tractor trailers, we also had cyclists, pedestrians, and cows that appeared in the fog!
I did see a bobcat along the road today!
We have quickly learned that just because a campground is advertised as having full hookups…it doesn’t always mean that the power supply is adequate or usable. Our fresh water is full and our sanitation tanks are empty and this allows us to dry camp or boondock…especially since we have buddies to camp with.
We pulled out earlier than the Costellos today but with the understanding that we would choose the campground and they would join us. We stayed at Camping Petate under the date palms and along the Laguna San Ignacio. It was very pretty!
After lunch we went to see the town of San Ignacio. It is a clean and quaint place with a town square surrounded by small shops. We bought a kilo of dates and some date cake.
We walked into the mission church of San Ignacio. The mission was started in 1716 by Spanish missionaries. They built a small chapel of leaves and poles. Because of death, drought, floods, typhus, malaria, and other disease, the construction of the stone church was delayed until 1760. It took 26 years for the building to be completed. The building is constructed of hand cut lava stone and the walls are 4 feet thick. The stone work is magnificent.
Millstones used to grind wheat and turned by burros.
This afternoon we decided to explore the road south of town…Where were we going? What is there? How long would it take? What’s the road like? We did not have answers to these questions and for us…that is what makes it exploring…not really knowing where we will end up or what we will find. We refuse to be limited by fears or anxieties and instead are limited by the amount of fuel we have and how much daylight is left.
We drove across the desert and into the marshy area of the peninsula. We traveled across sand and gravel roads along the shore. The view was beautiful…such a pleasant afternoon. We got the Jeep dirty again…a sure sign of a successful adventure!
As we drove back into town, we saw Carol and Brian having an afternoon beverage on a restaurant patio. We stopped to join them and passed a pleasant hour. It was after 5 when they decided to be on their way. We decided to stay for dinner. We had delicious garlic shrimp and vino tinto.
We
had to set the alarm to get up and get ready for our whale watching tour…but I
was awake long before the alarm. I was
very excited to take this trip. We had
heard that sometimes the whales got close enough to the boat to touch them!
A van arrived to take us to the lagoon.
The
female grey whales come to warmer water to give birth. The lagoon is a nursery. Mother and calves will stay here until
spring. Currently, there are about 50-60
whales in the lagoon. Last February,
there were approximately 2,000. Mama whales
can be as long as 49 feet and weigh as much as 40 tons. They live between 55-70 years. Newborns are about 13-16 feet long and weigh
about 1,500 pounds. It is believed that
the mothers bring babies to the shallower lagoons to protect them from sharks
and orcas. All the whales began their
annual migration from the north in October. Their roundtrip is about 10,000 to
13,000 miles. These are baleen
whales.
Today
we saw whales in the Laguna Ojo de Liebre.
I am certain that we saw more than 2 dozen whales. We saw moms and their babies and single adult
whales. They were often within 20 feet
of our boat. It was a rare privilege to
be so close to these tremendous animals. It was amazing to hear and see the whales
coming up beside the boat.
Nothing yet!!
Carol took a video…watch and enjoy!!!
We
also saw dolphins traveling along with the whales.
A
squadron of pelicans.
Lunch spot.
A
bunch of sea lions.
A
salt barge.
Back in town we took the Jeep to the car-wash. $4.00 to have the Jeep hand-washed!
Today was an amazing day!!! I am so glad we had this opportunity! The pictures are not very spectacular…but being there certainly was!!
During the night we heard gusty wind and rain. By morning, dense clouds clung to the mountaintops.
We left Bahia de los Angeles
with Brian and Carol in the lead. We
traveled at a comfortable pace with the road curling up and over the mountains
and toward the coast.
We turned again onto Mexico 1
and the road longer and straighter, though still very narrow. When tractor trailers passed the RV in front
of us, we could see that there was just a foot of space between the
mirrors. We suddenly came upon this huge
amount of water in a wash.
We passed into Guerrero Negro
at the 28th Parallel. This is
the border between Baja California and Baja California Sur. We had to go through an agricultural
inspection station where we expected that they might take our fruits and
vegetables and where we might be required to present our travel documents. They fumigated our tires, charged us 20 pesos,
and allowed us to pass through.
Once we were settled in at
the Malarrimo RV Park, Carol and I set out to find the lavanderia so that we
might wash our clothes. For 135 pesos, I
was able to do 2 loads of laundry.
The four of us ate dinner
tonight at the hotel restaurant. I had
delicious scallops in an herb and butter sauce and Tim had a steak. We enjoyed our meal but even more so we enjoyed
our company.
We are looking forward to our whale watching trip tomorrow!
