BILL'S  EXCELLENT ADVENTURES

WITH THE SAN DIEGO WALKABOUTS

 IN BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO

APRIL 23-MAY 1, 2016

(CLICK THE THUMBNAIL PHOTOS FOR A LARGER IMAGE)

There are no Saguaro cacti in the Baja peninsular!  Instead, the Cardón is the endemic cactus and there are lots of them.  This was one of our first lessons from guide, Hiroshi, as the 18 of us started our week of Baja hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, paddle boarding (or falling off) and sightseeing along the coastal areas of the Sea of Cortez (or Gulf of California). This was the fourth of our "Walk Abouts"  adventures in Mexico with Andiamo Travel and, as always, it was a fun and well organized trip.

All of our ground transportation, guides, lodging, most meals and various entrance fees were included in the Andiamo package. We arranged our own airline flights from Tijuana to La Paz and from Loreto back to Tijuana.

23 APRIL, 2016 SATURDAY  SAN DIEGO TO LA PAZ

Our flight from Tijuana to La Paz via Volaris Air was uneventful (well, we did have to pay $24 for a Mexican visa) and by about 3 PM we were settled in our rooms in the Hyatt Place which is located in Costa Baja Marina complex. Later our guides, Hiroshi and Hernán, introduced themselves and their backgrounds. (Soon they were just called Hiro and Haro.) Hiroshi pointed out the fact that a native Mexican with a Japanese name is not unusual in this melting pot country which has always attracted immigrants from around the world. We wrapped up this travel day with dinner after a short walk over to the Barcaccia Restaurant in the marina. 

24 APRIL, 2016 SUNDAY   LA PAZ AND ISLA ESPIRITU SANTO

In the morning we completed a soon to be familiar routine of breakfast at 7AM and departure at 8AM.  Breakfast was always a buffet in the hotel with assorted US and Mexican cuisine. Again we walked to the marina, collected our snorkeling gear and departed for the island, Espiritu Santo, under strong winds and choppy seas. Our first activity at this very large island was snorkeling in a rocky area with lots of fish and clear water with temperature of about 70 deg. A highlight of this spot was the chance to snorkel with sea lions!  We were warned that the young sea lions are playful and, like puppies, will nip your swim fins or other body parts. Indeed it was fun to swim with them.  Fortunately, the adults do not play but tended to ignore us as they swam by.  Adult sea lions (especially the males) are very large and their size increases dramatically when they are next to you in the water!

With snorkeling completed we pulled ashore for lunch and a short hike in this national park with local guides, Edgar and Alejandro. The next activity was a short kayak excursion and many of us were not familiar with kayaks so we had brief lessons on the beach. But, yikes, we also had to put the boats in the water!

We completed the island activities with beer and sodas under palapas on the beach and then headed back to the marina with now calm seas and a brief stop to observe a pod of dolphins.

The day's activities were completed with a bus ride to downtown La Paz, dinner, a walk along the malecón and ice cream.  The dinner routine was similar each day and, in this case, we had a choice among fish, scallops, shrimp or squid with rice, salad and beer or sodas. We had no vegetarians among us and folks who do not like seafood are likely to go hungry in Baja California Sur.

25 APRIL, 2016 MONDAY   LA PAZ TO LORETO

We checked out of the Hyatt and tried to get organized on our colorful bus with driver, Arturo, who would be with us for the rest of the journey.

But before departing La Paz we had another series of excursions at Balandra Bay located a few miles north of the hotel.  Here we did our first hike and discovered that hiking in the Baja Sur can be challenging.  The challenge can best be described with one word "rocky"! After completing our loop hike we returned to the bus and now we all had to change into water clothes for our next activities which were paddle boarding and more kayaking. We split into two groups that took turns with one group paddle boarding while the other took the kayaks through some mangroves.  Since most of the kayaks did not have functioning rudders some of us did not really paddle through the mangroves but mostly into the mangroves.

We completed our La Paz stay with lunch at the nearby Restaurant Playa Pichilingue and finally at 4 PM we started our 4 hour drive to Loreto. Our luncheon menu included a dessert of "pitaya dulce" which comes from the fruit of the organ pipe cactus.

On the 200+ mile drive to Loreto we headed inland and away from the Sea of Cortez along a good 2 lane highway #1 via the Ciudad Constitución and then at Ciudad Insurgente we turned east and towards Loreto. La Paz is now the capital of the state of Baja California Sur, is the terminus for ferries to and from mainland Mexico and once boasted an important pearl industry.  Indeed, the short, depressing novel, "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck is based upon that history. We wrapped up this very long day with a 10PM dinner at our hotel in Loreto.

26 APRIL, 2016 TUESDAY   LORETO

In the morning we had our first day light look at our hotel, the Loreto Bay Golf Resort and Spa.

The original plan for today was to paddle kayaks over to the small island, Danzante.  However, due to unusual high winds in the morning we altered the plan and did our kayaks in some sheltered waters on the coast.  We stopped at a rocky beach for lunch and snorkeling and then returned to our departure point at about 2PM.

Our next activity for the day was a hike up the Cañon del Tabor  which follows a stream bed (dry) up a very rocky path to the source of the water. Although there was only a little mostly stagnate water in the canyon at this time it apparently rages after heavy rains. In the USA we generally look at hurricanes as being undesired storms. In the Baja hurricanes are a major source for water and despite being destructive are considered an essential element for survival in such a dry climate.  The canyon is named after a Mr Tabor, an American I think, who was popular in Loreto but died tragically when his plane crashed near the canyon.

27 APRIL, 2016 WEDNESDAY   LORETO TO SAN IGNACIO

At Loreto our third guide, Jorge, joined us for the rest of our trip. Here is a link to Jorge's tour company.

We departed Loreto heading for San Ignacio at about 8AM.  However, at 9AM we were delayed about an hour for federal inspection of our bus and luggage. Hiroshi said this is an expected delay and we can blame our own USA government since we have provided Mexico with the money and the will to participate in the "war on drugs". In a country where the minimum wage is $4.30 per day and where credit for legitimate investment is difficult there is great temptation to work in the illegal drug business.

At 10AM we got our first view of the large Conception Bay and soon we had a welcome break at Playa Santispac. In addition to its outstanding toilet facilities this playa has some attractive mangroves, lots of crabs, oysters and some curious little snails.

Soon we passed through the towns of Mulegé and Santa Rosalía and turned west as we ascended the steep La Cuesta Inferno into the mountain ranges, Sierra de San Francisco. At last we stopped for fish taco lunch at Cafe Tuxpan where we were met by our vans from San Ignacio. We were about to embark on our first rock art or cliff painting expeditions. The original plan was to visit the La Trinidad rock art site near Mulegé but our guides assured us that the site involved a three hour one way drive on dirt roads and we could not do it as scheduled.  Instead, our three vans that met us at the cafe took us up very rough dirt roads north of highway #1 to a place called Santa Marta.

At around 4PM we were finally ready to start our hike from Santa Marta to the "Palmarito" rock art site.  But first our guides had to procure the proper licenses for the visit and arrange for local guides to accompany us.  All of these hundreds of pre-historic rock art sites are protected as UNESCO World Heritage places.  Their care is controlled by INHA which is a Mexican institute for natural history and archaeology.  Visitors must be licensed and have one guide for every four persons. Many of the sites are in very remote locations which require multi-day mule rides or hikes to reach.  With all the proper arrangements in place we had our 5 local guides and we were off for another rocky hike of about 2 miles each way to the Palmarito site. The rock art sites are secured with some serious fences and have good platforms for viewing the art.

This long day ended with dinner at our hotel in San Ignacio at about 11PM

28 APRIL, 2016 THURSDAY   SAN IGNACIO 

After breakfast we departed via the 3 vans for a day of hiking and rock art via highway #1 heading north from San Ignacio.  Our destinations were a community called San Francisco de la Sierra via a very rough road and then to hike to an even more isolated ranch, San Antonio. By 10AM we had reached the San Francisco location which is now a very rustic hostel, restaurant and staging place for those mule trips into the canyons. Since we were in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve it was necessary to obtain licenses and local guides to accompany us. While waiting for arrangements to be made the naturalists among us were very excited to see a red spotted toad who was not happy about all the attention.

Finally, we were off for the hike. This time the guides were on horseback. However, the trails were, surprise!, very rocky and we seniors were a bit slow in negotiating the difficult terrain. So at about noon Hiroshi suggested we punt on the San Antonio ranch in favor of returning for a timely luncheon.  We did. By 1:30PM we were enjoying a ranch cooked luncheon of quesadillas, machaca burritos, homemade tortillas and some yummy cookies covered with goat milk caramel sauce.

Several of our ladies did not join us for the hike and, instead, enjoyed the company of some of the residents.  In these ranches many items are handmade and that includes the leather saddles, belts, lassos, and even shoes.  Indeed, Herta had a pair of shoes custom made while she waited!

On the way back to the main highway we stopped at another rock art site: Cueva del Ratón.  The signs say that some paintings were created around 11000 years ago!  Of course, the anthropologists will forever debate who, when, why and how the paintings were done.  The only thing we know for sure is where they were created.

29 APRIL, 2016 FRIDAY   SAN IGNACIO BACK TO LORETO 

We departed our hotel, Desert Inn, for the return to Loreto. Sadly, a recent fire had scorched and killed some of the trees in this oasis of San Ignacio.

At about 9AM we stopped at the town of Santa Rosalía.  This town differs from most of the local towns in that Santa Rosalia was not established as a mission but was, rather, a company town. Indeed, the French company, Boleo, ran the copper mines starting in the 1880s. The unique Santa Barbara church was made from pre-fabricated metal, was designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) and shipped in sections from France to Baja. We wrapped up our visit with a stop at the Boleo Bakery.

We reached our hotel, La Mision, in Loreto at 1PM, said farewell to bus driver, Arturo, had lunch at La Palapa Restaurant and then boarded vans for another excursion. For this excursion we traveled a good paved road inland to a very desolate area to see the San Javier Mission.  This extraordinary mission is located in a very lovely little oasis community with sufficient water flow for lots of agriculture and "greeness "in an otherwise desert area.

San Javier is Baja's second mission having been established in 1699 by the Jesuit padres who were always in search of native souls to save.  On the way back to Loreto we stopped at Rancho Viejo to experience the life style of a self sufficient family.  The family at Rancho Viejo have been there for five generations!  However, it looks like there will be no sixth generation since all the children have departed and only the parents are remaining to run the goat diary and ranch.  We got to sample some of their goat cheese with our very own tortillas.

30 APRIL, 2016 SATURDAY   LORETO 

Today we did a boat trip to the nearby Coronado Island traveling in 3 open "pangas".  On the way we stopped to view some manta rays that were leaping high into the air for some reason.  Perhaps, they just think it is fun? Upon arrival at the island we did some snorkeling then boated past some sea lions basking on the rocks and at 10:40 arrived at a lovely white sand beach, Ensanada Blanca de Coronado. Here we enjoyed an excellent luncheon of ceviche (courtesy of Jorge), did a hike across the white sands and over volcanic rocks and, of course, left our markings on the wall of the palapa next to the "no graffiti" sign.

We returned to our hotel at 2PM and later Hiroshi gave us a tour of the "Mission of Our Lady of Loreto" which was founded in 1697 and was the very first mission in all the Californias.  Padre Salvatierra was the Jesuit priest who is credited with getting the mission business underway in the Baja peninsular.  The Jesuits lasted here about 70 years but their success in saving the souls of indigenous natives is problematic since the native population had almost completely died off by the time the Franciscan priests took over.

Finally, we enjoyed our last dinner together at the Oasis Restaurant's buffet and did some tequila tasting courtesy of Andiamo Travel.

1 MAY, 2016 SUNDAY   LORETO  TO SAN DIEGO VIA TIJUANA

Wow, today is the end of our tour.  In the morning most of us enjoyed our last hours at the lovely La Mision hotel, strolled around the very quiet streets and even observed a May Day labor union event at the plaza.  Since I was wearing my Che Guevara  T-shirt purchased in Cuba I had to get a photo next to the Labor union signs to show my support for all things revolutionary.

Then at 10AM we were back in the vans for a trip to the Loreto airport and then a fond and forlorn farewell to our new friends, Hiro and Haro, as they departed to prepare for their next tour groups.

The flight via Aereo Calafia airlines to Tijuana was uneventful and this excellent adventure was over!

THE END