Puerto Escondido, San Javier, and Loreto, Baja
In the wee hours of the morning we pulled anchor and advanced to the north toward Loreto. The ship's rolling motion indicated a strengthening headwind and the seas were deemed too rough for anchoring offshore of Loreto. Instead, the ship diverted to the protected waters of Puerto Escondido, where the morning's activities were arranged. During breakfast, the fleet of vans arrived to take us to the mission at San Javier.
We disembarked, loaded into the vans, and headed north toward the town of Loreto then up an arroyo that led into the Sierra de la Giganta. Up, up, and up we went on a typical Baja dirt road into the mountains. It was a spectacular ride with lots of great volcanic geology exposed along the sides of the canyon. We also passed several ranchos and heard about the history of the region from the local guides who accompanied us in the vans. After two hours, we arrived at the palm oasis and village at the Mission San Francisco Javier de Vigge.
The San Javier Mission was founded in 1699 and was the second Jesuit mission established on the peninsula after Loreto. It's unique Moorish style architecture and lovely grounds were explored and photographed by all. Mission San Javier has the distinction of being the only original mission church that has remained intact in Baja; all of the other Jesuit missions have been destroyed and rebuilt at least once. After exploring the village, we were then served a scrumptious Mexican lunch at a nearby restaurant, complete with Mexican music and dancing.
It was difficult to leave the peaceful village, but the long drive down the bumpy road awaited us. Most of us continued into Loreto and we had some brief time to explore Loreto's mission and do some last-minute shopping. We arrived back at the ship in the late afternoon and departed the protected waters of Puerto Escondido for tomorrow's day of exploring the islands of the Gulf of California.
In the wee hours of the morning we pulled anchor and advanced to the north toward Loreto. The ship's rolling motion indicated a strengthening headwind and the seas were deemed too rough for anchoring offshore of Loreto. Instead, the ship diverted to the protected waters of Puerto Escondido, where the morning's activities were arranged. During breakfast, the fleet of vans arrived to take us to the mission at San Javier.
We disembarked, loaded into the vans, and headed north toward the town of Loreto then up an arroyo that led into the Sierra de la Giganta. Up, up, and up we went on a typical Baja dirt road into the mountains. It was a spectacular ride with lots of great volcanic geology exposed along the sides of the canyon. We also passed several ranchos and heard about the history of the region from the local guides who accompanied us in the vans. After two hours, we arrived at the palm oasis and village at the Mission San Francisco Javier de Vigge.
The San Javier Mission was founded in 1699 and was the second Jesuit mission established on the peninsula after Loreto. It's unique Moorish style architecture and lovely grounds were explored and photographed by all. Mission San Javier has the distinction of being the only original mission church that has remained intact in Baja; all of the other Jesuit missions have been destroyed and rebuilt at least once. After exploring the village, we were then served a scrumptious Mexican lunch at a nearby restaurant, complete with Mexican music and dancing.
It was difficult to leave the peaceful village, but the long drive down the bumpy road awaited us. Most of us continued into Loreto and we had some brief time to explore Loreto's mission and do some last-minute shopping. We arrived back at the ship in the late afternoon and departed the protected waters of Puerto Escondido for tomorrow's day of exploring the islands of the Gulf of California.
