I have written about this beautiful part of Baja before. Every spring Jerry and I take groups down to Loreto to see the whales and enjoy the beautiful scenery, awesome wildlife and wonderful people in this part of Mexico.
It was time to head down to Baja at a different time of year for a whole new experience. Having made some great friends down in Loreto it was fun to be traveling down there without groups of travelers in tow – a little time to just explore the area and enjoy the people without any schedule or commitments.
For those that have not been to Baja – make sure you make that trek at least once in your life. Just today someone said to me “oh no, I don’t want to go to Mexico, it is dangerous down there”. Well nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, I have been to places where I feel that safety could be an issue and I certainly wouldn’t walk around at night (some of these places are in the United States), but Loreto isn’t one of those places.
“Leave home, leave the country, leave the familiar. Only then can routine experience—buying bread, eating vegetables, even saying hello—become new all over again.” ― Anthony Doerr
Loreto has a lot going for it. It’s a very pretty small village and home to the magnificent Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto, where the shoreline, ocean and offshore islands are protected from pollution and uncontrolled fishing.
About a 7-8 hour drive north of Cabo, it is removed from, well… just about everything, except the desert, the sea and a collection of islands begging to be explored.
To my delight, Loreto has a craft brewery. It serves main three beers, and this trip they had added a few seasonal choices. El Zopilote Brewery & Cocina can be found on the main plaza, under the same roof as Hotel 1697. It was founded by Norma and her husband Kieran (an Irish guy), and the beer as well as the food is delicious.
The people are possibly my favorite thing about Loreto. There is a beautiful blend of expats and Mexicans in Loreto, these people are what continually make me feel extra welcomed and comfortable when I visit. My best advice for visiting Loreto – go out and get to know the locals, you will be glad you did.
You might be asking – what is an expat? The word expat is a contraction of expatriate, which derives from the Latin word expatriatus. In medieval times, an expatriatus was someone who had left his or her home country to live somewhere else. So in today’s culture an expatriate (or expat) is exactly that; someone who lives in a different location than that which they were born and brought up. In general expatriates are considered to be people who are residing in their host country temporarily, with the ultimate intention of returning home at a later date. However, in recent times, more and more expatriates have left their home country and found that they can experience a higher standard of living and a better of quality of life abroad and, for this reason, many of them never return home.
There are several expats (and many natives) in Baja that really help to always make our visits special. Debora and Gerardo (she is an expat and he is a native) own the La Damiana Inn and have become good friends, Juve and Sara own the tour company we use with our groups, another native/expat couple that have become friends. Ricardo (Rick) came to Baja a number of years ago after a stressful job in the US and has never looked back. He was able to carve out some time to hang with me on this trip down and we shared some great adventures.
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” – Helen Keller
A great thing about taking a trip to Baja without the groups is that I can explore new places. On the recommendation of just about everyone I know in Loreto we planned a day trip to Bahia San Basilia which is located on the middle, eastern side of baja, north of Loreto.
Along the highway in route to San Basilia Turkey Vultures roosted on top of the cardon cactus warming up and drying their wings in preparation for the day’s flight seemingly unconcerned by the “gringo” taking photos of them from the ground below.
“Don’t play dead with a vulture. That’s exactly what they want.” – Kevin Nealon
The giant cardon cactus dominates many of the deserts of Baja California and the coastal region of the state of Sonora in Mexico. It is closely related to the saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) of Arizona and Sonora, but is not frost-tolerant, so these two giant cacti occupy distinct geographical regions. Cardon is the larger of these two cacti. In fact it is the largest cactus in the world – specimens sometimes might reach 200 years of age, with a height of up to 65 feet tall. They are true sentries of Baja.
San Basilio Bay, to many a hidden jewel in the Sea of Cortez, is also known as San Juanico Cove or Punta San Juanico. It is where Gerardo and Debora were married a few years back and a location for many in “the know” to go for a beautiful day or beach camping trip.
Accessible by dirt road it is about 30 minutes by dirt from the highway. The road leading there traveled past a number of scenic desert locations as well as a few rancheros.
The bay itself is beautiful – a picture postcard of sand, rocks and the beautiful blue water of the Sea of Cortez. Many boaters traveling around Baja use this location as a safe harbor to moor and stay for a night or more. And why not? The location is amazing and this time of year the water temperature is perfect for a variety of water-sports. We brought along a paddleboard and some snorkeling equipment to take advantage of the beautiful day.
This trip down to Loreto presented another unique night photography opportunity – the racing of the Baja 1000. This year was the 50th annual race. Traditionally, the course alternates between an Ensenada finish and a La Paz finish, this year the course ran near the full length of the peninsula, beginning in Ensenada, Baja California and ending in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
Fun fact: Last year Tony Gera won the Ironman class (solo rider on a dirt bike) in the 49th Baja 1000 – Tony and my son Matt used to play together at Carnegie SVRA as kids. Tony is now recently married and they are expecting their first baby – congrats all around to Tony and the Gera family.
The Baja 1000 began in 1967 with many changes over the years but it has always been considered the mother of all desert races. Celebrities in the past like actors James Garner, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. The race has its own celebrities like Rod Hall, the only person that has run in all 45 previous races and at age 74 has 22 class wins including one overall win in 1972.
The Baja 1000 is considered by many to be the most grueling, challenging and craziest off-road race the world has to offer. The Baja desert that the course winds through is some of the most remote, rocky, treacherous terrain of any off-road race on the planet. The threats of dust storms, remote desert terrain, equipment failure and even death are just a few of the hazards challengers face each year. Racers in all sorts of vehicles aim to conquer the desert non-stop as they descend down the Baja peninsula of Mexico in pursuit of being the first one to finish. Often times, the desert conquers the racer.
The first Baja 1000 was completed in 27 hours and 38 minutes, driving a VW-powered Meyers Manx buggy. Fast forward to this year when some 400 racers departed Ensenada for the 50th Baja 1000. The first finisher completed the 1,134-mile run to La Paz in 19 hours 53 minutes.
Much has changed in 50 years —but the SCORE Baja 1000 remains the most demanding, single-day race in motorsports. Most everything about the Baja 1000 has changed from those early years. GPS now guides racers rather than the most rudimentary of maps. Helicopters and satellite phones keep once isolated racers connected. Teams of support vehicles provide service to the racers for the length of the course.
And the Baja itself has changed. Ranchitas have grown into villages, villages into towns and towns into cities. In 1967, less than 750,000 people populated Baja California. Now the peninsula is home to nearly four million.
Some years ago, Rod Hall (mentioned above) was asked what it was like to drive in the inaugural Baja 1000 off-road race in 1967:
“It was dark a lot, it was fun if you didn’t mind being lost 90 percent of the time. It was more survival than a race. There were no roads really. Sometimes, there weren’t even trails. When we did see someone they had a mystified look on their face like we had landed from Mars. The compass was a better tool than the maps we had. Those maps weren’t really maps. They were white sheets of paper with dots naming towns … towns that weren’t linked by roads. I remember passing a ranch in the middle of nowhere that had a light bulb shining, probably powered by a generator. I remember telling myself ‘look for the next light.’ I saw it about 200 miles later.”
The Baja 1000 has become a major sporting event in Mexico. Today’s races see spectators lining large sections of the course … they’ll be out in the middle of nowhere cheering on the participants as they race by. The first racers were expected to come through a wash near Loreto after dark so Ricardo and I took up watch along the top of the wash overlooking other spectators camping along the course in the wash below. The entire scene provided great night photos of the motorcycles and quads racing through.
A highlight of the trip this time was a day on the water and a visit to Isla Carmen. Carmen lies directly east of the City of Loreto, Baja California Sur within the Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto. The island measures 16.8 miles long and 5.6 miles wide comprising 37,000 acres of land. This elongated shaped island is situated and separated from the peninsular mainland by the Loreto sea channel, with water depths of 1,200 feet toward the deeper North end of the channel. Its geology is composed of Miocene volcanic rocks overlain by Miocene-Pliocene marine rocks. Its form dominates the views from Loreto on mainland Baja.
“I like to be grounded by nature, go hiking… go to an isolated island that’s not glamorous and touristy at all.” – Cote de Pablo
Ricardo and I joined our boat captain Tony and the ride via panga (fishing boat) from Loreto gave us an opportunity to circumnavigate the island checking out beaches and coves and keeping a fishing line in the water when ever possible. On the north side of the island we were rewarded with a dorado (or mahi-mahi) on the line and with the expert fishing skills of Ricardo and our Captain the fish landed in the panga to later become a great meal for Tony’s family.
As our boat entered the cove home to the historic salt mine a stop had to be made at an old shipwreck marked by a buoy to keep passing vessels from running aground on the wreckage. The boats hulking frame offered great photographic opportunities and can be a great place to snorkel but for this day we were headed to explore the old salt mine.
The human history of the island revolves mainly around its salt deposits located on the northern end of the island, in the area called Bahía Salinas. The Jesuits initially discovered the area accidentally in 1698 when establishing the mission in Loreto.
Salt extraction was crucial to the economic growth of Baja California Sur. The abundance and superior quality of Isla del Carmen salt was recognized by seventeenth century clerics. Miguel del Barco called the salinas of Isla Carmen “inexhaustible”.
Salt was exported during most of the nineteenth century, yet it was not until the 1870s that it was industrially exploited. Santiago Viosca, the United States consul stationed at La Paz, established saltworks on the southeast side of Carmen Island, employing 140 persons year-round. For many decades a commercial salt operation included houses for the staff, as well as a school, cemetery, sports facilities, workshops, warehouses, a fuel and oil facility, and a church. The salt mine also incorporated a small railroad and two stone buildings; one served as the office, the other for machinery storage. Salt had industrial applications in silver mining and served as ballast for sailing vessels.
On April 2, 1911, Charles H. Townsend voyaged to Isla Carmen and reported:
The salt deposit of Carmen Island is a lake of snow-white salt nearly two miles long and a mile wide. The surface salt is dissolved during the annual rainy season and after re-crystallizing forms new supplies … [it] appears to be inexhaustible and only about one-tenth of the lake surface has ever been worked … about sixty tons of salt [is] piled up … [and] As much as 35,000 tons have been shipped in one year, but much more could be supplied if demanded. Its purity is such that it requires no refinement. This salt deposit has been worked commercially for about fifty years … The salt lake has no connection with the sea. The deposit of salt is known to be at least 15 feet in depth [Townsend 1916:424–425].
Although part of the bigger National Park, today parts of the island are privately owned by a subsidiary of a large company called Grupo Vitro that specializes in glass products. Grupo Vitro bought the island in 1944 for the salt it needed to produce glass. The salt mines closed in 1984 due to declining extraction rates and salt quality. But, have no fear, the owners found a more lucrative use for the island! In 1995 and 1996, bighorn sheep were introduced to the island and corporate executives now pay $58,000 – $74,000 (depending on the size of the sheep) for a permit to kill a bighorn. There are now about 500 sheep on the island. This part of the island is private property, and because of the hunting, public access to the island is limited to the beaches and camping areas. Permits are required to enter the interior of the island even though the bulk of the island is not privately owned.
Our Capitan’s father had worked here many years ago and he had lived and went to school at there as a child so he went ashore to see if it would be okay to enter. With permission granted, we climbed out of our panga to take a look around and crawl through some of the older buildings, left to the elements over the years of abandonment. At one time there was around 100 people that lived and worked the mine. The mining of the salt flats ceased operation in 1984. The Guerro Negro salt flats opened up at this time and it became too costly to transport the salt from the island. All the equipment and buildings were simply abandoned on the island. Walking throughout the area was like stepping back in time.
“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen
About a half mile or so inland from the mines remaining buildings you can find the salt ponds themselves. This time of year they are a beautiful pink color with the salt still creating interesting shapes and an interesting ground under my bare feet. On the recommendation of a Baja friend (Sara) I walked out into one of the ponds and lay down in the salty water. Although not very deep, it was deep enough to fully submerge in the extremely buoyant salt water. What an incredible feeling floating in that salty realm – and when emerging from the water the salt remaining on my skin was an awesome feeling. Special thanks to our captain Tony for making the day extra special.
Baja is unique in that the desert and the ocean share a space – creating opportunities for recreation, photography, relaxation and reflection.
“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ― Christopher McCandless
Night photography opportunities are endless (for that matter day photography too is awesome!). As are the recreational and wildlife viewing possibilities.
The sunrise over Loreto Bay and the Sea of Cortez creates amazing landscapes every morning for those willing to get up early and wander down to the Malecon to walk along the water. November is a beautiful time to visit as the air temperatures are starting to cool down and the water is still warm.
I have said it before – Visit Loreto, you will not regret it.
“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” ― Pascal Mercier
Looks like a wonderful trip and place to visit – I’ll certainly put it on my list!
Hi there. My husband and myself sat next to you on the flight down to Loreto and I finally had a chance to read your blog. Love the article and look forward to checking out some new places the next time we head down.
Can’t wait to hear about your next adventure.
-Megan