Rose Brooks

Episode 468 – Loreto, Mexico

Loreto, like Cabo and La Paz, is in California – just not the U.S. state of California. Instead, we’re on the Gulf of California (also not in the U.S. state), and in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur.

We did not book an excursion in Loreto; I’d originally planned just to stay on board as we did in Cabo, but a friend highly recommended going into town, so we boarded a tender and headed ashore.

The Koningsdam was the only ship in port, and with folks going ashore “on demand” in 120-person tenders the town felt very uncrowded.

Our tenders docked over by the lighthouse.

In fact, other than shop owners, there seemed to be no-one around except our fellow passengers and a LOT of birds: pelicans of various colours, egrets, cormorants, and even a booby!

Cormorants are incredibly fast divers, but need to come up on land to “dry off” since their feathers are not waterproof! (seems like a design flaw on a water fowl, no?)
Our first booby sighting of this cruise, and not a blue-footed one. We hope to see many more once we’re out in the Pacific.

Loreto is eminently walkable, which is something Ted and I really appreciate.

The city was founded in 1697, when Juan María de Salvatierra founded Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, and it is that mission and the adjacent cathedral that were our main goal for exploration. If 1697 sounds old, by comparison the cathedral in Mérida was completed in 1598 (the oldest cathedral to be completed in the continental Western Hemisphere Episode 395).

In Salvatierra Square across from the cathedral is a bronze diorama depicting the Jesuit bringing bibles and rosaries to the indigenous people of what is now Baja California Sur.

While historically significant as “the head and mother of Californian missions”, the building with its striking (no pun intended) bell towers is much like the missions we toured in San Antonio, and not at all what we’d normally associate with the term “cathedral”. Christmas decorations were just being taken down, and hay from the nativity scene being swept up as we visited.

The altar, and a statue of Maria Dolorosa (Mary dressed in mourning black)

The highlight of our visit to Loreto was the folkloric presentation in the town square, featuring local dancers, singers, and musicians. It was an unexpected treat.

Like La Paz, Loreto has a waterfront promenade, although it is much less developed; ongoing construction led us to believe it is being expanded to be more of a tourist destination.

Notice our ship in the background.

Before taking the tender back to the ship, we enjoyed strolling the stone pier that curves out into the Gulf of California, and features a beautiful bronze sculpture of sea lions.

Too bad we weren’t the right time of year for live sea lions!

We were back on board the ship just after noon for lunch (there having been NO helado in Loreto!), and spent a relaxing afternoon on our balcony enjoying the warm breezes while reading and blogging until it was time for pre-dinner drinks.

My flank steak with chimichurri (top left) was delicious, but Ted’s New York strip was less of a success. The meal’s big hit was the arroz con leche (Mexican rice pudding) with raisins, walnuts, and whipped cream.

Tonight’s after-dinner show was Comedian Alycia Cooper. Stand-up really isn’t our thing, but we gave it a try nonetheless. Verdict: not bad, but didn’t really change our minds about stand-up.

This is our last port of call before returning to San Diego to begin the Hawaiian leg of our cruise. We’ll try to keep busy on the upcoming sea days.

2 comments

  1. Too bad we won’t be in Hawai’i at the same time. It’s our first real stop on the Viking Sky’s World Cruise. We land there on Saturday. If you haven’t discovered it yet and like Indian food, I highly recommend checking out the Indian Menu onboard HAL ships. Typically, ask for it in the Main Dining Room for the next night and after looking it over tell them whether you it want the following evening. They will also have a copy of the regular menu, this gave us the chance to mix and match appetizers and entrees from both.

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