Fun in Loreto

We recently anchored for one week off of Loreto while our good friends and close neighbors Larry and  Penny came to Mexico to see what this cruising was all about.  They have been watching our home for the last three years while we have been sailing blissfully along not worrying about sprinklers that didn't work or ant invasions.  They had been picking up our mail on a regular basis and after being home for just one week this spring I was amazed to see everything that accumulated in mailbox.

We take all the precautions necessary when traveling back and forth to the boat.  Computers in dry bags fitting tightly around our shoulders, provisions in special bags and most importantly holding on to the dingy with two hands.   Well, when we get out of the launch area we will be holding on with two hands hopefully

The Produce at the Sunday market was great!  I had been to the local grocery store  the day before and could not buy anything as it looks to be very old but this was wonderful.  So for less than $10 I got my lettuce, asparagus, lots of peppers and even a handful to tomatoes.  I am still enjoying my purchases from that trip 

The last day of their visit we hired a wonderful cab driver who took us to all the local hot spots.
We did a drive up the coast a bit to look at the fronts on the beautiful homes we had only seen from the shore.  No excursions would be complete without stop stopping at Puerto Escondido which they had heard so much about. We also went down to Candeleros for a quick tour around the property before stopping for lunch at Vista Del Mar

Penny finally got close enough to the water!  She just loves hunting for creatures along shore just to see what she can find.  This day we came up with chocolate clams!  We didn't take any back to the restaurant for cooking but they were certainly abundant enough at that location.

We were told that this was the oldest cactus in the Loreto area, reportedly over 300 years old.  I am not sure how it survived all the hurricanes and drought years but it is looking very healthy

We are not sure how old this tree is but it has passed the test of time too!!!  It's roots grow right out of the rocks and back in trying to find water.  It is right above a river bed so water is present parts of the year but certainly not all the time.

The highlight of their trip was the tour we took of the San Javier Mission located in the hills above Loreto.  It was originally founded by the Jesuit missionary Francisco Maria Piccolo in 1699.  It was to become the first mission on the Baja Peninsula that later included all the missions up into California.  San Javier was located near a water source that allowed them to build dams and aquaducts while all the stone work was brought up into the mountains from the Pacific side of Baja