Isla Coronados & Loreto
This morning we watched a beautiful sunrise just as we entered the waters of the Bahía Loreto Marine Park. The park contains five islands: Monserrate, Danzante, del Carmen, Coronados and Catalina, and were established as a national marine park in 1996, by Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. We knew that each island possessed its own wonderment after our previous visits to Islas Catalina and Danzante, so today we opted to explore Isla Coronados. The dominant feature of this island is the Holocene volcano on the east end. The lower slopes are reddish lava rubble, with ancient marine sediments and fossilized shells just up from the existing beach.
After spending our previous day at sea, we were all excited to go ashore and explore a new island, as well as to stretch our legs. We found white sand beach fringing turquoise bays, palo adan trees tipped with fiery red blossoms, and a few bright yellow composite flowers dotting the lower slopes. Some hikers returned to the beach mid-morning, and took kayaks out to explore the shoreline.
In the mid-afternoon, we set out to explore Loreto, one of the oldest towns on the Baja California peninsula. Some folks walked down to the small boat harbor, to search for diving pelicans, while others spotted peninsular birds like hooded orioles and phainopeplas. As the afternoon progressed, many of us found our way to the local Neveria, for some delicious ice cream. Late afternoon light on the mission’s church tower drew photographers back to the main square, looking for creative angles and fresh approaches to taking pictures of this Baja California icon.
This morning we watched a beautiful sunrise just as we entered the waters of the Bahía Loreto Marine Park. The park contains five islands: Monserrate, Danzante, del Carmen, Coronados and Catalina, and were established as a national marine park in 1996, by Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. We knew that each island possessed its own wonderment after our previous visits to Islas Catalina and Danzante, so today we opted to explore Isla Coronados. The dominant feature of this island is the Holocene volcano on the east end. The lower slopes are reddish lava rubble, with ancient marine sediments and fossilized shells just up from the existing beach.
After spending our previous day at sea, we were all excited to go ashore and explore a new island, as well as to stretch our legs. We found white sand beach fringing turquoise bays, palo adan trees tipped with fiery red blossoms, and a few bright yellow composite flowers dotting the lower slopes. Some hikers returned to the beach mid-morning, and took kayaks out to explore the shoreline.
In the mid-afternoon, we set out to explore Loreto, one of the oldest towns on the Baja California peninsula. Some folks walked down to the small boat harbor, to search for diving pelicans, while others spotted peninsular birds like hooded orioles and phainopeplas. As the afternoon progressed, many of us found our way to the local Neveria, for some delicious ice cream. Late afternoon light on the mission’s church tower drew photographers back to the main square, looking for creative angles and fresh approaches to taking pictures of this Baja California icon.
