We began our day with an early morning landing at Isla Santa Catalina, one of the most beautifully vegetated islands in the gulf. Here we wandered among immense cardon cactus, the unusual giant barrel cactus, and innumerable other cactus species. In the early dawn hours as we wandered up the sandy desert arroyo, many birds were singing or flitting to the tops of the tall cardons to visit the pale, cream-colored blossoms that dotted the tops of these stately cacti. One of the most dramatic bird species seen was the northern cardinal, familiar to many of us from more temperate climates, it is also a denizen of the dry deserts of Baja. We returned to the ship for a midmorning brunch as the ship lifted anchor and headed westward towards Puerto Escondido several hours to the west. Soon a group of bottlenose dolphins was escorting us along the way. The ship docked at Puerto Escondido where motor coaches were waiting to take us to the historic town of Loreto, a twenty-minute ride to the north. Loreto is famous for being the site of the very first mission of all the Californias. In 1697 Juan Maria Salvatierra, a Jesuit priest, established the mission at Loreto as the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Californias. The other famous missions of Baja and Alta California were founded thereafter. (In Spanish, “Alta” means high or upper and designates the California of the present day U.S. whereas “Baja,” meaning lower, is the Baja California peninsula where we are traveling.) For over a hundred years Loreto served as the capital of the region, until a hurricane destroyed most of the town in 1829. The beautifully restored mission, framed here by blossoming bougainvillea, still stands as the focal point of this modest town.