Loreto, Baja California
Our afternoon was devoted to exploring the historic town of Loreto, the first permanent European settlement in the Californias. Pictured above is the façade of the old Spanish mission, Nuestra Senora de Loreto, founded by Padre Juan Maria de Salvatierra in 1697. On the right is a bust of this venerable old Jesuit missionary whose unflagging zeal was critical to the success of the Spanish colonial enterprise on this far rim of empire. The inscription above the mission doorway proudly proclaims it to be "The Head and Mother of the Missions of Lower and Upper California." The claim is well justified. It was in Loreto that all the other missions of the Californians had their beginnings. Under Franciscan direction the mission chain of Baja later expanded to San Diego, Santa Barbara, Carmel, and northward to San Francisco. Stepping through that doorway into the cool half-light of the interior was like entering a lost world of faith and devotion.
Earlier in the day we navigated our way through the offshore waters and canyons of Arroyo Rojo on Isla Carmen. We learned that this island was a sacred place for the native Pericu Indians; they believed that it was here that the souls of the departed traveled after death. At Carmen we put our kayaks in the water for the first time and soon were floating along the craggy coast, nipping into the dark and mysterious inner reaches of caves that we liked to imagine were "pirate caves." We also explored the island on leisure, moderate, and long hikes through the red-rock canyons of the arroyo. The surprisingly lush vegetation along the way included several blooming datura plants, famed for their hallucinogenic properties and used ritually by native people in spirit quests. Twisted ironwood trees, prized by native woodcarvers, lined the base of the canyon walls. Some of us reached far inland, hoisting ourselves through narrow chimneys of smoothed stones as canyon wrens and white-winged doves serenaded us from above.
The day began as the early risers out on deck witnessed the simultaneous rising of the sun in a brilliant scarlet sky to the east and the setting of the (nearly) full moon over the serrated peaks of the Sierra Giganta range to the west. What a glorious omen for another spectacular day in the Sea of Cortez.
Our afternoon was devoted to exploring the historic town of Loreto, the first permanent European settlement in the Californias. Pictured above is the façade of the old Spanish mission, Nuestra Senora de Loreto, founded by Padre Juan Maria de Salvatierra in 1697. On the right is a bust of this venerable old Jesuit missionary whose unflagging zeal was critical to the success of the Spanish colonial enterprise on this far rim of empire. The inscription above the mission doorway proudly proclaims it to be "The Head and Mother of the Missions of Lower and Upper California." The claim is well justified. It was in Loreto that all the other missions of the Californians had their beginnings. Under Franciscan direction the mission chain of Baja later expanded to San Diego, Santa Barbara, Carmel, and northward to San Francisco. Stepping through that doorway into the cool half-light of the interior was like entering a lost world of faith and devotion.
Earlier in the day we navigated our way through the offshore waters and canyons of Arroyo Rojo on Isla Carmen. We learned that this island was a sacred place for the native Pericu Indians; they believed that it was here that the souls of the departed traveled after death. At Carmen we put our kayaks in the water for the first time and soon were floating along the craggy coast, nipping into the dark and mysterious inner reaches of caves that we liked to imagine were "pirate caves." We also explored the island on leisure, moderate, and long hikes through the red-rock canyons of the arroyo. The surprisingly lush vegetation along the way included several blooming datura plants, famed for their hallucinogenic properties and used ritually by native people in spirit quests. Twisted ironwood trees, prized by native woodcarvers, lined the base of the canyon walls. Some of us reached far inland, hoisting ourselves through narrow chimneys of smoothed stones as canyon wrens and white-winged doves serenaded us from above.
The day began as the early risers out on deck witnessed the simultaneous rising of the sun in a brilliant scarlet sky to the east and the setting of the (nearly) full moon over the serrated peaks of the Sierra Giganta range to the west. What a glorious omen for another spectacular day in the Sea of Cortez.