Sea Kayaking Baja, MexicoRead Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature with photos at: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/kayak/baja/baja.html
Eight days, two notebooks, three camcorder batteries. Would they be enough?
"Bienvenidos a Mexico!"
sign at Loreto Airport announced.
Balmy air wafted into open-air room under lovely "palapa" roof made from fan palms fronds. I wondered why there was a ceiling fan turning at exactly 12 r.p.m. above my head. At that point I was in "vacation mode," measuring time by number of trips my duffel bag made around nearby carousel as I waited for a new stamp in my passport.
I had arrived for a weeklong "Islands Expedition" in Sea of Cortez, offered by Sea Kayak Adventures, Inc.
Owners Terry Prichard and Nancy Mertz have been running trips here since 1993, and their experience shows in organized schedule and thorough pre-departure information provided to guests. They offer three other paddling trips here as well: an exploration of sheltered lagoons along Pacific coast of Baja Peninsula, a strenuous twelve-day circumnavigation of Isla Carmen (the largest of three islands east of Loreto), and, upon demand, a custom paddling trip from Loreto to La Paz. SKA also arranges a special one-day whale-watching tour, which seven of nine people in our group would be taking tomorrow. Whale activity is at its peak in late winter as Gray Whales calve, breed, and prepare to migrate north.
"You can't get lost in Loreto," said Judy, tour guide who fetched our group at airport and delivered us to Hacienda Suites Hotel. A good starting point for sightseeing,she said, is famous mission - first in all Californias. Another guest and I strolled down Avenida Salvatierra, named for Jesuit padre who founded mission in 1697, until we saw bell tower rising above rooftops in late afternoon sun. The old clock on tower, not original equipment, is correct twice each day at about 10:30. Oh well - rest of place is still very much in use. Mass is held in chapel, and storehouse building next door is now Museum of Missions.
We didn't exactly get lost, but after deciding to take a different route back to hotel, we couldn't find our desired street. We saw a bit of town, though, ending up on Loreto's waterfront street, with its broad walkway and shops and restaurants. Loreto is a city of over ten thousand people, but it feels smaller and very friendly. It would be much larger today if not for European diseases that killed off very people missionaries were trying so hard to help. Despite its sleepy, laid-back ambiance, Loreto contains two modern surprises. First, it has become a major tourism hub for kayakers and R.V. tourists. Dollars are widely accepted at a current rate of about ten pesos per dollar. Second, town has several internet cafés. In fact, whole Baja Peninsula is wired with fiber-optic lines for modern communications. I utilized internet café, but I never turned on television in my hotel room.
