Asuncion to Mulege to Loreto

We are on the last few days on the southbound Baja section of our trip. Our route today took us from the Pacific coast to the Gulf coast. The destination is Mulege (moo-la-hey). We camped in Mulege on our trip with Dave and Jen 5 years ago, in an old date palm orchard along the river. Two major storms and associated flooding have been destructive forces. The campground we stayed in, is a mass of tangled palms. The buildings and house associated with camp have been destroyed. Mulege has not yet recovered from these events.

This time we stayed at Hotel Mulege on the main street as you enter town. It was a reasonable, clean, inexpensive hotel close to some nice restaurants.  Prices have risen since we last on the Baja but it is still reasonably priced.  The beaches south of Mulege, along Bahia Concepcion, are spectacular. It is great camping and kayaking area. Unfortunately a bad battery connection on my bike cam resulted in no pictures today.

Might these cactus have been the inspiration for Dr Seuss's artwork?

San Ingacio church

About 100 k north-west of Mulege an oasis appears in the desert. Suddenly there is a town filled with date palms. The town is San Ignacio. This town is well worth stopping to visit. There is a beautiful plaza in the town centre where we stopped for lunch.

We have been making a point of speaking Spanish and everyone has been very gracious. On the Baja you can get by very well with English. Most people in the tourism businesses can speak at least some English. 

It is only 130K from Mulege to Loreto. Loreto has developed quite a bit in the last 5 years. It is now bigger than Mulege and more attractive. There is an airport here and you can fly in directly from the US. Eco tourism, diving and kayak tours to the nearby islands are the popular events.

We decided to stay at a really nice hotel in the centre of Mulege. ...Posada Flores. We saw it on the last trip. It is a bit pricey but there was a low season special so we decide to stay. I must say that the roof top garden / bar and pool was very nice. The pool has a glass bottom and is the "window" to the courtyard of the hotel.

Hotel Courtyard with pool above.

After breakfast we are heading to La Paz...