0071 3rd Aug - Loreto to Todos Santos

I tried to sleep in a little while it was still cool, but by about 7.30 it was already hot, and I had no choice but to get up and get moving.  By the time I was packed up, I was wringing, and even after I had my shower, it was impossible to get dry !  But at least I was clean after a couple of nights sleeping on beaches !!  But it was a major relief to get into Troopie and turn the a/c on !  In fact, for the first time on almost the entire trip, I even forgot to take any photos of the camp site – I just wanted to get in and get the a/c on !!

First I went back down to the esplanade for a walk around and to see what I could see – Very pleasant, but quite quiet on a hot Sunday morning. I went for a walk around the harbour where pelicans were diving from the sky straight into the water to catch fish – They make quite a big splash !  Out on the end of the breakwater near a sea lion bronze statue I saw a sea bird with bright blue feet !  The only bird I ever heard of with blue feet was called a Blue Footed Booby, or something – I wonder if this was one of them ?  Sadly as I took his photo to show his blue feet I noticed he had fishing line around his beak – You can see it in the photos.   I hope he survives ok. 

The Bahia de Loreto is not only famous for its fishing, but also the marine park has a number of islands as well as diverse marine sea life.  I understand that in season (ie when it is cooler) many people go out and camp and hike out on these islands, studying or just viewing the wildlife.

Then it was into the car, a/c on, and head south, and then back over to the west side of Baja.  Going down the coast from Loreto, we went straight into a little pass connecting bays – And got stopped due to road works !! Everyone was getting out of their cars to sit in the shade of the rocks, and in front of me was a BMW bike with Florida plates that I had seen and waved at yesterday.  The rider was leaning on the rocks in the shade, so I went over and had a chat – Rob, and ex teacher of special needs kids who now has a surfing school in Florida !!  That would explain the surfboard strapped to his bike.   Nice chatting to him – First good conversation I have had since coming into Baja as not many tourists on the road at present.  Rob had ice inside his leathers to keep him cool on the road, so was standing there dripping while it melted !!!  After about half an hour, we finally got moving – Turned out they are widening the cliff edge road and the delay was because they are literally moving the side off a mountain, so no vehicles could get through while they were pushing the mountainside down !

As we crossed back to the western side, we had a great road over the Sierra de la Giganta mountains – The surface was so new and smooth it would have been a perfect Elise road !  From there on, it was pretty hot, straight and boring all the way down to La Paz.  The road is not very wide either, so you really have to keep your wits around you all the time with passing traffic, as there is no run off to the sides of the road in case of need – Just a big drop, most of the time.  Ciudad Constitucion in the middle was a big place, and I think must also hold the record for the most Alto signs so far.   And in just one place, for only about 100 yards, there was something on the electrical wires that I couldn’t work out – In the end, it looked like some kind of growth or weed – Really odd.   It certainly wasn’t something kids had thrown up there !

Eventually there was one more pass down onto the La Paz plain, and then about 30 miles of rough dirt road where they were doing road works all the way into La Paz!  Still being hot, I decided to do the loop around the bottom of Baja over the next couple of days in an anti clockwise direction, mainly in the hope that it will be cooler on the Pacific Ocean side.  So tonight I am in Todos Santos which looks like a really neat little place.  So in a so-so campsite tonight and will go explore, and hopefully find an internet café tomorrow morning.  It is cooler, but no exactly cold as I get ready to turn in !

Pics here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0072LoretoToLaPaz?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHgs9CchfSUTQ#