Loreto Hotels
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Days One Eighty-One through One Eighty-Three
Entry 80 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
Posada San Martin for N$250 per noche,
From Mexico Highway One, Loreto is an unimpressive wide spot in the road with a few llanteras and what appear to be mostly dirt roads. However, once you turn off the highway this community of 10,000, the earliest of Baja settlements dating to the late seventeenth century, is charming and clean as Baja towns go. There is a beautiful plaza, Plaza Salvatierra, in the center of town surrounded by the upscale Posada de los Flores (Inn of the Flowers), restaurants, shops and a Bancomer complete with cajero automatico (ATM). The malecon or boardwalk along the Mar de Cortez is spartan but pleasant. Just as my Spanish skills are starting to improve, most of the locals speak at least some English but unfortunately, as in tourist areas everywhere, the people who earn their living from tourists seem to be the least patient and least tolerant of tourists.
Kudzu and I are staying a few nights at the Posada San Martin on Calle Benito Jaurez (every Baja town has a Calle Benito Jaurez named after Mexico's first president). We wanted to stay next door at the Iguana Inn just because of the cool name but they only have three rooms and the hand painted "No hay cuarto" sign was hanging across the gate. Our very basic room is a little run down (peeling plaster, threadbare curtains and bedspread, plus a hole in the bathroom basin), but we have a private bath with hot water and everything is exceptionally clean all for only N$250.00 per noche or about $22.50USD. Cuarto seis, our room, opens onto a pleasant shaded common terrace with a few rocking chairs and several friendly cats. Desayuno or breakfast of fresh fruit, croissant, and coffee is included in the price. The young Mexican woman who operates the Posada is leasing it from the owner and fixing up one room at a time as the pesos come in. She's very friendly and keeps everything clean. She also operates a panaderia where desayuno is served and bakes the best pan dulce and croissants I've ever tasted. I hope the business is successful for her. She says the summer season is too hot for most tourists and it may be difficult to continue paying the lease.
In addition to leisurely walks along the malecon and delicious meals of tacos de pescado y cerveza fria, the main attractions in Loreto are the Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto, the first mission established in Baja in 1697, and the Museo de los Misiones next door which traces the history of the missions in Baja as well as their native converts. Loreto is a sleepy little town shaded by thousands of date and fan palms; a perfect place for relaxing with a good book and a cold beer. It's also the only place I've found so far in Baja that accommodates my daily runs without having to dodge tractor trailers, stray dogs, and choking dust.
On our last night in Loreto, Zoobley and I met a friendly young couple from Alabama, the first fellow Southerners we have encountered in Baja. They claimed to know immediately that I was from the South when I greeted them with a "Hey" instead of "Hello". The man is at the end of four years of intermitent World travel between college and law school and his girlfriend, who works with autistic children, meets him in various locations for shorter adventures. They are headed north tomorrow also so Zoobley and I may run in to them again at EcoMundo near Mulege.
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