Visit to Loreto and FM3

We took yesterday off to play tourist.

At 7 AM we met Larry at the Dollar car rental and soon we were on our way to the Loreto area in a rented small VW sedan.  Not far from La Paz we passed through a checkpoint manned by the army where all vehicles moving both ways are checked.  Items of interest include drugs headed north and firearms headed south.  We had a pleasant lunch at Ciudad Constitucion roughly half way to Loreto.  This is an area where French interests made huge agricultural investments to exploit an aquifer that they had discovered in the area.  That section of the desert bloomed with all sorts of crops.

The road between La Paz and Loreto was outstanding: fairly new with a superb surface and extremely well marked with all of the safety features.  The second half of the journey was particularly interesting as the road snaked through the rugged hills, emerging at the other end with a good view of Puerto Escondido, an anchorage for boats visiting the Loreto area.

Before reaching Loreto we turned left and took a road back up into the hills to San Javier Mission, founded in the late 17th century (http://bajaquest.com/sidetrips/sidetrip01.htm).  The road to San Javier used to be little more than a goat track - so bad that travellers used the river bed for several kilometers before being forced onto the road.  Fortunately the Mexican government is 2/3 of the way to building a modern paved road to the mission, so we were spared the worst of the rough roads.

We were travelling into the really remote parts of Baja California, where according to Larry life is much as it was 200 years ago with no electricity, children not being able to get to school, and someone always tending to the herd of goats.  Along the way we came across two men travelling by horse, because horses, donkeys and mules are still the backbone of transportation in these areas.  Larry asked them for permission for me to photograph them and I was able to take the accompanying photo. You are looking at the real thing - no tourist show or weekend hobby.  The lighting conditions were extremely harsh, with a mixture of bright noontime sun and shadow, so forgive any deficiencies in the quality of the photograph.

Soon we came to a surprise.  Deep into these dry sunburnt hills that haven't seen rain since last November we came across a flowing river.  The seasonal water percolates through the rock for months providing this lifeline to man, beast, and flora.  We drove on and were soon at the San Javier Mission, nothing less than an oasis of humanity in these harsh hills that remind me of the Pilbara region of northwest Western Australia.

Larry told us that in the 17th century the local Indians had put in a lot of work preparing for the priest that they expected.  They built a stone church, water reservoir the size of an Olympic pool, stone fencing, etc.  But the priest that was sent to found the new mission must have gotten tired of the travel because he stopped one day and declared that this is where the mission would be.  The poor Indians had to abandon their hard work and travel to the site of the new mission and start again.

Larry had a fairly deep connection to the area because he had lived with and helped over several years one of the local families.  The father had died and the mother was in a nearby town but he was able to find one of the daughters and see her young sons for the first time.  He then went to the police station to be reunited with her husband Jose.  By then Brenda and I had finished walking tour of the town and Larry found me at the cafe having a cold beer (of course) and introduced me to Jose.  They settled down with Coca Colas and we had a nice chat.

We then drove back down to the coast and did a car tour of Loreto, with its good beaches and good views of Coronado and El  Carmen islands.  We then parked the car, visited the church consecrated in 1697, and had dinner - well, some of us did.  Brenda and I had fish tacos but Larry was not hungry.  (No wonder he is so slim.)

We then made the long drive back to La Paz, having a fuel scare when a gas station that Larry expected was not there and the gauge did not fall in a linear manner.  We wound up purchasing 4 liters of gasoline from a private house in a small town and filled the tank at Ciudad Constitucion.

Brenda and I arrived back at the hotel at midnight tired but happy for the experience.

At 9 AM I was back at the boat to find Neil and Joel discussing the project.  Neil said that everything is going well.  I asked how many layers of fiberglass have been laid down and just them Salome showed up and confirmed that he had laid on 2 layers.  I went into the boat to get a fresh shirt and showed Salome the two gauges that he could use to confirm my measurements when he cut the holes in the instrument panel.  I then headed for Eco Naviera and ran into Neil and Joel again where we engaged in a discussion of the bolts that would be used on the steel angle iron.  Even what looks like a simple thing like putting in bolts needs planning to avoid difficulties with fitting and clearance.  They had done their work well and discussed the traps and workarounds with me.

I then walked over to Eco Naviera and met - Ricardo, I think - and soon we were on our way to the immigration office.  I made about six signatures the 5 minutes later gave prints of both thumbs.  Ten minutes after that I had my FM3 card.  I am now a temporary non-immigrant resident of Mexico for a period of one year, renewable for up to another 4 years.  The FM3 card (http://www.mexperience.com/liveandwork/immigration.htm) entitles me to "basic" hospital care.  "You mean like a broken arm?" I asked Ricardo. He responded that yes, precisely that sort of thing.

Afterward I dropped by the morning coffee group and showed them my card in which there was considerable interest because it is a new style of card.  Then I went by the boat where Salome was going full pelt with his fiberglass work and didn't need interruptions from me, so I walked back to the apartment, opened the door to see a tidy and cool place, turned on the air conditioner, then cracked a beer feeling pretty good about how everything is going.