Baja California Tour Module

1st day Arrival in La Paz:

Arrival in La Paz, the southern capital of the Mexican desert peninsula, "Baja California". Our English-speaking representative will welcome you at the airport and help you with the taxi transfer to the group hotel, where you can take a rest from the strenuous journey. The surroundings of the hotel offer you a great view of the bay of La Paz. The most Mexican place of Baja is a restful city and famous for its picturesque sunsets. When you take a walk through the city, shaded by the coconut and laurel trees, smelling the fragrances of acacias, rosewood and royal Poinciana´s in spring and fanned by the coromuel, the steady mild breeze, you will sense the agreeable ease of this place. We recommend you to take a taxi and make a brief excursion into the city on your own if you have arrived in La Paz early. Just stroll the waterfront promenade, the Malecón, and visit the plaza with the cathedral and its pink-coloured bell towers. Once back to the hotel, you meet your tour guide and your fellow travellers in the lobby at 5 p.m. to get to know each other. At the end of the day, you should enjoy the view over the wide bay of La Paz.

2nd day La Paz - López Mateos - Loreto:

We leave La Paz early for Loreto. On our way, we cross the reddish-brown slopes of the Sierra de la Giganta. Our first stop is the port of López Mateos to watch the American gray whales. The boat trip to the huge marine mammals, which can be nearly 60 ft (18 m) long, is an unforgettable experience. The mighty animals with their newborn offspring are peaceable and curious - they often approach the whale-watchers´boats close enough to be touched.
We arrive in Loreto, the first capital of Baja California, late in the afternoon. The rest of the day is free, and you can stroll in the town with its tropical flair, enjoy the view over the Gulf of California, or float on its waves in one of the many fishing-boats.

3 rd day Loreto - Bahía Concepción & Santa Rosalía - San Ignacio

We take a look at the islands off Loreto and will then be heading north. In the valley of giant cardóns, we walk a bit among the highest columnar cacti of southern Baja. One hour later, the Gulf of California, also called Sea of Cortes, becomes visible again. The richness of species in this arm of the Pacific is among the highest worldwide, and most of its area is protected as a biosphere reserve. Whales, dolphins, seals, more than 300 fish species, and many species of birds live around and in the gulf, benefiting from its warm temperature, protection, and richness in nutrients. The sunup´s and sundown´s on this coast are among the wonderful experiences in Baja.

You finally reach the beaches of picturesque Bahía Concepción. Steep cliffs rise from the turquoise sea, and beaches of fine sand in small inlets invite you to take a walk closest to the sea. We have our noon rest here, and you can take the opportunity to swim. Where fresh water flows into the sea and mixes with salt water, red mangroves grow in shallow places and offer nesting for many sea and wading birds such as blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, and egrets. We soon reach the adventure-laden town of Santa Rosalía. A French mining company founded the village about 1885 to win copper. When you see the old buildings with its wooden balconies and wide verandas on the "Mesa Francesa", you feel taken back in time to colonial France. The French even erected a church of prefabricated metal parts: Originally designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World Exhibition, it was shipped to Mexico after an odyssey that had even touched Africa. After you have visited the town history museum and strolled the narrow streets to see Eiffel?s church, the Hotel Francés and the French bakery with its old, but still operative ovens, our way leads us from the coast about one hour inland to the desert of the volcanic plateau. Late in the afternoon or in the evening, we arrive in San Ignacio, where you will spend four nights.

4th day San Ignacio - Laguna San Ignacio - San Ignacio:

After the dry and inhospitable desert, the green palm oasis of San Ignacio will make you think of a fata morgana. More than 80.000 date palms, fig and orange trees thrive on a river that rises to the surface only here. The place is situated in a crater full of lava - an inviting village, which the Jesuits founded as a mission in 1728 to convert the Cochimí Indians. The village features many old adobe houses. The shaded plaza is dominated by the impressive mission church - with its baroque facade one of the most splendid colonial buildings in Baja.

You start for your second whale-watching tour early in the morning. The way to the Laguna San Ignacio includes unsurfaced roads and passages through dry riverbeds. The pangas (swift motorboats) take you out on the lagoon in the morning - the best time to observe the whales leaping and playing. Your excursion to the lagoon takes about 1.5 hours and, depending on the weather, may well be wet and exhausting, but it is a real must for anyone loving whales. After the boat has taken you back, a warm lunch is ready for you in the whale-watchers´ camp. The lagoon is one of only three bays where the American gray whales mate in winter and give birth to their calves. As the lagoon is very shallow, you will often be able to have a very close look at up to 50 whales during one tour. Once the calves have been born and the mating period is over, the whales become unafraid and often search for contact with people. With memories of outstanding experiences, you return to San Ignacio late in the afternoon. If there is enough time left, we will visit the museum of the rock paintings in the Sierra San Francisco this very afternoon (else the next morning); this is a good preparation for our next day's trip.

5th day San Ignacio - Sierra San Francisco - San Ignacio:

The visit to the Sierra San Francisco, 40 miles (65 km) from San Ignacio, is really something to look forward to. We slowly rise from the Pacific plain to the rugged mountains. The way alone is of breathtaking beauty; the diversity of cactus species is incredible. As we are rising higher and higher, endemic plants that usually occur only in Northern Baja begin to show up - such as Idria columnaris and the Mexican blue palm. Our short walks offer fascinating views into the canyons of the surrounding sierra; with good visibility conditions, you may even glimpse the Gulf of California. This landscape is the right place for a picnic. From here, you can explore a small portion of the famous Indian rock paintings that the Cochimí Indians created many hundred years ago. The paintings of the Cueva del Ráton show deer, human figures, birds, and fish in representations larger than life. Although the paintings date back more than 500 years, they still impress the spectator by their sharp contours. The UNESCO has meanwhile protected the intensely red- and black-coloured "artworks and messages" by including them into the "World Heritage List" - at one level with the caves of Lascaux in France. Return to San Ignacio in the late afternoon.

6th day San Ignacio - Guerrero Negro - San Ignacio:

You enjoy the sunrise in the oasis of San Ignacio. Today´s excursion leads us to the Desierto de Vizcaíno, a desert region farther north. Guerrero Negro is the starting point, in the morning, for our third whale-watching tour; it takes us to the UNESCO World Heritage Site El Vizcaíno Whale Sanctuary. The gray whales in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon are very active, and the bulls like to engage in contests in the agitated water of the Pacific. On our way to Guerrero Negro, we find ourselves in a surreal landscape with unusual vegetation. The cirios, typical plants of Baja, look like gigantic carrots turned upside down and can be up to 500 years old. Huge cardón cacti (succulent plants, which absorb up to 400 liters (about 850 pints) of water after rains) defy the harsh desert conditions. Either plant can grow up to 65 ft (20 m) high and is endemic of Baja, i.e. occurs only here. The Desierto de Vizcaíno is part of one of the most remarkable ecosystems in the world - a tidbit for all nature-loving people and photographers. Short stop at the sand dunes of Guerrero Negro for our little picnic. In the afternoon, we visit the greatest salt manufacturing plant in the world with its bizarre landscape of white salt. A bit of good luck and you will be able to spy the national bird of Mexico, the majestic caracara sea eagle. Return to San Ignacio in the evening.

7th day San Ignacio - Mulegé - Loreto:

Now it´s time to say goodbye to San Ignacio. This morning we start back to La Paz. On the MEX-1, you cross the lava landscape of the "Three virgins" - Volcano "Las Tres Vírgenes" - volcanic summits that are over 6000 ft (nearly 2000 m) high. The lava provides good growing conditions for the peculiar thick-stemmed elephant trees. These trees, which look rather as if having dried up, absorb huge amounts of water after the rare rains and store them for years; when there has been enough wet, green leaves sprout, fall off and are replaced by pink blossoms. At the foot of the active volcano, we take a walk to enjoy the exceptional atmosphere. We pursue our way via Santa Rosalía to Mulegé - a mission founded by the Spanish in 1705. We visit the sturdy mission church with its phantastic view on palm groves and the freshwater river that gives life to this place. After having again passed the beaches of the Bahía Concepción, we arrive in Loreto where we will enjoy a restful end of the day.

8th day Loreto - La Paz:

This morning offers you the chance to stroll the historic centre of Loreto. The mission of Nuestra Señora de Loreto was founded by Juan María Salvatierra; it had its tricentennial in 1997 and is thus the first and oldest mission of all California. You will visit the mission as well as the Museum of the Missions, where the history of the town is displayed. Subsequently you will have a final chance to buy some souvenir in the centre of this fascinating fishing town. In the afternoon, we set out for La Paz. The sea, the sierras and the long plains you see passing by will leave a unique impression. Rest in a birriería, a rustic restaurant, which is typical of the country and offers traditional meals prepared of goat meat and mutton. We reach La Paz again in the evening. Your room is already waiting for you - an invitation to relax and idle.

9th day La Paz - Cabo San Lucas - La Paz:

Our whole-day excursion on this final day of our round trip is bustling Cabo San Lucas on the cape of the 750-mile (1200-km) peninsula in the Pacific Ocean. On our way there, we stop in Todos Santos. The small artists´ oasis on the Pacific side features the alleged Hotel California from the famous Eagle song and has a peculiar charm. We then follow the western coast to the rock called Los Arcos, the famous landmark defining the southernmost point of Baja. During a trip with a glass-bottomed boat, you have the opportunity to study the diversity of marine life and to land on the Lovers´ Beach to take a refreshing bath in the sea ? at the very place where the waters of the Pacific and the Gulf of California meet.

As an alternative you can stroll the Marina of Cabo or, drinking a margarita, watch the many Mexican and foreign yachts passing by. If you have booked additional nights in the cape region, you will have to say goodbye now. After the excursion to Los Arcos, you will be taken to the hotel for your extended stay at about 4 p.m. - the rest of the group returns to La Paz after the excursion program and will arrive there at about 7 p.m.