Baja Blog: Sat Apr 4 - Mission Borja, or bust

Katy -  We had breakfast at our hotel complete with large delicious glasses of fresh orange juice for the price of a cup of coffee, packed up and took off.  Cataviña deserves another day to appreciate this amazing desert, so if any of you are planning a trip down here, add an extra day onto your planned schedule!

 

We headed south on Hwy One, the landscape flattening out and most of the exotic vegetation disappearing for a while with only low scrubby plants.  When hills came back, the Boojum  and Elephant trees re-appeared, but the jumble of huge boulders interspersed with plants seems to be unique to Cataviña - one of the most beautiful botanical areas anywhere in the world!

Goldman Agave

After 90 miles we came to the turn-off for Mission San Francisco de Borja Adac, #16. (1762-1818). 

We had debated whether to attempt to see it as it is 22 rough miles off the main road, but here we were!  Hilary gamely took off at 10 AM in her Subaru Forester over a sandy and rocky road,  driving slowly and carefully and only bottoming out in a few places.  The sandy sections are especially troublesome as one can easily sink into the sand if one slows down and get stuck!

Elephant Tree

The landscape was beautiful with  most of the interesting plants of yesterday, plus yellow blooming agaves.  The 22 miles took two hours, and suddenly there it was: a large church made of cut blocks of buff-colored stone, the northern most church of this construction style.  A side building had been made of adobe and it was mostly melted away, although now protected by an awning.  A local woman  gave us some information about the church and showed us where the bathrooms were.

  There were two toilet stalls and seven showers!  There is a hot spring there so soaking or showering is very tempting.

 

Crystalline Iceplant (invasive, non-native, but pretty)

Bob drove on the way back to the highway, and we took off south at 2 PM.  It was 75 miles to Guerrero Negro and the border between northern and southern Baja.  The highway makes a sharp turn to the left and cuts diagonally across the peninsula to Santa Rosalia. 

 After 110 miles, we reached San Ignacio, near the center of Baja.  There is a large palm oasis which is welcome sight after the miles of dry desert. 
We pulled into Rancho Espinoza, a small lodging on the edge of town.  We were greeted by William, a Californian who married into the Espinoza family which has lived here for over 100 years.  There are about six rooms

furnished comfortably with old furniture and with patios and porches to relax on.  This being Easter weekend, the town is full and we were advised to get to the town plaza soon before the band starts up!  As we hadn’t had lunch we were happy to drive off at five, pulled into the town plaza with its large beautiful church.  The band was tuning up so we found a restaurant and chose to sit inside thinking it would be quieter, but the band didn't start up again until later.  We had margaritas,  fish and shrimp tacos and returned back to the rancho to rest.