Loreto

Loreto is one of the towns in Mexico that proudly carries the  designation of Pueblo Magico. Coming from a week in Mulegé and having camped on the beach along the way to get here, we had high expectations.

The Central Plaza of Loreto

From the highway, we rode right into the central plaza of Loreto and were instantly taken. A town big enough to have everything we needed and small enough to keep that fun, neighbourhoody feeling. Our smiles may have been somewhat influenced by the fact that we were about to have a shower and eat some fresh vegetables but our experience in Loreto was truly unique to say the least. The larger-than-life size Christmas decorations also helped sway the mood.

The central plaza has a cycling-themed coffee shop – win, and a brew pub – win. Our campsite was a block away – win, with on-site laundry and wifi. You get the picture.

Beautiful coffee in the Plaza

As we move south along the Sea of Cortez, we now find ourselves running into other campers (mainly Canadians) that we camped with previously, which is fun. Our fellow cyclotouring friends have taken a different route but we are in contact through Whatsapp and have planned a grand rendez-vous in La Paz for New Years Eve.

The brew pub also serves pizza so that was a no-brainer. Shortly after ordering a small feast this local artisit came around to play a song or two.

Great talent at the brew pub

He’s really good (check out the end of the previous video) and we ended up sharing our enthusiasm with the folks at the next table… who eventually invited us to join them at their vacation home in Nopoló, about ten kms away.

So we went, and from there we are very happy to have made some very good friends. Marco & Luny put us up while Pablo & Laura had us over for a superb dinner.

Pig Boil

Next day we all headed to San Nicolás, a tiny fishing village about an hour north of Nopolo, for a pig roast – more like a pig boil, really. This was as authentic as it gets for cultural immersion. The local community of about one hundred people (and two hundred donkeys) got together for the annual Christmas gathering and we gringos joined in. Pause here and take a look at the video if you haven’t already. They/we ate every bit of that pig. Enough said.

Marco & Luny had us stay another night and made café olé (coffee with cinnamon) and quesadillas with salsa verde for breakfast.

Quesadillas and Cafe Ole

We went from camping in the desert eating my one-pot-wonders to a room in a beautiful home with home-made Mexican food. Did not see that coming.

Back in Loreto we finally did a tour of the town, biked along the waterfront, and tried some Eloté, corn with a whole lot of nothing healthy.

Elote – corn with mayo, butter and spices

From there we are heading back into the mountains to check Misión San Javier and beyond before ending up in La Paz.