distance = 92
We woke up early, eating breakfast as the sky went from dark to light with all the colours in between. The cycle along the rest of Bahia Concepcion and over to Loreto was nice and flat, with some downhill stretches along which we flew. The 92 km to Loreto was behind us with plenty of the afternoon left for exploring the town. Loreto was the first capital of the Californias and seems a bit more upscale than the other towns we visited so far. We stayed at an RV park that was also nicer than the other campgrounds we had been to with a swimming pool and warm showers.
Our first night there we ate at a restaurant on the central plaza across from the original mission in town. One of the waiters, Joel, saw our bikes parked and came to talk to us about our trip. He runs a bike and kayak touring company. After talking with him about the kayaking trips we decided to book a three day trip to the nearby islands.
The trip to Isla Camen and Isla Danzante turned out to be one the highlights of our journey so far. We camped on beaches we had all to ourselves far from any lights. We went to bed and awoke watching the stars. Orion, Taurus, Pleides and Jupiter paraded across the sky.
As we kayaked along the shore of the islands we saw a wide variety of birds - bluefooted boobies, frigate birds, terns, osprey, oyster catchers, pelicans, cormorants, pelicans, gulls, heron, snow egrets and turkey vultures. And there were the fish we saw both from the kayaks and snorkeling - cortez angelfish, crabs (hermit and dungeoness), porcupine fish, balloon fish, trumpet fish, Sargent major fish, yellow tail and dolphins (from a distance). One of the most spectacular sites were eagle rays jumping several feet out of the water.
We also did a short hike on Isla Danzante. There we saw some of the same flora we had observed camping in the deserts but we began to learn some of the names - the nicely scented Tarote Colorado, the bonsai-like Elephant tree, pilaya dulce catcus, prickly pear cactus and tall cardón.
Joel also demonstrated how Mexican food might be prepared when camping. Our first lunch was ceviche - fresh fish cooked by the acidity of lime.
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