The next leg of our Baja trip took us to Loreto, which is 5 hours north of Todos Santos and on the gulf side of the peninsula. There is a whole lot of desert and not much else until 20 miles before Loreto, where the gulf makes its' presence known. I just love the view as you come down over a hill and see all that glistening water!

Loreto is a small fishing village with approx 7,000 people. It looks more like 2,000 people to me so, if you want a quiet peaceful vacation, it is the place to go! Here is a photo of the downtown artisans area where tourists can meander through the little shops...

If you follow the pick-up in the photo above a couple of short blocks, it will take you to the Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó (Mission Loreto), which was founded in 1697. It is sometimes considered "head and mother of all the Spanish missions in upper and lower California..."










Check out the wood work on the ceiling!

Below is the Posada de las Flores (Inn of the Flowers)...

This hotel's lobby is very beautifully decorated, and there is a pool on the flat roof that has glass blocks as its' floor so that reflections of water can be seen when you look up at the ceiling when you are in the lobby! For some unknown reason, I didn't get a shot of it but here are a couple of photos of the lobby...

Our 10 days in Baja were really fantastic, and it was so delightful to walk off of the plane into bright sunshine when we landed in La Paz! We drove about an hour and a half to Casa Bentley in Todos Santos where it was wonderful to sit out under the stars at night on this patio just outside our room...

Here is another photo of the patio area...

It was such a delight to see the sunshine streaming through the trees just outside our windowed-wall when we woke up each morning...

This is a piece of artwork that was in one of the Casa Bentley rooms...

I love how it opens up to reveal the full face...

And just look at this altered sewing machine!

There is a covered outdoor cocina (kitchen) to be used by all...

As you can see, by the reflection off of the table, the sun was shinning brightly here too! The cocina was very well-stocked with all the usual kitchen appliances and utensils but we chose to be 100% on vacation and enjoyed eating out instead.

The Hotel California (some say it is the same hotel the Eagles sing about in their song by the same name) is just a couple of short blocks from Casa Bentley, and we enjoyed their breakfast and dinner menu. It's really fun to eat here because it is so colorful! Take a look, and see if you don't agree...

The Hotel California lobby and a watermelon sculpture above and the restaurant below...

The Hotel California bar...

This is the stairway to the group of tables on the Hotel's patio that are covered by a large roof. Most of the other tables on the patio are covered by a small palapa (a thatched umbrella made of palm frawns).

These great metal musician sculptures oversaw the patio from the roof...

I love this beautiful patio candle fixture...

The Santa Fe Deli is not nearly as colorful but it is another great, close-by place to eat outside!

Now that I've thoroughly covered the food aspect of Todos Santos, we can move on to the real reason we went there!

Todos Santos is on the Pacific side and is about an hour and a half south of La Paz (on the gulf side) and an hour and a half north of Cabo San Lucas. We went to see the mama gray whales and their recently born young-uns. Here I am watching them in awe as the moms and calves seemed to be having a very joyful time frolicking in the water...

Guess this is a good time to give Ron some credit for some of these photos...He took the one above in addition to several other Baja photos. Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea just how close in to the water's edge the whales come!

And another wonderful whale photo. This one on the flip side...

At one point, they all got in a circle and started swimming around rather feverously...

For those of you who may not know, gray whales measure 46 feet long or more and weigh up to 40 tons, so these critters are BIG! They reach sexual maturity at 5-11 years of age, or when they reach 36-39 feet in length. Gestation is 12-13 months. The calf weighs 1,100-1,500 pounds, is about 15 feet at birth and nurses 7-8 months on milk that is 53% fat!

The gray whale averages 10,000 – 14,000 miles round trip in order to give birth to their calves. In October they begin heading south for their mating and calving lagoons in Baja California, Mexico from their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. This journey takes 2-3 months, and the whales remain in the lagoons for 2-3 months so that the calves can build up a thick layer of blubber to sustain them and keep them warm during their 2-3 month northward migration in colder waters. Mother Nature just never ceases to amaze me!

Last but not least...We saw this PURPLE (my fav!) house on one of our walks to the main street in Todos Santos, and I just had to share it with you...

Well, I could go on and on with lots more photos of Todos Santos to show but have to stop somewhere! I will share some of our experiences and photos of Loreto, San Javier and La Paz when I post again. Hasta luego mi amigos!