Hidden Harbor and the Streets of Loreto

05/08/12: Reluctantly, we weighed anchor in Los Candeleros (Ensenada Blanca) and headed north the seven or eight miles to Puerto Escondido (Hidden Harbor), also known as Puerto Loreto. We needed some fresh fruits and veggies pretty badly. After fueling up with diesel, we went on into the inner harbor and grabbed a mooring buoy.

This is a nearly land-locked harbor, considered an excellent refuge during a hurricane. I’d hide in Hidden Harbor in an instant to wait out a blow. The harbor itself consists of an anchorage called “The Waiting Room”, (the pic above on the right), another moorage called “The Ellipse” (center in the pic), and a large buoy anchorage called “The Inner Harbor” (upper left). This is a place where you get up close and personal to the Sierra de la Giganta mountain range. There is no town here, so the harbor and marina belong to the Municipality of Loreto, and according to Wikipedia, Puerto Escondido is the home of "Coco" Nogales, who is Mexico's only known big wave surfer. Hmmmm, this Hidden Harbor has no waves. I’d wonder if someone has confused this place with Mexico’s other Puerto Escondido, but then, who am I to argue with Wikipedia? I suppose we’ll never know for sure.

We went into the marina, had a look around and a drink, then dinghied back to Harmony so we could sit and stare at this for several hours:

 

5/9/12 – 5/10/12: I have long wanted to visit Loreto. I’ve heard so much about it, and it will also be the location of a retirement home to be built by our Anacortes friends Craig and Kelly. We took a cab for the 14 miles or so to Loreto and were enchanted by it’s cleanliness and charm. We took in the Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto Concho, established by the Jesuits in 1740, and considered “head and mother of all the Spanish missions in Upper and Lower California" and is the beginning of El Camino Real. We did a lot of strolling around the quiet streets soaking up the ambiance….”As I walked down on the streets of Laredo…” oops, wrong town, sorry Johnny Cash.  Anyway, after a tasty and cheap lunch at Café Ole, Gina, Sydney and I did a little browsing in the shops (I got some earrings) and then on to El Pescador, a local supermarket. Their produce was pretty sad, so we found a little neighborhood tienda that was much better and happily stocked up.