San Ignacio

We camped beneath towering date palms. The kids happily collected dates to snack on.

    After spending nearly two weeks with my family in San Miguel, we finally headed south, making our way slowly across Baja's deserts. We intended to take three days to reach the beaches of Bahia Concepcíon. We only drive for four or five hours in a day, as that seems to be plenty for the driver (Erik), and the drivees, particularly the kids. We spent two nights in overpriced hotel parking lots with hook-ups, the first in El Rosario, the second in Guererro Negro. A night in both of those places was plenty. We were all looking forward to the beach and being done with driving for a while. I'd read that the church in San Ignacio was worth seeing, so we decided to drive into the little town, walk around, see the church, and have lunch before making the rest of the drive. 

    San Ignacio is a welcome sight to the desert weary traveler. A nearby spring feeds a pond and river, creating a lush date palm oasis. From the main highway we drove into town, hoping to find a place to park near the square. However, the usually quiet town was a bustle of activity, as they were expecting the first racers in the Baja 1000 to start rolling through within a few hours! Pit crews were set up along the side of the road and the square, anxiously awaiting their teams. We couldn't find a place to park so we hesitantly decided to leave. As we drove back toward the highway, we made the spontaneous decision to stay the night instead of continuing on. We are, after all, not tied to a schedule. And when else would we get to watch the Baja 1000 up close and personal? In the end we were so glad we stayed. 

The inside of the church, which was built as part of a Jesuit mission in the 1700s. It's surprisingly narrow inside due to walls that are four feet thick! It's constructed of volcanic stone.

We spent a fair bit of time wandering through the courtyard. I thought this corner was pretty.

The kids and I were excited to find this tiny nest in a huge lime tree. There were also several orange trees as well as a cactus garden. 

The front doors.

 

We pulled into a small camping area and were the only ones there. We were hardly alone though, as there were two pit crews at the entrance, right along the road. We had front row seats as motorcycles, cars, and trucks started to come through! I'll save pictures of the race for a separate post. 

A beautiful river ran right by our campground as well.