There is only time to post a few pictures of this adventure. Needless to say this trip lived up to its "challenging, rugged road" description which we found after the fact in our older Mexico guidebook. It's incredible to think vehicles use this daily in some cases. Certainly it better suits Jeeps, off-road vehicles and horses and burros.
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| Cave paintings |
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San Javier lies south west of Loreto over mainly dirt roads
(red mark is near P. Escondido) |
The town of San Javier is an oasis in the midst of the high mountain plateau, and the church
Mission San Francisco Javier de Vigge-Biaundó is impressive. As we mentioned earlier, the road starts just south of Loreto, and is paved, with guard rails and signs for 14 kms, then it becomes a graded dirt road of twists and turns, blind corners and washout. We stopped to walk in to one set of cave paintings as well. It was a two hour (a long two hours) in and a shorter hour and a half out - as we now knew what to expect.
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| Bit of a washout near the Cave painting spot |
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| Inspiring interior of Mission San Javier |
References to the Spanish Missions in Baja California state: Between 1744 and 1758, Miguel del Barco was responsible for building what has-been called "the jewel of the Baja California mission churches". By 1817 the mission was deserted as the native population declined and the missionaries were expelled. The church has-been restored and is now maintained by Mexico 's National Institute of Anthropology and History .
