Falling in Love with Mulege

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel, the Hotel Posada in San Ignacio.  As you can tell by the sign, we look for the basics, like hot water!  This reminds me that if you are staying in budget hotels like we are when you travel in Mexico, bring your own pillow and your own blanket!  The pillows we encounter here are a lumpiest things I have ever seen, and I sleep like a baby thanks to my own trusty pillow!

Also, I failed to mention yesterday that the tiny oasis town of San Ignacio, population 600,  is a popular spot for whale watching in January through March.  Here are a few more shots of things that caught my eye in the town as we were leaving.

And here's a view of the spring-fed pond on the outskirts of town.  I highly recommend visiting San Ignacio if you make it to Baja.  It's one of my favorite towns so far.

Back on Highway 1, we now once again cut across Baja, this time from West to East (from the Pacific back to the Sea of Cortez).  It's about a one hour drive to Santa Rosalia, which is the first town that greets us once we reach the Sea of Cortez.  We stop in Santa Rosalia for a bite to eat at a roadside stand, and watch as a man drives up and sells the restaurant owner fresh shrimp out of the back of his truck.

Santa Rosalia is a fairly large town, with a population of over 11,000.  And it's a working man's town, known for mining and fishing.  Quite historic, it has many antique homes and building.  They were preparing for a festival when we arrived, and the downtown area was very congested.  We decided to continue on our way south, making a note to visit and explore Santa Rosalia on our next visit.  

Once we were out of town, we stopped at a scenic spot along the road and hiked up the hill to get a view of the sea.

Here's the view of our car in the other direction:

We were delighted to find a deposit of quartz on the hill.  It was really fun to find it occurring in nature!

Look at this huge piece!

We hiked back to the car, and continued on for about an hour to Mulege.

Now the climate is definitely beginning to change, along with the vibe.  Mulege is an oasis town of about 3,800 people.  In Mulege I am finally beginning to feel like I am in the tropics, and I LOVE it.  I'm sweating, and my first mosquito bites appear!  There are quite a few Americans in town, and everyone seems so relaxed and happy.  I am finally seeing shops that sell Mexican art, and T-shirts that say "No bad day in Mulege".  And I believe it!  This is a town I could live in.

Heres some Mexican Christmas art I enjoyed seeing:

And here's yet another beautiful sunset (I'm convinced there's not a bad sunset in Baja).  Notice all the birds dotting the sky.  This shot was taken from atop a small hill where the mission sits, but it was a little took dark for me to get any pics of the mission itself that night.

Later that evening we took a walk in the town, and happened upon a woman selling a soup called posole in a local park that was decorated for Christmas.  The soup was delicious and the scene so unique to Mexico.

We retired for the night in our humble hotel Friday night, at a place featuring that one non-negotiable item, the hot shower.

I joked with Eduardo that it was not the Ritz Carleton, and later, when I took a shower, I was delighted with the towels they provided.  Look what they said:

That's the universe for you!  It has quite the sense of humor! 

 Hope you are all doing well, and thanks again for following my posts.  Buenas noches!

Love, Linda