Painted Caves of Baja Pack Trip

This route takes us to Rancho San Gregorio, Cueva La Palma, Cueva El Borrego, plus Cueva Pintada (Gardener Cave), Cueva de las Flechas, and more in Santa Teresa canyon. A total of 12 to 16 archaeological sites may be visited on the Painted Caves of Baja route. The 11 day tour may allow us time to visit all of the area's sites authorized by Mexico's Department of History and Anthropology.

Highlights - World Heritage sites of prime Mural Rock Art. Cultural and Natural History taught by local guides as you travel the spectacular desert outback. Ranch visits. Plus a glimpse into the lifestyle of locals, traditional singing, music, and other trail rhythms.

See Trudi’s trip Journal and Photos from November 2006, and call us to receive a copy of the dvd Corazon Vaquero - a documentary on the lifestyle of Baja's ranch history and culture.

Day 1 - Arrival Loreto. Trudi Angell or a Saddling South representative will meet you at the airport and help you transfer to a van for town. We will either overnight in Loreto (depending on other folks’ arrival times) or we’ll drive a few hours north towards San Ignacio and the central Baja mountain ranges. Hotel night included.

Day 2 - After breakfast we’ll check in at the San Ignacio cultural center office, and then head to the Sierra San Francisco. It’s about a two hour drive up to the small mountain village, jumping-off point for the best of Baja’s rock art sites. Today we meet our local guides, mules and pack-burros and head down the trail for a great adventure.

Days 3 - 8 or 9 - We'll ride a favorite route through the mountains to visit over a dozen caves and historic sites. Traveling along rugged trails, through cactus garden canyons and palm oases we’ll stop at local ranches to learn about the Old California lifestyles still being lived in the desert outback. At one ranch hides are tanned and made into saddles and other useful ranching works of art. On top of a spreading mesa, families raise goats for cheese making. And nestled deep in Santa Teresa canyon we’ll camp next to a ranch garden full of citrus and vegetables for the remote family’s daily use.

We serve you meals fresh with local flavor and when possible we may arrange for a dinner with one of the families. Home-made tortillas, cheese enchiladas, stews, fresh garden vegetables, regional sweets and mesquite-roasted coffee or a local herbal tea might be on the menu. On the final day’s ride we end up back at our vehicles in the village of San Francisco de la Sierra – having traveled a loop route to visit the best of Baja’s mural art and local craftspeople. Returning to San Ignacio we’ll overnight in a small guesthouse and enjoy dinner out at a local restaurant.

Day 9 or 10 - Drive back to Loreto, with a stop along the way to visit historic Santa Rosalia and it’s copper mining operations. In Loreto, dinner on your own, but we will arrange for your hotel overnight.

Day 10 or 11 - You’ll have time prior to your flight to explore the town and shop, or even take a short boat trip out to the beautiful volcanic island of Coronado for a snorkel tour if you wish. Buen Viaje and we’ll hope to see you again in Baja!

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