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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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