Mulege, Santa Domingo, Punta Pulpito, Bahia San Juanico and Isla Corriados south

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Mulege

We zoomed off to Mulege in Santiago’s little red car. He dropped us in the town center where we set off to enjoy Mulege.

Mulegé’s name is derived from the Cochimí phrase “Mulejé”, meaning “Large Ravine of the White Mouth”.

This was in reference the canyon walls that hold the Río Santa Rosalía, the river that flows through the town. The town was originally founded as a Jesuit mission in 1705.

We wandered the narrow streets enjoying the quiet, friendly, atmosphere and headed towards the old prison on the hill.

Sin Rejas or La Carcel Sin Puertas

AKA…. known as the “Prison without any doors”.

This prison was reknown for its unique, open-style. Prisoners were not kept behind bars and were trusted to roam, encouraging a system based on rehabilitation rather than strict imprisonment. The inmates were allowed to leave during the day to work, visit family, or assist the community.

There were no doors, as the prison consisted of open cells, and the primary “security” was the remote location and lack of social contact. It functioned for about 70 years, operating as a unique, trust-based penal experiment.

We climbed up a small hill to the prison and found a very plain looking building with nice views across the town. We paid to go in and look around.

The exhibits seemed to be in the middle of being refurbished, plus there were signs that the structure was being repaired.

The cells were very small, I cannot imagine having to stay in one. Some of them had displays of memorabilia from the past.

John was fascinated by the display showing where and how the prisoners were executes by firing squad against a wall. I just found the prison a bit depressing.

Next stop was:

Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé

We headed across town and across the lovely Río Santa Rosalía towards the Mission on the hill that we could see in the distance.

Passing some very interesting properties. One had been built around a tree which we both found amusing.

Another was just so lovely with its murals and flowers, it was a real picture, flower, garden.

Climbing up the hill the mission building was quite impressive. This Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé was a cornerstone of Spanish colonial efforts in the region.

Unfortunately the building itself was not open. We walked around half of the outside and then climbed to a look-out post. The iconic red-stone church, overlooks a lush palm oasis that contrasts starkly with the surrounding desert.

The views were wonderful, the contrast between the green oasis and the distant dessert stunning.

Constructed using local stone, the mission building has been restored and features a notable, well-preserved, rustic exterior that reflects its historical significance. Apparently, the Jesuits aimed to establish a self-sustaining mission that provided food for other missions in the region while converting the local Cochimi population to Christianity.

We finished our walk around the mission and then headed into Mulege for a bite to eat followed by grocery shopping and a ride with Salvador back to the anchorage.

We also took a dinghy and toured around the entire Bahia Conception.

There are many bays, all of them beautiful, each offering shelter from different wind directions. Some of them have camp grounds for RVs others have guest houses.

Many of them are very shallow especially along the beaches. We liked several of the bays but decided that where we were was the most sheltered from the northerly winds that had been dominant.

Santa Domingo

At the head of Conception was our anchorage for one night. It was just an hour away and a good vantage point for the following day. Having gotten there quite early we went ashore for a look around.

We did walk the beach area, but then got drawn inland up a trail. The area is used a camp site for rough camping and we found many pathways and ATV, 4wheel drive tracks too.

Being above the beach there were very nice views of the entire area. I ended up in a wash, an area where rain water had eroded the rocks and the wind had funneled through causing or making unique formations.

Following the wash back to the shore and then back along the beaches was a very enjoyable walk.

Punta Pulpito

This anchorage was below some very impressive cliffs. Our reason for being there was to explore the sea caves, plus to get ashore and hike up to the top of the ridge.

However, we couldn’t get ashore. The wind blasted down from the heights, the beach was just boulders and the seas were rough. We decided to wait till next time we pass this way.

Our next passage was one that was unlike any we had ever had. We had seen a bank of fog off shore, but set off anyway, thinking, oh, it will pass, it will disipate.

However, the fog came down on us and of course we could not see ahead and had to rely on our instruments and radar.

John set the radar to highly sensitive and crazily it was even picking up flocks of pelicans flying by. So, a passage that was supposed to be short turned into one of several hours with us creeping along.

Next, we caught a fish, of all times to catch one, but it ended up being our dinner and was excellent.

Bahia San Juanico

We cautiously made our way into the bay again using our radar, peering through the fog we could see other boats, but getting a field of depth for distance was not easy. We found an area to anchor and were very relieved when we were grounded and secure. Of course the fog started to lift and within an hour it was bright sunshine again.

On our first day in Bahia San Juanico we went ashore and followed a trail that lead down a typical dusty, sandy, track through the brush and cactus.

I was hoping to see the wild mules/burros that I had heard about from another boat in the anchorage.

This track lead us to a beach on the other side the bluff.

Again there, there was a small camp ground, but no sign, other than droppings of any wild mules.

After a walk along the beach we headed back along the very unimpressive track.

Heading back uphill we took a detour to a peak that looked out over the anchorage. There view was wonderful, but still no mules.

Day 2 in Bahia San Juanico

Taking the dinghy across the bay to the furthest beach on the other side to see what was there…..we found a very nice area to walk and explore.

The beach was normally a windward one but this morning all was still calm. It was a beach that was backed by sand dunes.

Those dunes were really steep to climb up, the sand was very loose and so it was challenging for me.

However the slippery climb was worth it. From the top of the dunes there was a great view of the anchorage, plus I could see what was in the distant bays too.

John walked to the rocks at the very end of the dunes, I kept more to the top edge.

Walking along the dunes I saw many different animal paw prints, maybe coyotes, possibly rabbit too, but no mules.

We finished the walk by going to the far end of the beach.

I was very happy to find a great variety of shells! The whole walk was delightful.

Isla Corriados south

We had a very, windy, passage to Isla Corriadas south. The seas were quite disturbed as the was current against the wind which was blowing up to 20kts.