Loreto

This is a tender port and we were due to anchor at seven and our tour was not until noon so we were in no rush to disembark. The literature said the tender ride was 20 minutes long and it another spot it said it was a 10 minute ride. When the announcement was made saying the tenders were ready it again said 20 minutes. There were some white caps and there was a wind so I decided that it would be wise to take Gravol just to be certain that I wasn’t sick. Anyway we went to the dining room, had a nice leisurely breakfast and came back to our room. We decided to head out to get the tender at around 10:30. We had no problem since flashing the black card gets you aboard right away. The sun was shining and the wind had calmed down so it was a wonderful easy trip. But I am glad that my life is not going by as fast as that ride. It was not 20 minutes and neither was it 10 minutes. The ride was about 7 minutes long and the sea was calm so there was absolutely no need of Gravol.

The city of Loreto is beautiful, actually it was more a town than a city. The streets are wide and clean and the people are very friendly. They have a wonderful wide boardwalk all along the shore. It is dotted with art work and lovely Victorian styled benches. They call this type of boardwalk a Malecon.

We roamed along following the people until we came upon a lovely town square where we were entertained by a dance troop performing some folk dances of the area. 

The area was beautiful and clean with lovely brightly colored buildings. There were vendors but no one approached us to buy. The lack of aggressive salesmen was a pleasant surprise.

The town is small and there are no traffic lights. Each mail boulevard was patrolled by a traffic policeman with a whistle. They stopped traffic for the pedestrians and directed the motor traffic. What a nice change.

Soon we had to head back to the dock where we were placed in vans for the ride to the Oasis Hotel, the site of our excursion for the day.

 The drive was only a few minutes long and upon arrival we were welcomed and offered a free beverage. Ken and I choose to have a margarita. I don’t remember ever having had one before. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. I always thought that tequila had a more harsh taste.

We were directed to a beachfront court yard that was all set up with shaded tables and chairs. Soon we were told that we could go and see how they prepared the clambake.  We watched as they buried the chocolate clams in the beach gravel, covered them with brush , set a fire, and then 40 minutes later they were uncovered and served to us.

 During the cooking we were royally entertained by a local dance troop and an amazingly talented band.

The wind came up and we found it to be cool. We were wishing we had brought jackets. I wrapped up in a beach towel and that helped a little.

Then after trying the clams we were directed to a sumptuous buffet. After the buffet there was the breaking of a piñata which was filled with candy for us to enjoy.

All too soon we found ourselves in taxis and headed back to the dock and the waiting tenders.  They ride back seemed even shorter than the ride over had been.

When back in our room I decided to have a little nap.

We had a very nice dinner then we went to the production show which was called Stardust. It featured music of the late 40’s and early 50’s. It was grand. I am always impressed by the talent of the musicians and the singers and dancers.

After the show we went to the international café and had our usual specialty coffee and brandy.

Another amazing day came to an end.