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Day 3, Feb. 25, 2001

San Ignacio to Laguna San Ignacio (41 miles dirt; 1 hour)

We woke up to a nice day in San Ignacio, and ate breakfast at our latest La Pinta. We headed into town, which is just up the road from La Pinta. We passed groves of thousands of palm trees, both date palms and the another type which I don't know the name of, but it has the classic wide fronds. Artesian springs created this little oasis, which sports a lake with fish and water birds. We passed the lake, and a small field with some type of gnarled old plants we didn't recognize. Corn grew in another tended field to the side of the road. It all reminded me a lot of an old adobe in San Luis Obispo, one of the oldest buildings in town. The trees, flowers and yuccas at that adobe were planted at least a hundred years ago. This town is obviously old, and has the same feel about it.

We reached the center of town, with its beautiful old mission. Spanish missionaries (with a lot of "help" from the indigenous people) began building the mission in 1728. Its architecture is L-shaped -- so the Spaniards could sit on one side of the church, and the Indians on the other. Intricate carved stone details can still be clearly seen on the outside. Narrow staircases without railings lead to doors on both sides of the church. Inside, the gold leaf altar shines, and the wooden pews are well worn. This is no museum, though. The church is obviously a central part of the lives of the 1,500 inhabitants of San Ignacio.

A good deal of the buildings appear to harken back at least 100 years, without much change. They feel "old West," with lots of brick and old carved wooden doors. We all fell in love with it. It's an authentic town, from a different time. The people wear modern clothes, and drive newer jeeps, trucks and cars, and the kids ride nice bikes. But the heart of the town itself has been preserved, either for lack of the means to modernize it, or because its historic value is appreciated. It seems to be appreciated. But either way, it's a pleasure to visit.

Just beyond the town square a few blocks lies the cemetery. This is perhaps the most creative and colorful cemetery I've ever seen, except perhaps for the cemeteries in New Orleans. But the cemetery in San Ignacio bursts with life and color, which is a bit odd when you are used to subdued American graveyards. Like the homes in the town itself, the graves range from lavish and grand to dirt poor. The simplest are dirt mounds ringed with large stones and unmarked, dilapidated crosses. On the other end of the spectrum are intricate mausoleums built of concrete, cinder blocks, or adobe. The graves do not appear to be arranged in any type of order or rows, and it's easy to walk on one without even realizing it. The profusion of individualistic memorials spreads far back and up the hillside behind the cemetery. It is clearly a religious place; crosses and crucifixes with the figure of Jesus are everywhere. The cemetery seems large for such a small town, but it dates back to the 1700s.

On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at a small tienda and bought bananas and brandy, and cookies for the local street dogs. Jesse fed one and it followed us almost all the way back to the hotel, until it ran into a pack of friends and stopped to sniff and be sniffed.

We packed up our stuff in the Hummer, which continues to be the center of attention everywhere we go, and hit the road for Laguna San Ignacio. We drove through town, waving at all who stared (which was just about the whole town). Dad drove on a dirt road for the first time in the Hummer. We expected the drive to take two hours, and were pleasantly surprised when we made it in under an hour. The Hummer is amazing off road. Its huge wheels and springs take dips and ruts as though they weren't even there. Even I was impressed, and decided the Hummer wasn't overkill after all.