For the 1 hour 45 minute flight to LTO we had only sprung for economy, but Priority Pass gave us lounge access and soon we were munching miniature bagels and sipping soft drinks with a panoramic view of the LAX runways. The Board Room hugely outclassed our experience of the usual American and United lounges, and the calm space was a welcome respite from the packed gate area on the floor below.
After a pleasantly relaxing hour we sauntered down to the gate, only to be told to go back to the desk as we attempted to board. Apparently they had been paging us but had clearly not thought to try the lounge. Yet more computer tapping later we were back in line, and finding that this treament was not solely for us: about half the passengers were being sent back to the desk to have additional passport details entered into the system.
If this chaos wasn't enough, we also had to contend with the carry on madness that so characterises the American holiday flight. Most people seemed to have at least two large carry on items, with a couple of people even clutching guitars. Stowing all this luggage made boarding a slow process, coupled with the inherent fussiness of many of the passengers who were of what people euphemistically call the 'third age'.
As soon as a gap opened up we marched directly to seats 17B and 17C, slung our two rucksacks in the bin ensuring that they took up minimal space, and settled down as the chaos continued. On this showing I would hazard that boarding the economy section of a 747 must take a couple of hours at least.
We did leave on time, the 737 climbing steeply before settling down to a course more or less due south and then following the western shore of the Sea of Cortez to Loreto. Alaskan has changed its catering, taking a leaf out of the low cost carrier book. Soft drinks were free but everything else -- booze and some rather large turkey salad wraps -- were $5 each. Having stuffed our faces in the Board Room we were not about to avail ourselves of the food, although plenty did. Instead a diet Coke and tomato (or 'tom-ay-toe' as the Cat's developing transatlantic accent would have it) juice sufficed.
Economy is not a place you will normally find me, but the flight was pleasant enough even if a garrulous type in the row behind thought it acceptable to carry on a shouted conversation with someone else a few rows away. Watching people fill in their immigration and customs forms was also entertaining, particularly when the cabin crew announced that only a couple of blanks were left, no doubt as a result of all the mistakes people were making.
I had made one beginner's mistake, however. The forms promised dire retribution if you failed to declare prescription medicines and I had some old drugs nestling in my washbag. Rather than go through the hassle of a customs inspection I blithely checked the box marked no, and then dumped the drugs in the garbage: potential crisis averted.
Loreto airport puts one in mind of the Caribbean: stairs instead of jetway and a luggage carousel around a tenth of the necessary size for a jet plane. Still, the scrum gave me a useful chance to display my ballerina-like grace as I pounced on our bags, and my pointed elbows came in handy as several people thought they had a better right than I to be near the belt. In common with other Mexican destinations we have visited, exiting customs is complicated by both an x-ray machine and also a set of traffic lights. The latter requires you to press a button and get a green light to proceed or red light for a random check. Happily the light was green and we sailed out into the sunshine to find a taxi.
Loreto is not much of a town, although it was probably much nicer before the current building boom started and Americans and Canadians started buying some of the 5,000 condos being built in Loreto Bay. Happily we went 20 miles south to Danzante eco resort, a nine room paradise perched on a rocky hillock, with a vista of the Sea of Cortez from the balcony and a stack of sea kayaks on the beach. No TV, phone or nightlife broke the stillness of the waters, the sky teeming with a thousand stars and the gentle flutter of bats coming down to feed every evening.
After four flights and three days we had found our place in the sun for snorkelling, kayaking and lounging in hammocks sipping endless Pacifico beers.
Baja in February itinerary
London to San Francisco
San Francisco to San Diego
San Diego to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to Loreto
Loreto to Los Angeles
Los Angeles to San Francisco
San Francisco to London
