We started our day very early aboard National Geographic Venture at Almejas Bay in front of Margarita Island. We awoke to the sound of the anchor going down, and the voice of John, our expedition leader, telling us about the weather conditions.
All guests were excited to start the day whale watching; this could be seen and sensed all over the ship. After a delicous breakfast we hopped on Zodiacs to almost immediately transfer to fiber glass pangas. The local captains were helping a lot, always looking for whales and pointing out areas where they had been seen in past days. Ricardo, one of the captains, said that today was going to be a perfect day. We headed to the gray whale area and from a distance we saw the first spots. The day couldn’t get any better, no wind, perfect calm ocean and whales! As we got closer we were able to listen to ‘the breath of the gray’s’, the splashy sound of their bodys breaking the silver colored ocean, the clicks of cameras and the ahs! From our guest.
After some spy hoping, breachings and closeness with these gentle giants, we headed back to our home. On our way we were able to see brown pelicans up close, bald eagles and double crested cormorants resting along the shore. In the afternoon, we hiked on Margarita Island and got surprised by the greenness of the season. We observed flowers, the magnificent elephant cactus, diverse species of elephant trees, and the colorful endemic species of this beautiful island. After getting some drops of rain we finished our hike and headed back to celebrate our day with cocktail hour, recap and a delicious dinner.
Our first full day out here in Baja was fantastic!
