San Jose del Cabo & Gorda Banks
After having explored the outer side of the peninsula and the fascinating gray whales, we traveled all night long and saw the sunrise at Land’s End, or Finisterra. The end of the long peninsula of Baja California. 800 miles of adventure! As the sun came up we approached the famous rocks, where the arch is to be seen. This is the point considered by some to be the geographical end of the peninsula, though the real end is a few miles west. Here we saw a great number of seabirds take off for their day’s foraging, as well as some cormorants that waited a while longer for the day to warm up.
A while later we were en route to San Jose del Cabo, the first settlement in the region, where the mission was built. And to make our trip more exciting, we saw humpback whales. But soon we were at the dock at San Jose del Cabo, on to the buses and being whisked off to see the old town, and the “estero” or waterway, where numerous water birds were to be seen. This walk along the old stream is visited by those people who are interested in watching wildlife, from ospreys to wading ducks and herons. Other land birds are also to be seen. Meanwhile, some of us enjoyed visiting the old town, and a few stores of Mexican handicrafts.
Just before lunchtime, we departed San Jose del Cabo and headed in a northeast direction, in search of more humpback whale activity. This we promptly found, and enjoyed the animals sliding out and back into the waters, and later, a few miles northward, we encountered a marvelous spectacle: a humpback whale breaching, with all its body out of the water! Several times it garnished our afternoon with these magnificent aerial jumps, and then with slapping the waters with its enormous flippers! Some of us were even hoarse from yelling in awe. To add to the excitement, we saw dozens of Thurston’s devil rays jumping out of the water, their white bellies contrasting with their black dorsums.
And then the late afternoon proceeded, with a good cocktail hour and recap.
