San Marcos Is. and Santa Rosalía
Shortly after sunrise we were delighted by the presence of numerous bottlenose dolphins; many dolphins followed us, even riding the pressure wave that the National Geographic Sea Bird created as she moved at speed. The sounds that the dolphins made with their exhalations, splashing and while communicating, were matched on the ship’s bow and bridge deck by us; several pajama sightings were reported. Several other groups of dolphins were observed before we reached the northern end of San Marcos Island, where we disembarked for a wonderful morning of land and aquatic activities. Hikes along a steep and dry arroyo, surrounded by multi-colored walls of volcanic rocks, allowed some of us to admire the beauty of the desert and get to know some of its plants. Kayakers explored at their leisure the rugged coastline, whereas Zodiac cruisers got the chance to take pictures of sea birds in action getting their morning meals of sardines or anchovies.
During the afternoon we sailed northwest to the small town of Santa Rosalía; created as a company town in 1888 by the French-managed “El Boleo” mining company, Santa Rosalía is now a quiet place were miners turned into fishermen as the original company closed in 1954. Numerous old buildings, chimneys and steam-powered locomotives are still standing all over town as the locals are very proud of their history. We strolled around town and visited the Santa Bárbara church, which was designed by Gustave Alexandre Eiffel and arrived here in 1895, the famous bakery (founded in 1901), and ended in the very pretty Hotel Francés for some margaritas and beer. After leaving the dock at night we stopped for a little while to watch the local fishermen as they fished for Humboldt’s squid. Using one and a half to two-feet long jigs called “poteras” and hand lines, they captured squid after squid, sometimes getting all wet by the jets of water that the squid squirted at them.
