Isla Danzante
Again the weather was on our side. Beautiful blue skies after a fantastic green flash! We were on the north side of Isla del Carmen, sailing south. This area is known for whale sightings. And almost immediately we sighted a whale! A blue whale. The largest animal ever to have lived on our planet. Maybe 180 tons of marvel. We watched it surface a few times, and then went on south for better pickings.
That morning we met pods of common dolphins, going full speed towards some unknown destination. So we kept on sailing along the eastern shore of this lovely island, and promptly discovered, almost at the beach, a number of Mexican desert bighorn sheep, with their big, white rumps. We approached the island slowly and observed them for quite a while. They are not native to this island, but today an initial group of 16 has become more than 600. These animals are hunted by people who have paid a monstrous amount of money for the privilege and travel down to Loreto and to this island for it.
Another blue whale, now with a calf. The little one must breathe more often than the mother, who is always nearby. We are lucky, as the Gulf of California has around 40 resident blue whales…
For our afternoon we sailed beyond Isla del Carmen, and on to a lovely beach of Isla Danzante, almost at the mainland. In this lovely blue-water beach we snorkeled, and kayaked, and hiked up its steep slopes, to have an almost incredible view of the large Bay of Loreto, where the town of Loreto is located. This small city was the first such in Alta and Baja California for a long time. The first mission was built here in 1702.
And another small beach served as a place for our beach BBQ, where we had a wonderful dinner of fresh wahoo, chicken and vegetables. Music and stories followed into the early night.
