San Jose del Cabo & Gorda Banks
An incredible sunrise received us this morning as we made Land’s End. Parts of Cabo San Lucas were already visible, and a short while later we were at THE ARCH! Land’s End! Slowly we approached the famous arch, among a good number of local sport fishing boats, out to catch a marlin, a yellow fin tuna, or a dolphin fish, also called dorado. A group of California sea lions have their haul out there also, and hundreds of frigates and pelicans were already taking off for a good day of foraging.
We turned around, and pointed our bow to San Jose del Cabo, the real cabo (Cape). Here is where the mission was built, here is where life was lived during many years of the Spanish colony.
We docked at the new dock/marina there, and had a quick breakfast. On to the buses to be taken to the center of town. Some of us went to the estero to look at the birds, the rest of us downtown. At the small river we saw ducks, osprey, and a series of other water birds. Downtown was interesting, and an opportunity to buy Cuban cigars, drink a Corona, or just walk around.
Eventually we boarded our ship, and sailed away to the east, to see the humpback whales. This is one of the good places to watch this species of cetacean, as it is winter in their feeding grounds at the moment. It is a long way from British Columbia! Here is where the males come to sing, producing many eerie noises and clicks and slurs. Once in a while we get an incredible opportunity to see different behaviors of these large animals. Two adults were frolicking in the water next to the ship. They kept at it during almost half an hour, blowing bubbles, going under our ship and back again! Many cameras got hot due to the excessive photo taking. Guests would run from one side of the ship t the other. “Here they are.” This show was excellent!
And on we sailed into the Gulf of California, where some rough waves awaited us!
