Espiritu Santo Island Complex
What a morning! After breakfast over half of us slipped into the Sea of Cortez (a.k.a Gulf of California) for a refreshing snorkel at the pink coloured “Los Islotes.” With our comfy wetsuits and diving masks the underwater world was opened like lifting the shutters on a blind. A huge school of small fish was being dined on by leopard groupers from below, a wintering Pacific Loon from the surface and speared from above by a crisply attired royal tern. King angel, yellow-tailed surgeon fish, giant hawkfish – they were all there, and we loved them all. Meanwhile a female sea lion played with an inflated pufferfish like an NBA pro.
Off with the diving gear, a quick shower and into the Zodiacs to explore Los Islotes; magnificent frigatebirds, brown and blue-footed boobies, yellow-footed gulls and Sally Lightfoot crabs were all easy to identify. The surf washed rocks captivated us with sunbathing California sea lions. All sizes and ages were present; from 700 lb males grunting a deep croaky bark, to comparatively diminutive 300 lb females dozing just above the lapping surge. The “babies,” safe from the lumbering giants, clustered and snoozed nearby, waiting to nurse once their moms returned from their morning hunt.
What better place to finish our day off than at Bonanza Bay on Espiritu Santo, the home of one of the rarest mammals on earth; the black jackrabbit. First it was kayaking along the granite boulder strewn hillsides riddled with the giant Cardon Cactus that sometimes reach into the sky with their 30 foot arms. Then it was time for a nature walk. The myriad of plant life surprised us and many were in bloom. Orange-crowned warblers, verdins, loggerhead shrikes, gila woodpeckers and Costa’s hummingbirds were spotted.
The famed evening beach barbeque was framed as the western sky dipped into a carmen palette and painted the heavens with gay abandon. What a day!
What a morning! After breakfast over half of us slipped into the Sea of Cortez (a.k.a Gulf of California) for a refreshing snorkel at the pink coloured “Los Islotes.” With our comfy wetsuits and diving masks the underwater world was opened like lifting the shutters on a blind. A huge school of small fish was being dined on by leopard groupers from below, a wintering Pacific Loon from the surface and speared from above by a crisply attired royal tern. King angel, yellow-tailed surgeon fish, giant hawkfish – they were all there, and we loved them all. Meanwhile a female sea lion played with an inflated pufferfish like an NBA pro.
Off with the diving gear, a quick shower and into the Zodiacs to explore Los Islotes; magnificent frigatebirds, brown and blue-footed boobies, yellow-footed gulls and Sally Lightfoot crabs were all easy to identify. The surf washed rocks captivated us with sunbathing California sea lions. All sizes and ages were present; from 700 lb males grunting a deep croaky bark, to comparatively diminutive 300 lb females dozing just above the lapping surge. The “babies,” safe from the lumbering giants, clustered and snoozed nearby, waiting to nurse once their moms returned from their morning hunt.
What better place to finish our day off than at Bonanza Bay on Espiritu Santo, the home of one of the rarest mammals on earth; the black jackrabbit. First it was kayaking along the granite boulder strewn hillsides riddled with the giant Cardon Cactus that sometimes reach into the sky with their 30 foot arms. Then it was time for a nature walk. The myriad of plant life surprised us and many were in bloom. Orange-crowned warblers, verdins, loggerhead shrikes, gila woodpeckers and Costa’s hummingbirds were spotted.
The famed evening beach barbeque was framed as the western sky dipped into a carmen palette and painted the heavens with gay abandon. What a day!
