Los Islotes and Isla Espiritu Santo, Baja California Sur
One of the great adventures of a lifetime is that of snorkeling with sea lions in the Gulf of California. This is the moment when you are swimming, and they are showing you just how badly you swim! They are so agile and lithe in the water. And the fish and other invertebrates were very numerous too. But Los Islotes offers us other things, such as geology and birds and mammals! Among the many bird species there are the magnificent frigatebirds, turkey vultures, brown pelicans, brown and blue-footed boobies (photo), and great blue herons.
After Zodiac cruises of the island to enjoy the boisterous sea lions, we sailed to the southern point of the island of Espiritu Santo where we kayaked and hiked inland to search for rare cacti and the endemic black jackrabbit of the island. We found both. The cactus was the pencil cactus, Wilcoxia striata! Scorpions hid under dead cardones, darkling beetles crawled in the desert and lizards ran off at full speed, scared of our presence. The vegetation is a marvelous green, as it has rained very generously for the past two months (on and off, of course!). Considering the old writings of the Jesuit priests here telling us of up to 15 consecutive years with no rain, this is a bonanza.
One of the great adventures of a lifetime is that of snorkeling with sea lions in the Gulf of California. This is the moment when you are swimming, and they are showing you just how badly you swim! They are so agile and lithe in the water. And the fish and other invertebrates were very numerous too. But Los Islotes offers us other things, such as geology and birds and mammals! Among the many bird species there are the magnificent frigatebirds, turkey vultures, brown pelicans, brown and blue-footed boobies (photo), and great blue herons.
After Zodiac cruises of the island to enjoy the boisterous sea lions, we sailed to the southern point of the island of Espiritu Santo where we kayaked and hiked inland to search for rare cacti and the endemic black jackrabbit of the island. We found both. The cactus was the pencil cactus, Wilcoxia striata! Scorpions hid under dead cardones, darkling beetles crawled in the desert and lizards ran off at full speed, scared of our presence. The vegetation is a marvelous green, as it has rained very generously for the past two months (on and off, of course!). Considering the old writings of the Jesuit priests here telling us of up to 15 consecutive years with no rain, this is a bonanza.
