Isla Partida and Los Islotes
Great morning here on the west side of Isla Partida, a stone’s throw from La Paz. The water is calm and beautiful and the island is as green as I’ve ever seen it. Ashore it is like a garden, so many flowers: white datura trumpets, electric blue morning glories, mauve nightshades, white and blue striped passion vine and over everything – tree, shrub and rock alike masses of hot pink coral vine – and that’s not even a list of half of the most common flowers. It’s one of those mornings when we can do everything: snorkel, kayak, Zodiac, short hike, long hike, bird watch, swim and sunbathe! Near the shore the rocks look like works of art, warm pastels of compressed volcanic ash draped with a thin, salt-impregnated filigree. I took the long walk to the top of the island, to a great view. Along the way there are pools of fresh water with aquatic insects and the footprints of birds, rabbits and strange ringtails, a sort of tropical raccoon. The hike, while not hard was certainly invigorating and everyone seemed happy and a bit pleased with themselves. And what about the others? Well, back on the beach and on the ship there were smiles, wide eyes and chattering and hey, it is not even lunchtime yet!
During lunch we reposition to nearby Los Islotes, an abrupt wall of red rock separated from Isla Partida by a narrow channel – a great place for sea birds to escape mammalian predators. For the afternoon there are once again time to board the Zodiacs to observe gaudy sally-lightfoot crabs, brown boobies, brown pelicans and the swashbuckling magnificent frigate birds. There were also quite a number of California sea lions hauled out here on the rocks, as well as some curious young ones in the water – great for those of us in Zodiacs and perhaps even better for the gung ho snokelers. I wonder who was the most nervous, the young sea lions or us? Oh, not really, it was definitely us, especially when you see how amazingly fast and graceful the sea lions are, somersaults and swooshie sprints. They were amazing hosts and I think we were good guests and we left before either side became bored or overly anxious.
Great morning here on the west side of Isla Partida, a stone’s throw from La Paz. The water is calm and beautiful and the island is as green as I’ve ever seen it. Ashore it is like a garden, so many flowers: white datura trumpets, electric blue morning glories, mauve nightshades, white and blue striped passion vine and over everything – tree, shrub and rock alike masses of hot pink coral vine – and that’s not even a list of half of the most common flowers. It’s one of those mornings when we can do everything: snorkel, kayak, Zodiac, short hike, long hike, bird watch, swim and sunbathe! Near the shore the rocks look like works of art, warm pastels of compressed volcanic ash draped with a thin, salt-impregnated filigree. I took the long walk to the top of the island, to a great view. Along the way there are pools of fresh water with aquatic insects and the footprints of birds, rabbits and strange ringtails, a sort of tropical raccoon. The hike, while not hard was certainly invigorating and everyone seemed happy and a bit pleased with themselves. And what about the others? Well, back on the beach and on the ship there were smiles, wide eyes and chattering and hey, it is not even lunchtime yet!
During lunch we reposition to nearby Los Islotes, an abrupt wall of red rock separated from Isla Partida by a narrow channel – a great place for sea birds to escape mammalian predators. For the afternoon there are once again time to board the Zodiacs to observe gaudy sally-lightfoot crabs, brown boobies, brown pelicans and the swashbuckling magnificent frigate birds. There were also quite a number of California sea lions hauled out here on the rocks, as well as some curious young ones in the water – great for those of us in Zodiacs and perhaps even better for the gung ho snokelers. I wonder who was the most nervous, the young sea lions or us? Oh, not really, it was definitely us, especially when you see how amazingly fast and graceful the sea lions are, somersaults and swooshie sprints. They were amazing hosts and I think we were good guests and we left before either side became bored or overly anxious.
