Islas San Esteban and San Pedro Martir

Five a.m. came early, especially after a great beach BBQ the night before, but it proved well worth the effort to rise and shine, as a spectacular sunrise lit up the early morning clouds in various hues of pink. Using giant cardon cacti to frame the foreground, photo-expeditioners were able to capture beautiful pictures of the sunrise from a large bench area of Isla San Esteban. After a return to the ship for breakfast, we were back on shore along with all the other guests to spend the remainder of the morning exploring the many wonders of this spectacular and diverse island.

The endemic pinto chuckwalla was a highlight for many photographers as naturalist Adrian Cerda corralled several chuckwallas onto photogenic rocks so they would easily pose for our cameras. The shutters burned as thousands of images were clicked, filling endless digital cards with the beautiful unique chuckwallas.

After an interlude at sea, we anchored near the island Pedro Martir, an island covered with boobies, pelicans and sea lions. It was a sad to realize that we were going on our very last Zodiac cruises and our photo expedition was soon to end.

There was plenty of action on the final cruises though, as we continued to photograph right until the last few minutes of waning daylight. Red-billed tropicbirds circled us with their loud chirping noises as our motor drives made chirps of their own.

It has been a truly remarkable journey.