Isla Carmen and Santa Catalina
How many of us get to start the day by looking for bighorn sheep in the desert? Not many, I assume, but here we were standing on the pebbly beach of the arroyo rojo waiting for our fellow guests to join us from the ship. We could truly appreciate the colorful makeup of the volcanic rocks as the sun reflected their surfaces.
Our young explorers set out with their family coordinator in search of anything that might get their attention. The dry sand crunched under our feet as we made our way slowly up the valley. A cooling breeze found us and there was ample shade along the way which made our walk bearable. Around us, the giant cordones reached up to the cloudless blue sky with their thorny succulent arms.
Back on board after a cooling dip in the sea, we moved on to our next destination. We were about to experience the place where the desert meets the sea – Santa Catalina Island.
The scuba divers headed out immediately over a choppy sea and back-rolled into waters that felt as warm as the Caribbean. The fish life here is abundant and there is plenty of food available. Giant damselfish aggressively defended their grey clutches of eggs that were smeared across the surfaces of the rocks. A free-swimming jewel moray undulated its way across the bottom in search of a crevice to hide in. Panamic green moray eels seemed to be stuffed in every hole. Monster bluechin parrotfish fluttered above and around our bubbles as we floated in our warm bath. Garden eels, the largest that I’ve ever seen, weaved back and forth above their sand burrows as they picked plankton from the water column. It’s no wonder that they are so large; there is no shortage of zooplankton here in the Sea of Cortez.
Back on board, favorite beverages in hand, we recounted the days events as we watched the western sky turn crimson with the approaching sunset.
How many of us get to start the day by looking for bighorn sheep in the desert? Not many, I assume, but here we were standing on the pebbly beach of the arroyo rojo waiting for our fellow guests to join us from the ship. We could truly appreciate the colorful makeup of the volcanic rocks as the sun reflected their surfaces.
Our young explorers set out with their family coordinator in search of anything that might get their attention. The dry sand crunched under our feet as we made our way slowly up the valley. A cooling breeze found us and there was ample shade along the way which made our walk bearable. Around us, the giant cordones reached up to the cloudless blue sky with their thorny succulent arms.
Back on board after a cooling dip in the sea, we moved on to our next destination. We were about to experience the place where the desert meets the sea – Santa Catalina Island.
The scuba divers headed out immediately over a choppy sea and back-rolled into waters that felt as warm as the Caribbean. The fish life here is abundant and there is plenty of food available. Giant damselfish aggressively defended their grey clutches of eggs that were smeared across the surfaces of the rocks. A free-swimming jewel moray undulated its way across the bottom in search of a crevice to hide in. Panamic green moray eels seemed to be stuffed in every hole. Monster bluechin parrotfish fluttered above and around our bubbles as we floated in our warm bath. Garden eels, the largest that I’ve ever seen, weaved back and forth above their sand burrows as they picked plankton from the water column. It’s no wonder that they are so large; there is no shortage of zooplankton here in the Sea of Cortez.
Back on board, favorite beverages in hand, we recounted the days events as we watched the western sky turn crimson with the approaching sunset.
