Islas Santa Catalina and Carmen
Dawn’s soft pink light flowed over the ragged peaks of Isla Santa Catalina, colored the cotton-like strands of alto cumulous clouds and lit the bow of the Sea Voyager as she made her way to Bahia Elefante, a favored anchorage on the island’s southern tip. This mysterious island floating far from the Baja Peninsula shore is known for endemism, that tendency of very isolated places to produce genetically distinct and frequently unusual species.
Our various morning walks up the wide and beautiful southern arroyo quickly revealed some of the special plant and animal life that has evolved on the island. The giant barrel cactus was immediately apparent as our naturalists pointed out the undulating silhouettes of these ten and even twelve foot high examples of gigantism. Even in the best of nursery conditions, the barrel cactus rarely gets larger than two feet tall. Huge cardón cactus also lined the trail and covered the steep and rocky hillsides. The cardónes we visited today are some of the very biggest specimens of this largest member of the cactus family. Some of our youngest adventurers posed for today’s photo with one of the giants of the arroyo.
Another endemic resident of Isla Santa Catalina was encountered this fine morning. Naturalist Adrian Cerda found a rattleless rattlesnake rustling under desert shrubs and shared this rather delightful snake with many of our walkers. Meanwhile, as the morning warmed up and the intrepid long hikers worked their way up the mountain, much of the group rinsed away the dust of the desert with a pre-lunch snorkel under the watchful eye of Elephant Rock.
Our wonderful day of exploration through calm seas was punctuated with the excitement of bottlenose dolphins, more snorkeling in wonderful warm water and a final hike through the shady red-rock canyons of Arroyo Rojo on Isla Carmen.
Dawn’s soft pink light flowed over the ragged peaks of Isla Santa Catalina, colored the cotton-like strands of alto cumulous clouds and lit the bow of the Sea Voyager as she made her way to Bahia Elefante, a favored anchorage on the island’s southern tip. This mysterious island floating far from the Baja Peninsula shore is known for endemism, that tendency of very isolated places to produce genetically distinct and frequently unusual species.
Our various morning walks up the wide and beautiful southern arroyo quickly revealed some of the special plant and animal life that has evolved on the island. The giant barrel cactus was immediately apparent as our naturalists pointed out the undulating silhouettes of these ten and even twelve foot high examples of gigantism. Even in the best of nursery conditions, the barrel cactus rarely gets larger than two feet tall. Huge cardón cactus also lined the trail and covered the steep and rocky hillsides. The cardónes we visited today are some of the very biggest specimens of this largest member of the cactus family. Some of our youngest adventurers posed for today’s photo with one of the giants of the arroyo.
Another endemic resident of Isla Santa Catalina was encountered this fine morning. Naturalist Adrian Cerda found a rattleless rattlesnake rustling under desert shrubs and shared this rather delightful snake with many of our walkers. Meanwhile, as the morning warmed up and the intrepid long hikers worked their way up the mountain, much of the group rinsed away the dust of the desert with a pre-lunch snorkel under the watchful eye of Elephant Rock.
Our wonderful day of exploration through calm seas was punctuated with the excitement of bottlenose dolphins, more snorkeling in wonderful warm water and a final hike through the shady red-rock canyons of Arroyo Rojo on Isla Carmen.
