At sunrise, National Geographic Sea Lion was cruising comfortably along the dramatic east side of Isla Espiritu Santo. The destination for the final excursion of our two week photography expedition was Bahia Bonanza at south end of the aforementioned island. Many activities were planned in this diverse area, including hiking, kayaking, snorkeling and paddle-boarding. The Sea of Cortez is known as Mexico’s Galapagos, as there are the same and similar species that exist in the two disjunct archipelagos. Had Charles Darwin come here instead of the Galapagos, he may have come up with the same ideas, but would have had small lizards named after him instead of finches. Many endemic plants and animals that occur on the peninsula and the islands are found nowhere else in the world. We have been fortunate to find some of the unique flora and fauna that distinguishes this area during this voyage – large lizards and giant barrel cactus, the rattleless rattlesnake, and this morning, the black jackrabbit. It was a very pleasant morning exploring a portion of the Holy Ghost Island - a great place to contemplate all that we had experienced over the last two weeks.
There were many things to do this afternoon as we continued cruising. Besides packing, there was the video chronicle preview by Bradford, and Mike’s underwater footage from Elephant Rock (I. Santa Catalina) and the flotilla of hundreds of mobula devil rays that were breaching all around us. We can only guess at why they do this, and marvel at the magnificent exhibition. Several guests participated in the Laptop Gallery, showing their best images from the trip. Finally, there was the guest slide show to cap off this remarkable journey.
We will dock in La Paz early tomorrow morning and disembark with indelible memories of our experiences as well as many photographs to enjoy, share and back up those memories for future generations.
