This morning was a windy adventure as National Geographic Sea Lion made her way south along the Baja Peninsula. The morning was dedicated to searching for marine mammals and whatever else the Sea of Cortez offered up for viewing. As the wind built it was more difficult to discern the blows. One whale was seen, but it was travelling very quickly to the north while we were surfing south. Several groups of bottlenose dolphins came in to ride the bow wave of the ship. Some stayed longer than others, but the ones that stayed for a few minutes gave us great views of how powerful these large dolphins are as they turned to look at us while enjoying a push from the ship. Mobula rays were seen jumping and flipping in the whipped up seas. Later in the morning we enjoyed two presentations, one on the cacti of the Sonoran Desert and another on the geologic history of how the Baja Peninsula broke away from mainland Mexico.
After lunch the ship was on approach to the west side of Isla San Jose. This area (known as Kelley’s Beach) on the island was south facing and gave us a good lee for an anchorage and to put our kayaks and paddle boards in the water. A few people swam in the shallows while others did some beachcombing. Later, once the heat of the day broke, walks into the arroyo were offered. Upon the walkers’ return to the beach they discovered that the hotel department had put together a beachside bar and dinner ashore for the evening. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful food and drink and company as the sun set and gave us a brilliant green flash of light. A campfire was lit for the evening and we watched the moonrise and could see Jupiter rise as well.
A great finish to another Baja California adventure.
