Isla San Marcos was on our port side as we awoke to a beautiful sunrise. We soon rounded the north end of the island, dropped our landing craft, and were on our way to the beaches on the north end. Hikers made their way up a narrow and colorful canyon with volcanic rocks in shades of beige, green, pink, and every tone of red imaginable. Squiggly lines of white crisscrossed the craggy textures. The only relief from this coarse scene was the green mounds of tightly compressed leaves on desert cotton, rounded piles of Hofmeisteria, passion flowers, and Coreocarpus. Farther up the canyon white-trunked palo blanco trees softened the look of the rocks that seemed frozen in mid-tumble.
Kayakers set out to explore an exciting and complex shoreline as today’s expedition photo shows. Small grottos and protected coves were surrounded by gnarly rocks that paddlers avoided. Some of our guests had fun with paddleboards. Others cruised in one of our expedition landing craft to look at birds and investigate a bit of the coastline. Our last activity for the morning was snorkeling from a hidden beach accessible only by maneuvering down a narrow rock-filled channel. Once there, guests swam through a cave or out into the open water through the arch shown in today’s expedition photo.
After lunch and a program about both the history and photo opportunities in the town of Santa Rosalía, the officers and crew docked the ship in the harbor. This community is a crossroad of cultures and commerce. Highway 1 runs down the peninsula through town. There is a ferry connection across the gulf to Guaymas. The city was founded in 1884 by a French company that exploited copper. Ships with smelted ore sailed to Tacoma, Washington and returned with a cargo of lumber for supporting the 375 miles of tunnels and to build a town with remnants of French history. One of the most notable buildings is a prefabricated church that may have been designed by Gustave Eiffel. French colonial buildings are also represented on a hill that housed those that operated the mine. Although not a tourist town, it was an adventure for us to sample the baked goods at one of the panaderias, look at the church, and stroll through a very authentic Mexican town. Photographers were delighted by the opportunities.
Later on aboard we had a fiesta with drinks on the sundeck followed by a dinner of Mexican cuisine. A calm sea gave us a smooth passage north.
