Our ship sidled into the sleepy dock at Santa Rosalía at dawn to allow a bright-and-early start for our overland drive to San Ignacio Lagoon for our adventure with gray whales. We boarded a fleet of vans and set off for the oasis town of San Ignacio, where Jesuits and Dominican missionaries settled and established a mission in the 1700s. The church is still in use today. After a stop there, we continued to the Pacific and climbed into local boats called pangas to search for whales. It was marvelous to see these fascinating creatures at close range. After exhilarating interactions with the whales, we devoured a delicious lunch brought from the ship and then retraced our route across the scenic peninsula and past the Tres Virgines volcanoes to rejoin the National Geographic Sea Lion.