We were awakened this morning at the beautiful-light hour of 5:45 so that we might be outside on deck for sunrise at Lands End, the most southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. Not only did we see the fabulous light on Friars Rocks, the famous granite rocks at Cabo San Lucas, but also a spectacular green flash sunrise as the upper rim of the sun rose green out of the Sea of Cortez to our east. It was certainly worth getting up a bit early to photograph and enjoy the morning’s first light.
After a hearty National Geographic Sea Lion breakfast, our ship docked alongside in the marina of La Playita, just to the east of San Jose del Cabo, where we spent the morning exploring. Some of us went to the estero at the town’s edge to watch birds, others went to visit the town itself and the third option was to do a little of both. The birding was amazing with 62 species and most of them big enough and colorful enough that everyone could actually see them and enjoy their beauty. The birds ranged from water birds like great blue herons and great egrets to land birds like hummingbirds and the endemic brown thrasher. The town folks had plenty of time to do some shopping, visit a glass blowing demonstration and have a few cervezas or delicious fish tacos before re-boarding our busses and heading back to the National Geographic Sea Lion.
During lunch aboard, we sailed out of the marina and into the boundary waters between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, in search of the humpback whales that winter around the Cape Region. Just as some of us had settled down to a well-deserved nap, the call came from the bow watch that whales had been sighted. We then spent the rest of the afternoon watching small groups of humpbacks in tight competitive groups and listening to their wonderful songs live from our underwater hydrophone. The day was capped off with cocktail hour on deck with a humpback whale leaping right alongside the ship. Although many of us wished we could share these wonderful experiences with loved ones back home, we were also grateful to share them with our shipmates here in Baja California. Another beautiful day in Baja!
