Los Cabos & Gorda Banks
The word "oasis" evokes images of palm trees and pools appearing in a sea of sand, a refuge from the desiccating sun. Or the picture painted might be a place of fertility in a sterile land or sea. And then again, an oasis might just be a sanctuary, a haven to refresh the soul. Baja California and its seas are all three.
When the waning moon still glimmered in the sky, stripes of beige sand grasped the light and led our eyes up the cliffs of Cabo Falso to where the dunes enveloped the ruins of the old lighthouse barely visible in the early morning light. On the sharp silhouetted peak the more logical light blinked its warning to mariners feeling their way in the dark of night. As the sun’s fiery reflection was cast across the sea the fishing fleet poured forth from the harbor of Cabo San Lucas, one after another, racing for the choice angling grounds. The surf splashed against Land’s End darkening the granitic spine. Common dolphins porpoised through the navy sea, their bodies taking on the golden glow of reflected light. All about us signs of change seemed to strangle the land and civilization crept back into our world that had for days now been peacefully isolated.
Retreating, we sought secret havens. Under the sea, silence returned. Cradled in the watery womb we could drift among the fish marveling at the shapes and colors. Refreshed by rivulets coalescing high on the mountain flanks, a river flowed to the sea. Its banks were lined with cane and rush, a refuge for wading birds. Only steps away thorny trees of the desert scrub protected perching birds aplenty.
Oases are places filled with life and possibly few locales would rival where we are. The calm and quiet sea could hide little from our eyes. Tiny fish churned dark patches on the surface, a signal to look below. Here a myriad of gelatinous masses of squid eggs drifted while shark and marlin lurked nearby ready to munch on fishes as they consumed embryonic squid. Countershaded mobula rays flipped end over end through the air or flew through their watery world, their numbers in the thousands. Humpback whales exhaled with misty plumes and raised their graceful flukes as they teased us with a game of hide and seek. Although invisible to our eyes, our hydrophone eavesdropped on their singing conversation. Immersed in all this life, contentment is not far off.
Baja California, retreat, refuge, haven, sanctuary, oasis for all.
The word "oasis" evokes images of palm trees and pools appearing in a sea of sand, a refuge from the desiccating sun. Or the picture painted might be a place of fertility in a sterile land or sea. And then again, an oasis might just be a sanctuary, a haven to refresh the soul. Baja California and its seas are all three.
When the waning moon still glimmered in the sky, stripes of beige sand grasped the light and led our eyes up the cliffs of Cabo Falso to where the dunes enveloped the ruins of the old lighthouse barely visible in the early morning light. On the sharp silhouetted peak the more logical light blinked its warning to mariners feeling their way in the dark of night. As the sun’s fiery reflection was cast across the sea the fishing fleet poured forth from the harbor of Cabo San Lucas, one after another, racing for the choice angling grounds. The surf splashed against Land’s End darkening the granitic spine. Common dolphins porpoised through the navy sea, their bodies taking on the golden glow of reflected light. All about us signs of change seemed to strangle the land and civilization crept back into our world that had for days now been peacefully isolated.
Retreating, we sought secret havens. Under the sea, silence returned. Cradled in the watery womb we could drift among the fish marveling at the shapes and colors. Refreshed by rivulets coalescing high on the mountain flanks, a river flowed to the sea. Its banks were lined with cane and rush, a refuge for wading birds. Only steps away thorny trees of the desert scrub protected perching birds aplenty.
Oases are places filled with life and possibly few locales would rival where we are. The calm and quiet sea could hide little from our eyes. Tiny fish churned dark patches on the surface, a signal to look below. Here a myriad of gelatinous masses of squid eggs drifted while shark and marlin lurked nearby ready to munch on fishes as they consumed embryonic squid. Countershaded mobula rays flipped end over end through the air or flew through their watery world, their numbers in the thousands. Humpback whales exhaled with misty plumes and raised their graceful flukes as they teased us with a game of hide and seek. Although invisible to our eyes, our hydrophone eavesdropped on their singing conversation. Immersed in all this life, contentment is not far off.
Baja California, retreat, refuge, haven, sanctuary, oasis for all.
