Islas San Esteban & Rasa
The midriff island region is the most productive area in the Gulf of California. Strong currents, cold waters and explosions of life make this a mysterious and fascinating place. The islands here are very different from one another and are home to their own species.
San Esteban Island is always a good reason to wake up early and explore before the sun’s first rays, and so we did. Photographers went out hunting for the best images during the magical hours of the day where everything is more beautiful tinted with the subtle ink of the early sun.
After breakfast we took walks through the arroyos to experience the essence of the island. Its majestic cardones lined the horizon, and among them we enjoyed the always exciting search for the elusive pinto chuckwallas and spiny tail iguanas. We were very lucky to find a young spiny tail lizard that climbed to a cardón cactus to feed on the petals of a flower. This way the iguanas can get sugars and moisture that are otherwise hard to find during the rest of the year.
After visiting San Esteban Island, we sailed to one of the most amazingly wild places on the planet; Isla Rasa. This small island is the place where 95% of the world’s population of Heermann’s gulls and elegant terns nest. For our fortune, we found that the birds are just getting established on the island to begin a new breeding season. The Heermann’s gulls covered the valleys on the island, and the terns flew in swarms from the rocks into the ocean and back to the island.
By Zodiac, we circumnavigated the island to take a closer look at the bird colony. We had great photo opportunities as the terns displayed their courtship behavior. As an extra bonus, bottlenose dolphins joined us for this part of our Zodiac cruise.
