San Jose del Cabo & Cape Region

The National Geographic Sea Lion entered the still small and tranquil marina near San Jose del Cabo shortly after breakfast. Once on land we boarded a bus that transported us to the small San Jose River nearby for a nice morning of bird-watching. Although the river is in the middle of town, it is surrounded by reeds and a lush forest of date and fan palm trees and provides an abundance of fresh water for the numerous avian life, a true oasis on this dry land. Many of us enjoyed a nice walk and were able to observe a big variety of birds, including verdins, ospreys, moorhens and Gila woodpeckers; even some Baja California Sur endemics were spotted, like the Xantus’ hummingbird. After birding, many had the chance to explore the shopping district of San Jose and buy local crafts or clothing.

After leaving the marina, we sailed towards the Gorda Banks area looking for marine life; it didn’t take long to find a group of at least five humpback whales. The whales delighted us with many interesting displays and behaviors, the flipper slapping and breaching bring the most popular ones and the ones that produced the most “clicks” from the cameras on board! Two whales breached many times alongside us in a marvelous encounter that lasted a long time. We eventually parted ways and continued our expedition sailing towards the gorgeous islands of the Sea of Cortez.