Isla Carmen, the Gulf of California
An overnight run north from La Paz brought us to our first Baja California sunrise in the vicinity of Isla Monseratte, with the morning sun shining off of the multi-colored volcanic cliffs of the Sierra de la Giganta (The Mountains of the Giantess) on the Baja California Peninsula. Perhaps a Giantess does live there, as the early Peninsular Indians believed, but she was in a benign mood this morning and caused the seas to calm down for us. We gathered on the foredeck to search for marine mammals, and our vigilance was rewarded by encounters with groups of both bottlenose and common dolphins. What a fine way to begin our adventure, hanging over the front of the ship to watch dolphins catching a ride on our bow wave, and listening for their high-pitched calls!
We continued moving north to Isla Carmen, one of the largest of the Islands of the Gulf of California. Our fleet of Zodiacs carried us ashore, and we spent the afternoon exploring the Sonoran Desert realm with a walk up Arroyo Rojo (Red Canyon), a gash carved into the red volcanic rock by years of erosion. We were fortunate (or, I prefer to think, deserving) in that the effects of recent rains were clearly evident in the vegetation – the cacti plump with water and many of the desert shrubs bearing a set of new leaves. Two groups of plants dominate the diversity of the Sonoran Desert: the cacti, and shrubs and small trees (most of them spiny) of the pea family. We saw plenty of examples of each, like the giant, erect Cardon cactus and the white-barked Palo Blanco (“White Stick or Stem”) seen in the picture above.
An overnight run north from La Paz brought us to our first Baja California sunrise in the vicinity of Isla Monseratte, with the morning sun shining off of the multi-colored volcanic cliffs of the Sierra de la Giganta (The Mountains of the Giantess) on the Baja California Peninsula. Perhaps a Giantess does live there, as the early Peninsular Indians believed, but she was in a benign mood this morning and caused the seas to calm down for us. We gathered on the foredeck to search for marine mammals, and our vigilance was rewarded by encounters with groups of both bottlenose and common dolphins. What a fine way to begin our adventure, hanging over the front of the ship to watch dolphins catching a ride on our bow wave, and listening for their high-pitched calls!
We continued moving north to Isla Carmen, one of the largest of the Islands of the Gulf of California. Our fleet of Zodiacs carried us ashore, and we spent the afternoon exploring the Sonoran Desert realm with a walk up Arroyo Rojo (Red Canyon), a gash carved into the red volcanic rock by years of erosion. We were fortunate (or, I prefer to think, deserving) in that the effects of recent rains were clearly evident in the vegetation – the cacti plump with water and many of the desert shrubs bearing a set of new leaves. Two groups of plants dominate the diversity of the Sonoran Desert: the cacti, and shrubs and small trees (most of them spiny) of the pea family. We saw plenty of examples of each, like the giant, erect Cardon cactus and the white-barked Palo Blanco (“White Stick or Stem”) seen in the picture above.
