Cabo San Lucas and cruising Gorda Banks
Just before sunrise the Sea Bird was on approach to Cabo Falso, a small rounded point on the Pacific Ocean side of the end of the Baja peninsula. As the first rays of sunlight hit the granite of Friar Rocks, the Sea Bird completed a sharp left turn and entered the harbor of the largest resort community located at the end of the 1,000-mile peninsula called Baja, California! Captain Kalbach slowed his engines, approaching slowly to a large dock just outside of an enormous hotel called Plaza Las Glorias, in the heart of this busy tourist mecca. Just outside of this enormous hotel were t-shirt shops, tequila bars and hidden up a few secluded side streets were the occasional gallery or unusual gift shop that could still capture Mexico’s flavor through its colorful folk art. From hand painted pottery, to traditionally embroidered blouses and shirts, finely crafted silver jewelry, there were also murals and paintings depicting life in the many diverse regions that make up this country. Peeking from the walls of several shops were masks giving just a glimpse into the many festivals that are still honored and celebrated today in modern Mexico.
We could wander at our leisure, occasionally stopping in a shop plying its wares to the constant flow of tourists…some of us a little more curious about this unique part of Central America, would take that a few extra minutes to speak with the owner and find that there was a story being told through the mask of a jaguar, or the painting of a market scene…or the collection of stone and silver strung in an exquisite necklace.
Cabo San Lucas was not always the ultimate tourist destination of Baja. A little less than 100 years ago, there was only a sleepy fishing village of less than 500 people situated on a Mangrove swamp near Friar Rocks. In 1925 a group of Mexican businessmen began an enterprise that helped change the face of Baja California and also the fishing industry of Mexico. Beginning with an anchored ship called the Calmex that processed fish, then two years later in 1927 they built the first fish processing plant in what is now the harbor of Cabo San Lucas. The plant processed tuna and mackerel among other species and was the first magnet to attract people to the area. By the 1950s sports fishing became the second draw to bring intrepid travelers to the small town of Cabo San Lucas. Then in the early 1970s the Trans Peninsular Highway was completed paving a once dirt road all the way into Cabo San Lucas. With that paved road came numerous hotels and thousands of tourists all looking for the glorious sun and sea that welcomed them at the most southern end of the Baja peninsula.
The Sea Bird pulled her lines at 12:30PM and slowly made her way out of the harbor leaving the hustle and bustle of Cabo San Lucas behind…we began a slow cruise heading east and then north towards our afternoon destination of Gorda Banks. This area is a well-known winter mating and birthing area for Humpback whales. After several hours of careful observation from the bow and bridge of the Sea Bird an announcement was made that whales had been spotted at some distance away…..slowly we approached….one of the blows seemed very small, as if it was a very tiny Humpback whale! Then a much larger blow appeared, right next to the smaller blow….as if our first four days with cow-calf pairs of Grey whales inside Bahia Magdalena were not enough, we now found ourselves being escorted into the Gulf of California by a cow-calf pair of Humpback whales! We watched the calf come to the surface many times while the mother remained close but surfaced only occasionally. As sunset approached and we made plans to continue our journey north, the baby Humpback surfaced right under the bow of the Sea Bird, it’s mother close at it’s side….the sight and sound of Humpback whales reaching us all a short distance above…
Just before sunrise the Sea Bird was on approach to Cabo Falso, a small rounded point on the Pacific Ocean side of the end of the Baja peninsula. As the first rays of sunlight hit the granite of Friar Rocks, the Sea Bird completed a sharp left turn and entered the harbor of the largest resort community located at the end of the 1,000-mile peninsula called Baja, California! Captain Kalbach slowed his engines, approaching slowly to a large dock just outside of an enormous hotel called Plaza Las Glorias, in the heart of this busy tourist mecca. Just outside of this enormous hotel were t-shirt shops, tequila bars and hidden up a few secluded side streets were the occasional gallery or unusual gift shop that could still capture Mexico’s flavor through its colorful folk art. From hand painted pottery, to traditionally embroidered blouses and shirts, finely crafted silver jewelry, there were also murals and paintings depicting life in the many diverse regions that make up this country. Peeking from the walls of several shops were masks giving just a glimpse into the many festivals that are still honored and celebrated today in modern Mexico.
We could wander at our leisure, occasionally stopping in a shop plying its wares to the constant flow of tourists…some of us a little more curious about this unique part of Central America, would take that a few extra minutes to speak with the owner and find that there was a story being told through the mask of a jaguar, or the painting of a market scene…or the collection of stone and silver strung in an exquisite necklace.
Cabo San Lucas was not always the ultimate tourist destination of Baja. A little less than 100 years ago, there was only a sleepy fishing village of less than 500 people situated on a Mangrove swamp near Friar Rocks. In 1925 a group of Mexican businessmen began an enterprise that helped change the face of Baja California and also the fishing industry of Mexico. Beginning with an anchored ship called the Calmex that processed fish, then two years later in 1927 they built the first fish processing plant in what is now the harbor of Cabo San Lucas. The plant processed tuna and mackerel among other species and was the first magnet to attract people to the area. By the 1950s sports fishing became the second draw to bring intrepid travelers to the small town of Cabo San Lucas. Then in the early 1970s the Trans Peninsular Highway was completed paving a once dirt road all the way into Cabo San Lucas. With that paved road came numerous hotels and thousands of tourists all looking for the glorious sun and sea that welcomed them at the most southern end of the Baja peninsula.
The Sea Bird pulled her lines at 12:30PM and slowly made her way out of the harbor leaving the hustle and bustle of Cabo San Lucas behind…we began a slow cruise heading east and then north towards our afternoon destination of Gorda Banks. This area is a well-known winter mating and birthing area for Humpback whales. After several hours of careful observation from the bow and bridge of the Sea Bird an announcement was made that whales had been spotted at some distance away…..slowly we approached….one of the blows seemed very small, as if it was a very tiny Humpback whale! Then a much larger blow appeared, right next to the smaller blow….as if our first four days with cow-calf pairs of Grey whales inside Bahia Magdalena were not enough, we now found ourselves being escorted into the Gulf of California by a cow-calf pair of Humpback whales! We watched the calf come to the surface many times while the mother remained close but surfaced only occasionally. As sunset approached and we made plans to continue our journey north, the baby Humpback surfaced right under the bow of the Sea Bird, it’s mother close at it’s side….the sight and sound of Humpback whales reaching us all a short distance above…
