The following is an accumulation of thoughts, impressions, general silliness and a whole bunch of fun stirred up with some plankton, sloshed around in an upwelling and cooked in the sun for two weeks, perhaps it’s a little over baked. I hope you enjoy it.
With two weeks ahead of us we started to travel
The mysteries of Baja were ours to unravel.
The Creeping devils were our first spiny stop
A sandy, crawling, armed photo op.
With a ton of luggage we boarded our ship
(The weight was from all of our photo equip.)
Into the mangroves we kayaked and Zod toured
A stilted root jungle to probe and explore.
Amongst coyote tracks and rabbit scat we explored the sand dunes
Ephemeral findings on multiple crescent moons.
We watched competing males of humpback whales near Gorda Banks all day
Amongst repeated blows and peduncle throws who won we could not say.
Bobbing around like snorkeled clowns into the watery home
Of striped fish and planktonic mist and sea lions churning a foam.
With kayaks and swimmers (who choreographed a watery ballet)
We frolicked and barbequed on the shores of Half Moon Bay.
Bleary-eyed photographers landed on San Jose
Before the sun could dawn and call this time frame “day.”
With anonymous advice of “f8 and be there”
Pixels and film were consumed and exposed without the slightest worries or care.
Elephant rock stood as sentry at the granite cobbled shore
As we arrived at Santa Catalina to snorkel, walk, photograph and explore.
We found Jack captured by cactus, his arm it tried to snatch
But when we saw the pixeled image, we all joined his one armed act.
White sands and turquoise waters of Carmen greeted us
A kayak in the water (Ralph decided) was a must.
A radio call to the ship was all it took to complete the act
(Wouldn’t you know the red one was in the bottom middle of the stack!)
With an alphabet of different plans up Ralph’s endless sleeve
We birded, botanized and hiked to views on Isla Danzante.
Hugging the peninsula looking for the perfect lee
We found a rocky outcropping complete with a nest and a osprey.
With baleen to sieve and throat pleats that give, several fin whales circled our ship
While Ralph and Jack hollered from the deck, “Don’t shoot till you see their white lip!”
Snuggled warm in our beds with dreams still in our heads we heard a voice that apologically said,
“The sun isn’t quite shining, but please don’t start whining,
get dressed and come out, for we have hundreds and hundreds of dolphins about!
To the lagoon! Was our cry for the day
as clouds of rolling dust showed us the way.
The gray whales they teased us and dived to and fro
A fluke here, a spyhop there, a calf’s tiny blow.
With the skyline on fire and lightening crackling atop
Ralph (finally!) called on the radio for the buses to stop.
We need our tripods! The photographers said
But they improvised and snapped away on others camera topped heads.
Sunrise brings dolphins once again to our feet
Little gray pickle babies so precious and gerkin sweet.
From ephemeral flower to cetaceans diving between blows
We feasted our eyes while bobitos crawled up our nose.
A cluster of phalaropes flying close to the sea
A falcon stoops in, “phalarope popcorn,” its dinner to be.
Cameras in flight with tripod tail feathers
Buzzing like bees, but no nectar they gather.
Their goal is to capture floral images so fragile
(This technique is unique as you must be quite agile!)
We brought our sense of wonder and what we have found
Is that Baja is magical and her mysteries still abound.
