Isla San Jose and Puerto Gato, Baja California Sur, Mexico
North! We’re sailing north! Up into the Gulf of California. Today we were at Isla San Jose, a large island which, as all the other places we’ve seen so far, denotes the absence of water. We landed at a place where a series of fossils are to be seen, from humble seashells to big bones of whales that lived in these seas up to five million years ago. As we walked onto the island, we enjoyed the incredible reddish and white colors of the rock formations, pearly phosphorite to red sandstone. We also enjoyed the sight of a beautiful rattlesnake that didn’t mind having its photograph taken!
We also had a good opportunity to snorkel in the refreshing waters of the Gulf, next to a beautiful part of the island. Diving was excellent also, where many semi tropical fishes were seen, as well as innumerable invertebrates. Lunch was on board, as we sailed northwest, towards the mainland of the Peninsula of Baja California.
After lunch, we landed at Puerto Gato, where we kayaked to our heart’s content. Here were numerous dead Humboldt squids (and later at night, live ones!) on the beaches, an important food source for many seabirds. We changed beaches and found ourselves on one where we hiked into the dry desert and up a lovely dune of white sands and red wind-carved red sandstone formations. Here we saw jackrabbits running in different directions, as well as a few land birds, among them white-winged doves and black-throated sparrows.
As the day ended, we had a delicious bar-b-que, and after some Aztec stories, singing began with a guitar!
North! We’re sailing north! Up into the Gulf of California. Today we were at Isla San Jose, a large island which, as all the other places we’ve seen so far, denotes the absence of water. We landed at a place where a series of fossils are to be seen, from humble seashells to big bones of whales that lived in these seas up to five million years ago. As we walked onto the island, we enjoyed the incredible reddish and white colors of the rock formations, pearly phosphorite to red sandstone. We also enjoyed the sight of a beautiful rattlesnake that didn’t mind having its photograph taken!
We also had a good opportunity to snorkel in the refreshing waters of the Gulf, next to a beautiful part of the island. Diving was excellent also, where many semi tropical fishes were seen, as well as innumerable invertebrates. Lunch was on board, as we sailed northwest, towards the mainland of the Peninsula of Baja California.
After lunch, we landed at Puerto Gato, where we kayaked to our heart’s content. Here were numerous dead Humboldt squids (and later at night, live ones!) on the beaches, an important food source for many seabirds. We changed beaches and found ourselves on one where we hiked into the dry desert and up a lovely dune of white sands and red wind-carved red sandstone formations. Here we saw jackrabbits running in different directions, as well as a few land birds, among them white-winged doves and black-throated sparrows.
As the day ended, we had a delicious bar-b-que, and after some Aztec stories, singing began with a guitar!
