Sunday, March 17- Espirito Santo

I woke up at 5:45 AM- more adrenaline and not quite adjusted to the time change, but I’d had 7 hours of sleep.  It would do.   I walked out of my cabin and was greeted by scenery so beautiful I went right back in and got my camera.  A couple of islands filled with sea lions loomed ahead of us.  We heard them before we saw them.

As the morning briefings were about to start after breakfast, the crew spied a pod of dolphins.  We cruised in the area and watched them for about half an hour.  I never got any shots of the ones that jumped totally out of the water- it’s partly a matter of luck.  It was spectacular to watch, though, especially the juveniles.  

My first excursion was a Desert Walk on Espirito Santo- a mix of upheaved sea bed and volcanic action; you could see the remains of shells upheaved but not fossilized.  The island was almost sold to developers who were going to build a casino/resort complex until a group of nonprofits and philanthropists quietly bought the property and gave it back to the Mexican government.  Access is by permit only with restrictions as to where you can go.  

Flowering cactus.

Remains of a porcupine fish.

I remembered Sarah, the guide, from an Alaskan cruise Ron and I had taken; I have a picture of her hand with a large banana slug in it.  She was talking to it at the time and trying to convince us that the ooze on its skin had medicinal properties.  Sarah LOVES nature and had an encyclopedia knowledge of the critters and vegetation on this walk.

We were given a choice of two out of four possible excursions tomorrow:  a 2-hour burro ride, Kayaking 101, a 2-hour guided kayak paddle and a 2.5-hour hike.  I chose the last two and the Expedition Leader headed to his room and his computer to get the groups organized.

There was a presentation on coral in the lounge after dinner by a crew member.  I was wiped out after two nights of insufficient sleep so I headed to my cabin but turned on the audio portion using the speaker in my room as I got ready for bed.  He was fascinating.  He went over the different kinds and characteristics of coral species but then took a “macro” view and reminded those of us at the top of the food chain what a major stake we had in protecting the bottom of the food chain, right down to the plankton.  He talked about how the species endemic to this area (i.e., not found anywhere else in the world) had adapted both to the environment and to each other and how disturbing one element would threaten the entire system.  From there he discussed the combination of factors in this area (sunlight, climate, land masses, etc.) which combined to make the Baja Peninsula one of the most chlorophyll-rich areas in the world, capable of supporting a wide variety of life.  Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortes “the world’s aquarium”.   As if to prove Cousteau’s point, I’d seen a school of needlefish under the water by the boat as I’d gone back to my room that night.

I was VERY grateful I had the luxury of listening to this in my room because at 9 PM when the Q&A session was winding down turned out the light and slept soundly till 6 the next morning when I was awakened by the sound of the anchor winches as we came into port at Aqua Verde.  I needed that sleep!