Day Five: Guerrero Negro ~ Whale Watching!

Today we will embark on a life-changing journey. To encounter the majestic grey whale, Ballena Gris in its natural mating habitat. The grey whales travel over 11,000 kilometers to come to Baja to mate, and/or calf their babies. From what the tour guides told us, the whales find the water temperature and buoyancy ideal for mating. They nestle into the bahias along the coastline, and begin their courtships. The female whales, which are considerably larger than the males, will often mate with several partners to insure that they are pregnant when they migrate north. Whales have a prolonged gestation period of 10 to 12 months. So, they mate, travel north, then return the following season to give birth and possibly mate again. We are feeling extremely lucky to even have this opportunity to see the whales, not to mention the possibility that we may get to have a close encounter with one of these massive creatures.

We awoke at 5:00 am, due to the fact that I set the alarm before changing the time zone on the phone. Ooops!! Oh well, Lionel and I had a couple cups of coffee, let the dogs out of the car, and relaxed for a bit, before arousing the kids from their peaceful slumber. We then made our way to the restaurant for a delicious breakfast of chilaquiles, a ham and cheese omelette, and of course, the requisite pancakes!

After breakfast, it was time to get on the bus for the ride out through the salt mines to the lagoon. The salt mines, or La Salta Exportador, is one of the top 3 producers and exporters of salt in the world. In fact, the majority of the table salt that we enjoy in the US comes from the salt marshes of Guerrero Negro. The quick bus tour of the salt flats was very interesting; there are mountains of salt, hundreds of thousands of tons of it! The salt operation is very sustainable and "green", as the salt is harvested by solar evaporation in the massive marshes, and then transported by barge to all points across the world, mostly to the US and Japan. The barges carry hundreds of tons of salt at a time.

An interesting thing to note, the salt company is also conservation minded...as an Osprey had made her nest on one of the barges when it came into port, and they halted it's operation. They won't move it or disturb her until her babies have hatched and she has moved on. The barge has been sitting for some time, and it looked as if it was going to be sitting for a long time to come, as the Mama Osprey was quite settled in.

We made it to the launching point, donned our life vests (to be safe!) and clambered onto our panga, the KETOS. For those of you unfamiliar with the panga, it is a fiberglass and wood boat, about 20' in length. The ones designed for whale watching have four benches with flotation cushions, and an outboard motor. It is not big by any means, nor is it all that comfortable in choppy conditions.

And of course, it was windy and very choppy! The panga took off of the launching point and we were flying! What a ride! Up and down...bump, bump, BUMP!!! Mister instantly went into a "Mr. Peepers-like" state, closing his eyes, leaning up against me, and holding on for dear life. Sis, on the other hand was truly excited and loving every second of the ride. She didn't complain about the wind or the bumps ~ it was like a rollercoaster!

Once we got out into the lagoon, we began to look for the tell-tale shapes and sprays of the whales. Since the water was rough, it was difficult at first to know what to look for, but, once the first what broke the surface, cresting with the waves and spouting a large spray of water into the air we began to spot them more easily. As you can see from the photo, the whale is quite close to the front of our boat.
Even with the rough conditions, we were able to see several single whales, as well as mothers with their calves, and even a few pods of dolphins. They all seemed playful, although they didn't get too close to the panga. Under still conditions, the whales are known to approach the boats, getting close enough to touch and pet. But with the constant up and down of the panga due to the wind, they kept their distance.
Still, to see these incredibly massive creatures ~ up to 45 feet long ~ all around us, swimming, spouting, pushing their heads above the water as if to say hello, was breathtaking! Sis became quite adept at spotting the whales, especially the mothers and their babies. Both kids were obviously comfortable at sea, as they were both looking around with great interest, and no signs of seasickness...that was reserved for me! And then Mister fell asleep! The boat was rocking all over the place and that kid is sound asleep!

As the tour wound down, bag lunches were served - chicken salad sandwiches, bananas, candy bars, and apple soda. We, well, Sis and Lionel, ate as we made our way back to the shore. The mere thought of food, made my stomach lurch a bit, so I passed on it. And of course, Mister was still asleep. We then took a short jaunt to see the sea lions basking on the buoys. They were quite content to let us photograph them. the large bull even struck several masculine poses to show off his prowess. He was quite proud of himself.
It was then time to return on the bus to the hotel, where we spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the cool breezes in the courtyard palapa. We met several campers that were arriving for their own whale watching adventures and socialized for a while before deciding that it was time to eat. Tonight's menu: pizza from Maximo's! One Hawaiiana and one Mexicana ~ delicious! We scarfed our pizza, watching a movie and snuggled into bed. Tomorrow will be another long drive! Buenos Noches!!