Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur
Offered once a year, today we begin a truly remarkable journey. In the next twelve days we will navigate on the National Geographic Sea Bird, half way up the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula, then retrace our tracks, rounding Cabo San Lucas and exploring the Gulf of California all the way north to the midriff islands.
We began with a pre-dawn landing along the sandy shores of Magdalena Island. The sun-painted clouds created a beautifully layered sky for our cameras to focus upon. After breakfast we hiked across this narrow barrier island to Sand Dollar Beach where we had our first glimpse of the open Pacific Ocean. True to its name, sand dollars were in abundance. Patterns repeated themselves in the sand as the cadence of “El Pacifico” gave this magical place a beginning.
Heaving anchor, we headed out of the protected waters of Magdalena Bay. Gray whales were guardians to La Entrada, marking our passing with breaching in the distance. Mid-afternoon brought an expansive pod of common dolphins. Nothing, however, is common about these dolphins. Their grace and beautiful lines are not done justice by their name. The hourglass pattern and dark & light colorations make this an extraordinarily beautiful species.
The excitement is building with the anticipation of tomorrow’s gray whale encounters in San Ignacio Lagoon. We are rocked to sleep by the gentle swells caressing our bow. Our dreams will be sweet with a touch of gray.
