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Crew Update: July 2007 |
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Holy Cow! Where did the time go? It has been eight months since we last updated the site. As is so often the case, you stop for a moment to take stock, realize just how much time has passed, then wonder, just what have we been doing? Well, let's see, November, December and January, not much. February -- we finally got off our butts and back out into the world. |
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The first week in February we joined our friends, Dave and Leigh Bittner (from WRI - Wildlife Research Institute) and Ruth and Ray Barnett, for a road trip down to Guerrero Negro in Baja California to see the gray whales in Scammon's Lagoon. (There is something terribly wrong with having a place that has become famous for close and friendly whale encounters named after the whaler that did his best to murder nearly every whale there.)
Dave, always the consummate wildlife biologist, had us spotting and counting raptors for the entire trip down and back. I was busy counting the number of RV's in, the now typical, tourist caravans. The largest was 26 strong, a force to be reckoned with and no small task to pass on the narrow and twisting Baja roads. Ray and Dave did admirable jobs of getting us by without mishap.
What is up with this trend? Are people afraid to drive alone anymore? It sure seems that many have secumbed to some baseless fears as we encounted several of these RV road-trains. |
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The crew at Malarimo's in Guerro Negro. From left, Dave, Leigh, Ruth, Ray and Mike. Cheri is behind the camera. |
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The whale watching was great. We chartered our own panga, for just the six of us, for an entire day and then another half day. It was whale soup, with mothers and their calves coming right up to the boat, close enough to touch. Males were breaching and spy-hopping in hormone-charged excitement and we were even lucky enough to witness several matings. Now that was spectacular. |
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Salt, another major part of the local economy in Guerrero Negro. |
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Ok, what is wrong with this picture? What could be so interesting in the other direction to ignore the whale right next to you. Must have been "something spectacular". |
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About a week after we returned home I headed back to Baja with our old kayaking buddy and nomadic pal, Jim Bourke. Jim had never made the drive all the way down the peninsula and I needed to get down to the boat and put her together for cruising. Jim and I had a nice trip but the road is long and tedious. Jim's telling comment upon our return was "well I've done that now -- once was enough". We did, however, have a great time in La Paz, riding our bikes into town every day for breakfast before getting down to boat chores. |
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A female gray whale coming to say hello to Cheri. Some got so close we could touch them. |
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