Cabo San Lucas
Sunlight played across the massive pinnacles of Friar’s Rocks on our approach to Cabo San Lucas before breakfast. We rounded Land’s End at the tip of the Baja Peninsula and left the Pacific behind, ready for new adventures in the Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortez. A number of guests set off on their own to investigate this city of about 80,000 people. Gift shops, street venders, restaurants and bars lined the streets and presented opportunities galore for shoppers as well as those who simply enjoyed seeing the town.
Quite a few of us opted for an outing to nearby San Jose del Cabo to shop and/or take a bird walk. The birders wandered along a lush freshwater wetland in search of egrets, ducks and shorebirds. Even novices could spot black-necked stilts, ibises and other showy waders that seemed accustomed to people frequenting the trail. This emerald oasis was an amazing contrast to the desert landscapes that flanked it. After a rewarding experience here, we returned to the vicinity of the ship to relax or catch some last minute shopping before leaving this busy environment for an afternoon at sea.
Just after a presentation on baleen whales, we learned that a humpback was sighted. It remained beneath the surface for a rather long 14 minutes or more between surfacings. A hydrophone on board can sometimes pick up sounds of these animals if they are vocalizing. The device was lowered just to check, and we immediately picked up the songs of the whale. A microphone broadcast the eerie wails and moans throughout the ship during one dive after another. Finally the time came to leave this lone individual to his singing and continue on our way towards the islands of the Sea of Cortez.
Sunlight played across the massive pinnacles of Friar’s Rocks on our approach to Cabo San Lucas before breakfast. We rounded Land’s End at the tip of the Baja Peninsula and left the Pacific behind, ready for new adventures in the Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortez. A number of guests set off on their own to investigate this city of about 80,000 people. Gift shops, street venders, restaurants and bars lined the streets and presented opportunities galore for shoppers as well as those who simply enjoyed seeing the town.
Quite a few of us opted for an outing to nearby San Jose del Cabo to shop and/or take a bird walk. The birders wandered along a lush freshwater wetland in search of egrets, ducks and shorebirds. Even novices could spot black-necked stilts, ibises and other showy waders that seemed accustomed to people frequenting the trail. This emerald oasis was an amazing contrast to the desert landscapes that flanked it. After a rewarding experience here, we returned to the vicinity of the ship to relax or catch some last minute shopping before leaving this busy environment for an afternoon at sea.
Just after a presentation on baleen whales, we learned that a humpback was sighted. It remained beneath the surface for a rather long 14 minutes or more between surfacings. A hydrophone on board can sometimes pick up sounds of these animals if they are vocalizing. The device was lowered just to check, and we immediately picked up the songs of the whale. A microphone broadcast the eerie wails and moans throughout the ship during one dive after another. Finally the time came to leave this lone individual to his singing and continue on our way towards the islands of the Sea of Cortez.
