After a full day of water activities yesterday, it was time to set foot on land once more. We were fortunate to wake up today at the face of Isla Espiritu Santo for a morning of island exploration. Hikes were offered through the desert terrain along with beachcombing a pristine and diverse shoreline. Our morning ashore promised some exciting finds, from lively jackrabbits to the not-so-lively remains of a moray eel. Long hikers trekked carefully across patches of creeping devil cactus and climbed their way up uneven rocks to a promising overlook of the island. Beachcombers discovered fish, marine mammals, aquatic birds, and reptiles. There was much more to visually explore on the beach than just shells. To conclude the rousing escapades of the day, National Geographic Venture brought us into La Paz to share a special evening of authentic Mexican dishes, proper tequila consumption, and an array of dancing and vocal entertainment. As the sun sank over the Sea of Cortez and glowed orange and pink on the desert plants, “Besame Mucho” sang out in the background. It seemed like the perfect song choice for the end of a film – this film being the one we had all just played a part in and soon, we will call it a wrap.
1/21/2025
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National Geographic Venture
El Cardonal, Espiritu Santo Island
This morning National Geographic Venture anchored at El Cardonal, one of the many little bays along the protected western coast of Espiritu Santo Island. Espiritu Santo is one of our favorite islands in the Gulf of California for its beautiful pink-red-orange calc-alkaline ignimbrites, which are part of the Comondu Volcanic Field. We hiked and explored the land, discovering the combination of three magnificent ecosystems –mangroves, dunes with halophytic plants, and the desert vegetation. Many cardon, galloping, and organ pipe cactuses were seen by our interested guests and staff under sunny and breezy climatic conditions. A number of sea and land birds were also observed, as well as tracks of one of the endemic island mammals: the ring-tailed cat, the smallest member of the raccoon family. After lunch and a very interesting presentation about the origin of the Gulf of California, guests were invited to snorkel along the northern rocky shore of El Cardonal and to explore by Zodiac. This active day was finished and crowned by a multicolored sunset behind the peak of the impressive La Giganta Mountain Range, also built by volcanic ignimbrites.
