It was an unbelievably fun day aboard National Geographic Venture. The morning began with hikes and Zodiac cruises in Bahia de los Angeles where I led a group on a birding and photography hike. Among the land-based highlights were wading whimbrels, long-billed curlews, and American oystercatchers while our Zodiac cruisers saw bottlenose dolphins and brown pelicans.
Before heading to lunch, we cruised through Canal Ballenas, a place whose name proved to be fitting. Between 11 am and 4 pm we saw multiple humpback and gray whales, the latter of which produced huge plumes of mud as they fed. The late afternoon saw us land ashore in La Gringa, where friendly locals provided us with transport to a grove of boojum trees and a margarita send-off.
