Even before the first light of day, our two-week adventure began. This first full day of our trip started in Magdalena Bay on the midwestern coast of the Baja Peninsula. Navigating to the sandy shores of Sand Dollar beach via headlamp was well worth it, as the warm morning light slowly painted the clouds and graced the dunes. Some guests headed across the dunes to the open Pacific Ocean. Others hugged the mangrove coastline farther south to look for shorebirds and other avian wonders.

An afternoon at sea complemented our earlier beachcombing endeavors as we started our journey towards Land’s End at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. As the sun started to descend and the sky crystalized into tones of tangerine and purple, none other than a blue whale surfaced in the setting sun. If a better omen of our future could have arrived the first day, I cannot imagine it. Here’s to more sunset-bathed wildlife encounters!