San Jose Channel & Puerto Gato
After a long night’s haul from the southern tip of the peninsula into the Gulf of California, we saw the first sun among a magnificent series of clouds. Even some rain clouds in the desert! We watched for large marine mammals, and after a while we were rewarded by the blow of a Bryde’s whale. It didn’t allow us a second view, as they are wont to do. But not too much later, we had a magnificent opportunity of seeing the king of the seas: sperm whales. A good-sized pod. Besides a couple of big males (males are much larger than females) we saw young and adult females. What a sight! These animals seemed not to mind us looking at them; they just kept on swimming with their regular breathing pattern. The number of clicks made by the cameras! The number of fast whirrs from multiple shots! These animals are a wonder, in their deep diving and in their enormous teeth, which grow only on the lower jaw. We stayed with them a good while, but had to proceed north to Puerto Gato, for our afternoon activities: snorkeling, kayaking and hiking into the beautiful desert, that now is green from so much water fallen from the sky!
After all these activities, the hotel staff had prepared us a scrumptious barbecue dinner, after which we heard stories from the Fifth Sun by William, as the sky got darker by the minute.
