Another beautiful pink dawn received us at Isla Espiritu Santo, as we awoke in the small bay called San Gabriel, one of the many interesting small bays on the western side of this big island. Different activities were undertaken after a sumptuous breakfast. Snorkeling among the many colored small fishes, sea urchins, small corals, and different worms was intense along one of the rocky sides of the bay. Kayaking was also enjoyed, as the waters were very calm. Some of us even saw sting rays swimming speedily away from us. Fantastic animals! One group of good hikers set off across the island to the other side, at a magnificent three mile beach of white sand called Bahia Bonanza. Those of us that stayed on the ship made it to Bahia Bonanza and began our activities there, which included kayaking and hiking into the interior of the island, enjoying the vegetation with one of our naturalists. Among the cacti, a huge sour pitahaya was seen, standing alone in the desert! But the most enjoyable activity was staying on the magnificent wide beach and sunbathing, or watching the youngsters build sand castles.
This island is large, and hosts two endemic species of mammals: the black jackrabbit (which isn’t black, but dark brown) and the Espiritu Santo antelope ground squirrel, a very small squirrel, that is seen (again, sometimes) jumping speedily among the rocks. An endemic subspecies of the cacomistle, or “ringtailed cat”, is to be seen late in the day or during the night.
Back on the ship after all these strenuous activities, we enjoyed our cocktail hour, which was interrupted by a piñata. The young ones really outdid themselves by beating the piñata to pieces, and scrambling among the candies to take as many as possible. William gave good explanations on the posada feast as well as on the piñata.
Dinner was excellent, as usual, and was enjoyed by all. Afterwards, we all move to the lounge to enjoy another talk.
