Whale Watching

We decided that we wanted to go whale watching in the lagoons where the whales come to have their babies and mate. So we packed up an overnight kit and piled into Ian and Ellen's car and the four of us took off at 8AM for the town of San Carlos on the Pacific side and in Magdalena bay. Penny had made reservations at the Alcatraz Hotel (Alcatraz is a spanish flower, not a prison} and arranged for a panga to take us out to see whales. The room was 785 pesos and the panga was $60.00 for the afternoon. On the way we stopped in Ciuadad Constitution for brunch and ended up at Gordita's Durango. Had a great ham omelet and a really good cup of coffee and hot beans and the most delicious flour tortillas. Reasonable price, 120 pesos per couple (10 bucks). Onward to San Carlos and made the turnoff for the 40 km drive through the desert with occasional farmlands of corn, carrots and alfafa. Alongside the road in the power poles were Osprey nests with mother's tending to their eggs or young. The power company was nice enough to erect poles with platforms on the power poles so the Osprey's can build a nest.

We arrived in San Carlos and found the hotel and checked in with Daniel who was also providing the boat. We dropped our stuff in the room and followed him to the launch ramp where he launched his panga. We climbed aboard and it was the cleanest panga I have seen. Fresh paint and four seats with backs on them for the guests and carpet on the floor. So off we went and headed out to the bay. It is quite shallow in the bay and we were whizzing along at 20 + knots in only about 3 feet of water. I was glad Daniel knew his way around. It took a good 20-30 minutes to get out in deep water and find some whales. We found them at the entrance to the bay and they were mostly male grey whales but no babies. We followed some around for awhile but the closest we got was about 20 feet away. After an hour we headed back to San Carlos and Daniel let us out and we beachcombed for awhile and he retrieved his boat.

We get back to the hotel feeling good about the trip and that it seemed like a bargain. Well I went to pay him his $60 plus a good tip and he said that there must be a misunderstanding as it was $60 per hour and we were out for 3 hours. I said that he had to talk to Penny because she was the one that set it up with him and I was chicken. After much discussion we paid the $180 with no tip and felt a little taken. We got over it with a few games of cards and then went down the street and had a good fish dinner for 80 pesos and then back to the hotel and to bed.

Up early for an 8AM start to head up to Puerto Lopez Mateos, about an hour drive, to see more whales as this was where we should see the babies. We got into town and spent some time trying to find a restaurant that had real coffee and not instant. No luck so we followed the whale signs to the lagoon, paid 15 pesos to park and found a palapa restaurant that had real coffee and cooked us eggs any way we wanted for 50 pesos. So we enjoyed an nice breakfast and went over to the very organized whale watching area where you buy your tickets. It was 900 pesos per hour for the boat so we found a nice young couple from Mexico City to share the boat with us for 2 hours so our cost ended up at 600 pesos per couple plus a 100 peso tip ($56.00). Again the panga was like brand new and super clean and as soon as we left the dock we saw whales. We spent 2 hours and saw 50 or more whales, moms with their babies that were anywhere from 2-3 weeks old to several months old. They would come right up to the boat and the baby would rub himself on the boat and we were able to reach out and pet them. The mom would try to get in between and get the baby away and was always successful. This went on for 2 hours and we got tons of pictures but it is hard to get good pictures with a digital camera with slow shutter response. I ended up doing video and even though it is shaky some came out pretty good. I will try to post some on the blog if I can.

We left for the 3-4 hour drive back to La Paz with a wonderful feeling about nature and the whales. Also about how the Mexican panga drivers respect the animals and are slow to approach and not get between the baby and its mom. Of course our laws don't allow us to get that close without the risk of a heavy fine, but that discussion is for another day.



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