Baja California: Day 8

Day 8:  Bahia Magdelena

We are now officially 8 for 8.  Another beautiful day!  The crew informed us that the previous voyage was basically a wash out due to high winds and waves as well as rain.  Many activities were cancelled (and I’ll bet a lot of guests wished that some that ran, had as well).  Luck is not a bad thing.

First thing this morning we anchored in Magdelena Bay and Zodiaced (not sure if that is a fabricated word-Toby and Marty would probably not let us use it in our Scrabble tournaments) to the nearby mangroves for a morning of kayaking. The sand along the beach was as close to quicksand without actually swallowing you whole. If you didn’t move quickly, you would slowly sink down knee-deep, with potential loss of shoes, and definitely loss of pride.  We made it to our kayak with shoes (and most of our pride) intact. The sun had come out and warmed the morning enough to make paddling in shorts and a tee very pleasant.

The mangroves are a nursery for many forms of wildlife.  We saw small rays swimming along the bottom, and a variety of birdlife including grebes, yellow-crested herons, snowy egrets, and cormorants.  It was nice to get out and kayak in February.

 

We returned to the Venture with plenty of time to work out in the gym (to attempt to reduce the bad news when we get on the scale at home) before lunch (where we defeated the purpose of the gym).  During lunch, the captain moved the ship to another anchorage off a ¼ mile wide sandy spit. We Zodiaced (I think using twice will confirm its usage is correct) to shore and hiked across the spit to the Pacific Ocean side.  

The sand was like superfine sugar and the constant wind created beautiful dunes.  

The landscape was dotted with small wildflowers that gave the dunes a spark of color. 

 On the Pacific side, there were high bluffs to negotiate down to the beach.  The beach was beautiful, about 100yds wide extending as far as the eye could see.  The beach is called Sand Dollar Beach, the reason for which became obvious as soon as we descended from the dunes.  Sand dollars littered the beach, especially at the high-tide line. 

There were also tons of small green wormlike creatures that were slithering around in the shallows.   

We had a nice walk along the beach with our new friends Steve and Lucy. 

 Though Steve and I got our feet wet, we elected not to brave the crashing surf.

 It didn’t really look too healthy, even with our guide, Carlos, playing Baywatch for us.

Coming down the dune was infinitely easier than going up to leave.  Even with Steve’s help, Jeri had a hard time with the last 5 feet but seemed to enjoy rolling in the sand just the same.  

The one child (10 yo Shore) on board seemed to have no trouble (and no lack of energy) scrambling up the dunes multiple times and jumping off the highest ones he could find into nice soft sand. 

Jeri decided that one climb up was enough and elected to pass on flying through the air. 

When we reached the bay side, we had one last Zodiac ride back to the boat on beautiful blue, flat water. A great end to a wonderful, relaxing trip.  Tonight, we pack and leave the ship tomorrow in San Carlos.  From there, we go overland back to the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja California (a 3 ½ hour bus trip) to overnight in La Paz, then the flights home the following day (after another 2 hour bus to Cabo).  Not really looking forward to the busses.