We embarked on a 14 hour road trip (each way) for the chance to play with whales. Although we only had 4 days total for this trip it was worth every second spent on the dusty Mexican roads.
Playing With Whales from Bethany Blue on Vimeo.
We camped at the Kuyima Ecological Reserve which I would highly recommend. We had a great view because the campground is located at the edge of the desert that ends only because it runs into the Pacific Ocean (San Iganacio Bay to be more specific). It was beautiful. It was also very windy.
Since Randy and I had a giant sized, family tent from about 1989, our tent blew down on us every night so remember to bring a warm jacket and a hat for the evenings. Camping is only $10/site. You can also rent tents or cabanas as well. All the people were very knowledgeable and loved teaching us about the whales and the preserve. They have a small restaurant and store on the premises where you can get almost anything you need, except wood. Remember to bring your own since they don’t sell it there and it’s an hour drive down a dirt road to get to the little town of San Ignacio if you run out.
To view the rest of the pictures from this trip click here.
The drive down thru the Baja desert was beyond beautiful.
However the truly amazing experience was the chance to pet the wild grey whales that head to the San Ignacio lagoon every year to give birth. They were amazingly friendly and came right up to our boat to check things out and say hi.
We traveled out on a boat that is only a little larger than a row boat and soon enough we were surrounded by HUGE whales. It’s a bit unnerving when you realize you are on such a tiny boat and that these whales could kill you instantly. Then you discover how gentle and loving they are and you start to fall in love.
The youngsters looked very happy as they bobbed around checking out the sights. They were very curious little creatures and if you splash the water you’ll have a few of them swim right up to see what is going on.
Their gigantic moms were never far behind making sure that everything was safe. As our guide informed us, they get very itchy from the barnacles that grow on their body and as a result they love to be pet (as you can tell in the video) and are more than happy to roll around while you rub their giant bodies. It really is an amazing experience and shouldn’t be missed. I can honestly say that we were all completely in awe and utterly relaxed after the excursion. It is really inspiring to have such a connection with an animal that is so large. When you go, make sure to take off your sunglasses, they love to make eye contact.
We also stopped at a couple great little restaurants on the way home.
Ben (a great guy from Britain we met in San Ignacio and ended up spending a few fun days with – hi Ben!) got to try Cerviche, which is kinda like a Mexican salsa made with fresh fish. Most people love this stuff – Ben, not so much.
Overall, everyone had a great time and making friends with whales is something that everyone should do at least once in their lives.
The second video in this post is a bit of our road trip thru the desert including Randy’s imaginative tale of being a Baja off-roader in the late 80’s – Enjoy!
Road Trip To San Ignacio – Baja, Mexico from Bethany Blue on Vimeo.
1 comment
WOW! this is one of my dreams. I’m especially fascinated with blue whales. This looks like you guys had such a wonderful time.
on another note, your blog design is really unique, I appreciate that!
Keep on keepin on 🙂
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