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As I awaken to the sounds of silence, a faint breeze barely flickers the curtains above my head.  The peace and solitude the city of Cleveland can so rarely offer is but a “typical” morning in Baja.  Perhaps 5…10…30…whatever minutes goes by (not that it really matters) and a faint “Mark?  Mark, it’s time to get up.”

The reply “Up! Just chillin’!”

And so, the day begins…not an ordinary day, but a highly anticipated day of fun filled watery adventures with Phill and Michael.  Oh, breakfast?  A quick bowl of cereal and half a pot of “Coffee Combate” with Phill.  Best of all, (again, I’m a Cleveland boy) mangoes and freshly squeezed orange juice…so fresh… the pulp was still dangling from the press as I consumed my first glass.  Finally, what morning would be complete without a quick and thorough Cribbage trouncing of Michael and Phill (sorry guys…but you did lose A LOT!) 

The trek to the boat was interesting as the “gringos,” strolled to the marina, arms packed with black and gray Pelican cases filled with cameras, film, and data sheets; and we couldn’t forget our cooler complete with local delicacies and miscellaneous left over from last night’s dinner.  My particular favorite was fresh tortillas (warm and fresh - as Michael biked into town regularly to pick them up) and cheese with avocado and garlic.  Phill met up with Michael and I with complete dive gear and his share of Pelican cases. We were quite the spectacle, I’m sure.  

We’re off!  Phill and I ensembled in shorts and t-shirt attire;  Michael draped in wind pants, wind breaker, hat, gloves; mittens (ok… no gloves or mittens).  Poor Michael, a world traveler, but a North Carolina resident; a victim of warm weather acclimation, he began each morning wrapped like an Eskimo in the Arctic… wimp!  Hah!  (I believe it was snowing back home that day.)

(Click here to view movie of "Walk with the Animals")

Perhaps 30 minutes transpires and our first meeting of the day includes a mother and calf fin whale pair.  Michael pulls close to observe any potential scars that would help identify either animal; fins rarely scar so we record the sitting on our data sheet, get our GPS co-ordinates and BANG!  No, WHOOOOSH.  A bellow off in the distance… deep and long…it could only be a BLUE WHALE.  We float…each of us scanning the horizon for a blow, as the mighty whalers of the past did; however, our goal – to identify the creature.  Michael has been doing this so long that he recognizes vast numbers of individuals by their fins or flukes.  Ten minutes transpire and another blow!  I quickly pulled the engine cord and Michael jets us off in the direction of the leviathan.  Remarkably, the whale doesn’t dive as Michael cautiously steers us next to the creature. 

AMAZING… what an incredible display of muscle!  The creature was easily twice the size of our boat yet swam so gracefully; it’s all quite mesmerizing.  The funniest part of the approach is the silence we all shared as we paralleled the creature for quite some time.  (Quite amazing that we were so quiet, as none of us is ever at a loss for words.)  Another blow, the mist hanging in the air as we drive by…a quick glimpse of a rainbow emerging in the haze… I don’t think I should ever forget my first encounter with whale snot… not gross, but awe inspiring.  We were so close, I could simply reach out and touch the animal.  This is what it was like throughout most of the day.  Some approaches were not so ideal, but captivating nonetheless.  Michael would take his photos as would Phill and I.  Data were recorded and we moved on. 

(Click here to view the movie "Woooow")

Lunch on the boat is unmatched by anything I could possibly do back home.  The three of us sprawled out on the boat- munching, talking, and listening to nature.  No tape or CD I’ve heard could ever compare to the few sounds of water gently beating against the boat, birds calling, and whales blowing.  WOW! 

Again, we’re off!  This time we find ourselves amongst a rather larger pod of bottlenose dolphins.  This group was huge and just seemed to keep growing.  The aerial displays were those I had only seen at Sea World of Ohio.  There we were, in Mexico, surrounded by hundreds of dolphins - each of us snapping photos and gesturing or shouting “There…No there… Oh my god…did you see that one.”  Dolphins leaping, wake riding, bow riding, frolicking - without a care in the world it seems… must be a Baja thing. 

Late afternoon, and the sun had all but cooked us.  We headed toward land and decided to go for a swim.  Michael and I snorkeled…while Aquaman Phill quickly dressed himself and was off fishing.  The water was remarkably refreshing and full of sea life.  Fishes, star fish, miscellaneous coral, and other tiny invertebrates are in abundance in these waters… in fact, sea lions are too, but that’s another story.  We made our way back to the boat, stowed Phill’s gear and the fish he shot- that would become that night’s dinner –then headed back to our photo grounds. 

Our final sitting was a humpback whale, an interesting, yet elusive creature.  As Michael attempted to keep us near, this fellow was obviously not interested in being photographed.  (Or, maybe he was simply playing tag with us?)  The sun was beginning to fade as we decided to head back to our little home in Loreto.  I was entirely prepared to be escorted back by the hundreds of common dolphins which usually appeared as we drew nearer to town.  Ultimately, I would not be disappointed.  Suddenly we were amongst 300-400 common dolphins.  They were everywhere… not matter where you looked… all one could see were dolphins surfacing, ‘porpoising’ or jumping.  I believe we all have several pictures of dolphin silhouettes in the setting sun.  The image is so vivid...

(Click her to view the movie "One or Two Dolphins")

Common Dolphin

Our trip completed, we unpacked our boat and headed towards home.  Dinner was incredibly fresh and tasty.  A smorgasbord of fresh fish and Mexican delights.  And finally, what night would be complete without another game (or 10) of cribbage.  (Mark 8, Phill 2).  Just a typical day in Baja!