Baja California - Where desert and ocean meet - Nozomojo
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Baja California – Where desert and ocean meet
This is indeed the World’s best whale-watching trip Baja California – and it is so much more too! The diversity of wildlife and wilderness that these 12 days offer is unparalleled anywhere on Earth. Cruising with a hundred whales and many hundred dolphins. Snorkeling with sea lions. Hiking among endemic cacti and lizards on uninhabited protected island reserves. Lounging with Elephant Seals. Enjoying close encounters with the mightiest of cetaceans and tiny hummingbirds. Watching the sun set in pink and rise again in orange – perhaps with a green flash. Spotting sea turtles, rays, marlin – and maybe a Whale Shark. Watching Brown Pelicans dive, Magnificent Frigatebirds chase, albatrosses soar and whales breach. Searching for the endemic Santa Catalina Rattle-less Rattlesnake. Staring down on bow-riding dolphins. Listening to the silence of the night and watching the stars where no background light pollutes the air. Enjoying on board meals, laid back friendliness, and the odd educational lecture. Comparing photos, looking up endemics in the library books, eating the grand meals and enjoying a glass of wine. And who knows, with only a little luck, even being touched by a Gray Whale.
Tour Description
Included:
Dates: March 8 – March 19, 2020. • Three meals and snacks daily March 9 to March 18 plus
breakfast March 19.
Group size: 22 & 4 guides • Coffee/tea/chocolate, soft drinks, beer and wine.
• 11 nights of accommodation on board.
Transportation: 95-foot M/V “Searcher”, aluminum skiffs & • Mexican visa.
glass-fiber pangas. • Biosphere reserve, national park, marine reserve & island
reserve entrance permits.
Accommodation: 14 bunk cabins • Panga services in Laguna San Ignacio.
- 12 double occupancy, 2 triple occupancy. • All guide services such as briefings, lectures and shore-side
interpretations.
Price: Starting from US$ 5,200. • All excursions by aluminum skiff for cruising or landing.
• All hikes and snorkels/swims (minus whale shark swim).
Payment schedule: US$ 1,200 upon booking, further 40% by • Magnificent scenery and wonderful wildlife encounters.
April 2019, final 40% by October 2019. • Great company, safe and friendly travel, a trip of a lifetime.
Discounts: US$ 300,- for repeat customers. Excluded: Any pre- or post-cruise expenses including flights
and transfers, dinner on March 8, optional Whale Shark
Conservation: For each booking, we pledge a US$ 50,- swimming, customary tips for crew & for panga drivers,
contribution to Vaquita conservation efforts. mandatory insurance, items of a personal nature, and anything
else not specified as included.
Additionally, NozoMojo Tour Special Gifts include:
A printed species check list to use while on board
A NozoMojo log-book / tour report to be sent to you after the voyage.
What to expect
• Sightings of 12-14 species of cetacean, 4 seal species, perhaps 150 or more bird species, and numerous fishes, reptiles and plants.
Endemic or near-endemic species may include almost a dozen birds, as many lizards, a few snakes and many cacti and other plants.
Near endemic is Guadalupe Fur Seal.
• Whether it be with Blue, Humpback, Sperm, Short-finned Pilot, Bryde’s or Fin Whale, or with Long- or Short-beaked Common or
Bottlenose Dolphins, there is a high chance to have VERY close encounters with some of these animals.
• With the Gray Whales, there is a high likelihood of something even more spectacular than a VERY close encounter. It could be a VERY
VERY close encounter. So close, that if you reach out, you will feel the softness of the whale’s skin!
• Weather of a gentle nature, with mostly mild
winds, a soft rolling sea mostly from behind,
sunny or part overcast conditions, daytime
temperatures around 20-25C/70-80F and water
temperatures around 18C/65F.
• Sunrises and sunsets of an often very
spectacular nature on a daily basis.
• Long days and early nights, beginning before or
at dawn and continuing until after sunset, with
near constant wildlife and wilderness
opportunities of an ever changing nature.
• Ocean view dining, not infrequently with
cetaceans right outside.
• An informal but highly professional atmosphere.
• Close contact with friends you haven’t met yet.
Rough itinerary:
On March 8, you will be on board the On this first day, we might also see the
“Searcher” before 8 pm, which is when first large pods of Common Dolphins,
the introductions take place. Your Captain both long-beaked and short-beaked
Art Taylor and his wife Celia will describe being possible, and we are almost
the outlay of the boat, including its safety certain to see some large baleen whales
features. As tempting as it might be to – will it be Gray, will it be Blue, will it be
stay up this first evening, it is Humpback or Fin – or maybe a mix?
recommended to head for the cabins
early, as the show begins early the next There are often whales around already
day. from sunrise as the boat approaches the
San Benitos Islands. After breakfast, we
After clearing Mexican customs and head ashore to spend a morning on
immigration during breakfast, the uninhabited ground, with options to
“Searcher” heads south, past Isla Espiritu spend the entire time with the pinnipeds
Santu, with a quick look at the seals and there, or to hike across the island for a
birds there, before it is all about sea- good leg-stretch and some great views.
watching the rest of the day. Some of the Two seal species compete to steal the
likely species of this day, species that are show here – the Northern Elephant
near the southern limit of the distribution Seals are at this time of year very busy
and which we therefore might not see on the breeding beaches, with huge
later, include Pacific White-sided Dolphin bulls fighting, females pupping, and
and Laysan and Black-footed Albatross. generally lots of action. Less noisy and
less smelly, but just as fascinating, are
the Guadalupe Fur Seals, back from the
brink of extinction some 120 years ago.
The afternoon is spent cruising further
south again, passing through waters
with numerous opportunities to see more
whales, dolphins as well as new bird
species. If we are going to see the
recently split Scripp’s Murrelet, it will
probably be today. Look out also for
Black-vented Shearwaters and Least
and Black Storm-petrels.
In the early hours of our third full day on board, we enter into Laguna San Ignacio. Just how very special this is will have been highlighted in advance, but you will also see for yourselves. The shallow and relatively warm waters of the lagoon are one of the most important calving and nursing grounds of the migratory Gray Whale, arriving here from the Arctic anytime between December and now, and departing again between now and May. The “Searcher” is one of only 2 or 3 commercial vessels allowed to enter into the lagoon itself. The lagoon is a World Heritage Site, part of Latin America’s largest wildlife sanctuary (El Vizcaìno Biosphere Reserve), and it will be our base for the next 2 days. While in the lagoon, we shall be offering up to 4 daily excursions to interact with the Gray Whales. In three local glass-fiber boats, called pangas, with comfortable space for everyone, we shall be venturing out with local whale-watch operators who have many years of experience in finding the best whales for us. Each outing will be of about 1,5 hours’ duration, during which we will see Gray Whales surfacing, breaching, spyhopping, lobtailing, mating – it is very busy in all directions! There will be new-born calves, and their mothers often allow them to approach the pangas. Sometimes the young, or even an adult, poke their heads out of the water to be touched. The panga drivers are very knowledgeable about how to maneuver around the whales, and they communicate between the pangas to ensure that everyone gets an unforgettable experience. Apart from the Gray Whales, the lagoon offers views of Bottlenose Dolphins, a wide range of coastal bird life, and often a glimpse of a sea turtle or two. Depending on winds and tides, alternative excursions will include a panga ride into a nearby mangrove, for close-up encounters there with numerous species of heron, egret, ibis, shorebird and more – including the local Mangrove Warbler, a race of Yellow Warbler. Another option is a beach landing on a remote and desolate, wonderful sand beach for some time away from everyone else. We will head out again in the afternoon of the fifth full day on board.
The following day is spent on board, We now have 3 full days remaining,
traveling towards the tip of the Baja all of which will be spent in the Gulf
peninsula. We are now getting into of California. Exactly what we do
warmer climes, and on this day we will depend on weather conditions,
often run into the first of more but the range of opportunities is
southern species – it could be vast. Inside the gulf, the cetaceans
Masked or Nazca Booby, it could be we expect to see include Blue, Fin,
Red-tailed Tropicbird, or something Bryde’s and Humpback Whales
else. In addition, there is a very high among the baleen, and Sperm,
likelihood of great encounters with Dwarf Sperm and Short-finned Pilot
great whales – whether they be among the Toothed. There will be
Humpback, Blue, Fin, Sei or Sperm Common Dolphins (possibly both
– as well as pods of dolphins. species), sometimes in pods
numbering several thousand
In the morning of the following day, individuals - as well as Bottlenose
we will be on the Gorda banks, an Dolphins, and there is always a
area frequented by numerous possibility for the more unusual – a
Humpback Whales. Other species pod of Orca perhaps? Blue-footed
can be seen, but the focus will no and Brown Boobies will be daily
doubt be on the cavorting along with Magnificent Frigatebirds,
Humpbacks, often very active and Brown Pelicans, a variety of terns
providing great displays as they slap and gulls (including the endemic
the water surface or jump right out Yellow-footed Gull), and we should
of it. In the afternoon, we expect to also see the very local Craveri’s
make a landing for the possibility of Murrelet. On shore walks, mostly
a shore walk to look for birds and/or on human-void islands, we will
a snorkel among boulders near the enjoy more birds, and we will find
beach. The endemic Xantus’ endemic reptiles on just about
Hummingbird and Grey Thrasher every island we visit. The cacti of
are usually both found here, as well Santa Catalina are a scoop in
as numerous other desert birds themselves, worth perhaps an
such as Greater Roadrunner, Gila extended visit. Towards the end of
and Ladderbacked Woodpeckers, our days in the gulf, we will visit a
Cactus Wren, and many more. The rocky outcrop called Los Islotes,
first snorkel opportunity of the where we are allowed to snorkel
voyage should provide views of a with the quite habituated California
wide array of tropical fish. Sea Lions – a very special treat!
The weather is very often calm, allowing for very efficient whale searching. We will make sure we maximize the opportunities to have great views of and encounters with the local cetaceans, while also allowing ourselves to indulge in the islands and their very unique habitats and inhabitants. The dawns and sunsets are often spectacular, and we will be up and active to enjoy them. If conditions allow, we will have a spotlight over the side one night, so we can see the swarming krill and what comes after it. If conditions are right, we might see bioluminescence in the night. If we are lucky, we will run into a large school of Mobula Rays, enjoying their strange habit of leaping out of the water. And so on and so on. The list of special moments that always occur on these trips is actually endless. If conditions are suitable, a very special treat that has been added in recent years to this already amazing journey is the possibility of an optional snorkel with Whale Sharks (if weather permits – ca. US$ 75,- extra per person). Together with local, licensed operators, the Searcher Captain and the Expedition Leader will determine whether we do this, or we spend an extra half-day whale-watching. In the early morning of March 19th, we will disembark the “Searcher” at Cabo San Lucas. Everyone will be briefed on the evening before regarding the arranged transfers.
Booking and inquiry: NozoMojo@gmail.com www.NozoMojo.com
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