Guerrero Negro




Eight am came early as I hadn't slept very well.  My wonderful Mexican meal produced some pregnancy related heartburn and I finally fell sound asleep shortly before my alarm went off.  We had a radio check at 7:55 am and the convoy rolled out at 8.  The green angels accompanied us again as we headed south.  We continued through desert until nearly the end -- where we could spot gorgeous water views again.  It took about 4 1/2 hours and included a military checkpoint.  

We arrived at Guerrero Negro, quickly set our trailers up, took Buster for a walk and hopped on the tour busses.  Bag lunches were handed out - delicious ham and cheese sandwiches, an orange and a date with a bottle of water.  We were assigned to the boat named "Libertidad".  The tour guide explained about salt production in Mexico as we drove out to the panga boats.  We were able to see the evaporation fields, the huge trucks carrying salt -- and even a 10 second "salt drop" as the truck dumped his load onto the existing mountain of salt.  


Arriving at the 3 panga boats, we were handed life jackets and boarded the boats.  I was told to sit in the back so I wouldn't be bumped around quite as much.  We raced out to the whale watching area -- about a 15 minute trip and then Daniel, our captain, cut the engine.  Bobbing around in the ocean, we waited for the magic to start.  Dolphins arched on the port side and we continued scanning the horizon.  Suddenly, we saw a puff of water and a gray whale emerged.  We could only see his back but it was really majestic.  


We tooled around the bay a bit more and then had our true close encounter.  Two whales started heading towards our boat and one even surfaced right next to one side of the boat.  Daniel gave a thumbs up and pet the whale, so I followed suit!  It was incredible.  A few minutes later, another whale surfaced directly on the opposite side of the boat, so the kids were also able to pet a whale.  It was simply amazing and brought tears to my eyes.  They are such gentle giants.  I would guess our boat was about 15' in length -- and the whales had to be 20-30 feet.  I was a little nervous when they were directly under us!  We were "sneezed on" as they blew air out of the spouts and we laughed and laughed. 




The ride back was windy and chilly as we were sprayed a bit by the surf.  We could see the Ballena II (whale II) salt tug in the bay - heavily laden with salt.  


After we were bussed back to the campsite, we met at the RV restaurant and whale center for (virgin) margaritas and a wonderful seafood combination dinner.  I had a lobster tail, shrimp, fish and pounded scallops.  Yum!




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