A quiet day

March 14: a quiet day and a word about the weather 

We spent today in the vicinity of La Paz, doing some birding in the morning and relaxing in the afternoon. Others took a trip to a local tin mining town from the 19th century, or learned about the art and history of La Paz itself. 

But the real story is why we were here. You may remember that the original itinerary called for us to travel from Loreto, on the Gulf of California, around the tip of Baja and up the pacific side to San Carlos. Along the way we would spend time in Magdalena Bay with the gray whales. 

Throughout the trip, a looming storm in the Pacific has played havoc with the itinerary. You’ve already read about the change that causes us to bus across the peninsula to see the gray whales in the Laguna San Ignacio. That same storm has kept us from entering the Pacific at all. An interim plan was for us to bus from La Paz to Magdalena Bay to see the whales in a few hour “weather window”. Yesterday the window vanished as the port from which we would have taken pangas was closed for 72 hours. It’s some storm!! Our trip will now conclude back in Loreto on Sunday morning. 

The expedition staff has been amazing in adapting the itinerary over and over again, finding us interesting things to do. Having yet more time in the Gulf may give us an additional snorkeling opportunity tomorrow, which will be great. 

Pictured: the lunar eclipse from the back deck last night, black-backed stilts “waiting for a bus”.