Last week, CJ and I took a long-awaited side trip over to the western side of the Baja, to visit a very special place. Adolfo Lopez Mateos is a village located near the northern end of the 50 km long Bahia Magdalena, a 10 minute panga trip to one of the "doorways" out into the Pacific. During the months of January to March, this large lagoon acts as a nursery for the Gray Whales of the North Pacific.
Magdalena Bay is one of three such lagoons located along the outside of the Baja and we remember passing them by as we sailed south in 2011 on our way to Mexico. Each winter these incredible animals make the journey south from their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and return to their place of birth to mate and raise babies of their own.
To find out more about the history of the Baja whale lagoons, the whales who use them and the people who live there, check out this great article by James Michael Dorsey:
The Whale Keepers of San Ignacio, Mexico
Lopez Mateos is about a 4 hour drive from La Paz and many folks do the entire tour in a single day. We had heard that early morning is the best time to view the whales, so we made plans to stay overnight in the village. We hired a wonderful taxi driver / tour guide named Jorge, who we had met last year here in La Paz. Jorge and his family have run their taxi/tour business for two generations and Jorge is a genuinely nice guy with a ready smile and a pretty good handle of English. He has a fleet of pristine recent model vans and is an excellent driver, so even CJ was comfortable riding in the passenger seat on a Mexico highway. :-)
Jorge picked us up outside Palmira Marina at 8 am and we arrived at Lopez Mateos shortly after noon. After checking in to our Cabanas and having a lunch of fish tacos at the palapa restaurant next door, we made our way down to the Embarcadero to hire a panga for a two hour tour out in the lagoon. Although the winds of recent days had eased, it was a bit choppy and many of the whales had left the lagoon to spend the afternoon out in deeper water. We did, however, see a few whales actively swimming and even a baby practicing its breaching skills.
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| Jorge & CJ on the Embarcadero |
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| Jorge negotiated a great deal for us and we had a panga to ourselves. |
That night, we had an early dinner of seafood (lobster, prawns and a delicious fish fillet!), provided by a local woman who runs a small restaurant and rents rooms. Her little granddaughters were gracious hostesses, greeting us with smiles and handshakes when we arrived. The youngest (14 months), amazed us with her social skills when she walked up to our table after dinner to show us her stash of play money... tiny little colourful Mexican Peso bills in various denominations. Jorge joked and teased her, saying: "vamos a la tienda!".
The next morning, we were up before 6 to have breakfast and make our way back down to the Embarcadero to hire another panga. This time we were able to join another group of early birds and save a few pesos by sharing a panga.
The water was calm and the sun was burning off the morning fog as we made our way over to the "doorway". We came across another panga with a small group, engine stopped and drifting along with a baby whale alongside. The two Japanese women in this panga leaned over the side and squealed with delight as the whale came right alongside their boat, close enough for them to pat.
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| (photo courtesy of Jorge) |
Our captains (the) pangeros were very careful to shut off their engines when the whales were near and let the whales approach us by their own choosing. Soon, the "little" whale left the other panga and headed our way. It was amazing to see how comfortable he/she was with us and seemed excited to meet as many humans as she could. We were surprised at how soft the whale's skin was. I've heard someone describe it as feeling like the texture of a peeled hard-boiled egg (except for those crusty barnacle, of course).
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| (photo courtesy of Jorge) |
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| Time for a little break |
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| Even the babies have barnacle growth, giving them their distinctive gray colour. |
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| The whales love to have their mouths & baleens scratched |
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| Momma controls the show |
I have a few short videos of the whales and their new human friends, which I'll share in my next post. In the meantime, here are a few photos of some of the other sights we had that day....
Magdalena Bay is also home to a large variety of birds. Our guides took us near the shore for a closer look...
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| White Pelicans on the shore |
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| Great Blue Heron in full plumage |
Meanwhile, back at the Embarcadero...
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| Close to the end of the whale season here, so we had our choice of pangas. |
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| Cleaning boat bottoms, Baja style. Muriatic acid, no gloves or face masks! |
Hope you enjoyed the photos!
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| (photo courtesy of Jorge) |
