Isla Danzante
With the National Geographic Sea Bird cradled in the erogenously sculpted arms of Honeymoon Cove, we started our day of exploration. A flotilla of kayaks was brought to shore, banana-shaped platforms facilitating our transformation from purposeful direction to planktonic carelessness. A few snorkelers braved the refreshing waters; floating in the salty sea we ogled at the fishy residents who stared back in wide-eyed amazement. Hikes up and over the colorful landscape of Danzante led us to a series of spectacular views, the next more breathtaking then the previous.
Dolphins! Dolphins! Common dolphins brought out our inner child as we scampered back and forth across the deck, admiring, photographing and delighting in the leaping little cetaceans. A point of concern arose when we came across a small humpback whale; green netting from fishing gear was draped across its back, around at least one pectoral fin and hung from its right fluke as well. Making quick note of our longitude and latitude, we called the Loreto Marine Park authorities, they answered that a team was going to be dispatched immediately to assist the animal. Disentangling an animal is a very specialized procedure, one which can be quite dangerous for the untrained or ill-equipped to attempt. We crossed our fingers with good wishes for a fruitful outcome to the rescuers and the unfortunate young whale.
Closer to the peninsula we came across another humpback whale, this one with no impairments of fishing gear, but elusive to viewing on any consistent basis. We left this animal to find yet another whale, and a very large beast at that. Establishing a conveniently predictable dive time of eight and a half minutes, we scanned the horizon in anticipation of each surfacing. The dinky dorsal fin gave us the unmistakable identification of this being a blue whale, our second of the voyage.
After several surfacings we continued southward, the sun sinking behind the jagged layers of the peninsula; it was approaching time for our deck fiesta dinner. With a glowing sunset casting pink mercuric hues upon the water, we dined on the open deck. Melt in a bucket your orange, pink, purple, red, cerulean and yellow crayons then hurl this mass of gaudy colors across the western sky. This was our dining room backdrop. As the skies darkened and dinner ended, a plentitude of stars filled the heavens above us, sparkling as distant jewels. Gretchen walked us across this carpet of celestial diamonds, pointing out and naming these gems while sharing stories of the distant nocturnal fires twinkling above.
