FUN-travel: Baja Wilderness & Whale Adventure – Guerrero Negro – Day 5 – PM Tour
March 20, 2015 by Susan Clarke
Laguna Ojo de Leibre – Afternoon Excursion to Inner Lagoon
- The vans arrived at 1:00 for our afternoon tour, this time back to the inner lagoon. By now we had the drill down, rolled up our pants, walked out, and quickly got settled into our panga. Once again, we had a seasoned captain who drove us out for about thirty minutes and turned off the motor. And shortly thereafter two females appeared, swimming in unison. They seemed to keep their distance while surveying us.
- Then ever so quietly one reappeared and rose from the water on my side as if to say, “Hello, here I am, please pet me.” She was so graceful and elegant; she seemed to just flow through the water with ease. She circled and dove, disappearing for minutes at a time only to reappear again. Spray from her spout sent drops of water like rain over our entire boat.
- At one point I could see her whole body stretched out just below the boat with her head 10 ft on the left and her tail 10’ on the right. I thought to myself, “Boy, if she comes up, I’m dead in the water.” But she was sweet and ever so gentle. Regal, majestic, and queen-like; it sounds bizarre to say this, but I felt a real connection with her.
Regina del Mar
- But then another panga showed up and tried to invade our space. They got so close it barely scraped the side. They were desperately trying to get her attention so they could pet her; she clearly didn’t like that and swam off. I was bummed, but on this third trip out I had had the best whale experience ever and was really happy for that.
- Our captain was ready to move on thinking we had gotten all we were going to get. And then out of nowhere she surfaced again right next to our boat. She came back for more love! She kept diving and coming up on my side giving me the most pets. I named her Regina del Mar (Queen of the Sea) which only seemed fitting. I had found my favorite whale! I thanked her for that and said, “You are the reason I came on this trip.” I was grinning from ear to ear when we headed back. Regina had made my whale adventure truly magical and the best ever!
Regina’s Blowhole
- Happy hour was a nice cold Pacifico, with a toast to the captain and our cruise mates, on the outside deck before driving back. When we arrived at Casa Laguna, Sophia was busy cooking up our “last supper.” She had laid out a spread of more wonderful guacamole, chips, and salsa for starters. Not everyone from our group chose to do the final whale watching tour, so we sat around the table and shared our day’s adventures.
- Our pilots were outside discussing the latest weather update, as a big storm was headed into San Diego, and their strategy to miss it. We poured a big glass of wine, and then went to freshen up, before sitting down to our dinner of chili rellenos, enchiladas, tamales, rice, and refried beans; topped off with another delectable dessert.
My Favorite Captain
- We all decided we were okay with “going with flow” and missing our final excursion in the outer lagoon the next morning to fly home early. The possibility of having to land in Calexico, and driving four hours to get back to San Diego, was pretty motivating to say the least.
FUN-facts – Mexico was the first nation in the world to create a gray whale sanctuary n 1972 in Laguna Ojo de Liebre, and later on in 1979 in Laguna de San Ignacio.
More FF – Laguna Ojo de Liebre is 9 km wide and 48 km long. The water in the inner lagoon is more salty and creates more buoyancy for the calves. Plus the small inlet provides protection against predators which it is why is has become one of the most favorites spots to birth.
Tom, Channing, Ophelia, Melinda, Peter & Me