Early this morning we headed out for our first whale watching activity in the northernmost section of Magdalena Bay, near the town of Adolfo Lopez Mateos. To do this, coaches drove us over the Magdalena Plains, a huge flat desert area composed of alluvial, powder-like ground produced by erosion of the majestic volcanic mountain range on the eastern side of the peninsula, La Giganta. We also crossed the Santo Domingo agricultural area which is considered the green basket of the peninsula due to the existence of an enormous acquifer.
Once in Lopez Mateos, our guests and staff boarded pangas (outboard, fiber-glass boats) toward Boca de la Soledad at the northern entrance of the bay. There we found our first gray whales playing with the tidal currents. There were several adult females and males and a mother and calf pair. Then we returned to the dock and had a delicious lunch of local style pescado zarandeado and other delicacies.
In the afternoon, we enjoyed additional excursions and everybody observed a coyote feeding on an eel and other creatures in the mudflats. We continued our exploration at an oyster farm where our guests were delighted with fresh locally farmed oysters.
We all returned to National Geographic Venture happy and joyful for our first encounters with gray whales!
