I have been to Mexico before and had a pretty great time. I have always been curious of the Baja peninsula shared with America. Baja Mexico, or the correct name Baja California, the southern part of the tip is the most expensive region in the whole of Mexico. It's the holiday destination for most Americans and it is catered thoroughly for Americans. It is this reason I left it as the last place I would ever go to and visit. But the whales were calling me. I saw so many photos and videos of humpback whales on the net in this region alone. I have seen whales in the Arctic, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada. They were awesome but I wanted to see them up close and personal. Baja looked like it would be happy to oblige.
I decided to skip the family Christmas and go to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate my birthday as well. I researched throughly on the company to use for my whale watching trips. I wanted one that as responsible and made sure the whales were looked after. After deciding I booked a whale watching trip for everyday I was staying and two on my birthday.
I knew it was going to be busy but with two cruise ships docked I didn't realise how nuts it would actually be. I ignored the chaos and looked forward to meeting my whales. I actually accidentally saw 3 of them on my way back from my snorkelling trip. My phone had died so no photos but it was pretty amazing. I couldn't wait for my actual trip. It didn't disappoint. We saw 5-6 sightings of at least 2 or 3 whales each time. They swam alongside our boat. It was pretty awesome. From the photos and videos I saw online the whales were really close but not on any of my trips. In fact the closest legally to be near a whale in a small boat is approx 80 to 100 meters. I guess nobody told the other boats that rule as they were always getting really close to the whales especially the water taxis. Sometimes I did get a little jealous of the closer boat as I could see what they were seeing but 100 metres away. It didn't matter as the experience of seeing the whales in their natural environment was simply beautiful. I also saw dolphins on my birthday as well as the whales. Apparently that is quite rare during whale season. Then there were the sea lions. Unfortunately they are more like the pets of Cabo as the fishermen all feed them for the tourists.
it's a shame as the worst thing for all this wildlife is us, humans. 50% of us are responsible and look after nature as they should be and the other 50% are just there for the thrill of it and how much they can get out of it and by throwing money at the locals they get to do and see what they want up close and personal. This in effect causes the behaviours of the animals to change in the long run. We all have to do our little bit for nature. Use responsible companies, donate to research facilities and be as eco as possible.
I ventured north to La Paz to see more of this part of the peninsula. La Paz is a small coastal town famous for the whale sharks. On the way we stopped at Todos Santos which is a pretty little town an hour away from Cabo. The main attraction is not only the pretty town but the hotel california which the locals swear is the hotel the Eagle's sang about. It's not really but many people go to Todos Santos to see the hotel. My favourite stop on this road trip was Balandra Bay which was so pretty. It is famous for a rock formation that looks like a mushroom. I climbed the small hill to see it. You could walk down the other side to walk to it to see it closer but there seemed to be a queue building up at the bottom so I gave it a miss. I could see it from the top so that was fine. I suppose if I had more time I would have swam from one bay to the other side maybe even walk it as it looked very shallow.
What I experienced in Cabo was I didn't feel like I was in Mexico. It's full of Americans which has driven the prices up and it is the most expensive town in Mexico. As I came to see the whales and was only interested in the whales i didn't much care for anything else so the fact that the place was so American didn't really affect me. I would hate to be here during spring break.
On New Year's Eve and New Year's day I saw the whales breaching. It was quite an unexpected sight. Suddenly they would jump up into the air and make a huge splash. I could never take photos so I tried to video them but only got the splash. I was dangling my feet over the edge of the boat and a whale jumped up right in front of me. It was amazing. The next day it was time to go home. I had an amazing time and awesome experience seeing the huge and majestic creatures up close and personal. Mission accomplished.
