San Esteban and Tiburón islands
Our first day in the midriff islands region couldn’t start in a better way, as long-beaked common dolphins and some fin and Bryde’s whales were spotted long before breakfast. The whole area teemed with creatures engaged in procuring their own early morning meals! Numerous sea birds, including brown pelicans, black-vented shearwaters, Hermann’s gulls and brown boobies, concentrated into a feeding frenzy. After enjoying the show for a while, we decided to have our own breakfast and got ready for exploring San Esteban Island. There, we admired the beauty of the desert plants and met several of the most charismatic inhabitants of the island, including the spiny-tailed iguana and the San Esteban chuckwalla (see photo). Their different adaptations to their arid and challenging environment were discussed and we even had the opportunity to see some spiny-tailed iguanas eating the ripe fruits of the cardón cactus.
We raised the anchor and headed east towards Tiburón Island, which is Mexico’s largest island. However, our best intentions were interrupted by a big group of dolphins, scattered over a very large area. Their leaps out of the water made the delights of everyone, especially the younger people on board, who noisily celebrated each jump. The Sea Voyager eventually made her way past the dolphins and dropped the anchor off a very nice sandy beach at Tiburón. There, we all enjoyed a very nice afternoon in many different ways, either by kayaking, snorkeling, hiking or just plainly having fun and playing in the water. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy to tell which age-group enjoyed more, as shown in the accompanying photo. And I couldn’t help but think about what a precious experience we just had, one that is becoming more and more rare these days: old and young people enjoying nature together.
Our first day in the midriff islands region couldn’t start in a better way, as long-beaked common dolphins and some fin and Bryde’s whales were spotted long before breakfast. The whole area teemed with creatures engaged in procuring their own early morning meals! Numerous sea birds, including brown pelicans, black-vented shearwaters, Hermann’s gulls and brown boobies, concentrated into a feeding frenzy. After enjoying the show for a while, we decided to have our own breakfast and got ready for exploring San Esteban Island. There, we admired the beauty of the desert plants and met several of the most charismatic inhabitants of the island, including the spiny-tailed iguana and the San Esteban chuckwalla (see photo). Their different adaptations to their arid and challenging environment were discussed and we even had the opportunity to see some spiny-tailed iguanas eating the ripe fruits of the cardón cactus.
We raised the anchor and headed east towards Tiburón Island, which is Mexico’s largest island. However, our best intentions were interrupted by a big group of dolphins, scattered over a very large area. Their leaps out of the water made the delights of everyone, especially the younger people on board, who noisily celebrated each jump. The Sea Voyager eventually made her way past the dolphins and dropped the anchor off a very nice sandy beach at Tiburón. There, we all enjoyed a very nice afternoon in many different ways, either by kayaking, snorkeling, hiking or just plainly having fun and playing in the water. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy to tell which age-group enjoyed more, as shown in the accompanying photo. And I couldn’t help but think about what a precious experience we just had, one that is becoming more and more rare these days: old and young people enjoying nature together.
