A green flash was seen from the bow under calm weather to begin our day. The majestic Sierra de la Giganta gradually lit up in hues of pinks, reds, and oranges. We woke up sailing north towards our morning destination, Bahia Amortajada.
This magnificent place is very hard to visit, since it is an extremely tidal-dependent destination. Amortajada Is located on the southern end of Isla San José, and it is one of the northernmost mangrove ecosystems in the Gulf of California. Here we deployed our kayaks and our expedition landing craft to explore this rich environment. Mangroves are nurseries for an important percentage of marine creatures like game fish and marine invertebrates. They also provide excellent habitat for a number of birds like ibises, night herons, egrets, warblers, and pelicans.
We cruised towards the northwest side of the island, Bahia Encantada. Here we enjoyed the ideal weather to go for a swim from shore, and to take walks through the lush desert arroyos. San José Island is very distinctive from a distance, since its cardon forests are simply magnificent, and today we could walk among these giant cacti, in fact the largest in the world.
To end the day, our galley prepared an amazing dinner ashore. Under the stars and near the bonfire, we enjoyed our meal and listened to the amazing stories of our friend William Lopez-Forment. He shared with us the Mayan legend of the Popol Vuh, which left us in awe. Stargazing, s’mores, and marshmallows followed the stories and we realized how lucky we all are to be here, in Baja California.
