Baja at sea level
Active marine life and peaceful night life add to the appeal
of a kayaking adventure among the islands off Baja
California.
By KARI J. BODNARCHUK
Published May
2, 2004
 |
|
[Photos: Kari J.
Bodnarchuk] |
| Kayakers paddle through the jade-colored waters
alongside Danzante Island in Baja’s Sea of
Cortez. |
Travel- Baja at sea level
|
SEA OF CORTEZ, Mexico - "Dolphins at 2 o'clock," said Melissa, a
fellow paddler, and we all glanced over to watch four gray dolphins
come splashing by, arcing out of the water, flipping and slapping
their tails on the ocean's surface.
A flock of pelicans soon followed, flying single-file just inches
above the water, riding the air currents on their way stage
right.
"Okay, cue the whales," joked Rob, another kayaker. And sure
enough, whales soon appeared in the distance, spouting a misty
funnel of spray. They were just to the side of the chiseled brown
hills at the base of the Sierra Giganta mountains.
This scene repeated itself daily as we kayaked around Mexico's
Sea of Cortez, though sometimes we spotted a fin whale rather than a
blue whale. Or maybe a great blue heron or osprey stood in for the
pelicans.
The day my friend Cathi had called to suggest a "girls' getaway,"
temperatures in New England registered as much as 30 degrees below
zero, so I was ready to leave. She wanted to do something active and
outdoorsy, requiring little thought, preparation or extra gear. I
wanted something a little more adventurous, in a spot where
temperatures were a good 100 degrees warmer than at home. Baja fit
the bill on all counts.
We aren't big on guided or organized trips, but sea kayaking
around an unfamiliar area as wonderfully remote as Baja's offshore
islands was not an activity we would have tried to do alone.
Feeding our brains
and bellies
Seven of us had signed up to spend a week paddling around the
uninhabited islands of Isla Danzante and Isla Carmen, in a newly
established national marine park, Bahia de Loreto.
This would be a wilderness adventure, we were told - no showers,
no civilization (we only saw a few fishermen, two other kayaking
groups and a lone tour boat all week), and we would carry a week's
worth of supplies in our kayaks.
The outfitter, Sea Kayak Adventures, would provide all camping
and kayaking gear, plus guides who, it turned out, could field even
our silliest questions and also whip up mouthwatering meals that
combined Mexican and North American dishes.
We kayakers, in turn, were expected to pitch our tents, wash our
dishes, paddle and have fun.
The paddlers in our group ranged from 26 to 52 years old, and
they had flown in from St. Louis, Denver, Boston, Wisconsin, Vermont
and Oregon. We included a recreational therapist, two writers, a
former submarine officer and three "computer people," including Rob,
who confessed that despite living at the foot of the Rockies, the
closest he gets to nature is looking at a scenic screen saver on his
computer.
Several of us were experienced kayakers, while others had never
paddled before, but there were no skill-level prerequisites to book
the trip.
The trip began in Puerto Escondido, half an hour south of Loreto,
the oldest settlement in Baja and once the capital of California,
when this Spanish-ruled area stretched from Baja to San Francisco.
(The town still has a 300-year-old mission to explore.)
Loreto lies 600 miles south of the U.S.-Mexican border, and it
maintains an easy pace. It has roadside vendors selling silver
jewelry, Mexican blankets and other handmade crafts, a few small
hotels, one supermarket and several outstanding hole-in-the-wall
restaurants. It's a 2 1/2-hour flight from Los Angeles.
After a safety talk, during which we learned basic paddling and
rescue techniques, we set off in our two-person, 21-foot kayaks.
Each fiberglass boat weighed about 200 pounds, had foam-padded seats
and adjustable backrests (a big plus after a few hours paddling),
and was named according to its vibrant hull color: Mary Kay (bright
pink), Winterfresh (light green) and so on.
That first day on the water, we kayaked alongside Isla Danzante,
where the jade-colored water was so translucent we could see
hundreds of sea creatures below us: starfish, orange sea horses,
sergeant majors and parrotfish, plus mounds of coral. A few feet
offshore, the water turns deep blue and plunges up to 1,200 feet,
making it an ideal spot for a mammal nearly the length of a Boeing
737 to feed - the blue whale.
Off the east coast of Baja, Bahia de Loreto marine park
encompasses about 800 miles of coastline and offshore islands,
including the two we called home for six days, Isla Danzante and
Isla Carmen.
Worth the trip,
naturally
This area was formed when tectonic plates split, cracking open
mountains and severing a part of what is now Mexico from the
mainland. This left a 1,000-mile-long, finger-shaped stretch of land
known as Baja California. That was about 25-million years ago.
Later, as the area was split along the San Andreas Fault, intense
volcanic activity repeatedly sent lava flow upon lava flow, forming
the mountains seen today.
Jacques Cousteau once called the Sea of Cortez "one of the
world's aquariums." It is also termed the richest body of water on
the planet, biologically speaking, because it has more than 3,000
species of marine life. It's a bird watchers paradise, too, and
heaven for anyone who needs a stress-free escape or is simply in
search of water-borne adventure.
My compadres and I spent two to five hours on the water each day.
We paddled by cliffs where white trees (palo blanco) grew out of
cracks in the volcanic rock, past valleys full of towering cordon
cactus and sage-colored scrub, and around rocky headlands where
birds perched on rocks and held out their wings to let them dry in
the breeze.
Although the Sea of Cortez can be choppy, we had four days of
glassy or just slightly rippled seas. The calm conditions helped
preserve our strength and also made spotting the wildlife a lot
easier.
Kayaking along Isla Carmen, past sandy and coral beaches,
blue-footed boobies and ospreys soared overhead, and we spotted a
manta ray with a 6-foot wingspan floating on the surface, a green
sea turtle about twice the size of my kitchen sink, dozens of blue
and fin whales, and three strange logs sticking out of the water
that Lino, one of our Mexican guides, identified as the head and
flippers of a sleeping sea lion.
For lunch, we stopped off in bays with names such as Honeymoon
Cove, White Beach and the Aquarium. Here, we snorkeled around
angelfish and wrasses, and explored tidal pools, where we found
hermit crabs the size of a baby's fingernails. Or we walked along
rock ledges that lined the shoreline, occasionally spooking big,
scarlet-red crabs that went clicking across the rocks as they
scurried away.
At night, we sat on the beach in our camp chairs, resting after a
day of paddling. This required dipping tortillas into the ceviche
bowl holding yellowtail fish, cilantro, onion, tomato and lime
juice, watching the sun dip and the moon rise simultaneously.
Often there would be a repeat of the day's matinee: pelicans,
dolphins and the occasional, familiar poofing sound of a whale in
the distance. Some on the trip took advantage of the "onboard"
library: Our guides had packed books on whales, birds and the
history of the area.
We would talk about everything from geology to relationships to
pedicures. After some tequila, we'd be into name games, brainteasers
and charades.
Several of us slept in spacious tents on the beach each night -
we were given three-person tents for doubles and two-person tents
for singles, meaning we had plenty of room to spread out. Others,
however, chose to fall asleep under the shooting stars and bright
moon, spreading their tarps on the sand and sleeping bags on the
tarps. With temperatures in the 40s or 50s at night, the
beach-sleepers donned fleece hats and jackets.
By the end of the week, we had covered about 37 nautical miles,
sharing adventures, secrets and the simplicity of living in the
outdoors with nothing more than the gear we could stash in our
kayaks.
- Freelance writer Kari J. Bodnarchuk lives in Somerville,
Mass.
If you go
GETTING THERE: There is nonstop air service between Tampa Bay and
Los Angeles, which is the major U.S. hub for accessing Loreto. Aero
California toll-free 1-800-237-6225; aerocalifornia.org and Aero
Mexico (toll-free 1-800-237-6639; http://www.aeromexico.com/)
offer one or two flights per day between L.A. and Loreto.
TRIP OPTIONS: Numerous kayaking companies run trips to the Sea of
Cortez and Magdalena Bay on Baja's Pacific Coast from Loreto.
Sea Kayak Adventures offers seven- and eight-day trips for about
$995 and $1,095 respectively. The price includes food, camping and
kayaking gear (it's $20 extra to rent a wet suit, and $20 for
snorkeling equipment), two nights at the cozy Hotel Hacienda in
Loreto (the night before and after the trip), guides, and great
tequila sunrises.
Call toll-free 1-800-616-1943; http://www.seakayakadventures.com
Gabriola Island Cycle & Kayak runs trips for those who are
cost-conscious and don't mind being more self-sufficient - you bring
and cook your own food or share the cooking with others and supply
your camping gear. Gabriola supplies guides, plus kayaking
equipment. A six- or seven-day trip runs between $510 and $540.
Call 250 247-8277; http://www.gck.ca
Baja Outdoor Activities offers three- to four-day kayaking trips
around Isla Espiritu Santo for about $400, during which you can
practice your Spanish, or a more rigorous 10-day trip from Loreto to
La Paz 52-612-1255636; http://kayactivities.com Ask
about the sea kayak fly-fishing trip.
[Last
modified April 30, 2004, 16:23:59]
Travel
Baja
at sea level
Blue
Hawaii
France
by footpath
The
Newark you never knew
The Louisiana Purchase
Arkansas,
a bargain becomes a bounty
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ABOVE: Honeymoon Cove, on Danzante Island, is a good
place to stop for lunch and snorkeling.
