Today I feel ten years old, or maybe thirteen, or seven. The enthusiasm, curiosity, kindness, and ingenuousness of the twenty-seven children we have on board makes me go back to the days of innocence, when the world was endless, full of fresh perfumes and sweet adventures.
And here in Baja California, the world is still full of such things. Mexico has protected its whales since 1937, so this is a place to feel optimistic and hopeful for the future of the planet. These children are its future! They are having the experience of a lifetime: getting close to the gray whales, being bathed in their breath and splashed by their flukes. The children ask questions, they learn, and they formulate hypotheses. There are so many things we ignore about these whales. Maybe the children will find answers to the “whys” of the whales’ migration, of their behavior. Even better, we hope the children will make sure that the whales are well respected and preserved, including the sea where they live and the air they inhale.
We celebrated the first whales of the voyage with traditional piñatas, and we explored the mangroves by kayaks, paddleboards, and Zodiac rides. We walked into a town on the peninsula that seems lost in time. Every activity is a discovery, each moment is an adventure. Puerto Lopez Mateos welcomed us with the Desert Flowers. These dancers are the mothers, sisters, and even grandmothers of our pangueros, the boat drivers who take us to look for whales. They have been studying folkloric dance for three years and perform at different events. They manage their own enterprise now; they are empowered women who take pride in sharing their art with visitors while preserving their cultural traditions.
The children have learned a great deal in the last couple of days, and I am enjoying a buoyant feeling. It is as if the world is endless again, full of fresh perfumes and sweet adventures.
