Isla San Jose, Isla San Francisco
Today we sit on the threshold of a New Year; we also sit on the National Geographic Sea Bird, which offers some incredible opportunities for the day. Dawn is a good place to start. Glass-flat seas, clear blue skies and a set of well-trained eyes on the bow of the ship brought us dolphins before breakfast; lovely, sleek, bottlenose dolphins swimming in our wake, riding our bow pressure wave and occasionally offering an impressive leap from the water. Then came the sea lions. They seemed to be imitators of the dolphins as they too porpoised through the water.
A slot of cobbled shoreline led to an undulating arroyo, sculpted over time by wind and sporadic rains. Over small boulders, following a circuitous route inland, we were swallowed into this maze of desert mystery. Aquatic activities filled our afternoon, including snorkeling, kayaking and crawling amongst the intertidal invertebrates from the tidepools of Isla San Francisco.
As has been a tradition on ships, we asked our oldest guest to ring out 2011 on the ships bell, which Nan was agreeable to, and our youngest guest, Hannah at age seven, to ring in the New Year of 2012. In keeping with local traditions, a piñata was also part of our closing year festivities. May 2012 be a healthy and prosperous year for all.
An assortment of raconteurs have been encouraged this week, this last week, on this last day of 2011, to share some of the observations, inspirations and wonders they have experienced in Baja California.
A poem by Jack R. Prophater, Age 8
Amazing whales
Ruler of the sea
Eating, soaring, hunting
Whales are huge mammals in the sea
Very fantastic.
Are They Trying to Trick Us?
By Haley Drake, age 11
Reflections cascade down.
Down into the depths of the murky waters.
Anything, no everything
Is a trickster.
The white caps crash, we hope they could be whales. Dark waves rise and fall.
Though in our minds, they are dolphins.
And what is this now?
Just around the corner.
Three Poems by Will Prophater, age 11
Island of beauty
Soaring rocks
Lounging Lizards
Amazing vistas
Super cool plants
Ancient fossils
New Years Eve
Jumping dolphins
Off the coast of Baja
Skulls of fish
Enormous canyons
Fossil by Linda Draper
Pushed from the sea floor
Sculpted by wind and wave
Creatures long dead
Still reveal secrets of their lives
Sea of Cortez by Sarah Wood, Age 16
Oh! Sweet Sea! Undulate dear, for it be not your depths I fear. Your glassy brim your white-tipped trim.
The way I see your life so clear, sea lions, dolphins, whales wait to appear. I know there is so much more, waiting under for one to explore. The islands abundance shows in an ancient clock reflecting history as our soul takes dock.
Oh! Sweet Sea! Stay close at heart and never stray from me, apart. For if by remembering you, you may remember me. Oh! Sweet Sea create life’s history.
