BAJA CALIFORNIA

Prelude: We spent four nights with our friends Shaun and Victoria in Santa Barbara. The weather we glorious, in contrast to the destructive rains of only a little time before. Driving south to Los Angeles, we saw that destruction, along with miles of burned out home from the recent fires.

We had two nights in San Pedro. It has 4000 boats, but perhaps fewer cars and people. Then we boarded Venture. It is slightly smaller than other ships we have traveled on. Launched in 2018, it can hold 100 passengers. On this occasion there were only 41. Such under-subscription is common on “repositioning” voyages, when a ship crosses hemispheres to make ready for the next season. Passengers were mostly American; a few Brits and a family from Singapore. They were a lively and congenial bunch. The first one we met turned out be an alumna of the small Adirondacks camp that I attended. One man—a chemistry professor from California—was in a wheelchair. He was almost as old as I am. He was in very high spirits. I admired him for coming along; likewise a (mostly) deaf man and some others with disabilities.

One advantage of a cruise is that you don’t need to worry about where you are eating or sleeping. But our cabin was disappointing: the only light was from a couple of high portholes. Susan complained.The woman in charge said, unprompted, “It’s too bad your toilet is broken. We’ll have to move you.” That is how we got a superior cabin with big windows and a balcony.

Susan thought the food the best of all our cruises. Buffet breakfast, plated lunch and dinner, the latter on white tablecloths. Beer and wine included. We ate with a wide variety of the 39 other passengers. The map shows you our course: from Los Angeles to Channel Islands, then south along the west coast of Baja. When we reached the tip, we headed part way up the east side, disembarking after 11 nights in the Mexican tourist town of Loreto. Except for one day of sailing, we moved only by night.

Susan participated in the early morning stretch classes. I did not. Informative lectures many times of day. Also competitions. Susan’s team won one, but she does not remember what for. Guides were terrific —very knowlegeable—as we've learned to expect.

The west side of Baja is not widely inhabited—at least not by people. Much of it is well protected by the Mexican government. We did see many creatures on land. Prominent were elephant seals. Males can weigh 800 pounds. We did not approach them. They don’t move around much, and spend lots of time in the ocean. We did see whales too, but infrequently. They breach the water dramatically, but briefly. Also birds, harp seals and dolphins.