The National Geographic Sea Bird arrived along the leeward side of Isla San Marcos just after sunrise. The intrepid souls among us headed to shore to explore a rocky arroyo carved into the Sonoran desert landscape. Colorful volcanic rocks formed the backdrop for an amazing array of desert plants, including old man cactus, palo blanco, and torote Colorado. Great-blue herons were nesting along the shoreline, and the beachcombers discovered many interesting bones and shells among the beach rocks.
Bird of the day? But of course, the blue-footed booby. For many cruising on the expedition landing craft, these amazing seabirds were life-list birds, not seen before until today cruising along the rocky shoreline. We also spied the endemic yellow-footed gulls, Heermann’s gulls, oystercatchers, and the always entertaining brown pelicans. Meanwhile, a lone osprey circled overhead.
During the afternoon we made a visit to the small fishing and mining town of Santa Rosalia, located on the Baja Peninsula along Highway One. The French established the town and the Boleo copper mine in 1885 and, since then, the town has enjoyed a colorful history around the centerpiece metal church designed by Gustave Eiffel. Our time ashore was capped off with a margarita, chips, and guacamole party at the historic Hotel Frances.
Back on board we headed back out into the Sea of Cortez, heading north for more adventures exploring Baja California.
