La Paz, Mexico - Jan 17

This morning we passed the islands of Cerralvo, Espiritu and Partida on the port side. Once we passed Partida we altered course to the South to enter the Bay of La Paz. The port lies at the Southeastern corner of the large bay.

We were very excited about this port as I had a Whale Shark tour set up with SunRider through PANTERRA. Lela was fantastic with handling my questions and setting up the tour. It wasn’t private (with just our group), but a small boat with easy entry and exit. Most of the boats used for these tours are small fishing boats that you just jump off the side and you have to pull yourself in up over the side. I just can’t do those anymore, so I looked long and hard to find this company with the nice ladders. http://www.panterra.com
It was our first visit to La Paz and we were excited to snorkel with Whale Sharks, despite knowing the weather would be cool and the water cold. (in the 60’s, maybe 70’s)

As the largest fish in the sea they can reach a length of 40 feet or more and weighs 20 or more tons. Whale Shark’s favorite meal is plankton. Although massive, whale sharks are docile fish. These gentle marine giants roam the oceans around the globe, generally alone. However, large numbers of whale sharks often gather in areas with abundant plankton. Its enormous mouth (nearly five feet wide) engulfs large quantities of tiny plankton that it filters through its gills as it swims. They belong to the group called Chondryichtyes, which includes sharks, rays, and skates. These fish have skeletons made entirely of cartilage in comparison to other fishes that have skeletons made of bone. Whale sharks are striking in their appearance not only for their size but also for their unique pattern of spots and bars covering its gray body.

The night before we coordinated with Rick & Janie that we would make our way separately to the Pier as we wanted to leave first thing in the morning to walk the Malecon and stop at a “farmacia” to look for more heat rub for my leg.

I had a much better night last night with my leg and this morning I woke up feeling a LOT better. There was pain, but “normal pain”, not the intense pain I had been feeling. It was looking hopeful I could snorkel today.

After breakfast, we caught the first free shuttle to town. It drops you at the main bus station and most of the sights are within walking distance. We started at the church and saw 2 pharmacies and we visited 1 after the cathedral visit. They had a couple of different creams and we bought 1 of 1 kind and 2 of the other. (wasn’t looking to pay $23 for another tube of Deep Heat from the ships’ doctor. (after paying the $95 office visit)

sunrise from the ship 

 walking out of the port

 views from the shuttle bus....looks like Arizona

 the start of our walk

 Gila Woodpecker

 Government building (I think it's a museum now)

the pharmacy we visited (our Spanish came in handy)

We walked the Malacon until we found Sunrider and went and checked in. Rick & Janie had already signed in. We walked around some more after getting fitted with wetsuits. At 11 our adventure began! We walked to the snorkel boat and on the way we ran into Fran & Bill (dinner table-mates) and they took our photo getting on the boat.

there are a lot of interesting statures along the malecon

They are trash cans, but soooo cute!

 Brewer's Sparrow

 water teeming with fish

 Eared Griebs

 Bonaparte's Gulls

 the dive/snorkel shop

 walking to the snorkel boat

we're the last in the line getting on the boat (thanks Bill for the photo)

We were given instructions on the rules of being with the Whale Sharks. Groups of 6 people at a time are allowed in the water. You are to get in fast and race after the Whale Shark as they may not stay around long. Then, get back in and the next group could go. If the Whale Shark swam away quickly your time in the water would be short.

The first group went in and didn’t get to see it. So, they got to go in a second time. This time they saw one and got to spend a bit of time with it before it swam off. The boat went in search of another one and we were the next group to go in. Greg saw one right beside him and got a few Go Pro shots. I didn’t see it at all. So, back in the boat to go in search of another one. The water was COLD, but being back on the boat was worse with the wind.

Anyone that hadn’t seen one could get back in (up to 6 at a time). I went in and Greg didn’t since he did get to see one on his time in the water. My group had a very cooperative one. I was following the guide and he pointed for me to look right and OMG it was right beside me! When I turned to look, its’ mouth was open wide taking in plankton and I could look right into it. It came so close it rubbed against me as it swam by. I was able to snorkel over it from tail to head and we got to spend quite a bit of time with it swimming all around. Just the most awesome and amazing experience and it took my breath away! I wished I’d taken a camera in the water, but not sure I would have had the presence of mind to use it as I was just so awestruck with it and I actually had to just be in the moment and say to myself “I’m snorkeling with a Whale Shark!” The boat’s guide had a Go Pro, but when we saw the footage there was no footage of us, so we didn’t spring for the $35.00 video. Greg got some footage when he saw the first one. Once he gets it edited I’ll provide a link so you can see it.

Here are some stills from the video. Water clarity was not great, but you get the idea. (way more impressive in person...especially when the mouth was wide open!

 closed moth of the Whale Shark

Greg was so cold after coming out that as he was shooting video of me on the boat and the camera was shaking from his shivering. The resolution is at the lowest to get it to load on the ship. Anyone on the ship that wants it we can put the actual footage on a thumb drive and you can upload to your computer. It will probably take a while to load with the link below and the quality won't be great:

https://youtu.be/pW317xhGJYE

After that we went in search of Rancho Viejo which Lela recommended for good local fare, so we had shrimp tacos. They were somehow out of the fish tacos, so we all got shrimp. Then, we headed for the shuttle to take us back so we could get the token souvenirs. They had a nice performance of dancers in the building and I found some nice earrings and my magnet with La Paz on it.

 the restaurant - Janie, Rick & Greg on the bottom left

 shrimp tacos

garnishes

 views from the shuttle back to port

 our ship across the bay

 sailing away

Snorkeling with Whale Sharks will definitely be one of the major highlights of this trip. An amazing, once in a lifetime experience!

We got back on board and showered for dinner. It was a Chef’s Dinner tonight with a lot of great choices.

chef's dessert

Tonight’s entertainment was very interesting with a Cello and Vocal duo called Brendan & James. They were on America’s Got Talent TV show. Really fantastic show!

I keep forgetting to mention that every night after the entertainment they have “game shows” upstairs in the Pacific Lounge. We don’t participate, but it’s fun to watch. Some are trivia based, some are Liar’s Club where you have to figure out which person is telling the truth, the Yes or No game where you have to converse for 3 minutes and not use Yes or No or any form of it in the conversation, Jeopardy type games, etc.

After leaving La Paz we rounded the southern tip of the Baja peninsula which is the second longest in the world. We follow the west coast as we make our way to Los Angeles. We have 2 days at sea before arriving in LA. Looking forward to seeing old friends again from our Mediterranean Cruise 10 years ago and of course can’t wait to see lots of people we met on the 2013 World Cruise.