Snorkelling, Mexican style

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The first of our February dawns rose over the Mexican coastal town of Cabo San Lucas

today. The ship dropped its anchor in the bay so we had the extra fun of going ashore

on one of the lifeboats and the trip was definitely worth it. We'd arranged to go on a

sailing catamaran down the coast to a lovely cove called Santa Maria. Here is a coral

reef so we donned snorkelling gear and were keen to get off the boat and into the water.

But into the water was one of those moments that makes your hair curl and your mouth

want to use up every expletive you've ever learnt ... and we've learnt quite a few! It

was wonderfully warm and sunny on the boat but by golly was that water cold! But it was

also clear so we had fantastic encounters over the coral. Lots of beautifully coloured

fish - none of which I know the name but there was every colour under the sun and on

some fish most of those colours appeared on the one creature. The electric blues made

some of the smallest fish the most beautiful but there was also a gorgeous deep mauve

fish with rich orange fins. One of the guys from the boat dived deep on to the reef and

fed the fish so loads more came dashing in. It was really exciting to be in the middle

of that.

And more excitement filled the day with the sightings of at least 6 hump back whales.

You spot them first by their spout of water as they come up to the surface to breath.

Then they start their dive back down to deep water and this is when the 'hump' of their

name becomes visible. And finally you get the marvellous view of their tale fin

sweeping through the air before disappearing beneath the waves. They proved impossible

to photograph because it takes longer to find them in the viewfinder than it takes for

them to do their breathing and diving. So no pictures of whales to share tonight but it

was a real treat to see them.

More wildlife treats awaited upon our return to Cabo San Lucas harbour where the local

sea lions chase the fishing boats back into port. One even tried climbing on the back

of the boat where the fisherman was tempting him with a big fish! Then there were all

the pelicans. About 30 or 40 of them were on one quay waiting for trimmings off the

large tuna that was being cut up on the quayside. And they weren't disappointed either;

they got a good free lunch.

After that we went into the town for a mooch around the shops and just happened to find

ourselves in a lovely jewellers. I'd had some money put aside from Richard's mum just

waiting to find the rght piece of jewellery to buy and today I found it. So I am now

the very proud owner of a lovely opal and tanzanite bracelet and necklace. I wore them

both to dinner this evening and felt very feminine wearing them. Such a lovely memento

of both a lovely lady - Monique - and a lovely visit here in Mexico.

Tomorrow we continue our journey north with 2 sea days before we land in San Francisco

on Saturday.

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Comments

[soo cov]

WOW
Love reading your blog sounds as though you are having a whale of a time.... he he.... Apologies for the pun but couldn't resist. I'm sure you already know but the weather here is freezing, the cold snap has hit. Keep on blogging x