La cuatro semana

Thanksgiving week in Mexico is really nonexistent.  The Mexicans were aware it was a holiday for the Americans but there was absolutely nothing going on in Mexico....as expected!  

One of the highlights of this week was our day-long outing on the water.  Our boat was full with the ten of us, our captain Alejandro and our guide Angel.  They were amazing.  Angel was the one who got in the water with us and supervised us for all our adventures.  Our first stop was to go out to La Isla de Espiritu Santo (Island of the Holy Ghost), which is a protected island off the shore of Baja Sur.  At the tip of the island lives a colony of sea lions numbering approximately 600.    We had wet suits and snorkel gear and Angel gave us the scoop on swimming with sea lions.  He said that typically the older ones will just ignore you, and the younger ones will find you fascinating and swim around you.  They are like puppies and might choose to explore who you are with a little nibble - nothing aggressive or painful, but it can be startling so they recommended we keep our fingers tucked into our fists.  That made the kids a little nervous - and probably all of us.  Plus they swim fast and are unpredictable.  Still, it was incredible to watch those sea lions swim from under the water and to see them swirling around and playing with each other.  There were also lots of beautiful fish to catch our attention.  Faith got in for a little bit and then Josh took her back to the boat, while the rest of us spent a good 30 minutes swimming through a little arch and enjoying our time with the sea lions.

Following that, we were taken to a beach at the lower end of the islands (because Isla de Espiritu Santo is really a small grouping).  The beach was empty, clear, and incredibly remote feeling.  Our guides set up lunch for us and we spent an hour or so relaxing off the boat.  Josh took some time to snorkel nearby.  Our lunch was so good - burritos, fish ceviche, and fresh fruit.

Our final stop was to cruise back near La Paz to check in with the whale shark regulating station and then take the boat to where the whale shark juveniles live in the fall/winter months.  The adults are too big to come in to water that shallow (it was only 15-20 feet deep), but the younger whale sharks love the warmer water there.  Josh and I were the first ones in with our guide Angel.  Whale sharks are just really big fish.  They are gentle, but mostly blind so it is our job to stay out of their way.  Once Angel had showed Josh and I how to interact safely, two of our kids joined us.  There are rules about how many people can be in the water at a time and how many boats can be in the area.   All the boat captains negotiate with each other which whale shark they are following so that they follow the rules.  At one point Alejandro said, "come on, give me the lazy one, I have like 600 kids today".  Ha!  I realized what he meant soon because those whale sharks look like they're slowly guiding but you really have to hustle to keep up with them!

It was an eight hour day and we were sure beat at the end of it, but what a day to remember.  One of the nice parts was that Angel kept a GoPro camera going at all times so we didn't have to feel distracted from our personal experience to try to document it.  We just enjoyed the day and at the end we had a ton of photos and videos sent to us to help us remember it.

Another nice part of our week was having a tasty lunch with our Grants Pass friends the Gannetts and two young women from Mexico that were visiting with them.  They made us an authentic Mexican feast that was so good!  We ate chilaquiles and amazing carne asada tacos with homemade horchata, mole and other salsas.