ONE FANTASTIC CAMPING VACATION

 Loafing on an Uninhabited Island-----No Way

In case you think we sunned on the beach all day, think again. We did new and fun things every day. Our homeport was the island of Espiritu Santo, in the Sea of Cortez. About  25 miles off the coast of La Paz, Mexico, it was a two and half hour boat ride from the mainland. We camped on a lovely large sandy beach.

Los Islotes is a large barren rock island that is actually a bird rookery and a roosting area for pelicans, blue footed boobies, frigate birds, and terns. A large colony of California sea lions also inhabit the island. The sea lions were so curious—they had a great time circling around, over, and under us. They often got close enough to touch if one’s reflexes were quick enough. They were all sizes and ages ranging in color from a light tan to almost black. And all the while it was like  swimming in an aquarium full of beautiful tropical fish including large schools of sergeant majors and king angle fish. We also saw several varieties of starfish, sea urchins, other sea animals and coral.  While we dried off in the boat we watched sally light-foot crabs scampering across the rocks entertaining us.

            We watched a huge school of dolphins playing at sea. We walked and studied tidal pools. The islands exhibit a typical southern Sonoran desert ecosystem, but the region is surprisingly rich in plant and animal abundance and diversity.

We hiked and had botany lessons on local plants. The Cardon cactus grew everywhere. A relative to the Saguaro cactus, it has many more arms (up to 40) which are more clustered at the base. Jojoba grew wild and has an interesting history. The long nose bat pollinates it.

Evidence of prehistoric Indian occupation is abundant throughout the larger islands. We swam in a salt pond. Another day we made an excursion a couple of gorges over and hiked inland about a quarter of a mile to a fresh-water well fully equipped with bucket and rope. What a treat to be able to shampoo our hair!

At dawn one morning a couple of fellows went fishing. Lucky for us they returned with a 25 pound Dorado, known as Mahi Mahi in other parts of the world. It was fascinating to watch the men fillet the fish. It was so quick! Sea gulls circled waiting for the fellow to finish. Sure enough, as soon as the guide walked up to the kitchen with the filets the gulls swooped in and in no time there was nothing left on the beach but bones. They too were fast!

We flew in and out of La Paz for a night on each end of the time spent on the island. Even though we had had a wonderful time in the middle of nowhere, on return it was wonderful to have a long  hot fresh water shower!