 By RICK ARMON
San Diego, California
I feared the fourteen hour bus trip from Tijuana to San Ignacio, Mexico, to see the gray whales, was going to be terrible, but I slept more than I thought! Even though it was a luxury bus, with TV and reclining seats, my feet where still in the aisle and my back was sore.
We met a woman on the bus that I had met last year; at a boaters party in La Paz, which was ironic, considering our group were the only other foreigners on the bus. I was familiar with the towns that we stopped at, having spent time in Mexico before.
We arrived in the town of San Ignacio, 500 miles down the Baja peninsula, in early morning. We all seemed tired from the long bus trip, so we went to a restaurant for some coffee and breakfast. My Mom, the tour guide and naturalist, showed us the best things to get for breakfast and once we finished up, the guests wanted to see the town.
The mission, started by the Jesuits in the late 1600’s, finished by the Dominicans, is quite beautiful with frescoes and sculptures on the inside, but on the outside it looks like one of the most run down churches ever! We also saw the museum of San Ignacio; preserving the history and replicas of 10,000 year old cave paintings, and arrowheads. Then we went for a gorgeous walk through the neighborhood, by which time Johnny, part owner of Baja Adventure Company, and Marie, arrived in town to drive us to Campo Cortez, where we would be staying out at the Lagoon.
 I was waiting around and I saw some guys skateboarding in the central plaza. Most Mexican towns, no matter how small, have a central plaza by the church. Man was I happy, so I went over and I swear I wasn’t there a minute before they offered me a ride. I got to show those guys a few moves!
By that time I had to jump into a van full of people, all hot and not ready for a long ride. I saw this brown van that looked like it had been lost in the desert for thirty years. Everybody got in the back so I got to lay down next to a giant block of melting ice behind the driver, all water, food, and supplies have to be hauled into camp.
The ride was hot and very bumpy, a washboard road surrounded by a huge desert of hundreds of cactuses and many shades of brown. There are many different types of cactus in Baja California, two species which are only found in the Baja: The Cardon cactus and the Boojum tree.
The Cardon looks like a cactus out of a roadrunner cartoon, and the Boojum looks like a carrot sticking out of the ground. The area, plants, and wildlife, including the lagoon, are preserved and protected as part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, as well as being a designated United Nations world heritage site.
We arrived at a fishing village, La Laguna and we took pictures of Pachico Mayoral’s house. He was the first to ever touch a whale in Laguna San Ignacio in 1972. His house was like a shack with fish nets and garbage all over, but at the same time it had a pretty flower garden and a gorgeous view.
 We left La Laguna and got lost for 1 hour finally finding our way again to Campo Cortez! Camp was beautiful, it is in a cove area with a beach and a fossilized lava and sandstone rock area behind the canvas tents we slept in. I felt as though camp was in a desolate area, like it was on another planet, because there were no people or buildings anywhere for miles, the sand goes on forever like you're on Mars.
The food at camp is delicious, mostly meat, fish, chicken, or hot soup, with veggies , excellent tortillas and beans for meals. In the morning, we headed out for our first trip on the lagoon in a panga, an open style boat usually about 22 feet long. Our driver Maldo is called the Pangerro because he drives the pangas. He is also part owner of the company and is a real nice guy. He knows pretty good English and has a great personality
Once we got out on the pristine lagoon there was no wind, it was like a lake. The excitement of my first trip was like nothing I’ve ever felt before, a sheer amount of joy, even when you just see a gray whale it’s amazing!
It’s also pretty cool when people from National Geographic are filming you and your first time. The two young guys from National geographic, John and Mike, flew in the day we did. They were real funny and answered my questions about their work and travels. You don’t even expect to see any whales, but then they just start popping up, it’s awesome!
 When we first got out, a baby whale was doing a bunch of spy hops, that’s where it sticks it’s whole head out of the water and it looks at you! She was also doing breeches so close to the boat, that’s where it launches it’s self out of the water as high as it can go. I remember one of our guests said, “I just want to touch it” and not ten minutes later a baby whale came right to him, allowing us all to touch a wild whale for our first time!!
The people at camp Campo Cortez are all so laid back, they are almost always in good spirits. The camp’s other naturalist Julie, an American woman, was like my big sister, we were always goofing around. All of the guests were nice; Jorge and Sophia and I really bonded well, they are from Arizona and were extremely nice. The other couple, Nancy and Charlie are from Salt Lake City, Utah. Nancy is a whale nut and Charlie was kind of along for the ride.
One night the Gitanos-(Gypsies), musicians came to camp to play for us. The music was melodic. They played a song from every Latin American country, we each had to chose a country and participate by joining the band and playing an instrument.
The wildlife at camp is astounding! There are over 90 different species of birds during the winter season including ospreys, terns, and geese. There are octopuses hiding under rocks, lots of fish and stingrays. I saw coyotes all over camp, they came around dusk and at night, some of the guests swore that they were right outside the tents at night, because we could hear them yelping and crying!
The last day at camp, on our last trip out on the lagoon, it was like every morning: beautiful, flat calm, not another boat in sight, and whales everywhere! A mom and calf came over and we got to touch and kiss them. Then another group of whales came over, so we had two moms and two babies playing and rolling and loving our attention! Soon after that two more whales came over to play, we saw a California sea lion, and then dolphins who later swam with our boats!! The best encounter of my trip. It was an incredible experience watching all these animals interact and play like they were humans, it was one of the most touching experiences of my life.
The long trek home was better, as I felt like everybody had been touched by these extraordinary creatures and we were changed for the rest of our lives.
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