{"id":9538,"date":"2019-07-20T10:31:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T16:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozapato.com\/mx\/baja-california-3\/"},"modified":"2019-06-20T11:00:56","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T17:00:56","slug":"baja-california-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozapato.com\/mx\/baja-california-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Baja California #3."},"content":{"rendered":"
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[English below]<\/p>\n

Y finalmente llegamos a uno de los lugares m\u00e1s m\u00e1gicos que visitamos en Baja California<\/a>: Bah\u00eda de los \u00c1ngeles.<\/p>\n

Cre\u00edamos que no era la \u00e9poca de tiburones ballena<\/a> pero conocimos algunos viajeros en San Juanico que nos comentaron que aqu\u00ed s\u00ed se estaban viendo, as\u00ed que \u00edbamos ilusionad\u00edsimos ante la posibilidad de finalmente ver al pez m\u00e1s grande del oc\u00e9ano.<\/p>\n

El calor era terrible. Generalmente tuvimos m\u00e1s calor en la costa del Mar de Cortez y Bah\u00eda de los \u00c1ngeles no fue una excepci\u00f3n. Por suerte encontramos un peque\u00f1o hotel que nos permiti\u00f3 estacionarnos en su parking y conectarnos a la red. Pintaba bien la cosa.<\/p>\n

Tras averiguar un poco, cerramos un tour de d\u00eda entero para salir al d\u00eda siguiente en busca del tiburon ballena. Nos comentaron que se hab\u00edan empezado a ver los primeros espec\u00edmenes pero que a\u00fan quedaba mes y medio para su punto \u00e1lgido.<\/p>\n

A la ma\u00f1ana siguiente nos despertamos emocionados. Llegamos al dive center de Ricardo<\/a> y para las 8:30 de la ma\u00f1ana ya est\u00e1bamos en la lancha.<\/p>\n

El d\u00eda fue una aut\u00e9ntica maravilla. Comenzamos visitando unas peque\u00f1as islas en la bah\u00eda, con un agua cristalina inigualable y sin un alma alrededor adem\u00e1s de nosotros, los dos gu\u00edas y otra pareja que ven\u00eda con nosotros. Incre\u00edble.<\/p>\n

Poco despu\u00e9s comenzaron los avistamientos: delfines, rayas, tortugas\u2026 Incluso ballenas piloto, que al parecer no son f\u00e1ciles de ver por estas latitudes. El d\u00eda no pod\u00eda ir mejor.<\/p>\n

A medida que avanzaba la ma\u00f1ana, y tras un r\u00e1pido almuerzo, nos acercamos al \u00e1rea donde cre\u00edan que ser\u00eda m\u00e1s probable avistar los tiburones ballena. Sin embargo tras un rato en su b\u00fasqueda y alg\u00fan intento fallido, comenzamos a desesperarnos; el pez se nos escurr\u00eda de las manos.<\/p>\n

As\u00ed que decidimos hacer una prueba: volar el drone (a pesar del viento y movimiento del bote) y buscar as\u00ed la ubicaci\u00f3n de \u00e9stos. Tras unos minutos el primero de ellos apareci\u00f3 en la pantalla del tel\u00e9fono de Eka. \u00a1Al fin!<\/p>\n

Nos ubicamos y r\u00e1pidamente llegamos a \u00e9l, justo a tiempo para que Meli y el otro chico saltasen al agua para ir detr\u00e1s de \u00e9l, aunque \u00e9ste se escabull\u00f3 r\u00e1pido.<\/p>\n

Seguimos probando y finalmente encontramos un grupo mayor, mucho m\u00e1s tranquilo y que se estaba alimentando de plancton. Era el momento de saltar al agua y contemplar a estos majestuosos animales.<\/p>\n

Probablemente esta ha sido una de las experiencias m\u00e1s extraordinarias que hayamos vivido jam\u00e1s. De hecho Eka ya buce\u00f3 con un par de tiburones ballena en Panam\u00e1, justo el fin de semana que cumpl\u00eda tres a\u00f1os en el pa\u00eds, pero esta vez la experiencia fue bien diferente.<\/p>\n

Disfrutamos de la compa\u00f1\u00eda de estos solemnes peces durante un par de horas, incluso la excursi\u00f3n se alarg\u00f3 bastante m\u00e1s de lo que hab\u00edamos acordado. No pod\u00edamos estar m\u00e1s felices.<\/p>\n

Decidimos que al d\u00eda siguiente, en vez de seguir la ruta de una vez, ir\u00edamos de nuevo en busca de los tiburones, esta vez por nuestros propios medios. Quer\u00edamos la toma perfecta con el drone, y en caso de estar cerca, un \u00faltimo chapuz\u00f3n con ellos.<\/p>\n

Manejamos durante un buen rato hasta donde pudimos y levantamos el drone nuevamente. Tardamos un poco pero finalmente los pudimos encontrar, y disfrutar de su belleza aunque fuese desde el aire.<\/p>\n

Lamentablemente no estaban lo suficientemente cerca como para intentar nadar hasta ellos, as\u00ed que con mucha pena regresamos al camper y pusimos rumbo a la siguiente parada del viaje.<\/p>\n

Como dec\u00edamos antes, Bah\u00eda de los \u00c1ngeles nos fascin\u00f3 a m\u00e1s no poder. Tuvimos mucha suerte no s\u00f3lo de ver a los tiburones, sino que adem\u00e1s no hab\u00eda casi turistas, el tiempo fue magn\u00edfico\u2026 Eka lo comparaba a las Islas Gal\u00e1pagos y dec\u00eda que no ten\u00eda mucho que envidiarlas.<\/p>\n

Ya en la ruta, hicimos una parada r\u00e1pida en una zona llen\u00edsima de cactus. Quer\u00edamos hacer una foto con uno de esos cactus mexicanos de varios metros de altura y el lugar era id\u00f3neo para ello. Visitamos tambi\u00e9n una peque\u00f1a cueva con artes rupestres bien curiosa y por desgracia poco cuidada.<\/p>\n

Y as\u00ed fue como llegamos a San Quint\u00edn. Los d\u00edas en Baja California llegaban a su fin.<\/p>\n

Encontramos un peque\u00f1o hotel venido a menos que nos permiti\u00f3 estacionarnos en su parking por unos pocos pesos al d\u00eda y aprovechamos para preparar la ruta que quer\u00edamos hacer en Estados Unidos.<\/p>\n

Hab\u00eda pasado ya un mes desde que cruzamos en ferry a La Paz y era hora de seguir el camino, tras siete meses en M\u00e9xico hab\u00eda llegado el momento de partir. Arizona nos esperaba.<\/p>\n

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And finally, we reached one of the most magical spots that we visited in Baja California<\/a>: Bah\u00eda de Los \u00c1ngeles. <\/em><\/p>\n

We thought that it wasn\u2019t whale shark<\/a> season but we met a few travelers in San Juanico that told us that they could be spotted in that area, so we were heading there, very optimistic by the idea of finally seeing the biggest fish of the sea.<\/p>\n

The heat was terrible. It was hotter on the coast along the sea of Cortez, and Bahia de Los Angeles wasn\u2019t any different. Luckily, we found a small hotel that allowed us to stay in their parking lot and connect to the electricity. Things looked good.<\/p>\n

After gathering information, we booked a full-day tour to leave the next day and look for whale sharks. The people at the tour agency told us that they had started to spot them but that there was still a month and a half left before the high season.<\/p>\n

The next morning, we woke up full of excitement. We made it to Ricardo\u2019s dive center<\/a> and at 8:30 in the morning we were already in the small boat.<\/p>\n

That day was simply marvelous. We started by visiting a few small islands in the bay, with crystal clear waters and without a soul around besides ourselves, the two guides and another couple that came on the excursion with us. Incredible.<\/p>\n

A little while after and we started spotting the abundant wildlife: dolphins, rays, turtles\u2026we saw pilot whales, which are not easy to spot around this area. The day couldn\u2019t get better.<\/p>\n

After a fast lunch, we were getting closer to the area where the guides thought the whale sharks would be hanging out. However, after looking for a bit and a couple of failed attempts, we started to get desperate; the whale sharks were getting away from us.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when we decided to try something different: fly the drone (despite the wind and the boat\u2019s movements) and search for the sharks. After a few minutes, we found the first one on Eka\u2019s phone. Finally!!<\/p>\n

We got to him fast, right in time for Meli and the guy from the other couple to jump to the water and swim after him, but he swam away.<\/p>\n

We kept trying and we finally found a bigger group, they were a lot calmer and feeding from plankton. It was the perfect moment to jump to the water and observe this majestic animals.<\/p>\n

This was probably of the most extraordinary experiences that we have ever lived. Eka had actually swam with whale sharks in Panama, right on the day that he celebrated three years in the country, but this time the experience was very different.<\/p>\n

We enjoyed the company of these solemn fish during a couple of hours, the trip was even extended past what we had agreed upon. We couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n

The next morning, instead of hitting the road straight away after breakfast, we decided that we would go look for them again, this time by ourselves. We wanted to take perfect pictures with the drone, and in case we were close, we wanted to swim one last time with them.<\/p>\n

We drove for a while until we couldn\u2019t anymore, and we flew the drone. It took some time but we were finally able to find them and enjoy their beauty, even though this time, it was from the sky.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, they were too far for us to try and swim to them, so it was with a little sadness that we went back to the camper and started our drive towards our next destination.<\/p>\n

As we were saying before, Bah\u00eda de Los Angeles was fascinating. We were very lucky, not only to have seen and swam with the whale sharks but also because there were very few tourists and the weather had been perfect. Eka compared the area to the Galapagos Islands and he said that it had very little things to envy from them.<\/p>\n

On the road, we made one quick stop in an area full of cacti. We wanted to take a picture with one of those huge Mexican cacti and this place was perfect for that. We also visited a small cave with bizarre rock art that unfortunately, was not very much cared for.<\/p>\n

And this is when we made it to San Quintin. Our days in Baja California were coming to an end.<\/p>\n

We found a small hotel that allowed us to stay in their parking lot for a few pesos a day and we took advantage of our time there to prepare our route in the United States.<\/p>\n

It had already been a month since we had crossed to La Paz by ferry and it was time to continue our journey further North. After seven months in Mexico, it was time to go. Arizona was waiting for us.<\/p>\n