Last year in 8th grade I had an extraordinary experience.
I took a week off school with my family and we went to go pet the whales.
We left early that morning and drove 16 hours half way down baja. Besides the occasional stress of finding the next gas station and the frequent military check points where our car was inspected for drugs, it was an almost enjoyable experience. When we got to a check point my dad just told the very scary teenager with a rifle over his shoulder that we were "mi familia en vacaion para mira las ballenas." Close enough to get us through without much trouble. The toll roads were fairly well maintained and there were no other cars so we did 90 most of the trip. It was a gorgeous day and I was able to see the sunset as the day began. Even the garbage that littered the sides of the road glittered and seemed like decorations as they shone prettily. I caught up on my reading and did some school work, but the best part was that when you're going 90 miles over hills, you almost feel like you're on a roller coaster. I had my CD player and was limited to a few Cd's, so now whenever I hear a good Charlotte song I am reminded of the trip in gorgeous detail. ( I heard one of their songs on my iPod and decided to write this.)
At the end of the day we were all fairly exhausted and decided to postpone the 2 hour drive on the terribly bumpy road into camp, so we stayed the night in yurts( large tee pees with cloth walls with wooden terrace support and a solid floor. they were very nice.) They were much better than any hotel we might have stayed at and we had our own very large room for our family.
The next morning we got up and drove into the Kuyima camp. There we found small, square, wooden rooms suspended about a foot or two off the ground. The ground was smashed shells and was gorgeous to examine in the dining hall while we ate. You could find amazing miniature shells. If you traveled farther down the beach to the shore you found was looked like lava rock tide pools and past that million and millions of white brown red and speckled shells. When the tide when out you could walk on almost flat packed sand for a few hundred feet out without going past your ankles. In the water were strange small, circular, reddish-orange balls that must have been some sort of coral and a lumpier, larger orange creamsicle colored thing that I labeled as my ancestors. They looked ancient- like something you might have evolved from. There was also the occasional razor scallop or clam thing, star fish, and little crabs. I spent a few hours exploring the water each day. Washed up on shore we found 3 sea horses, 2 sea slugs, and countless gigantic sand dollars. There were turtle shells and whale bones( we took a few home as souvenirs).
We traveled all that way to not just go whale watching- it was more like extreme whale watching. Each day we went out in little pongas about 20 feet long with a marine biologist and a driver. We went out into San Ignacio lagoon with 15 other boats each day, although you rarely ever saw another boat once you were out into the observation area. Each boat had a 4 stroke motor that attracted the babies up to the boat. The moms come down to give birth in the sheltered area with a high salt consistency so the babies float better and 10 large males stay the the mouth of the lagoon to guard the entrance and keep out any killer whales that want a snack. The babies were the ones that I got to touch, once momma decided we were safe. That was the amazing part. They don't feel slimy, and barely even wet. They are like a soft but stiff , giving material. They were grey whales but they seem to be a gorgeous dark blue in my mind. The fins and nose have small while hairs that dimple their surface that remind us that they're mammals too. The moms like to come by and just look at you with a giant black eye- just too far away to touch but close enough to blow snot on you. It felt like mist but had a bad, fishy smell, but in it you could always find rainbows. Once they went back under it smoothed the water and I liked dragging my hang through the cool green water. They go under your boat and rub their backs and roll around on the bottom of the pongas. They seem huge under neath you. I think I was the only one who wasn't frightened to see that. Actually I loved it.
The food they served was delicious every night. It wasn't Mexican food, even though it was. It was more like fresh sea food with a lot of beans and rice. Every aspect of the trip was perfect. I'm grateful to have been able to make such good memories that so many people will never get to experience. I have nothing but very peaceful memories that I hope never fade.
I took a week off school with my family and we went to go pet the whales.
We left early that morning and drove 16 hours half way down baja. Besides the occasional stress of finding the next gas station and the frequent military check points where our car was inspected for drugs, it was an almost enjoyable experience. When we got to a check point my dad just told the very scary teenager with a rifle over his shoulder that we were "mi familia en vacaion para mira las ballenas." Close enough to get us through without much trouble. The toll roads were fairly well maintained and there were no other cars so we did 90 most of the trip. It was a gorgeous day and I was able to see the sunset as the day began. Even the garbage that littered the sides of the road glittered and seemed like decorations as they shone prettily. I caught up on my reading and did some school work, but the best part was that when you're going 90 miles over hills, you almost feel like you're on a roller coaster. I had my CD player and was limited to a few Cd's, so now whenever I hear a good Charlotte song I am reminded of the trip in gorgeous detail. ( I heard one of their songs on my iPod and decided to write this.)
At the end of the day we were all fairly exhausted and decided to postpone the 2 hour drive on the terribly bumpy road into camp, so we stayed the night in yurts( large tee pees with cloth walls with wooden terrace support and a solid floor. they were very nice.) They were much better than any hotel we might have stayed at and we had our own very large room for our family.
The next morning we got up and drove into the Kuyima camp. There we found small, square, wooden rooms suspended about a foot or two off the ground. The ground was smashed shells and was gorgeous to examine in the dining hall while we ate. You could find amazing miniature shells. If you traveled farther down the beach to the shore you found was looked like lava rock tide pools and past that million and millions of white brown red and speckled shells. When the tide when out you could walk on almost flat packed sand for a few hundred feet out without going past your ankles. In the water were strange small, circular, reddish-orange balls that must have been some sort of coral and a lumpier, larger orange creamsicle colored thing that I labeled as my ancestors. They looked ancient- like something you might have evolved from. There was also the occasional razor scallop or clam thing, star fish, and little crabs. I spent a few hours exploring the water each day. Washed up on shore we found 3 sea horses, 2 sea slugs, and countless gigantic sand dollars. There were turtle shells and whale bones( we took a few home as souvenirs).
We traveled all that way to not just go whale watching- it was more like extreme whale watching. Each day we went out in little pongas about 20 feet long with a marine biologist and a driver. We went out into San Ignacio lagoon with 15 other boats each day, although you rarely ever saw another boat once you were out into the observation area. Each boat had a 4 stroke motor that attracted the babies up to the boat. The moms come down to give birth in the sheltered area with a high salt consistency so the babies float better and 10 large males stay the the mouth of the lagoon to guard the entrance and keep out any killer whales that want a snack. The babies were the ones that I got to touch, once momma decided we were safe. That was the amazing part. They don't feel slimy, and barely even wet. They are like a soft but stiff , giving material. They were grey whales but they seem to be a gorgeous dark blue in my mind. The fins and nose have small while hairs that dimple their surface that remind us that they're mammals too. The moms like to come by and just look at you with a giant black eye- just too far away to touch but close enough to blow snot on you. It felt like mist but had a bad, fishy smell, but in it you could always find rainbows. Once they went back under it smoothed the water and I liked dragging my hang through the cool green water. They go under your boat and rub their backs and roll around on the bottom of the pongas. They seem huge under neath you. I think I was the only one who wasn't frightened to see that. Actually I loved it.
The food they served was delicious every night. It wasn't Mexican food, even though it was. It was more like fresh sea food with a lot of beans and rice. Every aspect of the trip was perfect. I'm grateful to have been able to make such good memories that so many people will never get to experience. I have nothing but very peaceful memories that I hope never fade.
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