Panterra :: MySchool Journal

Daily Journal

Journey of Giving - Medical Expedition

Day 4 - part 1

Time to Chillax

With the Journey of Giving portion of the trip completed the
team has a couple days of playing before returning to La Paz.

We started the day on the beach.
Some hung out and suntanned...

... others kayaked...

and others chatted away the morning
in their snorkel gear bathing in the sea.

Those a little more serious about the
snorkeling headed out to observe the amazing sea life.

The water was alive with lots of fish and such. A school (more
like a shoal of thousands) of Lined Grunt fish masked the water.

Elegant coral and a Pyramid seastar.

A school of Sergeant Major fish swim by.

A Crown of Thorns seastar feeding the coral.

A Puffer (Balloonfish) curiously swims by checking us out.

We start heading back to the boat to continue
our days adventure exploring the Sea of Cortez.

What a way to spend a morning in Mexico.

Once the kayakers are onboard we headed
off to the California Sea Lion habitat of Los Isolotes.

After lunch we all hop into the two pangas
and head out to explore the sea lion habitat.

Everyone (sea lions) on the island
were happy and simply chillaxin' in the sun.

Some floated around cooling themselves in the water.

A juvenile sleeps the day away.

Higher up on the rocks of the habitat two
Blue-footed Boobies engage in conversation.

A mom sleeps while her pup plays in the water.
June/July is the pumping season.

A male poses in the foreground as opportunistic scavengers,
the Turkey Vultures, feed on the placenta and pups that have died.

A couple of males jostle (play fight) for position on the rock.

It has been an amazing and emotionally charged few days of administering healthcare. An experience to beautiful to put into words. But we are finished with the Journey of Giving and now have a couple of days of chillaxin' before returning to La Paz.

It was great to start the "chillaxin'' part of the adventure on the beach; suntanning, kayaking, snorkeling, playing in the warm crystal clear waters of the sea. Jan and Louise donned there snorkel gear and headed only to spend the time soaking in the water and chatting to each other. We couldn't make out what they were saying but we could hear the faint sounds of chattering.

After our time on the beach we headed out to visited the sea lions. We were amazed they did not become chaotic (afraid of humans) and run off the rocks into the protected water like the sea lions normally do on our Pacific coasts of Canada. It was neat to observe the dynamics of the male, female and pup relationships. The bird life was so prolific and amazingly abundant at the habitat. It is a healthy and happy environment these animals live in.

So this ends our day... not so much. Keep reading in Day 4 - part 2 this was just the beginning of a very cool day.

Lela the naturalist

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