Panterra :: MySchool Journal

Daily Journal

Meadowridge School

Day 3

The morning started with a hike across Isla San Francisco.
Our first stop was the salt pans mined by the local fishermen.

A chunk of salt crystals with the
presence of halophiles which gives it it's pink tinge.

As we trek across the salt flats to the other side of the island
we stop to discuss the adaptations of cactus to the environment.

Arriving on the other side of the island
we stop to poke around in the intertidal zone.

Jim finds a Brittle seastar.

Christy finds a very large Daisy seastar.

A Gulf Sunstar.

A Mexican Oyster catcher looks on.

After lunch we hit the beach. Sunblock and hat in hand.

An afternoon snorkel. I startled Andrea when the picture was taken.

Beneath the sea. A Chocolate Chip seastar.

(left to right)
A juvenile Giant Damsel fish, Coral Hawkfish and a Rainbow Wrasse.

Organizing the gifts to be distributed at 3 communities later in the day.

As we are underway to our next destination
we encounter the beginning of a red tide bloom.

Full on bloom.

Our late afternoon activity was the distribution of gifts
brought down by the students. Our first stop was Punta Alta.
Please see the Baja Gifts Program page on this journal for more on the distribution of gifts.

The community bull is fed under the Palapa (shelter).

Here Stasia stands beside an oven heated tortilla maker.

The next community visited is Nopolo.

Here the family is drying fish from the day's catch.

The third community is Las Cuevas.

Here the old man is grinding sea salt.

We finished distributing the gifts and headed to our evening
destination. Enroute we encountered a pod of Common dolphins.
The dolphins were jumping, splashing and playing alongside the boat.

Four dolphins clear the water at the same time.

What a spectacular way to end the day.
With dolphins in the foreground of yet another beautiful Baja sunset.

Day 3 – Monday – Perspective of Jason and Aaron

We woke up at 7:30 in the morning, with a sunny and calm breeze. Breakfast was at 8:00 a.m. The starting location was Isla San Francisco. After breakfast, we got organized for the hike. We boarded the pangas and went to the shore of Isla San Francisco. We hiked for about 45 minutes. During the hike, we observed saltpans and cacti. We learned how salt was evaporated out of seawater.

Once we arrived on the other side we searched for sea animals under the rock. We found sea stars, crabs, purple sponge, and much more.

We arrived back at the ship and departed at 9:30 a.m. The ship stopped at Lobster Lagoon and we snorkeled on the shore. We saw many fish, much larger than the where we snorkeled yesterday. We kayaked and sun bathed. We came back on the ship and organized our gifts for the villagers.

When we arrived at Punto Alta we gave gifts to the children of the village. They were really happy. We played with children for a while and moved on to next community. We went around all three villages, distributed gifts, and explored the villages. Final destination was Palma Solo and had dinner.

Later that night around 9:30 p.m. we began our astronomy class. We observed constellations. We searched for Big Dipper, Small Dipper, North Star, and much more. The best part of the day was looking at bioluminescent after astronomy. We continued to observe what kind of bioluminescence could do and then a gigantic manta ray swam through it sending chills up our spine as all you could see was a large disc shaped object gliding through the bioluminescence.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 6 - cliff jumping | Day 7 and 8

Baja Gifts Program | Back To Main Page

(top of page)