Lopez Mateos, a whale of a time

One of the things you have to do when you come to Baja is see whales.  Ken and I have done that many times, by ourselves in our Zodiac (last year was amazing, more whales out in front of our beach than ever before), we have also gone out with Mexician friends in Puerto Chale on the Pacific side.  When friends John and Sue Frank and Al and Val Larson came down for a visit ( our second set of visitors this year) we decided to rent a ponga out of Lopez Mateos in Magnelana Bay and go to see the female Grey Whales with their calves.  2000 pesos per boat was a small price to pay to an experience of a lifetime.  Who gets to actually pet a baby whale??? Ken and Al did.  The whales seem to want to interact with the people on the pongas.

Really a experience of a lifetime.  If you are in this area you have to do it!

Val, Al, John, Sue, Ken and I chartered a ponga and captain to bring us out into Magnelana Bay to see the Grey Whales with their calves.

Although they are not nearly the biggest whales around, it is no doubt that they are pretty darn big.

We got close look at a grey calf and it got a close look at us.

I was a little early snapping the shot.  Ken got a chance to pet the calf..."the skin was much smoother" than he thought.

A mother with a calf riding on her back.  She will lift the calf up out of the water so we could pet it.

See...I told you!

A calf under water heading to one of the boats for a little attention.

And away they go, side by side.