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Small Ship Cruising in BajaNot the Exclusive Domain of the Ultra WealthyBy Martha Hollis
It is highly doubtful they ever had the rollicking grand adventures we had on the Spirit of Endeavour in Baja. Personal attention and chefs with perhaps as many stars as the heavens are the hallmark of Cruise West's small ship adventures to the Sea of Cortes. Formal dressing and gaming yield to casual styles and fun. The only gambling is capturing that perfect picture of the plentiful wildlife and nature’s rich art. The cruise adventure is off the Baja California Sur peninsula—a mountainous, rocky, steep, majestic piece of the former (well, 25 million years ago) Mexican mainland. It is fertile with secluded small beaches, intriguing limestone caves, sparse vegetation and abundant wildlife. Even though each stateroom had the familiar black box—a mounted TV with video player—most of us took after dinner drinks with delightful learning/enternainment sessions. We gained knowledge about migrating whales, birds, cactus and flora, geology, sixteenth century Spanish Colonial history, and three, now extinct, native Indian cultures. Even Audubon himself would have loved the seabird orientations—black petrel, brown pelican, double-crested cormorant, frigatebird, blue-footed booby, turkey vulture, gull, tern, osprey, and great blue heron—and joined us in our obsessive binocular searches. The staff even managed to land us on shore with dry feet. Rigid hull inflatable boats with aluminum bottoms ferry guests from the ship and make the shore, tiny islets and caves studded with years of shells and sand dollars clinging on the roofs accessible to all passengers.
The whaling talk preceded the shore excursion to Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific coast. Travelling the 6,000 miles from the Bering and Chukchi seas the California gray whales’ 21,000-mile annual trip is for calving or mating. We were bused across the Peninsula to the ocean, boarded small boats and set out for the hunt. With adrenaline pumping and cameras flimsily protected with zip-lock bags, our first spotting was met with total excitement.
The fascinating sea lions hung out in a great colony on an Isleta, a giant rock where in our small boats we visited scores of sea lions with their designated barkers, mothers nursing, youngsters playing, and many frolicking in the water. Several intrepid guests donned wet suits to swim with the sea lions. Reports were that the lions would follow-the-leader while playfully nudging their human friends for more antics. At then “star search/cappuccino” party, the ship’s captain explained the secrets of celestial navigation. Fortunately, we never had to try it given all the Spirit’s scientific instrumentation. The Captain and his officers had the bridge usually open to visitors for those with navigational interest. This is a no-wheel ship with all the latest radar, GPS and other navigational system. Our second favorite gathering place became the spacious lounge with its full bar, binoculars, books, games, videos, ship's store with a logo shirt, hat, or fleece vest for a chilly evening, and enough cervezas frias and margaritas to keep the party swinging high. The incredibly versatile Jani sang from a wide array of music styling and eras while accompanying herself with state of the art technology, a Picasso custom electric-acoustic MIDI guitar synthesizer. We absolutely could not disembark without an autographed copy of her nuMonet: Paint Me a Picture compact disc recording.
From Puerto Escondido, we went to shore. Loreto, the home of Californias' first Jesuit mission, dating from 1697, is the Sister City of Hermosa Beach. Shoppers will love the small town atmosphere with helpful attention from shopkeepers while searching for lovable carved ironwood animals and fish, pottery, silver frames and platters, and gaily painted tin Christmas decorations.
And we did have some envy for those going on to Copper Canyon via train. We will save that for next time. But it is much more likely that we will book passage on the Spirit of Endeavour for their Alaska cruise during the spring and summer months. Wonder how those whales are enjoying the Alaskan waters? For more information contact: Cruise West, from mid-December through mid-April two small ships, the Spirit of Endeavour and the Spirit of '98, provide one week adventure cruises departing from Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico through the Bay of Cortes, http://www.cruisewest.com, 800-888-9378 America West Airlines have frequent flights to Cabo San Lucas connecting through their Phoenix hub, http://www.Americawest.com or 800-2 FLY AWAY or 800-235-9292 Copies of nuMonet: Paint me a Picture, with Janet Baldwin, Jeff Foster, and Jenny Butler can be ordered at (jefman13@aol.com), $15. Images copyright 1999 SearchWrite |
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The ultra wealthy, like Onasis or Queen Elizabeth, defined
luxurious small ship travel. Life’s elevated attributes—multi-starred chefs, an
extravagance of personal staff, expensive leisure toys—were often too pricey
for many.
Our first serious beach day started with a nature hike in
the hostile, arid environment of the Sonoran desert, the best desert vegetation
in the world. With less than three inches of annual rainfall, survival is the
name of the game. And what a plethora of plants exists—the cardon cactus (a
cousin of the saguaro which grows in the Northern climes), jojoba (the plant
producing rich oils for cosmetic creams and crediting with saving the whale)
and the wait-for-one-hundred-years-before-blooming century plant.
“Our staff can make a beach look like a Hilton in a matter
of seconds,” said one of the small boat drivers. Suddenly the beach was lined
with chairs, an oversized cooler filled with mineral waters and beer, and large
thirsty towels. Given their think-of-everything visionary planning, there was
always sun screen, bug spray (though they forgot bugs), sandwiches, granola
bars and staff to lead you into a new adventure, give a kayak or snorkeling
lesson, or tell a funny tale. Others hiked exploring the flora and limited
fauna and pristine white beach with its green waters deepening to azure. 
We had additional whale sightings of fin and humpbacks on
our luxury ship. A staff member would come on the sound system saying “whale
spotted at 2 o’clock position.” We’d grab our binoculars or cameras and dash on
deck or to the appropriate windows. 
Our first favorite gathering place was the dining room where
Chef Marshall I. Gill, III was a major player in our enjoyment. See our related
story
Juan Carlos, our native Mexican guide, contrasted his high
school days in the U.S. where he would come home from school and “plan to
tomorrow.” Back in Mexico, “he lives today.” As tourist, that makes for a
leisurable pace. Juan Carlos, excited with the opportunity to share his
culture, took us through the small museums in Loreto and La Paz, through
churches, and talked about economics and health care. He even shared his
wedding video. 
Several of our fellow passengers arrived before the Cruise
West ship departed from the Cabo San Lucas Dock. Staying in fabulous resorts
they took advantage of the demanding and gorgeous desert/water courses such as
Cabo del Sol, the 18 hole Jack Nicklaus designed course that hosted the PGA
Tour Senior Grand slam in 1995 and 1998.