JESSE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3370
Registered: 11-5-2002
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It happened one day in Baja
I have been thinking why i love Baja so much, specifically the tip of the Baja Peninsula, i was born here so i guess that gives me a good reason,my
grandparents a few uncles are buried here, and my moms and dads ashes where spread in the Pacific Ocean, so maybe thats another reason why i feel so
familiar here, but seriously what is it about my place of birth that keeps me in love nomatter where i go and what i do?
Well one of those reasons happened in Cabo San Lucas almost 7 years ago, i was living there doing the timeshare deal (what else!!), one time as i was
working, i meet a German couple, i cant even remeber their names, they where divers and had come all the way from Germany to Baja because they wanted
to dive with some grey Whales, the whale season was just begining so after several tries they werent getting any luck. After they mentioned to me that
they where paying outrageous prices renting boats, i suggested that they should rent a Panga, its a lot cheaper i said and it should do the job, "in
fact i know someone that has a Panga" and thats how it all started, by chance i was about to experience something that would change my life forever.
Next day we meet like planned at the marina, i had talked to a friend of mine and gotten a fair deal for the Panga rental,but i wasnt planning on
going, when i saw the surprised look on the couples eyes after they realized that i wasnt going, i just couldnt say no, and so my Robert Ludlum novel
had to wait until another day. We left the cabo marina at around 10pm, and out to see we where, after 30 to 40 minutues of searching, we spotted the
first sign of life, a green Turtle just brushing the surface of the ocean, its color shining from the exposure to the hot Baja sun, they decided to
follow the Turtle and got in to take some pictures, i waited paciently on the little boat realizing that land was almost visible and we where on this
small Panga with one engine and a radio that didnt look very good, so reality was staring to hit me when the screams of "awesome!!" coming from the
German man made me forget about the situation. After searching more and more we ran into Mantarays and they did the same, but it all changed after we
stumbled into a school of Dolphins, about 15 of them just cruising in the blue cristal waters of the Baja Pacific Coast, the Germans started to get
ready but to my amazement, they had an extra set of Snorkel gear (those careful Germans i tought), so after thinking about it for a seconds i realized
that the worse think it could happen is that a big bad Shark would come up and make me his lunch, well i guess considering all the Sharks we kill, one
human lunch was a fair deal, and so i went in the water.
What happened next was just "religious", i was one of a few lucky people that get to see a true show of nature, a dance of wild pacific Dolphins
swiming and checking us out, we would wait for them in the Blue water and they would show like shotting stars in the middle of the night, zooom!!!!
there goes one and vanishes in the darkness of the ocean, zooom!!!! there goes another, and every once in a while one of them would stop at a distance
that was safe to him and look at us in the eye, in that moment i forgot about work, rent, problems and reasons, explanations, questions and
temptations, i was just alive and living, truly living for a few minutes of my life. the show was so perfect, so beautiful, that we had to suddenly
rush to the surface to get some air, in the excitement of the moment we would forget that it was time to get another dose of our adiction, and for a
second i realized that it was much better down here, an i hated going back to my sensless world. In one of those times we surfaced to get more air, we
heard the captain of the Panga screaming, and i went back to reality, i tought about the Shark and the huge debt we owed them, maybe it was a Shark
coming to claim some revenge. As i swam to the panga, i realized the scream was not of fear but of excitement, Ballena!!!!!! Ballenas!!!!!! was very
clear, Whales!!!! Whales!!!! the Captain screamed.
We turned and went back out, destiny had put us snorkeling in the path of a beutiful grey whale, since we didnt know anything about this sitaution,
our fear and excitement grew as we patiently waited for the main atraction of the show, would it pass right by us?would it get mad and do something?
would it swim away? all of those things where racing thru our minds when a giant dark figure appeared in the horizont, it was it, the moment of truth
was here and i was a part of it, slowly the Whale came up to us and made a gentle turn to avoid us, as we started to swim to spend the most possible
time near the star of the show, we realized it was swiming slowly because it was dragging something, it was as if the whale was concerned with
something in the back, we kept the pace and the big giant started to leave us behind, and just when where ready to go up for a dose of our addiction,
another dark figure came out from nowhere swiming faster and in a hurry, it was a baby whale, getting back to his moms side after perhaps checking out
the surroundings like all infants do, as the baby passed us in its way to mama, i suddenly got to see him eye to eye, in that brief second and in the
midde of the ocean, i started to cry, god had showed me the meaning of life and i had looked at it in the eye.
The baby joined his mother and dissapeared in the dark, we went back to our Panga, said good bye at the marina, and went about our bussiness, but
everytime i am down there to visit, i rent a Panga, and even when its not whale season, i grab my snorkeling gear triying to find that baby again, i
am sure hes a big boy these days, but if he can look me in the eye again, i think my life would be more beautiful and more real for the next 10 years
to come.
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reefrocket
Nomad
Posts: 224
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Idaho
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Beautify written! That's the world of water I was introduced to 12 years ago and long for dayly in the high mountain desert (so it's called, actually
irrigated valley) where I survive for only in the water, especially your Baja and it's jewel the Sea of Cortez, do I live. 
[Edited on 27-11-2002 by reefrocket]
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Stephanie Jackter
Senior Nomad
Posts: 566
Registered: 11-3-2002
Location: Arizona
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Woweee. I've seen the whales breaching and the pods of dolphins swimming around boats I've been on and every time I've had that urge to jump off the
boat and be in there with them but never followed it. You're one lucky guy to have gotten the whole kittencaboodle of an otherworldly experience in
one day! - Stephanie
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Keri
Super Nomad
Posts: 1393
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: La Mision, Baja Norte
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy contento
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Fantastic , ,Great story, you are truly a lucky person. k
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M
Nomad
Posts: 392
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Laguna Niguel, CA.
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Mood: looking for joy...
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Great story Jesse
My heart swelled up ready to pop. I can just imagine your joy! I have yet to 'do the whales' (no comments from the peanut gallery). Thanks for the
story. M
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Bajabus
Senior Nomad
Posts: 892
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Elias Calles B.C.S. or NC USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: My friends..it's good.
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NICE!
everytime I look out and see dolphins, manta rays or whales off the beach it brings a smile to my whole being.
thanks for your story!
"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked of such a thing."
Dwight David Eisenhower
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