A Journey To The Whale Taxi

Holy mackerel! This was a good trip. We booked everything thru Shari ahead of time and drove down to Guerrero Negro to meet her and some fellow Nomads. Here's some pictures:




Rolling out of the driveway.




Getting legal at the Immigration office in San Ysidro.



We stayed at Las Palmas:






First night in Ensenada


























DONUT COMA








WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!









Party room at the Cowboy. Thanks for the hookup Shari. We were comfy.









We had dinner with some Nomads (not sure of their screen names and don't want to post their real names without asking)






Shari gave us a book on Gray Whales to read the night before. Very educational and prepped us quite well for what we'd see.

We woke up the following morning pretty early, picked up our pre-ordered kick arse breakfast (burritos, fruit bowl, fresh OJ) and headed to the lagoon.

































Our leader!!!!


Part 2 to follow.

Ateo

PART 2 - THE REAL FUN BEGINS.



































Sleeping Whale


Holy moly my hand hurts from resizing photos on photobucket. Time for a break and maybe a c-cktail.

More to follow..........................

And here she is..............A whale we decided to name "Taxi"

Why? Because she kept rubbing on the bottom and bow of the boat, pushing us along, being our "taxi"






She was so majestic. Calm. Playful. Observant.


Her eye:

Sirenita and Isaac came up for Shari's B-day bash.

We had to leave too early. We missed Shari's b-day bash. Work was calling as well as the San Felipe 250 next weekend. We bailed.

Salt anyone?








High centered on Highway 1.






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Dinner at the restaurant that shall not be named. Great happy hour margarita also.















Sorry this took so long to post. Photobucket is a nightmare.

Stoked to make some new friends on this trip, see some old friends, meet some Nomads, and do it all safely for another great family trip.

Thanks for the hook up Shari.

-Ateo and BajaLucy

Note: Most photos by mi esposa

I always love your photos Lucy and commentary too..It was great to finally meet the whole family. Here are a couple more photos from the trip...Sirena was a bit of a whale hog this trip...here she is standing on her head on a calf.



here you are Jon getting spouted upon and one with the kids













this whale really did push us around gently...here is her chin peeking out

Always a Blast going to Baja but this time it was even better to meet our majestic Taxi D'whale
It was such a great experience can't explain with simple words thank you Shari for putting this groups Together and sharing your knowledge with all of us really appreciated. Glad you take your precious time to share with us all your marvellouse experience.
Thanks a bunch! Can't wait for next year

Hi Paul, nice to hear from you again. Glad we where able to meet you guys. It was nice to hang out with you and Beth. Hope your ride home was good and not much traffic Hope to see you guys again some day hello 2Beth from us take care

Thanks for posting Ateo, I know it gets bit of nerve trying to post with phoneB
Configuration thanks for your time much apreciate!

Looking at all the fabulous photos gives me a chill. It also reminds me that, like many other things, the experience of being in the immediate presence of the whales is one that is only really conveyed by actually being there. I have shown nearly everyone I know photos of whale trips we have taken to both Scammons and San Ignacio over the years and they all ooh and ahh but unless you have actually done it you don't really know the felling IMHO. It was the same way when I came home from my first trip to the Grand Canyon decades ago and developed the 400+ photos I took and tried to convey the grandeur and beauty to others but felt that although the photos come close its still not the same. I framed two photos and the others ended up in an album never to be seen again. Like trying to explain the lure of riding across the face of a moving wall of water on a plank of foam covered in fiberglass, dude.

I hope everyone who ever thought about heading to see the whales gets a chance to do it.

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco Looking at all the fabulous photos gives me a chill. It also reminds me that, like many other things, the experience of being in the immediate presence of the whales is one that is only really conveyed by actually being there. I have shown nearly everyone I know photos of whale trips we have taken to both Scammons and San Ignacio over the years and they all ooh and ahh but unless you have actually done it you don't really know the felling IMHO. It was the same way when I came home from my first trip to the Grand Canyon decades ago and developed the 400+ photos I took and tried to convey the grandeur and beauty to others but felt that although the photos come close its still not the same. I framed two photos and the others ended up in an album never to be seen again. Like trying to explain the lure of riding across the face of a moving wall of water on a plank of foam covered in fiberglass, dude. I hope everyone who ever thought about heading to see the whales gets a chance to do it.

Or like sitting around a campfire in the desert with an amigo, drinking good beer, and watching falling stars burn up as they enter the atmosphere

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco Looking at all the fabulous photos gives me a chill. It also reminds me that, like many other things, the experience of being in the immediate presence of the whales is one that is only really conveyed by actually being there. I have shown nearly everyone I know photos of whale trips we have taken to both Scammons and San Ignacio over the years and they all ooh and ahh but unless you have actually done it you don't really know the felling IMHO. It was the same way when I came home from my first trip to the Grand Canyon decades ago and developed the 400+ photos I took and tried to convey the grandeur and beauty to others but felt that although the photos come close its still not the same. I framed two photos and the others ended up in an album never to be seen again. Like trying to explain the lure of riding across the face of a moving wall of water on a plank of foam covered in fiberglass, dude. I hope everyone who ever thought about heading to see the whales gets a chance to do it.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajaboy Or like sitting around a campfire in the desert with an amigo, drinking good beer, and watching falling stars burn up as they enter the atmosphere

That was a close to a meteorite as I have ever witnessed. I was waiting for the shock wave to knock us off our feet, the stumble back to the camper did not count. I am glad you were there to validate it for me. Good times!

I second that emotion. We love to travel and experience new and different things, even if it's the next county. We are headed south in the AM to do the whale thing again for the first time.

It's nice to read-hear a true man's emotion or thoughs about life and surrounding Universe

CO-PILOT FOR WHALE TRIP NEEDED - WANNA GO??

Hey Aeto !! Thanks for posting such a wonderful experience..... Great presentation too, BTW.

You've inspired me to go down this weekend for Shari's last tours of the season. If there's anybody in the Rosarito Beach area that would like to ride down with me I would love the company. I'm going by myself so far. I'm planning to leave on Friday and stay in San Quintin that night. I've made reservations with Shari for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and returning Tuesday. If there's someone who wants to go you can call me @ 619 488 3800 or u2u me or e-mail @ kasheydog@aol.com.

Quote:

Originally posted by KASHEYDOG Hey Aeto !! Thanks for posting such a wonderful experience..... Great presentation too, BTW. You've inspired me to go down this weekend for Shari's last tours of the season. If there's anybody in the Rosarito Beach area that would like to ride down with me I would love the company. I'm going by myself so far. I'm planning to leave on Friday and stay in San Quintin that night. I've made reservations with Shari for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and returning Tuesday. If there's someone who wants to go you can call me @ 619 488 3800 or u2u me or e-mail @ kasheydog@aol.com.

This makes me very happy to hear that my post inspired you to head south for the whales. With the photobucket fiasco it took me about three hours to make that post. I was questioning why the hell I would spend so much time posting for mostly strangers.

Thanks for making it worthwhile! Stoked to hear you're heading south.

Ateo & Lucy....I neglected to thank you for the wonderful birthday surprise bag...we had so much fun opening each item and were completely thrilled with the contents...it really made my birthday even more special as we had lots of folks to share the booty. Here is Iflyfish & his twin and Izaak and I sampling the wares...the blueberry bombs were insanely delicious...as was everything...mil gracias amigos! You can come to my birthday any year...hahaha

Quote:

Originally posted by shari Ateo & Lucy....I neglected to thank you for the wonderful birthday surprise bag...we had so much fun opening each item and were completely thrilled with the contents...it really made my birthday even more special as we had lots of folks to share the booty. Here is Iflyfish & his twin and Izaak and I sampling the wares...the blueberry bombs were insanely delicious...as was everything...mil gracias amigos! You can come to my birthday any year...hahaha