Personal Travel Plan The Festival of Whales – Baja California 20 February 2017 THE FESTIVAL OF WHALES In 2004 we created an exciting and unique event – The Festival of Wildlife. The Festival visited a different location each year for a period six years, visiting the world’s most iconic wildlife locations in the company of some of the world’s finest naturalists. First Kenya’s Masai Mara, then the Galapagos, followed by Ranthambhore in India, British Columbia, Madagascar, and finally the legendary Serengeti in Tanzania. The Festival is back, this time visiting the world-renowned San Ignacio Lagoon in Mexico’s Baja California. We are delighted that The Festival will be led by Mark Carwardine. Mark is a great friend of Wildlife Worldwide, having travelled with us on many trips over the course of the past few years, and lectured regularly at previous Festivals. For those of you that don’t know Mark, he is a zoologist, an active and outspoken conservationist, an award-winning writer, a TV and radio presenter, a widely published photographer, a magazine columnist and conservation consultant. Mark co-presented the six-part BBC-TV series Last Chance to See, with the comedian and actor Stephen Fry, in which the unlikely duo travelled the world in search of endangered species (following in the footsteps of a similar journey Mark had made with Douglas Adams 20 years before). Mark also co-presented the six-part BBC-TV series The Museum of Life. He presented the weekly half-hour radio programme Nature on BBC Radio 4 for six years, and has presented hundreds of other BBC Radio 4 programmes over the years. This piece that Mark wrote for the Daily Telegraph wonderfully sums up the experiences we hope to have when there… “Grey whales are widely regarded as the friendliest of all the world’s whales: it’s often hard to tell who is supposed to be watching whom. Spending quality time with them is arguably one of the greatest wildlife experiences on earth - a blur of leaping, laughing, spouting, splashing, stroking, playing and patting. These inveterate travellers commute along the entire length of the western North American coastline, between January and April each year most of the world population of grey whales gathers in their winter breeding grounds in Baja. For several months each year, practically the entire world population of grey whales gathers in four magical, mangrove-lined breeding lagoons beside the desert, along the Pacific coast of Baja, to socialise, mate and calve. My favourite is San Ignacio. All encounters are from 8- or 10-seater pangas, small fibreglass boats operated by local fishermen, which are amazingly stable and perfect for close encounters. The whales are as playful and trusting as kittens: they come alongside the boats and literally nudge them, or push them round in circles, or even lift them up, ever so gently, and then lower them back into the water. Best of all, they lie there waiting to be scratched and tickled (just in case you’re wondering if it’s a good policy to encourage people to touch wild animals, consider this: if you don’t scratch and tickle them, the whales simply go and find a boat-load of people who will). The calves are usually the most playful, but sometimes a huge cloud of bubbles will erupt from the water underneath the boat. There is a slight swishing sound and then a gigantic, bowed head appears right alongside. It is Mum - all 40 feet of her – who is always nearby keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. Seeing her appear suddenly from the depths is like watching the Mother Ship appear in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But even she enjoys the occasional scratch and tickle. Just a brief flirtation with a friendly grey whale is often all it takes to turn normal, quiet, unflappable people into delirious, jabbering extroverts. Everyone becomes the life and soul of the party. I have seen grown men and women break into song, burst into tears, slap one another on the back and do all the things that normal, quiet, unflappable people are not supposed to do. I have done it all myself and like nothing better than to watch other people falling under the spell, knowing that their lives will never be quite the same again. Stephen Fry sums it up best. We spent a couple of weeks filming in Baja, for the BBC TV series Last Chance to See, and he became a lifelong whale addict after our first day in San Ignacio. ‘Suck my pants and call me Noreen’, he said. ‘That was the best day of my life. What a phenomenal experience. Epic. Epic. Epic.’ But it’s hard to believe that these very same grey whales once had a reputation for being ferocious and dangerous. They were hunted ruthlessly in the second half of the nineteenth century, and again in the early twentieth century, until there were almost none left (numbers have bounced back since thanks to strenuous conservation efforts). Yankee whalers entered the Baja lagoons in small wooden rowing boats (roughly the same size as today’s whale-watching pangas) and harpooned them. But the whales fought back – chasing the whaling boats, lifting them out of the water like big rubber ducks, ramming them with their heads and dashing them to pieces with their tails. They would ‘fight like devils’, so the Yankee whalers dubbed them ‘devilfish’. Nowadays, somehow, they seem to understand that we come in peace. The survivors positively welcome whale-watching tourists into their breeding lagoons and, far from smashing our small boats to smithereens, welcome us with open flippers. They seem to have forgiven us for all those years of greed, recklessness and cruelty. They trust us, when we don’t really deserve to be trusted. It’s a humbling experience.” THE FESTIVAL ITINERARY Day 1 San Diego Daytime flight from London to San Diego. On arrival at San Diego International Airport-Lindbergh Field, you will be transferred the short distance to your overnight accommodation. The evening is free to relax after the long flight. No meals are included today (other than those on board your flight). Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel & Marina This pleasant hotel is ideally located on the Hawaiian-style Shelter Island, just four kilometres from the international airport and surrounded by the deep waters of San Diego Bay. Nestling in a spectacular setting amidst six acres of lush, tropical landscaped grounds, it overlooks a private yacht marina, Point Loma and the bay. The friendly staff takes pride in providing excellent service in this tranquil, laid-back, Southern Californian setting. Accommodation consists of 227 rooms with a tropical island theme, which are both spacious and well-appointed with a 42-inch LCD television with free cable channels, refrigerator, coffee maker, iron and ironing board, and free WiFi internet access. Another option for longer stays is the 60 fully- equipped suites in the Mediterranean-style Casa del Mar, or exclusive Casa Marina. Amenities include a fitness centre, two heated outdoor swimming pools and spas, a courtesy shuttle to San Diego International Airport, complimentary parking, business services and waterfront meeting facilities. Within the hotel, the waterfront Blue Wave Bar and Grill opens daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offering a varied menu with many tropical touches, but there is a wide choice of restaurants within walking distance. Day 2 San Ignacio Lagoon After an early breakfast, at around 0930 you board a chartered bus to cross the border into Mexico and head for Tijuana, further down the coast. This relatively scenic drive passes through the seaside towns of Rosarito and Baja Malibu, taking around an hour and a half from the hotel (without allowing for formalities at the border). Snacks and drinks are provided on board the bus. On arrival at Tijuana’s commercial airport, you pass Mexican customs before checking in for a flight by chartered light aircraft to Baja California. This two-hour flight south to San Ignacio Lagoon takes you down the coast of the peninsula, with fantastic aerial views of grey whales that set a context for the next few days. On arrival at San Ignacio airstrip you are met by camp staff and transferred by vehicle to the lodge on San Ignacio Lagoon – just a short drive away. Note: there is a time change of one hour – the southern half of Baja California is on Mountain Time i.e. one hour later than San Diego and Tijuana, which are on Pacific Time. IMPORTANT: on the charter flight there is a weight limit of approximately 15 kilos per person, plus hand baggage/camera bag, so pack light. Please travel with a soft canvas bag that is easy to pack in the aircraft hold; hard-sided suitcases are not accepted. San Ignacio Cabaña Situated just a ten minute drive from the tiny San Ignacio airstrip, the accommodation consists of 12 simple wooden cabins, a comfortable and spacious communal dining, reading and presentation room and a covered outdoor area for relaxing. Each wooden cabin is raised from the ground, has a small double bed or twin beds, a washbasin, small wardrobe and a veranda overlooking the lagoon. Outside facilities are shared and completely eco friendly, with four solar-heated showers and six toilets. Two excursions are made each day on to the lagoon, accompanied by local naturalist guides. The mangroves can also be visited on these excursions, providing good opportunities for bird-viewing. The food is freshly cooked each day by the resident Mexican family; delicious, plentiful and varied! A small bar serves most drinks and the dining room is surrounded by comfortable sofas and well stocked bookshelves, with good literature about the area.