¡Delfines y tortugas marinas!


Everywhere along the touristica street in Mazunte, leading down to la playa, are big posters advertising boat trips to see the "delfines y tortugas".  As you have already seen, Mazunte-- "el pueblo magico"--is famous for its tortuga museum (unfortunately closed because of Covid, so never got to see it--such as shame) and the female tortugas coming ashore at certain moments in October and November to lay their eggs before returning to the sea.

What they DON'T tell you--unless you ask more questions, as I did--is that the beaches where the tortoises lay their eggs are carefully guarded and restricted, and one would need special permission--along with a special, government guide--to go there to see this phenomenal occurrence. While I am glad they are so carefully protected--and thus no longer endangered--it was of course a big disappointment not to be able to witness this famous, natural event. Such is life, eh?  So...next best thing: jump on one of the touristica boats with several others and head out to deep waters to see dolphins and tortoises in their natural environment. 

The boat ride lasted 2 hours total, and was largely spent cruising the ocean, seeing nothing at all except sea and sky. The shoreline was pretty from the water, true, and it was just fun doing something different to break up the ennui of life in this small town. But overall, it was largely disappointing as well. So...why bother with a post? For the 2 highlights that DID occur: one, actually seeing a small pod of dolphins racing through the water and coming up for air; and two, seeing ONE lone pair of tortoises....mating! Yes, indeedy... there in the open waters, the male had mounted the female, and as a stack of two they were floating lazily, reminiscent of the "Yurtle the Turtle" game I played as a child. What makes this little event especially noteworthy though is the explanation from the boatman/tour guide, who sent the entire load of passengers--except me, who could not understand the Spanish--into gales of laughter. 

 "What did he say?" I demanded impatiently of my kindly seat mate, a nice young Mexican man who was fairly fluent in English. 
"He said that they are attached like that for 36 hours, a marathon of love-making!" 

WOW. The POOR female, just imagine!!! Yikes.... I was not able to get a photo, as they were too far away--and mostly immersed--but I could make out their little heads and faces... both rather bland, I must say. But then, how do you read the expression of tortoises?! WAS she enjoying it?! Most likely, she was resigned...because, after all, what choice did she have? None at all. 

Then (he continued to explain) the female has a gestation period of only 45 days before she waddles ashore to lay about 100 eggs in the sand. Of these 100, only half actually survive: some never hatch, while others--the vulnerable little babies--get picked off by hungry birds before they can manage to crawl their way to the water, and thus to safety. Again and again, the brutality of nature strikes me... truly terrible, don't you think?

Then, on the other hand, there are the lovely dolphins. Now THEY seem to have a pretty ideal life: swim, play, eat, mate.... with no natural predators other than some species of sharks. (Well, and some horrible humans, which in fact is not "natural" at all!) They are extremely social and intelligent, not to mention, graceful, incredibly strong and fast in the water. In short, an enviable species. I often contend that, in my next life, I want to come back as one!

So... in sum, I felt the experience worthy of a post. Enjoy the photos below!


Hard to capture, I exported this frame from a few-second video I managed to take of the dolphin surfacing. We spent about 20 minutes chasing them...they are unbelievably fast, definitely faster than our little motor boat!


Taking a nose dive down... the picture of grace and elegance, and though we had only a brief glimpse of these amazing creatures, it was quite thrilling nonetheless

Thankfully, the motorboat was covered...otherwise, the intense morning sun would have cooked us all to a crisp during those two hours on the ocean!


As mentioned, we had nice views of the shoreline from the open water. Also, the blue and cloudy sky was truly quite lovely.... 


Just parting, you get a better picture of a bit of the lovely cliffs along parts of the shore, enhanced by the spray as we sped along to open waters


Returning back to shore, we were handed goggles and plunged overboard to see what we could see underwater. There were some pretty fishes, but it was not terribly impressive overall. Hoping to do better next month when I land on the Caribbean side of Mexico! (so stay tuned...!) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mazunte and San Augustinillo: Two very charming Oaxacan towns!

Image
A mural on one of the side streets here--amazing artistry!  I am including both of these small towns in this post because one is adjacent to the other; the only way I knew I had even passed from Mazunte into S.A. was because I noted a more markedly upscale ambiance to the latter.  They are both charming, country towns that have a vibrant mix of locals and tourists--the “touristas” primarily consisting of scantily clad young hippies! Yes, life in these towns is a little like traveling back in time about half a century. The only difference is that now the youngsters are covered in tattoos...something you rarely saw back in MY hippie days, anyhow!  What I love is that the locals have successfully fought off corporate endeavors to bring in franchises; all the businesses are clearly run by the locals, and have the charm you would expect. There are a great many restaurants--Mexican, vegetarian, funky cafes, etc. Even one Chinese place! They run the gamut from quite simple, low-...
Read more

The expat's new adventure: traveling south of the border to Mazunte in the state of Oaxaca!

Image
  Odd, how I always seem to be seated over the airplane wing....this was the view over Mexico City. Lovely clean and clear air, as you can see! Wanting to escape the smoke and terrible air from all the fires on the West Coast, I changed my flight from the original date of October 2nd to September 19th, three days ago. As a result, I was given a pretty horrific itinerary through CheapoAir: about 8 hours of flight time coupled with 10 hours of layover time! So the whole journey wound up being a hellacious, 19 hour ordeal to get to my destination of Mazunte, in the lovely state of Oaxaca. (This included an hour-long taxi ride from where I was picked up at the closest airport at the town of Hualtuco.) Was it all worth it? You betcha!!! Absolutely. But before I launch into a description of my new, temporary home here, I simply must recount my adventures/misadventures en route.  To begin with, as I was checking my bag in at the Delta Airlines counter at the Sacramento airport, the D...
Read more

Oaxacan Life: Part 10-- Simple Pleasures (Placeres Simples)!

Image
 As I settle into the routines of my daily life here, I find myself infinitely appreciative of the most basic, simple pleasures. Owing to the ongoing tedium of our year-plus world pandemic, I am beyond grateful for my ability to escape the restrictive aspects of the city and high-tail it into the hills and countryside. Accessing these places on foot or by bicycle, I revel in the joys that nature bestows upon us. Equally enjoyable is my weekly swim in the lovely pool that is--miraculously--still open. Of course, like everywhere one goes in public, there is the requisite social distancing, spraying down of body and backpack, temperature-taking and mask-wearing. A nuisance, to be sure, but now a habit--a matter of course-- to be endured. Clearly, so many of the activities we used to take for granted now seem like great privileges. Thus it is that, with much gratitude, I share my appreciation for both my weekly/daily routines as well as the fine, exceptionally sweet moments with friend...
Read more