It’s Thursday morning and there is excitement in the air about the sea lions. Safari Voyager is not anchored, but Captain is station-keeping a couple-hundred yards off of Los Islotes. This is where the launch platform will really come in handy, as they can still get the skiffs in the water even though the ship is still technically moving. This particular stop is very popular, and will soon be teaming with hundreds of other divers from dozens of other boats, from large cruise ships to tiny outfitters from La Paz, but for now, just as the sun is rising, we’re the only ones here.

The sea lion activities begin early today, so as to 1) get into the reserve early before other boats arrive from La Paz, and 2) get the best morning light. This means regular breakfast will be postponed to a later “brunch”. We have just enough time to grab a little something from the Early Riser Breakfast pastries to tide us over, get in our morning stretches, and then it’s off to get ready. Margaret is up on Aft 400, donning her wetsuit, and getting some last minute tips and instruction from Daniel. He’s given her a full neoprene hood to keep her hair in place, hopefully to enable a better seal on her mask. She also gets the mandatory yellow inflatable PFD. I am in a few light layers, my standard PFD and borrowed dive booties for the skiff tour.

We meet up with all the other groups - two groups of snorkelers, and one for the skiff ride - at the same time on Aft 300. Nearly every passenger is on deck. Daniel and Terra will guide the snorkelers, and Josh the skiff tour. Roll is taken, and radioing down, the fantail is ready for all of us, and we single file down the stairs. Three skiffs are lined up on the launch platform. We follow our respective guides into the proper boats. The platform is lowered, and each zodiac expertly peels off to different sections of the preserve; Margy’s group of snorkelers to the center of the preserve, another group of snorkelers to the western point, and the skiff riders to the eastern tip.

We pull in close to shore as Josh points out several pups in the water, already curious about our boat, and a large bull on the rocks barking loudly at our intrusion. We cut the motor so as to not disturb him any more. Anne is busy snapping photos. The morning rays of sun are just touching the top of the cliffs. I look over at Margaret’s skiff just in time to notice that the guides are having all the snorkelers fall off the boat back first, their feet and fins shooting high in the air. This is a first, and I wonder how she’s doing.

Margaret’s mask once again does not seal properly, but she’s determined to stay in the water to have this one-of-a-kind experience with the pups.

Our skiff motors very slowly along the rocky shoreline, spotting sea lions, cormorants, blue-footed boobies, and turkey vultures just catching the beginnings of the day’s thermals radiating from the tall cliffs. There is a line of buoys strung out across the water, and we carefully stay outside the demarcation in the skiff, while we watch the heads and snorkels bobbing in the water therein. Even so, countless sea lion pups come out to swim around and touch our boat, seemingly wanting us to play. It’s obvious that they are also getting up close to the snorkelers, likewise wanting them to play. Some of the Porthole crew are in the water, while cameras are trained from the support skiff.

At the other end of the island lies a smaller piece of rocky shore, somewhat disconnected from the main island. There, resting by a large archway, is a second male sea lion. “This is probably as close as they’ll ever get,” Josh says. “The other male established dominance, and got his pick of the island. This other guy came in second, and got this little stretch of rock. They’re both settling on their harems for the season.”

Josh also explains that about a mile to the East is another island that they affectionately dubbed “The Retirement Home”, where males too old or too tired to fight go to live out their lives.

We slowly cruise by the archway, and see several of the snorkelers have managed their way into the passage. Captain comes on the radio to remind one of the support skiffs that had strayed half a boat length over the line to stay outside of the buoys. It’s clear that, even though Uncruise brought us here as tourists, and want to give us the best experience, they also want to preserve the area, follow all the rules, and “do right” by this spectacular area and it’s inhabitants.

The entire outing lasts almost two hours when finally the skiffs haul all the snorkelers back into their boats, and all three zodiacs head back to the Safari Voyager. Once we are all back on board, we change out of our adventuring gear, and get ready for that well-earned brunch. Just as the ship begins to motor away from Los Islotes, we see a couple of small boats arrive from La Paz, and we are glad that we got there when we did and had the whole place to ourselves.

Afternoon and we’re on a skiff out to the beach, where we switch out to hiking shoes and set out for our Eco-Meander, with guide Julie. This really is an easy, meandering walk, with no real planned destination, just taking whatever path opens up to us. This is somewhat refreshing, after the more structured activities we’ve participated in over the week. Julie helps us identify many types of cacti growing in the playa. Giant barrel cactus, and massive Cardón. Garambullo and Pitaya. We also see many types of birds, including woodpeckers, hawks and falcons. Julie mentions she’s often seen rabbits in the area, but they are staying well-hidden in the heat of the day. Since the region had just had some rain the previous couple of weeks, there is a lot more blooming vegetation than she was used to. Bright red fruit growing out as stubs off of some of the cactus; edible, sour, and highly sought-after for cocktails. Blue and white flowers so delicate you forget you’re in the middle of the desert.

And then suddenly the reminders that we are in a desert, and that desert is unforgiving; the carcass of a small goat, largely intact, it’s bright white bones picked nearly clean by the vultures and bleached by the sun. Julie recovers the sheath of the goats horns. “Terra will love to see these”, she says excitedly. Moving on, we trek through a slightly muddy creek bed and discover the skeletal remains of 5 more goats, ranging from babies to older adults with massive horns. Whether they came down from the mountains for water and were ambushed by predators, or were overcome by a sudden flood and couldn’t get free, or simply found no water and succumbed to dehydration, it’s too hard to say. We pay our respects and continue on.

Eventually, our meandering leads us back out of the playa, and onto the beach. Many of our friends are already there, with the beach party in full swing. The crew has repurposed the shade sails from the BBQ on the ship, and set them up at the beach for a comfortable hide out from the sun. Brooke has brought along another tasty frozen slushy drink that I have to admit I did not get the name of.

We hang out at the beach for almost two hours, sipping drinks and beer, laughing with our friends, dipping in the water, before it’s time for the last skiff back to the boat. Quick showers, and we’re up to the lounge for Happy Hour.