I got to pet a baby gray whale. You can too!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym1QbUKnPPU&w=425&h=349]

Imagine being able to pet a baby whale. When I heard it was possible, I had to experience it for myself. We drove to Puerto Lopez Mateos from Cabo. It was round about a 6 hour drive. When we got there, we accidentally locked ourselves out of the car. I asked a local woman where I could get help and she pointed me to Sergio, the treasurer for the association that runs all the businesses at the port. The first thing out of his mouth was a reassurance. He told me that he was going to help me, that everything was going to be ok and that he would make opening our car his duty. As a Hypnotherapist, I’m use to being the one doing the relaxing and getting to work to help people get past things, so I felt really grateful to have somebody do that for me in a different way when I needed it. After a few attempts, he and his brother unlocked the car. That was when the adventure started.

It turned out Sergio, an ex captain himself, owned a gray whale tour company so we decided to do our tour with him. We boarded a boat called a panga which took us to the whale sanctuary where all the whales were. We saw many mothers along with their calves. What surprised me was how truly friendly many of these whales were. Our captain said that if the mothers allow the babies to come close they do. If not, they stay away. He said it was their call. Like all mothers, sometimes they can be protective.

When a gray whale calf came close to the boat, our captain had us splash the water with our hands letting the baby know that we were interested in interacting. Next thing you know, this baby swam directly parallel to our boat, popped up his head and let us pet him. It was absolutely amazing! It happened twice! You have to experience this.

You can with El Faro at Puerto Lopez Mateos in Baja California Sur. The owner is Sergio and his number in Mexico is 011-521-613-111-7186. Tell him Sasha sent you.
One last thing. These people are very respectful of the whales. They can actually tell the difference between who is who. From time to time, they’ll mention how one is much larger this year than the previous year. Puerto Lopez Mateos is full of gray whales between January to March. The best way to get there is by flying into Loreto which is about 2 hours away. We did the long drive from Cabo.