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| They may seem harmless.... |
Our first stop out of the city of Ensenada was a small, rocky islet
standing alone in the cold, foggy waters of northern Baja called Isla
Todos Santos. Upon arriving to the island, we found that the cozy
anchorage described in our ancient copy of Charlie's Charts had since
been filled with tuna pens. These are open-ocean corrals where fishermen
grow tuna that have been caught in the wild to be fattened under their
supervision. This tuna-filled cove offering the only true anchorage on
an otherwise rugged, inhospitable islet, we drifted a mile or so north
towards a small, protected bight between the north and south islets. The
cry of thousands of seagulls on shore, leopard seals swimming among
kelp beds, as well as a swarm of flies descending upon the boat, gave us
a sense of the ruggedness and wildness of the isolated islets as we
dropped anchor.
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| swatting flies provided hours of entertainment! |
Both north and south Todos Santos were
dominated by seagull rookeries; Walking along the shore towards the
light house, I was repeatedly dive-bombed by adult seagulls protecting
their young nested among the cactus and shrubs. This gave a strong sense
of the wildness of the place, and made it clear that the isolated
mid-ocean rock really belonged to the seagulls.
We met the
second-generation lighthouse keeper, who lives there alone two weeks at a
time throughout the year. He toured me around the lighthouses and
showed me his home, a former Navy barracks. The surf break off Todos
Santos is also a world-famous big wave surfing ground, "Killers." It
seemed like surfers occasionally stay in the barracks during the winter,
and for anyone interested in visiting, the lighthouse keeper really
likes soda, American beer, and meat!!
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| the lighthouse keeper of Todos Santos |
Check out more photos of Isla Todos Santos here!
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