On the whole, I cannot complain about living in Montana. Our mountains are jagged. Our lakes and rivers are pristine. Our sales tax is non-existent.
I have always found the state’s biggest fault to be its lack of oceans. For someone who desperately loves the sea, living in a land-locked state is a bit of a downer. We have bears, mountain goats, mountain lions, and an abundance of deer, but my favourite animal, the humpback whale, (or any whales for that matter) is glaringly absent.
The day set aside in our itinerary for seeing the whales of Magdalena Bay was the highlight of my trip. We began the morning with a bus trip across the peninsula, which took us through cactus forests and incredible agriculture. Finally arriving in Magdalena Bay, we suited up into lifejackets and boarded several different pangas. Our trip was well rewarded: gray whales, the last of the season, were hovering in the mouth of the bay. We cruised around, oohing and ahhing as the mother whales encouraged their calves to spyhop, breach, and play in the waves. Close enough to count the barnacles on their backs, we followed the whales and delighted in their antics, marveling at their sheer size and gentle nature.
As a child, I called myself “whalehale” and begged my mother to dig up the back yard in order to replace it with a dolphin pool. The nickname never caught on and my mother never gave in (now a homeowner myself, I certainly understand why), but I was in heaven watching the Ballena in the bay.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.