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Some great sightings on this section

I think the reason being that Porto Jofre was, until relatively recently, a fisherman's town...pretty much frequented only by Brazilians. The jaguar "industry" there is only several years old. And out of the main jaguar season it's still mostly fishermen that stay there.  I do have a couple of bucket hats that the lodge gave us on our first trip, it seems they stopped giving those out too.

Great info and photos! I also didn't know there was a land based option. I have only done a cursory look into this a few years ago. It looks amazing. What a wonderful experience that I will definitely look into again. 

@janzinI would have bought more. They are really missing out on some revenue there. I did ask is there not anywhere with a gift shop in Porto Joffre and was told there was not. They did give us nice reusable water bottles which was really good at keeping water cold. I'll take a photo and post it later. 

Wow, your trip was great! I did a similar trip in the end of Jan 2020. What you saw was what I was expecting, but even better. What I got was disappointing. We did see the whales but the sightings were not very good at all. There was one exciting time when the whale went under our boat and bumped it. Other than that they did not approach. We were in Magdalena Bay which is further south than you were. We were a private group of 9 and stayed in tents on the beach (with outhouses). That was really nice. We were the only ones camping anywhere around and that part was great. Day boats came to see the whales. I might need to give this another try! Can't go in 2025 as I already have another trip booked for Feb/March. 

What a brilliant trip @Atravelynn Really lovely pictures of the whales and their calves.

Interesting accommodation Fred!  You have had some excellent sightings though.

While not as prolific as along the Khwai River, the birdlife was good. Below are the ones I've got around the campsite:   Chinspot Batis   Tawny-flanked Prinia   White-browed Robin-Chat   Rattling Cisticola   Lilac-breasted Roller   Greater Blue-eared Starling     On exiting the park, and driving towards Sedudu Gate, again along the river, we have had one more lion sighting; more relaxed lionesses but we could drive closer, for a series of close-up portraits.             A fine destination it was, and as an all-year destination a great option for whoever starts or ends Botswana from Kasane side. Personally I would love to stay a couple of nights cruising the river on one of the floating hotel boats.

We only had one full day here, I wish we could stay longer. We have skipped the breakfast and drove out of the camp early, driving right up the river (Kasane direction). That was a great decision as not too far we have encountered a group of game vehicles cruising slowly and looking up the river bank. By postitioning our vehicle in time on the strategic spot, we got a chance to watch the pride of lions walking through bushes towards our position. Nice!         At Serondela Picnic Site, about half way between Ihaha and Sedudu Gate, Chef Daniel opened his field kitchen and prepared us a yummy breakfast. With a view of a Tawny Eagle!          There are several lodges within the NP, and with Kasane being so close, the number of game vehicles has started to increase. That is when we decided to explore some of the interior of the park. One option is Kalwezi waterhole. Driving through wooded area was refreshing albeit not good for wildlife sightings. At Kalwezi we have found Sable antelope, a lifer for me (at least that is what I think). A majestic animal in all regards.             On returning back towards the river, a young male elephant decided to give us some hard time; he was obviously not willing to give us a free pass, and to avoid any further confrontations (there might be his older brother hidden somewhere close). we have turned the other way. The problem was, on the Chobe NP map, the track we were on does not reach the tar road. With no alternative option, we drove it all the way, and to our relief, we found out that the map is incorrect. A few kilometers towards Ngoma Gate there is another track that goes directly from the tar road towards Ihaha campsite.       P.S.: the baby elephant is not the one giving us attitude!    

I really liked Ihaha campsite and that part of the Chobe river. While water level was lower than usual, the wildlife was easy to spot. One can either use the river front sand bank track or the upper road, which come handy in wet season. Even driving a few roads/tracks in the interior of the park (between the river and the main tar road) gave us some pleasant sightings.   But everything revolves on and around the river, both local life and wildlife. Plenty of elephants, not so many hippos as I would expect, and to my surprise, no visible crocodiles. A huge buffalo herd comes to drink, if driving on the sandy bank of the river it can become quite intimidating being surrounded by these grumpy looking giants. One more animal that I have missed seeing previously were monkeys; we were warned that they can be quite a menace at the campsites, but we have had no unpleasant visits or being target of their shenanigans                      

Really cool is right!  Everyone in the camp was wowed! This trip a fraction of the cost of the Lindblad cruises.  Baja Jones posts prices for set itineraries so you could check that out. This custom trip of 10 nights, all meals, 2 whale trips/day, transportation to/from San Diego (though not the Bayside Hotel in San Diego) was under $4500 in 2024.  Not much more daily cost for 2025, with a different itinerary.   I think the experience on land, especially with the Baja Jones camp and their approach, is better than boat-based trips, even if some of the luxury of Lindblad is not part of the deal.  Returning the next year is a good indication of what I thought about the whole operation!   Enjoy Kenya!

Wow this looks amazing. It's something my spouse has really been wanting to do and we actually have looked into it, but I didn't even realize there was a land-based option; we were looking at cruises, like the Lindblad one.  This seems really cool and I love that they take care of everything/transportation from San Diego. Would have loved to join you in March '25 but we are already booked with Kenya in February so if we do this, it will have to wait until 2026. Something to explore!

Now it’s jaguar safari time! I was so anxious that I didn’t even care about other sightings at first. I kept reminding myself that this is nature and it’s possible I won’t see any jaguars. Well, we saw 23 different jaguars over the course of 4 days (2 half days and 3 full days). A few jaguars we saw more than once. Almost all of them were quality sightings and produced quality images. Some lasted a few minutes and some much longer. Even Alyson said that we had more sightings than what he normally averages. We were so lucky! I wrote down the names of all of them and I think I can identify most of them as I post the photos. We did not buy the identification book. Alyson suggested we buy directly from the ID project team but we never saw them after the first day (despite him sending them a message). And Alyson had a book so in the end, we didn’t buy one and used his. Thankfully, anxiety was relieved not long after we set out. Alyson spotted one on the beach as we sped by. Quickly, we stopped and for a few minutes, we were the only ones. It was so amazing, I couldn’t believe I was seeing one. Started to take pictures and was immediately reminded of trip reports that had stated the challenges of shooting in these conditions. The boat doesn’t stop on a dime, it drifts if not anchored so the boatman can be constantly repositioning. Then there is the up and down of the water. Finally, things calm down only to have another boat arrive that agitates the water. I did not have a tripod like I saw so many others using. I’m sure this helps with stabilization but I wondered if it sacrifices agility. Alyson, who is also a photographer, says he’s seen many cameras end up in the water because someone wasn’t attentive with their tripod and it fell over. You have to hold it constantly and it gets taxing. Maybe if I was to go again, I’d try it out here and there. Our first jaguar was Oxum which I later learned is pronounced O-shun. And it was a great first sighting even with some hiccups.             So once she started to walk off the beach, everyone started to follow her except our boat wouldn’t start. We watched the other boats watching her (we couldn’t see her in the grass) and then she promptly came back to the beach with…     An iguana that from these pictures, looks like it could still be alive at this point.                   She plopped down to feast on her catch. I don't have a lot of good shots. The vultures were in the way and remember, we couldn't move.   We weren’t terribly far from the hotel. They sent a boat and I want to say we waited maybe 30 minutes. We had this boat for the next 2 days which was a six seater, spacious since there were only 4 of us. The last day and a half, we were given a 4 seater. We went to the location where Patricia and her cub had been reported to be seen. Several boats were camped out. I say camped because one person said they had been waiting for 4 hours with only fleeting glimpses. I’m not that dedicated and fortunately, Alyson is the type of guide that prioritizes quality over quantity. One of the things I really appreciated was his instinct on when to stay and wait and when to move on. He was great at anticipating what the animals would do and having the boatman position us accordingly. We didn’t sit long but we also didn’t have another sighting that day. But the one we had was great!  

I watched gray whales in Laguna Ojo de Liebre in Baja California Sur Mexico while staying in a lovely camp along the shore, all booked through Baja Jones Adventure Travel.  https://www.jonesadventures.com/     Calf riding on mother’s back, plus a rainbow - Feb 13   By land or by sea was my dilemma for gray whale watching. Advice from several people who had been was do the land-based, so I researched and found Keith Jones of Baja Jones Adventure Travel.  He answered his phone, returned messages and addressed my questions and emails.  All the other guests in camp had the same experience with Keith’s responsiveness, and that’s a big reason we were all there.   There are several places for gray whale watching in Baja, as shown on the map, here. Laguna Ojo de Liebre has the highest concentration of whales and that is where Baja Jones operates, so that’s where I went.     If you want to stay along the beautiful shores of Laguna Ojo de Liebre, just minutes from the whale watching dock, and you are not driving a camper through Mexico on your own, then Baja Jones Camp is the only option.  It’s also possible to drive in 45 minutes each day from Guerrero Negro, but those trips generally do just one whale watching trip per day, not two, like we did.  And you’d miss out on the delicious food, lagoon bird watching, sunrises/sunsets over the lagoon, and Keith’s mealtime stories that all are part of the Baja Jones camp experience.         On the boat, out in the lagoon, we never went for more than 10 minutes without a spout, blow, tail, spy-hop, breach, fin, or nearby whale.  We almost always had whales that approached the boat of their own volition (no food involved) to look at us, nudge the boat, have a pet, or play with other whales around the boat.       Backlit Spy-hop       This gray whale had entertained itself at our boat and was heading to the other boat to check it out.      Me petting a whale.  The life vests were provided and required.    Whales often swam over to the boat, raised their head out of the water and waited to be petted.  Unbelievable.  After the petting novelty wore off a little bit, I planned to just whale watch and not touch.  But occasionally when other people on the boat also decided not to pet, I felt bad for the whale, who was seeking our attention, so I made sure every whale at my boat got petted--even if my sleeve got wet. A few whales liked to be near the boats, but just of touching range.  It was amazing how they maneuvered their bodies to get close but would make an evasive move to maintain a few inches between themselves and outstretched hands.   Not me in the photo   Sometimes we would see whales that had just caught sight of us and they would bound over to our boat, just like a dog eagerly runs across the yard to play.  We had 7 whales around us once and 3-4 at a time was common, always calm and gentle.  Sometimes they'd push the boat a little ways but that was about it.  It was never scary. 3 gray whales at our boat     Incoming gray whales       3 Tips for Gray Whale Watching:   1) Bring warm clothes for the boat, even a winter jacket.  Do not bring a bag to stow on the boat; there is no place for a backpack, purse, camera bag or other bag on the boat, unless it is attached to your body and remains attached. Other people will be stepping on the bag and it will get in everyone’s way when whales are spotted and everyone gets into position to look at them.  There is a hull to place things like a jacket in, but you don’t have frequent access to the hull.   2) I brought over-the-counter seasickness medication, but never used the Bonine.  The waves within the lagoon are minimal and we go out when it is not windy and wavy.   3) During my 17 outings, I saw only 1 DSLR camera with a long lens out of about 750 whale watchers. I’d estimate 85% of people used cell phones for photos. Sometimes the long sticks attached to the phones were annoying, I admit. Some cell phone users enclosed their phones in a plastic protector, not a bad idea.  I used my Sony RX10 and it worked great. I kept a small towel with me to wipe off spray if needed, but the camera never got all wet.  I had brought an Olympus TG6 because it is waterproof and, within reason, shockproof.  I thought we’d be drenched half the time and bouncing around in the boat, camera flailing.  We did not get wet or knocked around and I used the Olympus on the whale boat once, for a picture of me with a whale.     Eye and Barnacle     When to go?  The season starts in January.  The peak with the most whales is mid-Feb, so that is when I booked.  Into March there are more mothers with calves around.   Calf next to mother on - Feb 16   Baja Jones Adventure Travel has some set itineraries, but you can design your own, staying in his camp.  That's what I did. This itinerary provided 16* gray whale watching outings with Baja Jones Adventure Travel.  I booked a 17th outing on my own. 2024   8 Feb Fly to San Diego, Hotel Shuttle to Holiday Inn-Bayside San Diego 9 Feb  Day in San Diego.  I wanted a buffer day up front and spent it at the San Diego Zoo. 10 Feb  Baja Jones transport pickup at Holiday Inn-Bayside about 5:00 am for the 9.5-ish hour trip to camp in Baja. Lunch provided. 11-18 Feb  2 whale watching trips/day, totaling 16.  BLD at Baja Jones Camp 19 Feb Fly from airport near camp to Ensenada, then transport arranged by Baja Jones back to Holiday Inn-Bayside in San Diego. That whole journey takes about 7-8 hours.  I can't recall what we did for lunch. 20 Feb Fly out of San Diego *Nobody else at camp did 16 trips.  Most did 4 or 6 outings and were thrilled.  I wanted to be sure to see the whales and the more outings, the better the odds of something special.  I loved all 16 outings (and have numerous keeper photos from each of the 16) and I liked the 17th I did on my own later in the afternoon (with 2 keeper photos of fins).     Spy-hop   If you can get yourself to Holiday Inn-Bayside in San Diego, then Baja Jones Adventure Travel will do the rest to get you to the Baja camp for however much whale watching you want and then return you back to San Diego.  Every other day is either ground or air transport from San Diego to camp, back to San Diego, so you can choose roundtrip air, roundtrip ground or a combo, all arranged by Baja Adventure Travel.  Just show up at Holiday Inn-Bayside in San Diego on time to catch the transport, then relax for the rest of the trip.  Nothing more to do!     Flight out of camp     Flight out of camp, airplane shadow in lower right       There are a variety of accommodations in the camp that range from a hut with no ensuite facilities and a nearby outhouse, to a portable commode in the hut, to a fancy cabin or spacious tent with your own shower and flush toilet.  I had a basic wooden hut but added the portable commode inside that was taken care of by an attendant. Very comfortable.  Link to lodging options is here.   https://www.jonesadventures.com/photos-of-camp-set-up/   Three meals a day were in the big tent that contained the library and bar.  Atty, the chef, is very talented and we had wonderful food—mostly Mexican, but a nice variety and not too spicy.  There were bottles of hot sauce, many levels, for every taste.   All the staff were very helpful and pleasant so that it was an enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere when not watching the whales.  We could even hear the whales in the lagoon from our camp. Sunset shot from Baja Jones Camp     Sunrise shot from Baja Jones Camp     Scenery around the camp     Scenery around the camp     The camp is about 3/4 of a mile from the dock where the whale watching boats launch.  A Baja Jones van takes us there and back in 5 minutes, but it is easy, fun, and completely safe to walk there, passing all the campers.  I usually walked and looked for birds, lizards, flowers, etc.   Seen on my walk from camp to the whale boat dock, under 30 minutes     Seen on my walk from camp to the whale boat dock, under 30 minutes       Seen on my walk from camp to the whale boat dock, under 30 minutes     Great Egret near the dock in the morning before whale watching     A big reason I liked to walk, rather than drive, to/from the whale watching was to spend time near the ospreys that nested on the outhouses that the campers used, as well as on dwellings around the dock.   Osprey     Osprey     Osprey     Osprey     Osprey     The plan is to do a morning whale watching trip, come back for lunch, then do an afternoon whale watching trip—each 90 minutes or a little longer, in boats that hold up to 10 people.  But if winds kicked up, then we did both trips in the morning because wind makes it choppy and less comfortable on the boat, plus the whales are more interactive in calm water and you can get better photos of the whales underwater when it is still.             Once--at my own expense of about $50--I added a third trip, in addition to the two per day that are included with the Baja Jones trip.  It was fun and we saw whales, but it was later in the afternoon when conditions were not as good. On the one non-Baja Jones outing later in the afternoon, the only photos I took were fins.       Calf riding on mother’s fin – Feb 12       Calf in front of mostly submerged mother – Feb 12     Calf – Feb 12     Calf approaches – Feb 12     Dueling Quotes of the Trip.  Highbrow:  From Dr. Victor B Scheffer, Former Director of US Fish and Wildlife Service and author of the book, The Year of the Whale.   “As the whale is great, so to cherish it can be proof of our greatness.  Meanwhile, and for a little longer, the great whale glides through the sea, feeling its vibrations and reading its meaning by senses it has gained through eons of time.  Had the whale been created only to deepen our sense of wonder, that were enough, for it is imagination that makes us human.”   Lowbrow:  Some of Keith’s stories he told us before dinner that shall remain confined to camp, and therefore not printed here.  I’m looking forward to more of his tales and recollections on a return trip in 2025.   In March of 2025, several safaritalkers will join me for both Blue Whales in Loreto, Mexico and then Gray Whales in Laguna Ojo de Liebre at the same camp I stayed at in Feb 2024.  This time I’ll do a less fanatical 10 whale watching trips, instead of 17.  The other whale adventurers are and daughter Nina, @gatoratlarge(Joel), and @njs (Nancy).  We are joining up here and there and not all doing everything together.  Baja Jones is very flexible and could accommodate you too if you are interested.    Sunrise at camp   Skimmers seen within an hour of arrival at camp on Day 1       Skimmers seen within an hour of arrival at camp on Day 1       First sunset from camp       Gray whales make the longest migration of any mammal, from 10,000 to 14,000 miles between the Arctic around Alaska down to the breeding lagoons in Mexico.  Laguna Ojo de Liebre is one of those lagoons.               In September, the gray whales leave their feeding grounds in the Arctic and Alaska to swim south toward the breeding and calving waters in the Baja area. At a pace of 5 miles per hour, the whales can swim about 75 miles each day.  So that’s a journey of around 4 to 6 months.             From December and into February, the whales arrive in the warm waters of Mexico where the females give birth to their calves in the lagoons and nurse them until it’s time to head back north, usually the end of March and into April or even as late as May.    Mother and calf – Feb 16     Calf – Feb 16     Mother and calf – Feb 16     Mother and calf – Feb 16     Calf on mother's back – Feb 16     Calf – Feb 16     Mother and calf – Feb 16     Calf on mother's back – Feb 16   To be continued  

It looks like it @marg- the honeymoon suite I believe, an extravagence for me on my own perhaps.    Yes @Scooter, the views were a real bonus. It’s the furthest chalet from the communal areas, which gave it a nice remote feel. I hoped that would mean some results with the trail camera…