Forests, Whales, and Beaches

A lot has happened in the last two days. Relaxation and a walk in Boulder Creek - a Redwood State Park, whale watching in Monterey, and beach experience in Carmel-by-the-Sea as well as along Highway 1 to Big Sur - but let's start from the beginning.

We spent a second night in Boulder Creek to drive directly to Monterey from there. It was a relaxed day with swimming in the pool, grilling, playing badminton, and taking a walk in town. Boulder Creek is a small tourist town in the middle of a Redwood State Park. Two years ago, there was a large forest fire in the area. You can still see many charred giant trees, which usually survive forest fires and even use them to shed their seeds and reproduce.

The next day at 7:00 a.m., we continued to Monterey. Monterey was the capital of California in the 18th century and is now a well-known tourist and whale safari destination. Our whale-watching tour started at 9:00 a.m., and we were already very nervous. The Monterey Bay is known for its diverse marine fauna, especially many whales passing through here. So, there is everything to see from dolphins, killer whales to humpback and blue whales - some common, some rather rare, like the blue whales. Only about 8 days a year does such a tour end without sighting any whales. So, we were confident.

And just half an hour after lifting the anchor, we saw the first humpback whale. 10 minutes later, even a mother with her calf. The whales came very close to the boat, and you could admire the large animals in peace. You could even see the face of the calf, which curiously looked into the boat. Konstantin and Anita were even able to see a jumping humpback whale in the distance. Sea lions kept appearing among the humpback whales. Truly very impressive.

We continued in this tone and saw numerous more humpback whales and 5 different species of dolphins, which swam very actively next to the boat and jumped out of the water.

In addition, we saw an albatross and a huge flock of migrating birds that were traveling from the south to the north.

Unfortunately, no fin or blue whales appeared, which are also rare at this time of year - especially the blue whales. Fin whales were sighted at the beginning of the week, and with luck, you can see blue whales about once a week.

However, we were still very happy about the experience - especially Konstantin, who is a big fan of whales. We also had a conversation with a dolphin researcher on the boat, who rides tourist boats 1-2 times a day to observe dolphins. He was still very excited because he saw the small, dark Northern Right Whale Dolphins in a large school, which are very rare. He specializes in behavioral research and studies the influence of whale tourism on the behavior of the animals. When asked if the animals are stressed by this, he said that he could deny it because they are often even curious and not very shy.

After 4 hours, we were back on the mainland, ate fish and chips again, and watched the herd of sea lions at the harbor, who gave quite a show.

After having 400 km ahead at 2:30 p.m., we continued along Highway 1 towards the south with a detour to 17-Mile Drive (unintentionally) and Carmel-by-the-Sea. On the one hand, a very, very beautiful area with a lot of nature, but on the other hand, many wealthy people have their vacation homes there, and it is hard to move freely since everything except the beach is private property.

Therefore, we soon moved on along Highway 1 towards the south to Big Sur, along cliffs, old bridges, and impressive beaches. Unfortunately, Highway 1 towards the south is closed due to a rockslide, and we had to turn around halfway and drive south to Morro Bay through the interior of the country. It was already 10 p.m. when we arrived at the campsite tired but satisfied.

Tomorrow we will continue along Highway 1 to Los Angeles.