MEXICAN RIVIERA bLOG #2

MEXICAN RIVIERA BLOG #2 10 August 2012 Our first day at Cabo San Lucas was for exploration. I hadn’t been to Cabo San Lucas for a dozen years and I was interested in seeing what changes had occurred since my visit. My recollection of “Cabo” was a well developed water front with lots of boats for hire and a scattering of private boats moored in the marina. I recalled the little town adjacent to the marina having unpaved streets and a growing handful of stores to serve the needs of the local residents. I found an expanded marina with many more boats for hire and scads more private boats. The walkways adjacent to the marina were filled with vendors hawking their services and ready to bargain to get a potential customer on board. The little town that I remembered has grown. The streets are now paved and lined with hundreds of shops catering to the tens of thousands of vacationers that visit Cabo each year. I walked about a mile away from the marina on sidewalks that seemed to continue up the hillside as far as I could see. On my walk I didn’t pass a single grocery store or any of the mundane businesses that once occupied the area. Everything was tourist oriented. I found a spot where I once bought some used tires from a local Llanterra (tire shop) that now featured a Jack in the Box store. Brad opted to explore the beaches to the west of the marina. He walked along the beaches that extend, at low tide, almost to the cape. He decided that he would like to come back one day soon to climb the rock formations that form the Cabo. Tim, Nikky, Daniel and Jennifer explored several of the cantinas that lined the marina walkways. All had a great day at Cabo. Some of us signed up for shore excursions on the second day at Cabo. Brad chose a SCUBA tour that promised to teach the use of scuba gear and a parade of tropical fish. On his return he was ecstatic about using scuba gear for the first time and reaching a depth of 45 feet in open water on his first outing. Tim and Nikky signed up for an afternoon of snorkeling. At the last minute the snorkeling trip was cancelled by the ship’s staff. No reason was given for the cancellation. On shore, they found that they could get the same trip to the same location for $20 per person rather than $60 per person. They had a great adventure watching a gazillion mackerel swim by and almost as many colorful tropical fish. Jennifer, Daniel and I opted for a boat tour of the bay in a glass bottomed boat. We poked in among the snorkel people to watch fish through the glass bottom of our boat. We saw mostly mackerel and an occasional flash of color from one of the tropical species that the snorkelers could see much better. Our trip took us out to the Cabo where we could see the two seas meet: the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Among the rocks at the cabo is a beautiful rock bridge and a wave carved window through which you could see the Pacific Ocean while sitting in the Sea of Cortez. The sea was a bit bouncy but we managed to enjoy our trip around the bay. As Jennifer, Daniel and I left the dock where we ended our trip, Brad magically appeared and the four of us sought out at local cantina where we could share our adventures of the day. The weather was hot and humid and the ice cold Mexican beer was really welcomed. An overnight sail at maximum speed brought us to Puerto Vallarta, our last day ashore and our cruise turn-around point. I had made reservations on line for a city tour that sounded interesting. The tour was scheduled to begin at 11:00 am local time. The night before we were told on board to set our clocks ahead one hour which we did. What we didn’t know, and weren’t told, was that it was the ship’s time we were coordinating our clocks with not the real time on shore. This was a brand new concept for me. When we arrived a half hour early for our 11:00 booking we were told that the tour had left already. Fortunately the company representative understood such problems and was able to call the in motion tour guide to solve the problem. Our tour group had already completed a tour of the Church of Guadalupe, the oldest still operating church in the area, and were ready to move on with the tour. A decision was made by the tour guide to give the tour group its promised “hour of shopping” early rather than later so that we could catch up with the tour. We loaded into taxis and sped across town to meet the tour with about twenty minutes left of the planned shopping stop. It appeared that the tour group wasn’t aware what had happened and we were pleased to be on our tour. As such tours go, ours was a fun one. We made the obligatory stop at a jewelry store where we were served virgin margueritas and a chance to buy some jewelry at a great discount. Some did. We then were taken on a route pass some marvelous hill/cliff side homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We imagined that this must be where the well-off folks of Puerto Vallarta lived. The homes were beautiful and the sea views spectacular. Our route quickly took us into what the guide referred to as an “almost rain forest”. The dense lush vegetation made us wonder why it was “almost” a rain forest. Our guide explained that the area we were in had about forty inches of rain a year while the city we had just left had about twenty inches of rain a year. We left the main road on a narrow winding dirt road that followed a small stream back into the forest. A couple of miles into the forest we came to a small village and our destination, a wonderful thatch roofed open-air restaurant. We were told in advance that the menu would be described to us, which it was. There was a choice of a half dozen entrees, beer and water. We found a table for the six of us and decided that a mixed platter. meant to serve three, looked good. We ordered two platters and beer and bottled water all around. The food was marvelous and enjoyed by all. The fish was especially good but there was chicken, pork and shrimp as well with rice and a green salad. As host of the day I was a bit shocked by the bill of $140 for our jungle lunch but in retrospect it was worth every penny. Our return trip provided a fun stop at a tequila factory where we were going to be shown how tequila is made. After a brief look around at the stock of tequila for sale, we were seated in a semicircle around our host who told us all we needed to know about tequila. First, we were told to shake a bottle of tequila before buying it. If foam shows at the top of the bottle we shouldn’t buy. Second, we were taught to inhale and blow out twice before taking a shot of tequila….all at once….followed by another inhale and exhale. With this instruction, we were each given a shot of tequila. Inhale/exhale, inhale/exhale, down she goes. We started off with the strong stuff and I found it burned a bit on the way down. Following the first serving we were poured a second and a third and a fourth and then we stopped counting. Some of us stopped drinking. The middle aged lady next to me took five straight shots and began an attempt to take over the instructional job from our host. A whole bunch of tequila was sold. It’s my guess that few from our ship were aware that they couldn’t take the bottles on board. The bottles would be confiscated at the gate and returned just before the end of the cruise. They never did show us the factory or how tequila is made. Who cares? There was a lot of animated talking during our bus ride back to the ship. And some took a nap. All in all our potential missed tour turned out pretty good. The last two days of our cruise will be ‘at sea’. Our cruise group has learned how to find the fun spots on the ship and how to make the most of the late evening entertainment. I don’t imagine that much of what’s going on will be missed. Friday night will feature another “Elegant” dining opportunity so we’ll all put on something special and look forward to something extra special on the evening’s menu. Life is great! Our love to all, Grandpa Bill, Brad, Jennifer, Daniel, Tim and Nikky