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The great thing about cruising is that you can wake up somewhere different everyday. Yesterday I woke up on the floor of the Officers mess and today I woke up on top of the canopy of the bandstand in explorers lounge!!!
We’ve had 2 full days at sea sailing down the West Coast of the USA and along the thin Baja California peninsula that starts at the border town of Tijuana and finishes up at our destination for today, Cabo San Lucas.
‘Cabo’ is the Mexican equivalent to one of the ‘Costas’ in Spain. It is a popular destination for college students on their ‘spring break’, to get drunk, ride on a banana boat or go paragliding…usually in that order!!! The average all year round temperature in Cabo is 74ºF. Today the temperature was touching the 90s.
Legend says that in 1587, buccaneer Thomas Cavendish captured the famed Spanish ship, the Santa Ana off the waters of Cabo san Lucas, loaded with 450 tons of treasure. Cavendish took all he could then burned the galleon and sent the remaining booty to the bottom of the harbour. The treasure was never (to anyone’s knowledge) recovered although I have to start asking serious questions! The number of yachts and launches adorning the marina could rival those at Monaco during the F1 week!! I think somebody DID find this treasure and isn’t letting on!! How does a little fishing village miles from proper civilisation suddenly become a playground for the rich and famous?
‘Hey, Pablo. Are you still a poor fisherman?’
‘Yes Amigo. Why you ask?’
‘So why do I, a poor farmer, have a 3 legged donkey and 2 chickens outside my door and you, my next door neighbour, have a Ferrari esprit parked on your driveway?? You wouldn’t have found the legendary treasure of the Santa Ana, would you??’
‘Me, amigo. Noooo!! Have you seen the price of cod, these days??!!’
Our day, like all days so far, starts in the Bordeaux dining room. Breakfast can also be taken in the Horizon Court buffet but the restaurant seems so much more civilised at this time of day.
We both ordered the minute steak (as well as the other usual suspects such as juice, toast, yoghurt). Why call it a minute steak when accordi9ng to my watch it took 4 minutes 25 seconds??!! It wasn’t until I received the steak and looked at the size of it hiding under the hash brown that I realised it wasn’t a minute steak it was a mi-nute steak!!
Cabo does not have a cruise terminal so the Island Princess docked about ½ mile off shore. At about 9:30 we strolled down to the tender point for the short ride across to the pier. All the excursions had already left by then so there were no queues. We were ashore by 9:50.
The most famous landmark in Cabo is ‘El Arco’ (the Arch). It is the most recognised rock formation on the headland.
As we weren’t going to be experiencing the ‘warm smell of colitas rising up in the air’ we decided to check out the water taxis that will take you out in to the bay to view the rock formations close up.
Princess cruise were charging $69 for ‘El Arco and a costal cruise’. Surprisingly, this tour sold out as well. If I have been on board for 2 solid days (I think that qualifies as cruising!!) The last thing I want to do is get off one boat, straight on to another for a coastal cruise!!! We would be happy to sail out, take a few ‘snaps’ then sail back.
The sales rep pointed to my cap and asked: ‘Are you a Giants fan? My name is Francisco…’ now pointing to his ID tag. ‘…and I am from San Francisco’
So, on our last cruise with MSC we met Marino from San Marino and now Francisco from San Francisco. I can’t wait for our next trip to South America. I wonder if we’ll meet someone from Titicaca!!!
Francisco gave us the ‘spiel’ on what to expect, holding a board up and pointing to various features of interest. He was asking $25 each but we managed to secure a 1 hour round trip for $30 for both of us.
We were taken to a craft with seating around the edge of the boat for about 20 persons. We were introduced to our guide and waited for 10 minutes before setting off. We weren’t expecting to have our own private tour. This was nice!
We were now only a few hundred yards from the rock formations and suddenly our guide said to me with a wry smile: ‘They’re coming for you amigo.’ I turned around to see a naval launch speeding toward our boat. Soldiers stood on the deck dressed in fatigues and wielding rifles. They pulled up along side and spoke in Spanish to our guide. He handed something to the soldier (sailor??) I was hoping it was going to be a packet of some description as this would make an excellent photo for the blog but he didn’t. It was a folio of papers and I kept my camera well and truly down by my side. It turns out that the military patrol the bay to ensure all taxis and tours are licensed as there are unscrupulous companies that have known to drop you off at a remote beach and will charge $100 to take you back. These are known as ‘El Banditos’. I thought these would be easy enough to spot and all you need to look for is a guide dressed in a poncho, sombrero and sporting a drooping moustache!!!
Our boat had a glass bottom. The guide (minus all those three characteristics mentioned above!!) threw some water on the glass to clean it and pointed to some fish. The water was rather murky due to the amount of activity in the bay today so we soon turned our attention to the rock formations.
Neptune’s finger was straight ahead. This is a narrow rock reaching upward about 20 feet and tapering to a point. Upside down it is supposed to represent the outline of Baja California. A little further on and ‘el Arco’ came in to view. The waves were swirling all around the arch and in between a nearby rock that was home to a colony of sea lions. The water was a little rough out here. This is where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. We were shown 2 other rock formations. The first depicted the silhouette of the world’s most famous canine sleuth, Scooby Doo. (How do people think these things up??). Another rock looked vaguely like a lions head (if you squinted and stood on your head!!)
There is a small sandy beach cut off from the mainland amongst the rock formations. This is known as Playa Amore (Lover’s beach). Our guide pointed to a large cave at the end of this beach
‘This is the cave of San Andreas. Do you know why he is named so?’
We both shook our heads
This obviously lost something in translation. As this cave is on Lover’s beach, I guess this St. Andreas wasn’t such a saint after all. In fact he sounded like a bit of a ‘lad’. He obviously went in with a young maiden and came out 9 months later with an additional member of the family. As I said, lost something in translation!!!
The guide gave us a choice of either being dropped back at the harbour or further down the coast at Playa Médano. This was probably a mistake. Humidity was now touching 80% and there was a distinct lack of shade.
During our walk back to the harbour we were asked many times if we wanted a water taxi or if we wanted to stop for drinks or a nice meal. Hawkers were also trying to tempt us with Cuban/Mexican cigars. I never thought I’d ever refuse cheap cigars!! Give them their due; this wasn’t ‘hard sell’. A polite ‘No thanks’ seemed to be enough. This must be the first place I have come across where ‘no’ actually means ‘no’. Unlike the blistering heat, this was a refreshing change!!!
One of the street vendors tried a little harder than all the others by trying to engage me in conversation: ‘Hey. Nice piece. Is that the ZX250, double reflex something, something 520’
I had no idea what he had just said so I said the only thing that came in to my head: ‘No, it’s a camera!!’ and kept on walking.
We kept on walking past the Dolphin Centre. We walked passed the flea market.
Although there was a lot more that this sparkling jewel in the Mexican Riviera had to offer (the Cabo san Lucas tourist boards words, not mine!!) the heat was relentless. We had seen what we intended so it was time to return to the ship, air con and food!
We met up with the other Scrambled Egg Heads for our evening dose of Trivia. Within 40 minutes we were supping champagne courtesy of our latest win.
We now have 3 days at sea to sit back and enjoy the weather, food, company and just chill. The only problem I find with too many sea days is that you get in to such a routine that it becomes a bit of an imposition when you finally arrive at the next port. It also takes a while to adjust your sea legs back to landlubber legs.
- comments
Marie and don Love your blogs
Elaine Could be the hidden treasure was in that cave Chris - remember Whisky Galore!!Enjoying the trip hope you both are
Judith Chalmers Your blogs rock!!
The Port Vale Fan Where are you?
chris-roisin Thanks for all the kind words. I only write because stuff keeps happening!!Unfortunately I only have a limited time to get the issue out otherwise I would probably through in a bit more detail!! see you all soon x