Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - January 19

El Arco

Clear skies, 27 degrees, a bit cool in the morning, perfect for touring

Breakfast on our balcony isn’t a common thing for me…either I’m eating and preparing for the day inside the room, or I get in some exercise before I eat – often it’s also too hot to eat out there. This morning I had extra time and the

Land's End

weather was just right, the scenery was perfect too. We were in the bay just off of Cabo San Lucas with a perfect view of ‘Land’s End’ – the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula. 

There were 3 other ships in the bay with us, so we knew today would be busy. Cabo San Lucas doesn’t have a pier for cruise ships (or ships in general) so we tender again. For some reason our ship has the

pirates sight see too

furthest anchor point, so our transfer to shore takes about 20 minutes, today this is comfortable…no crazy heat or rough water.

A visit to Cabo San Lucas isn’t quite complete without a visit to the ‘Land’s End’ and to see ‘El Arco’ – a naturally formed arch at the end of the Baja Peninsula. This is accomplished via a 15-minute boat ride – as I heard one other passenger say today “we got off a boat to get on another boat, to get off that boat to get on another boat”…yup, that about sums it up.

another shot of El Arco

Along the way we spot a ton of pelicans (I’m still loving these birds), one sea lion and…a few whales!!!!! Ok, so all I really see are whale spouts, but I know that means whales and right now…I’ll take that!! 

Cabo is a happening place and very developed. We were here once before, but not to the happening part of the area. We flew in, went to our resort and hung out there…I’d be

looking chil

happy to come back and hang out here for a while. It’s very touristy…Señior Frogs is prominent here, and MANY pharmacies…Zihuantanejo had it’s share of pharmacies, but this place has more, all advertising drugs we would need a prescription for at home.

Small busses are our next mode of transportation to get us to San Jose del Cabo. Here, different from the Mexican landscape we are used to from our trips to the Caribbean side of Mexico, here the terrain is arid and hilly with cacti dotting the landscape. This place (from what we see) also seems much more

Cabo San Lucas

developed for residents and long-term visitors – think Costco, Home Depot, car dealerships and Office Depot.

Part of today’s tour description included “pause for a cool beverage at a restaurant that perches atop the area’s famed cliffs, which will offer a sweeping view of the Bay of Cabo San Lucas”…What this was, was a

San Jose del Cabo mission church

stop at a hotel for a beer that I pounded as I jockeyed for position in the baños line. The view was as advertised and the beer was ice old (like really cold), and I suppose we paused, but it was far from relaxing and hardly enjoyable. Apparently, the high number of ships in town today and a wedding at the hotel resulted in a less than tranquil comfort stop – something I think that wasn’t or shouldn’t have been a

interesting tile work outside the church

surprise for the tour company. This isn’t the biggest problem in the world, but disappointing and not pleasant.

30 minutes further down the coastal highway and we arrived at San Jose del Cabo. Here we wandered around the town square, looked in the church and had a beer. At this point we don’t really even want a beer…

glass blowing demo

really, but what we do really want is a toilet, and this is how we got it…6USD for 2 cervezas and use of the facilities and we were back on the road.

Driving along the coastal highway back to Cabo San Lucas is where we spot an actual whale! I was thrilled!

Where is the shopping part of the tour? you might ask…well, here is it. On the way back to Cabo San Lucas we visited a glass blowing factory. Again, this is our chance to use the facilities, and again…it is packed…boo!

Back at the boat we have missed lunch, so we order room service while

should have used this for my flag

watching football. Well, actually…I read and enjoy the balcony and the glorious afternoon, while Chris watches football. 

Occasionally, when there are sporting events that most of the ship is/might be interested in, they are broadcast on our TVs (typically we don’t get this kind of ‘normal’ TV) and occasionally in the theatre or a lounge – now NFL playoffs, and I assume the Superbowl in a couple of weeks. We were on a ship once before during the Superbowl and that was a pretty big deal. They don’t seem to do this for anything other than sports…no Academy Awards…at least not when we were on during that.

Comfort stops are very important when out touring for the day. I have learned from experience to always have a pocket-Kleenex or 2. Typically there are facilities on busses, but these are for emergencies. We had a guide recently tell us that the toilet on the bus was for ‘rain only, not thunder’…we thought this was pretty funny and it definitely got the point across!