WorldTravelReynolds

This was our 3rd attempt to get to this city in Mexico. Our last two were by ship as well but due to undercurrents and dodging hurricanes, we missed out both times. But, today was our lucky day!

Cabo San Lucas is one of Mexico’s top five tourist destinations here on the Sea of Cortez. The view is great here from the ship with the city on one side and the famous rocky point and arch on the other, (while on ship) the whole time we’re in port since Serenade was anchored and we were tendered by lifeboats to the dock.

The heart of Cabo, as it’s called by most people, is about a 10 minute walk down the waterfront. Cabo San Lucas is one of the safest destinations in Mexico. Although we saw several Policia’s with automatic weapons that I sure wouldn’t be carrying around!

Today we’ll be exploring at the southern tip of the 1000 mi (1609 km) long Baja California peninsula.

The area has been inhabited since 13,000 BC when the hunter-gatherer Pericúes people lived here.

Under Hernán Cortés the Spanish first explored the Bay of La Paz in 1534, followed by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and company in 1542. However, the first permanent settlement didn’t begin until 1697. During the Mexican American War in the 1840’s the United States ended up conceding Baja California to Mexico so Spanish language and customs stayed in place.

The town got its first economic kickstart as a fishing village in 1917 and has been famous for fishing ever since.

Hurricane damage in 1941 destroyed most of the large tuna cannery that had been built here and the city was mostly abandoned during WW2. In the late 1950s the “super posh” Las Cruces Hotel was built and began attracting celebrities from Hollywood. With positive recommendations word spread pretty quickly and Cabo became a destination for the rich and famous. It was around this same time that the Mexican government decided to develop the town as a tourist destination based on sport fishing. And now it’s a resort and cruise stop as well. It is pretty much a tourist trap as we call it.

The iconic sight here is El Arco, the impressive natural rock formation at the end of the peninsula that you can get to via tour or water taxi. This three story high spot is where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific and home to two of the city’s most famous beaches. On the bay side you’ve got Lovers Beach, soft sand, calm waves, while on the ocean side is the more tempestuous, rough, Divorce Beach.

We shopped the many market areas but stuck to our magnet and Christmas ornament. I was looking for some simple dresses but they were very Mexican style and that’s not my style!

Today is a celebration of two of our friend’s birthdays. We are celebrating Salsa and Salsa style! That’s the stuff you eat and the way you move to the beat after some margaritas! The party was at a Golf Resort and we had a blast. The place was very nice as well. A place we might look at for future trips.

There were about 17 of us on this excursion so we took two vans for about a 20 minute ride. We learned from a delightful ”dancing chef” as she calls herself, how to make 4-5 different salsas as well as a couple of margaritas, strawberry and simple lime margaritas. Then the dancing came afterwards. She taught everyone to do the Salsa dance. What fun it was! Chuck and I didn’t dance so I took videos and had fun with the photography.

After a few hours we headed back to the ship and continued our celebrations into the evening at the steakhouse. We ate so much food and had a wonderful birthday cake for our friends Ian and Laurie. It is so much more fun to celebrate with friends!

A long day but a nice one. Our next stop is Ensenada Mexico. Absolutely nothing here but we are going to the Walmart to see if we can stock up on supplies so we don’t have to go in Los Angeles.

May God bless you always!

Chuck & Lea Ann