May 4, 2008

Day Two and Three: Sea Day and Cabo San Lucas




The Library on board the Carnival Elation.


Day two was a sea day. My behaviors were better, but I dragged through the day. I hit the library early to write the blog, and I found myself chilled clear through by the cold room air. Lunch, walks, and good company couldn’t warm me. Noting could. My legs swelled to the size of giant sausages covered with a rash. Finally, chilled and shaking, I gave up and retreated to the cabin to nap. I felt so sorry for G being weighted down by this millstone of a tired me.

Formal night. We cleaned up well tho we didn’t photograph well. I was pleased to meet the captain and see the officers. Later when I pass them in the halls, I am able to identify them from these few glimpses. We went to the early show this day and were very impressed by the Cruise Director, Stuart Dunn. Frankly, we were prepared to like him from John Heald’s Cruise Director Blog. What a job Stu has…and he does it well. The show? It struck us a bit like a high school production where the kids give their all. Lots of energy, lots of pizzazz…they worked their tushs off for us yet it all didn’t seem quite professional. G made fifty bucks in the casino while I read then slept.


Cabo San Lucas from an early morning deck chair.

By the morning of the third day, I was me again. G had put on his new sea sickness patch and nothing could bother him. We pulled in to Cabo San Lucas attended by the Federales and tiny white horses dancing over the surface of the sea. A simple breakfast, time to grab a bag, and we were heading for the tenders just a little early.


Tendering in. “No Se Vende” says a sign on one house alone on the hills overlooking the harbor. They must be tired of offers. “Not For Sale.”

We had time before boarding our tour to find the bathrooms, to find the first part of the tour…that’s always good, and find a spot at the bow of the catamaran which took us out near the stunning rocks, arches, and flotillas of tourists. Amazingly, they were as much fun to watch as the scenery around us. The ocean was a startling blue, the skies were a clear potent blue, and the air was perfection….what more could one want on a vacation.

My 2 GB camera chip was full and both G and I forgot to bring a USB cable so we could download my images.

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrmundo, the tour guide for the second half of our trip saved the day.


The barren hills around the harbor.

It grew warmers. We slathered on our 50 sunscreen and waved our camera’s about just like any other tourist in the group.



Top: One of the lovely beaches in the rocks at the mouth of the harbor. Bottom: Left, a rock arch. Right, A flotilla of kayakers near the rocks.

We had thought we were going only by boat to the rocks then by “air conditioned bus” to a glass blowing shop. Nope. From the boat we did go next to the air conditioned busses, met Arrrrmando our guide, but then we traveled through the chaos of a Mexican city of 50,000 all around the bay to stunning restaurant across from the rocks.


The Serenade of the Seas, left, and the Elation anchored at Cabo San Lucas viewed from across the bay.


Left: Century plants at the beach. Middle: Unexpected visit to a beach side restaurant. We rocked and rolled on our trip down a small, rutted dirt road in our giant bus. Right: G’ette wondering what that chrome thing was attached to the front tire of the bus.

After a cold Coke Light, and they don’t taste like Diet Cokes, in the shade, we reboarded the busses and drove clear across the peninsula to the heart of the old San Juan, pop 80.000. We had not expected this lengthy tour from the prospectus. There we chose to have a light and delicious lunch instead of shopping, and G took the best photo of the trip. From lunch to the store ever mindful of the broken, stepped, narrow, charming but dangerous sidewalks. Foot traffic on any Mexican sidewalks is never for the faint hearted. At the small, just closing for lunch electronics store recommended by Armando, the shop clerk understood “Cable” and 2GB SD card.” Mordito and baksheesh…we found them both at the lunch and at the camera store. “No, there’s no “Radio Shack in Cabo,” Said Armando….which we knew there was from the clerk at the tourista store. At least I was back in business.


Left to right: Cobblestone streets, giant Botts dots, stepped sidewalks, Cathedral.

“The hard drive on my first HP was only 2GB….remember how big we thought that?”
Miles of cactus next. G wandered through a cactus garden while I stayed cool in the bus reading the Gringo Gazette….published in Vista Norte California. History lessons and day to day realities.



“How do we shower?” Armando asked us. “By bucket most days, but one day a week we use our real showers fed from a tank on the roof.” Then he gave us an abbreviated history of Mexico as we traveled through the blasted desert lands near the rows of giant hotels. The hotels all have their own desalination plants, everyone else is limited to water from 10 springs. Once there were more.



Miles of desert along the ocean has been bulldozed clearning space for more giant hotels.

At the glass factory, I couldn’t find pieces that captured my imagination or filled any gaps in my Mexican glass collection. Which was a shame; I’d had hopes. We were so tired by then we forgot to photograph the miles of colorful glass on the shelves.


Behind the wheel.


Back to the tenders and a delightful ride back to the ship. G steered. We laughed. There was time to change, a time to sit in the sun at the stern and photograph the other cruise ship as she departed, and time to share a dinner in the dining room all by ourselves in a sea of empty tables. Everyone else must have been burned out from their touring, but we had the time to eat lightly.

I spoke to G about our grumph of a waiter. He obviously overheard as his behaviors improved markedly. Hey, even old hippies tip. I to bed early with my book, and G to the blackjack tournament where he broke even. He likes both gambling and breaking even.

5 comments:

  1. You must have been gone for hours and hours! Glad to hear you back up on your feet and kicking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome home, Mage and G. I'm so glad you had a wonderful time on your cruise.

    The pictures are great!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Look, Guys........I have a spammer. Gee, for a moment I thought I miight have more than three or four readers. Spam indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My God, Jason give us a break! If you are making $900.00 a month, go spend it somewhere and leave us alone!!!

    I know, go buy yourself a Starbucks double latte Cappuchino.
    That'll take care of the 900 bucks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. you can also post some of your cruise photos at

    http://www.cruisecabinphotos.com

    thanks

    ReplyDelete

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