Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Cabo San Lucas Mexico!

Sunday, January 25, 2009 – Cabo San Lucas, 84 degrees
Slept until 8 and off we went on a tender to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We have been here previously so we used our time to catch up on the port area attractions, which include a dolphin encounter!

Cabo San Lucas is a city at the southern tip of Baja California with a population of 65,000. It has become a high-end holiday destination with resorts and timeshares on a desert peninsula on the Sea of Cortez. It is known for the rock formation known as El Arco (the arch). There is a lot of marine life, including large sea mammals such as grey and humpback whales (we saw one!) and sea lions and dolphins. Once small fishing villages line the Corridor Highway linking San Jose del Cabo with Cabo San Lucas. Golf courses, luxury hotels and condos are in between these two small cities. The area is known for its world-class fishing – tuna, marlin and dorado among others – and golf courses.

As there is not a pier large enough for the cruise ships, all ships must use smaller boats to transport passengers from the cruise ship to the shore. These tenders hold 50-200 people per vessel. The crossing takes about 10 minutes.

We took a bicycle taxi ride through the city to the flea market, past the stalls of vendors and through almost empty streets – very surprised to not see the streets crowded with other cruise ship passengers and tourists. There were only two ships in town today and it was a Sunday so families and stores were not nearly as crowded as expected.

We toured La Finestera hotel, a 5-star hotel built into the cliffs. It faces the Pacific Ocean and had spectacular pools and beaches, plus a great view of the Dolphin Encounter!

As we sailed out of the city and around the “arch”, we saw a whale spouting three times! Called home and all were safe and sound.

Tonight was formal; it is the Burns Night Scottish Ball. We watched Scottish dancing by fellow passengers who had been practicing all week and enjoyed another cocktail party with the Captain and officers. It seems these happen very frequently!!

On this 17-day voyage, there are passengers from Australia, Austria, Angola, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany (385), Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom (515), USA (571) and Venezuela! Who knew there were so many nationalities onboard!??