Almost Free For You Today

Well, it's our last day in Cabo. We fly out in a few hours.  The week has gone by quickly, and we are leaving with some pretty amazing memories--the highlight of course being Hayley and Eric's wedding. I'm going to use my creative license and mess with the timeline a little bit. Instead of writing a blog post about the wedding (which was the next thing on our itinerary after James went on his off road adventure) I'm going to table that story and instead write about the trip to town we took yesterday. My reasoning for this is that James took many photographs of the wedding with my camera, and I want to include some. Since I am on my iPad, there is no way to transfer said files into the blog until I am on my laptop. Therefore, my final Cabo post shall be about the wedding, but won't be written until after we are safe and home, likely after a long nap.

Cabo San Lucas is a neat little town. The harbour seems to be the centre of it all, streets and shops spread out in a sort of spider web pattern from it's watery centre. We walked on the beach from our hotel to town. Passing many resorts on the way, I noticed that some were half built. I wonder how the oceanfront looked a few months ago, after the hurricane. Looking around the hotel at the open concept it's hard to imagine the kind of damage that was done. Buildings are built so differently when there is hardly any rain. There is certainly a lack of glass windows, for example.

Walking on sand is tough on the calves. I was pretty impressed by the step count for yesterday. According to the old fitbit, we surpassed 20, 000 steps.

It was good that we went in the early morning, because it got hot. By noon we were all overheated, and so we stopped for food at a place called "Rock and Brews". We all enjoyed a change in pace from the resort, ordering some really delicious burgers.

The day was spent shopping. James was not so great at bartering to begin with, but as he got the hang of it it seemed like he started to enjoy the back and forth between himself and the Mexican salespeople. He laughed at the constant "almost free for you today!" calls from the various shopkeepers. I was struck with memories of my time shopping in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and warned James not to reach for his money as soon as they name a price. It is also easier to barter when there are two people. I like to be the one to say "too much" and walk away, leaving James to make the final deal.

We took a water taxi home, which is essentially a motorboat that takes you from the harbour to the beach in front of your hotel. The gentleman driving our taxi tried to sell us numerous things, as well as attempted to rope us in to a timeshare presentation. I've been to a timeshare presentation before. They are long and not usually worth the free things that are promised. 

Last night the entertainment in the hotel was karaoke, which seemed kind of serendipitous. James loves karaoke more than anything, and he was eager to sign up. He decided to sing a Disney song (apparently for me, but I'm not so sure it wasn't for more selfish reasons) from Hercules. I think people were fairly impressed with his singing. Not me though, living with James means living in a constant song. 

All in all yesterday was a successful venture. Our suitcases are very full from all of our purchases. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my dog, and sleeping in my bed, but I won't be able to do either until tomorrow afternoon. I actually will see my work before I see my bed.

Hopefully traveling home is relatively painless, and I'm given many opportunities to nap along the way.

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Aerial shot of the harbour. Thanks google.

Menu from "Rock and Brews".

 

Water taxi home!

All-Terrain Education

"A Lesson on Terrain" Yesterday a large group of us went on an All-Terrain Vehicle adventure. The bus takes you about half an hour north of Cabo, up the highway and into the desert. Yes, it is a desert. The locals informed me that the tip of the Baja peninsula receives ~10-15 days of rain per year. The landscape is what you'd picture from a movie (Once Upon A Time In Mexico, perhaps): tall cacti, browning in the sun, with ubiquitous short, dry trees dotting the ground in and amongst them. The land is dry and rocky, giving a sense of desolation (or at least dryness) but the mountains in the background lend a sense of majesty. http://cdn2.landscapehdwalls.com/wallpapers/1/desert-in-baja-california-1436-1920x1080.jpg I was told by our tour guide (Cactus ATV Tours) that some native groups still live in those mountains, similar to the 'Running People' in "Born to Run". We were also given a brief lesson in ethnobiology: the trees (whose name I cannot recall) bleed a type of sap that comes out red at the trunk and clear at the top. The red sap was used as a dye. The white sap, when rubbed into the skin, turns white and is a natural sunscreen. We were also told that, if dying of thirst in the desert, not to drink from the tall cacti. They secrete a toxin that causes nausea. The squat, aptly named barrel cactus, however, has an interior like a cucumber and can be cut and chewed to draw out the water. On our tour we didn't drive through such difficult terrain, however. The trek (on Polaris RZRs) took us to a Pacific beach, then through a dry riverbed. We were told that during the hurricane the riverbed filled and took out anything in its path. It was a fun tour, but very expensive. The insurance for the vehicles (which was only optional if you left a credit card behind) wasn't disclosed to us ahead of time, so the entire tour wound up costing us ~$160 U.S. each. Due to the semi-dangerous nature of taking a high-powered vehicle out in unfamiliar country, we rode single file and could only take it up to a speed as dictated by our guide. Understandable, but a touch limiting to those who know what they're doing. I would recommend the tour if money is not an issue or if you are a diehard vehicle sports fan. I also learned more than I expected to about local culture and biology. For those on a budget, however, I'd say the snorkelling adventure packed more bang for my buck. --James

Neptune's Finger and Dark Matter

I am approximately 8 months behind in writing about The American Museum of Natural History, so I'm going to sum it up with a clever segue.

First, my rather brief review of the AMNH is that it's wonderfully extensive (in a similar fashion to The Met, there's no way you can really see it all in one day) but when you've been spoiled by immersive museums like The Royal Tyrell and the Royal BC, the AMNH was, in a word...sterile. Like an early 20th-century zoo, everything is behind glass. Caged. Nothing exists in its natural environment, leaving an exhibit somewhat bereft of context.

Neil Degrasse Tyson, however, made up for some of this by providing a different kind of context in his 45-minute video about the universe and dark matter. After the video, we walked down a spiral ramp which depicted distance as a measurement of time. At the top of the ramp is the Big Bang. The formation of our sun and solar system is at least two thirds of the way down. Humanity is a footnote at the base of the ramp, a couple of footsteps away from dinosaurs.

Some things in the world make you feel small.

Neptune's Finger, at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula, is also quite humbling:



As is the Cabo Arch:




These rock formations are the result of both volcanic activity and the San Andreas fault (incidentally, the San Andreas reaches all the way up from here to where I live on Vancouver Island) and they are striking in a primordial kind of way. The water is treacherous there, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. Less than a kilometre away, tourists play in the calm waves of Lover's Beach (right next to the aptly named "Mystery Cave" [two people come in, three come out, Pierre the tour guide tells us])

Cabo is a study in such contrasts. On the beach side of the highway are golf courses, resorts and multi-million dollar condos. On the hillside, backdropped by sharp, desolate mountains where some natives still live, are shantytowns and litter, not to mention buildings that never recovered from the hurricane last November. Tour guides tell us that Cabo would be nothing without us, the tourists, but anti-American graffiti during a drive through town will paint a different picture.

It is not difficult to see, however, that Cabo survives on the Almighty Dollar (Canadian or American). For every Mexican at the marina hawking t-shirts and jewellery, there is a visitor. What once was a fishing village now thrives thanks to tourism. It is a city whose population has more than tripled in 25 years.

Our destination yesterday was a tropical reef, where activities included snorkelling, paddle-boarding and kayaking. Our experience was handled through Cabo Adventures and I would highly recommend them; we had a great time. Kim mentioned to me before I convinced her to try out snorkelling again that her experience in Mazatlan wasn't so impressive.

The water, however, was clear, and the fish were beautiful. My only recommendation: try not to swallow too much salt water!

--James

Cabo Adventures

James should be writing a blog post at some point on our journey. Being the published author in the relationship it just takes him a bit longer to get his words out. I'm less concerned about sounding pretty so I tend to have no problem writing more frequently. I'm the quantity, he is the quality. Don't tell him I said that though or else his author ego will swell. 

Yesterday we went on a morning excursion with a company called Cabo Adventures. We were in the lobby at 8:15, which was fine because I've been getting to bed (old lady) early each night. 

We went to the harbour in downtown Cabo to a dolphin encounter building. I love dolphins but as I get older I am more and more aware of the fact that animals should be in the wild and not in a cage or pool. I'm hoping that these were rescues since the one that flirted with me through the glass looked like it had been hit by a boat propellor. But our tour was not with the dolphins, so we headed out to the harbour. 

Our tour guide's name was Pierre. He was interactive, funny and very animated. He couldn't be much younger than us, and I found out later from our friend Trevor that he actually went to Shawnigan Lake Private School in our neck of the woods. 

We took a fast boat around the bay, going to the place where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. There is a spot between some rock formations that has one beach on the Cortez side, and another on the Pacific. The sea side is calm and called Lovers Beach, where the ocean side is very rough and wavy, called Divorce Beach. 

James will write more about the boat ride I'm sure. 

We then went snorkelling and paddle boarding. There were tons of beautiful fish to see in the reef, including angel fish and an octopus!

I didn't bring a camera but Miranda had hers and Maria had an underwater one so we will include pictures (and maybe some stolen from Google) later on. I actually liked paddle boarding a lot, and was pretty confident until I tried to dance when a wave came. I managed to stay standing, but not gracefully.

After our tour we went on a walk around town, but the sun was high and friggen hot so we caught the shuttle back to the hotel at 2. 

Today is much cooler and pretty windy. I'm hoping that is how it is tomorrow for the wedding! It would be nice if we didn't sweat our makeup off. 

More to come later!

Yesterday's post because Internet is spotty

Why all inclusive resorts are dangerous: everything is at your fingertips. Nobody goes back up to the buffet to get more salad.

In order to try to combat this overconsumption of everything delicious, this morning I went to the gym.

Our resort, the Riu Sante Fe, is equipped with many pools, restaurants, a gym, spa and disco.

I have yet to check out the disco, but the gym was good. The ultimate goal is to still fit into my bridesmaid dress on Friday.

I guess I should explain the trip a little further. James and I are here in Cabo San Lucas with approximately 46 other people to celebrate the wedding of our friends Hayley and Eric. Being a bridesmaid, I have a very beautiful strapless dress I need to be able to breathe in while they get married. I still have Wednesday and Thursday to eat all the delicious things so I have to be careful.

Though, according to my Fitbit, today alone I've walked almost 17,000 steps which is like a personal best. But I've only had it for two weeks.

It's cool traveling with a big group, because even though this resort is huge, we tend to see people we know no matter where we go. James has met many people we didn't originally know, as well. He is very friendly.

James and I are going snorkelling and paddle boarding tomorrow and have to be in the lobby by 8:15, which is 7:15 our time.

So I'm going to finish watching Zombieland, and be asleep before 10pm. Some of the older people made fun of me while we headed to our room, but I don't care! I like to have a good rest.

-Kim

Unfinished Business

James and I were very bad bloggers, and did not write about the things we were supposed to write about regarding the end of our New York trip.

It is now approximately 8 months since we got home and we are now embarking on a new adventure. That being said, I feel as though I cannot close the first chapter of the Hot Dog Blog before beginning another until I've told you about Lion King on Broadway, as I had promised.

Lion King is about spectacle. So many of us know the story that the words aren't as important anymore. As the first musical number started, I cried. I was so overwhelmed by Julie Taymor's costumes and puppets, along with the entire cast bursting out the songs of my childhood that I couldn't keep the tears back.

Rafiki. Rafiki. Rafiki Rafiki. Played by a woman; she stole the show. Speaking (and singing) Swahili, I felt as though I was transported as much as a person could be while sitting in the middle of a Broadway theatre in between a bunch of people. People who, by the way, spoke too loud during the quiet moments. So loud in fact that I had to lean over and tell them that they were ruining my experience.

I'm glad we went and saw Lion King, but at the same time a little disappointed. We didn't go to Book of Mormon because it was coming to Vancouver. We figured that Lion King wouldn't be in Vancouver for a long time since it had shown only a few years ago. We were wrong. Book of Mormon sold out in a ridiculously short period of time, and then Lion King DID come to Vancouver.

Hindsight being 20/20, I probably wouldn't have done it the same way. Oh well!

Now that that is taken care of--I can move on to more immediate matters. James and I shall now be writing about Mexico, or as I've so cleverly dubbed our most recent adventures: The Burrito Blog: Los Cabos Edition.

-Kim

Quick Note

James and I have been very neglectful and have not written our final blog posts for our trip to New York. He is supposed to write one for the Museum of Natural History, whereas I would like to regale you with recollections of "The Lion King".
This will happen eventually. Maybe it will be a special "One Month Later" update.
Until then, take a gander at the photographs I edited of our trip, on my website.
Click here.