A map of the lower portion of Baja California, with Cabo San Lucas highlighted at the southern tip.
Cabo San Lucas (w) is located at the very southern tip of Baja California. Here's a map:
A map of the lower portion of Baja California, with Cabo San Lucas highlighted at the southern tip.
...and here's another map, closer up
A closeup map of the city.
As you can see on the map, there's a little point of land sticking out, pointing east, and forming a harbor. As the ship pulled in, I took this picture of the rocks that make up that point of land:
...and as the ship came around the point, I took this picture from the other side:
Cabo doesn't have a dock for cruise ships, so the ship had to anchor a little ways out, and we took a tender (a smaller boat) into port:
Two tenders can be seen carrying passengers to shore, and a third can be seen at the side of the ship, picking up passengers (it's hard to make out, because it blends in with the ship, but it's there).
Of course, there were shore excursions at all three ports of call, and we went on excursions at each port. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Terry and I went on the same excursion, but this day, we went our separate ways. Terry went with the others to a beach resort. She reports that it was rather boring, and the food was mediocre. She took a nap.
My excursion was more unusual. I went to ride a camel.
Yes, you read that right. I rode a camel. Why? Because it was something I'd never done before. What more reason do I need?
On the dock, there were the usual crowd of vendors and tour operators working the crowd:
Among the crowd of people on the dock is a man selling hats, holding several in his hands, and more stacked up on his head. Another man, holding a sign advertising a tour, is calling out to a passing tourist.
I had some time to kill before meeting up with my tour, so I wandered around for a while. I took this picture of the marina:
The picture shows many private boats, including one rather large yacht, tied up at the docks. In the background can be seen apartment buildings and what looks like a lighthouse.
And I passed a rather well-known establishment:
Senor Frogs. The name is displayed in large letters on two sides of the building, and a giant inflatable frog peeks over the roof.
It was getting close to time to leave, so I went and met up with my tour group:
Each tour group had a designated meeting spot. The large group of people in the center of the picture was my group. We were loaded onto a bus, and drove for about an hour up the western coast of Baja. When we arrived at our destination, we were divided up into three groups, and each group met their tour guide. Our guide was Saul (pronounced sah-ool):
Saul wears a blue robe and a white turban, and carries a wooden staff.
As we entered the facility, we passed a camel barn:
An open air corral with a thatched roof, in which can be seen several camels.
...and we passed another group of camel riders:
A train of camels, roped together, each with two riders, being led by two blue-robed guides.
Before we had our camel ride, we had a short presentation about camels, and each of us had a chance for a photo op with a camel named Hercules:
I'm standing next to a large two-humped camel, resting my hand on his side. He's about half again as tall as I am.
Big fella, isn't he? We got very friendly - I gave him a hug, and he gave me a kiss:
I have my arms around his neck.
I'm holding on to his harness, and he's turned his head and put his lips up to my cheek.
...and then I fed him a piece of carrot:
He's eating out of my hand.
While waiting for our camels to arrive, I read this sign:
The sign, in Spanish and English, reads as follows:
Interesting facts about camels:
Camels have evolved to adapt to life in the desert:
And then it was time to saddle up. Each of us were given a helmet, covered with a white cloth to make it look like a keffiyeh (w), a traditional Arab headdress. I climbed into the saddle on my camel, and there I was... Grinnell of Arabia!
I'm sitting on my camel, wearing my headdress.
It was a bumpy ride. Since camels are, after all, desert animals used to walking on sand, the ride consisted mostly of a leisurely walk up and down the beach. As you can see from the picture, the saddle seats two people. Most of the riders were two to a camel, but apparently, our group had an odd number of people, and I was the odd man out. You'll also notice that I was at the end of the line, which called to mind the old joke about how if you're not the lead dog, the scenery never changes. But I was high up enough to enjoy the scenery. At one point, I was amused to see the camel in front of me reach out for a quick snack from a passing bush.
I asked the name of my camel, and the guy said something that sounded like "ay-dee," or maybe "ay-dees." I noticed that the name of the camel in front of me was written on the back of the saddle, so when I got off at the end of the ride, I took a look on the back of my saddle and discovered the camel's name - Hades!
After the ride, Saul led us on a short nature walk. Among other things, he showed us a blue agave plant (w). This is the plant they use to make tequila. Apparently, if it's not made from blue agave, it ain't tequila, and you can't legally call it tequila.
The plant has long, thin spiky leaves sticking up in all directions.
Remember this picture the next time you have a margarita.
We also saw lots of cactus, including these, which I thought were saguaro, but they weren't. I don't remember what he said they were:
After the walk, we all piled into this transport back to the main facility:
A canvas topped open sided truck painted bright yellow.
...where we had a buffet lunch (not bad, but not great) and a tequila tasting. One of the items tasted was not tequila, but a liqueur called Damiana, in a bottle shaped like, of all things, a pregnant woman:
The bottle is in the shape of the torso of a pregnant woman, with her hands resting on her stomach. The liqueur itself is a honey golden color.
I, of course, passed on the tasting, but I bought a small bottle of Damiana to take back to Terry. She liked it very much, and when we got home, we found a local liquor store that carries it.
And that was the end of the day's adventure in Cabo. On to Mazatlán!