Cruisin' The Mexican Riviera Part II

Our first port of call was Cabo San Lucas. The ship anchored about a mile from shore and we boarded a "tender" that took us to land. Our first stop that first day was at a glass factory. From a hot piece of molten (recycled) glass

to Mexican turtle was only about 10 minutes.

I loved the Christmas Tree Ornaments and ended up buying a small one for our tree at home.

After 35 minutes we were on to the next stop on our sight seeing tour. The glass blowers had made a very favorable first impression.

Our next stop was a beer break at an Italian (go figure) restaurant atop a cliff where we captured a breathtaking view of the Sea of Cortez. The rocks you see in the background are the very point at the end of the Baja.

The water was an emerald color and the flowers - wow.

This was our view of the famous Cabo San Lucas arch (with a para sail in the foreground). We then headed off to San Jose del Cabo, the capitol city, which was a 30 minute drive. Along the drive we saw exclusive golf resorts that get up to $4,000 a night for a room and $500 for a round of golf... wonder if that includes the cart.

San Jose was preparing for a Christmas Festival and the city and church were all decked out.

Although it was Sunday, the stores were mostly open
and it is from one of the shopkeepers that I learned about fire opals, which is almost orange in color. He also examined the opals I was wearing and told me to "go back to the ship and water them". He showed me where they store the opals in water each evening to bring out the "sparkle". (I did it and mine look much better). Even though he came down from 7800 to 300 I still didn't purchase a new ring... first he was talking pesos and then dollars - very confusing bartering.

We both enjoyed this small, neat and clean village. Our last stop of the day was Cacti Mundo, a cactus garden featuring over 7000 varieties of cacti. We didn't have a long enough stay at this location... when was the last time you visited a cactus garden where they sold margaritas... what a country.

And then it was time to return to ship.
After a quick stop in the room to change clothes, it was off to the dining room
where we were joined by a delightful couple of Canadians. Carole and Jacques from Quebec were our dinner companions for the remainder of the cruise and what fun it was to share experiences with them at the end of the day.
This picture of them was taken the last night of the cruise. With them is our very competent waiter from Bali. Throughout the nine days we found out a little about him and his nontraditional life. He spends 6 months working 10 + hours a day 7 days a week on the Carnival ship to which he is assigned. He then gets 2 months off to spend with his wife and 3 children in Bali. He has to pay for his own transportation home - it will cost him $1600 when he flies out of LA in a couple of weeks. He also has to pay for some of his living expense while on ship. He said he does it because he needs to support his family...

OK, enough for this post. Part III will bring you the fishing trip!