Cruisin' The Mexican Riviera Part III

Our port after Cabo San Lucas was La Paz on the east side of the Baja. We had booked a tour of the "historic old town"... what a bust! At the end of the day, when I was boarding the ship, I mentioned to a crew member my displeasure with this port and was told that our cruise was the last Carnival Cruise that was going to stop there. That is a good thing for the tourists, a very bad thing for the village which really seems to need every tourist dollar it can get!

I should have known this stop was going to be a bust when we were greeted by this Mariachi Band - if you know Mike you know how he feels about these guys...

Our first stop was the museum... nothing in English, so I really have no idea what this display was all about and

there was a school tour... actually, not so interesting when you understand nothing. Now I know how some of the kids felt.

We were there for way too long; at least an hour. Our next stop was was a beautiful Cathedral that our guide told us absolutely nothing about.

Thanks to the thoughtful people who put up signs in English, we were able to educate ourselves.

I loved the stained glass in this church and each window was adorned with fresh greens; the whole church smelled wonderful... just like Christmas.

I had never seen this depiction of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

After leaving the Cathedral, we drove around this small village - my hat is off to the driver as those are very narrow roads. Then we stopped at a new market near the bay. I was quite impressed with the trash receptacles - one for organic and one for inorganic. It is bad when the trash cans are of the most memorable things about a town...

There are some new sculptures along the shore, also.

And I love the markets; Christmas time is a great time to travel!

We were really tourists; we had our pictures taken more on this trip than we have had it taken in the last 5 years.

Then we went to a restaurant on the beach where we were served the worst nachos we have ever eaten. Fish Tacos were good and I enjoyed my walk in the Sea of Cortez.

Neither of us enjoyed the constant badgering of people trying to make a living... we couldn't get away from it.

And then finally our non historic tour was over and we were headed pack to the ship. I didn't tell you that in order to get from the port to town, we had to take a bus over a truly "Mexican roadway" and encountered a semi that had tossed it on a turn. Well, on the way back to the ship, a truck hauling concrete did the same thing. Some people never made it to town because of the accidents blocking the roadways. We were not impressed with La Paz.

But the good thing about cruising is the same thing that is good about our motor home lifestyle; if you don't like an area, you don't have to stay there long. So back at the ship, we went up to the Lido deck

and watched as we floated away.

The next morning we were in Mazatlan and ready to go fishin'! Our guide met us at the ship and we traveled by van to the fishing boat. There were five on our boat; the two of us and three other guys - oh and the crew of two.

No, this isn't the boat, but it was attached to the one we took out...

The morning was foggy

which made for nice pictures.

It wasn't long until the "bait boy" got busy.
He sewed the hook in the mouth of the bait fish... never saw that done before.

He had a very fancy tackle box...

but it wasn't long before five lines were in the water. We were about 15 miles out in
the Pacific in International waters and the fog was starting to lift. This kind of fishing was totally new to me; we trolled at different speeds, you don't hold a rod, you just hang out and look for birds... birds tell you where the fish are.

It wasn't long before "FISH ON" and the guys were nice enough to let "The Boss" (me) reel it in! I was told to sit and the pole was stuck in a holder between my legs. Then I was told to reel hard, pull back and lean forward reeling hard until the fish was landed. It was hard work! And it was great fun!

And then the Yellow Fin Tuna was on board. I didn't even know what kind of fish it was. The guys stood back and Mike did his best with the camera and I was just kinda shaking. It was really a cool experience! I was told it weighed about 18 - 20 pounds; all I know is that it was heavy and it was harder reeling it in than I had ever imagined. (I am saying 20 pounds cuz it sounds better.)

I was just relaxing a bit, when another "FISH ON" and it started over for one of our fellow fishermen. This is what his tuna looked like in the water.

He was only too happy to pose for pictures before it went in the fish box. Since we couldn't take the fish back on the ship and since we weren't going to be in port long enough to have it prepared for us to eat, it became "the tip" for the crew to feed their families or sell.

We were all pretty excited by this time since both fish happened within 30 minutes... but as often happens when fishing, that little flurry was all we had. We spent the next 3 hours chasing after birds and trying to find more fish. They just weren't biting. The day had gotten very clear and calm and I think that may have had something to do with it... but hey, want do I know.

BUT, the day was not a waste. With the help of Mike's binoculars, we saw whales and more whales and bigger whales and I got lots and lots of pictures of water cuz it is really tough to get the camera up quick enough when you see the whale through the binoculars. And we saw dolphins and a marlin and sting ray. Mike thinks this is a picture of a sting ray... I guess it could be just about anything... I want it to be a whale...

I did eventually get the traditional picture taken (after the fish died and was easier to handle). And we all had the traditional picture done when we landed.

And then we jumped in the back of a pick up truck - I am not kidding, that really is how we made our way back to the ship. We are agreed that transportation in Mexico would be strictly illegal in the U.S. But we made it back safely and it was a great day. We didn't get to see much of Mazatlan, but oh well, I caught a Tuna!

It is late, so I will do the last cruise post (Part IV) tomorrow.