Whale watching

During the months of January through March whales migrate from the US northwest down around the tip of the Baja and up into the Sea of Cortez to winter and to give birth so they pass right by Cabo San Lucas. It is always exciting and entertaining to try to spot any signs of the passing whales. Even from our lounges at the resort we can see signs of whales by their spouts of water or the glimpse of their tails as they shoot out of the water and dive back in.

This year we decided to go out on a whale watching excursion. There are several different kinds of excursions to choose from: a catamaran, a dinner/sunset/whale watching crusie or a zodiac boat. We choose the zodiac. It is small and FAST and seats about 15 passengers. As you can see the day was perfect for a sea adventure.

January is early in the migration season so we hoped we'd be lucky and be able to find a few big guys. Not to worry... we were out for 2 hours and saw lots and lots of whales and dolphins! The dolphins love the turbulance of the wake of the boats so they are drawn to the zodiacs to play in the surf. We were entertained by their antics of surfing the waves to leaping out of the water and one was even doing flips! It is frustrating trying to catch photos of them because by the time you spot them up out of the water they have disappeared back down and you've missed the shot!

We did have a very unique experiece though ... we came across this whale that was totally wrapped up in a fishing net. The whale was huge. You can see that it was bigger than that white zodiac boat. We had a marine biologist onboard our boat and she was very concerned when she saw this situation. She was happy to see that the whale was still spouting water because that meant it was still breathing but it was definately in a life-threatening situation. There were about 4 zodiac boats (ours included) that came upon it and one of the other boats sped back to the marina to pick up some scuba divers. When they returned 2 divers dove in and were going to try to cut the net off. We had a really seasick woman on our boat so we weren't able to stay to see if the divers were successful so we just have to hope that all went well and the whale was saved.

I'm sure that from now on a whale watchng excusion will always be part of our itinerary when we go to Cabo!

The Real Deal

Now this is what I go to Mexico for... the REAL Mexican food... not the Americanized Taco-Bell take on this south of the border cuisine. Every year we think we'll branch out and discover some new favorite restaurants but then we mostly end up at the places that have become our favorites. This year one of our past favorite restaurants had closed for renovation but we did find another wonderful new one to add to our list. So in case any of you are going to Cabo or San Jose del Cabo in the near future, here is a list of our favorite eateries:

In Cabo: Ponchos - the best Tortilla soup anywhere! (it is also known for it's world famous selections of Tequila but since we don't
drink, that doesn't mean anything to us)
Mi Casa - a more upscale restaurant that you really should make a reservation at to guarantee getting in. They make
the flour tortillas right there by hand in the middle of the dining room and then serve them warm off the
grill. Be sure to get the queso fundito which is the yummiest melted cheese with sausage appetizer.
Basil - this is a Brazillian restaurant much like Rodizio Grill where they have all kinds of meat grilling on huge skewers and
they come around and cut you off some slices. I always come out of there so stuffed I don't want to eat again
for another month!
Pescadora - this is one of the more authentic, locals-kind of restaurant with a concrete floor, no windows or doors, plastic
lawn chairs and plastic tables but outstanding, reasonable food. And in case you didn't understand from the
name, it specializes in seafood. You can get a steak and lobster combo for $15. What it lacks in ambiance it
makes up for in quality and quantity.
The Sleepless Lobster - this place is across the street from the Pescadora and it is excellent also. When we went our deep
sea fishing and caught Dorado (tuna) we brought our fresh-caught fillets here and they cooked them up for
us. They prepared them 3 ways: sauteed in garlic and butter, breaded and blackened. Wow! so good!
Baja Cantina - this place is located right on the marina which is just a great place to sit and watch the boats coming and
going and then to do so while drinking a pina colada (virgin) and eating the shrimp combo platter is just
a little bit of paradise.

In San Jose del Cabo: Jazmin's - we love this place! It is kind of a combination of casual restaurant with 4 star food and presentation.
The first photo above is from Paul's meal there. Alot of the restaurants in San Jose are more upscale so this
is a nice alternative.
The Tropicana Inn - this is one of those more upscale places but again excellent food. If you are there are the right time
(I'm not sure when that is exactly, we just lucked out) there is live music with a group of about 4 or 5 singers
playing guitars and dressed in fancy, traditional clothing (not a Mariachi band).
The French Riveria - this is a fabulous French bakery (I'm not quite sure what it is doing here in Mexico) but it has
to-die-for pastries! My favorites are the cat-eye cookies with jam filling and the coconut macaroons with
chocolate covered bottoms! We went back several days in a row!

One of the funest aspects of my culinary adventures is eating from the offerings of the street vendors. This year I came across a churro stand! Here where I live there are a very few places to get churros - Costco or Lagoon! I have never eaten such a delicious churro before. I watched as the vendor fried the dough in hot oil and then rolled them in granulated sugar and then as if that wasn't going to be good enough already, he had this device hooked to his cart and it had a spout that he shot hot carmel into the center of the whole length of the churro -- Holy smokes... what a treat!!! - you could chose strawberry or vanilla sauces too. Every time we went downtown I wanted to go back for another one but we weren't there at night again and he wasn't open during the day. That gives me something to be looking forward to for next year.

Another street vendor that we came across really made me laugh... here is the mobile candy store. Yes, he has probably 20 different kinds of candy there on that wheelbarrow and he just rolls around the streets and people would crowd around him. I could hardly get a clear picture of him and the wheelbarrow because of all his customers. We didn't buy anything but it sure looked inviting. I think I'll get one of those and go up and down the streets in my neighborhood this summer.

Now you know the real reason I love to go to Mexico... yea, I think I might have gained a few pounds while I was there too!

Se habla espanol? (I don't spell it either)

One whole week of warm weather, bright sunshine and authentic Mexican food... total bliss!

You may have guessed from my previous post that Paul and I headed off to Mexico last week to thaw out and "chill out" at our favorite January get away spot of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This was our 7th year in a row that we have gone there and once again we were not disappointed with our vacation. It kind of surprises us that we are still finding new things to do and having new experiences. The first time we went with some friends who had bought a time share the year before and were using it for the first time. We ended up coming home with our own timeshare and have not regretted it for a minute.

One of the funest experiences for me this year started out as a potential disappointment. Our resort sits about 15 miles away from Cabo and in past years we have had access to a shuttle provided by the resort. So for $2 a person each way (plus a tip for the driver), they would drive back and forth to town where we would go to shop and dine which we took advantage of atleast once a day. When we arrived this year, they informed us that the local taxi drivers were very unhappy with this service because it excluded the taxis from getting the tourist fares from our resort and sometime during the past 12 months the taxi drivers began to actually block the resort entrance with their vans as a form of protest so the resort finally scraped the shuttle service. The real downside of this was that it now would cost about $25 each way to take a taxi. We weren't very excited about spending that much to get into town every day but we weren't very excited about not being able to get into town also. We knew that there was a locals bus that went right past our resort but we had never paid much attention to it. We asked around and were told that it was quite reliable and safe and came by about every 15 minutes (give or take 10 minutes -- mexican time) and best of all, it only cost 15 pesos each way = $1.50. We decided to give it a try and it was the BEST!!! so much FUN!!! I loved having real interaction with the people that live there that wasn't just as a waiter or our housekeeper. They are such kind, nice, normal people and very tolerant of us gringos that speak no Spanish.

On one of our trips into town this guy got on the bus with his guitar and a harmonica stand hooked to his neck and he began to play this beautiful Mexican music as well as sing and accompany himself. He was very talented and even though I couldn't understand the words he was singing, the music was excellent and very enjoyable. He even came over by me and asked if I knew the song "I just called to say I Love You" which he then began to sing in english and wanted me to sing along with him which I did and tried my best to not embarrass myself. I had noticed other people singing along with him on the spanish songs so I figured it was ok to join in. Many people gave him a few pesos and I was happy to give him some as well. It added so much to the otherwise quiet and just normal bus ride. Later that afternoon on the bus ride back to our resort, a couple other guys got onboard the bus and began singing and it was just painful -- they couldn't carry a tune and their voices definately didn't harmonize. Thankfully they got off just a few stops later.

Where would you rather be?

Photo number 1 or photo number 2?

Yea, me too!!!

Adios Amigos!!!!