Everything is “Almost Free” in Cabo San Lucas

A birdseye view of Cabo

It’s only 100 miles today from La Paz to our end destination, Cabo San Lucas. We passed through the usual inland terrain of hills and farms; at Todos Santos we moved back to hug the coast. We did not stop at Todos Santos. It looked like a town that would be great to spend some time in. We passed “artisan” stands, a hammock factory and places that might have been fun to poke around in. Such is the downside of caravan travel, we have found. You can’t always stop where you want.

There are lots of Ranchos and Haciendas along the coast as we near Cabo, as well as many condo developments. This is where “where the desert meets the sea,” although as we drove through the town we couldn’t really see the harbor for all the shops, bars, and restaurants that blocked the view. When we reached our campground, Casa Blanca, we lined up as usual and waited until Bill figured out the situation and got us parked. We have learned to expect this half hour to forty-minute wait. The park is bigger, the sites are bigger, but there is another caravan in the park and we are short spaces, so some have to double up on a site for a night until the others leave. We have our own space but it is at the back of the camp, next to the highway, so we’ll have lots of traffic noise for the stay.

Local wildlife

We attended a welcome lunch and an orientation on our five-day stay. We have one day of scheduled tours, but the rest of our time is free to spend as we like. Hubby and some of the other fellows wanted to go fishing, so after lunch a group of us drove to the marina to book a trip or two. As we got out of our cars we were set upon by locals, asking if we wanted charters. The guys sorted through all these offers and found a seaworthy looking boat to book. We wandered the mercado (a market) looking at a gazillion souvenirs being offered. The vendors were very pushy. If you stopped to look at anything they were all over you, saying the item was “almost free.” We heard “almost free” so many time it became a running joke for the rest of the stay. After touring the market we stopped for a few beers, they weren’t “almost free.”

Cabo’s famous arch

We awoke on our tour day to find we had no water. The main tank in the camp was empty and we were told it would be filled later in the day. We were loaded into some vans and toured a glass factory first. We watched the artisans blow the glass and shape vases, glasses and art pieces.  After the glass factory it was on to a glass bottom boat for a tour of the harbor, Cabo’s famous arch, and Lovers Beach. Then it was on to the Hotel Finisterra for a big buffet lunch. All “toured” out we taxied back to camp for a quiet afternoon of napping and reading.

Freshly made glass fish

The rest of our stay included more tours of town or relaxing around the pool. We found Cabo to be too crowded and touristy for our taste. We were glad to have seen it, but wouldn’t rush to go back. Hubby went fishing twice, and I took a ride to San Jose del Cabo with a few other women to shop and have lunch. The beach resorts between Cabo and San Jose del Cabo were beautiful, with wide beaches, golf courses and colorful landscaping. I liked San Jose del Cabo better. It was smaller, older, and more enjoyable to walk around in.

Our final night in Cabo, we joined another couple for dinner at The Office on the Beach. It’s a beautiful place with tables right on the beach, colorful table clothes, lots of candles and torches, and multicolored Mexican blankets on each chair, in case you got cold. All of this was overlooking what has to be the prettiest harbors we’ve ever seen.  The sunset was beautiful, the Margaritas were big, and the food good, but you paid for all this ambience. It was not a cheap evening, but we’ve paid more for less. Tomorrow we start back north.

No lovers on lovers beach today