12/21/19
It was sunny and beautiful by the time we got to our first
stop of Los Cabos. I was very grateful
for the heat. It was too cold for too
long to be wandering around the boat while at sea. I’d planned a UTV tour of a canyon for this
stop so I got breakfast early and got ready to leave.
I pre-paid for this excursion and was looking forward to the
adventure. But can I just say how much I
hate group activities? I hate being
herded together, hate the waiting, and I’ve already mentioned that I hate
having to adhere to schedules. I was
reminded of all these things as I was herded into the theater to wait for the
other members of my group to get there. After
a dull wait, we played follow the leader onto one of the lifeboats that also
served as a water taxi (that’s how I woke up that morning; with men outside my
window getting that boat ready to launch).
After a 15-minute trip to the dock, we were herded by other
people into an area for photos. This
picture was taken before I even knew what was going on. When would I get the picture? Did I have to pay for this? How much do these people in heavy costumes
make to stand around waiting to touch a bunch of strangers for a photo op? I only realized later that the cruise line
had multiple photo ops planned throughout the trip. There were people stationed at every port and
at the gatherings on board, like a visit from Santa and formal shots for
Christmas. The pictures would be posted
outside of one of the bars for the passengers to pick up or ignore as they wished.
But I didn’t know all that as we waited on the pier for the
tour runners to appear. Then we waited
some more since we’d arrived a bit early for our scheduled tour. Don’t get me wrong; what I’d seen of Los
Cabos from the pier was very pretty, but it was still too much waiting. Eventually, after signing waivers and showing
ID, we were led through the mini-mall just off shore to a couple of waiting
buses.
The bus drove us far from the pier at what seemed like 90
miles an hour through the city of Los Cabos until we ran out of pavement. Then it was up a windy, hilly, dusty road to
the Wild Canyon facility. After even
more waiting, we were fitted for our gear and given brief instructions on how
to work the dune buggies. Taking
pictures wasn’t allowed during the tour, even by passengers, for good
reason. The course was way too bumpy for
holding a camera and if the thing flew out of your hand, it was as good as
toast. The place had their own
photographers traveling on a separate car.
Each car seated only two people, but I was alone in lucky
number seven as we again played follow the leader. The UTV was loud and rocky even while
idle. When making turns or going over uneven
terrain, it felt like the thing would shake itself apart. Still, once I’d gotten the hang of it, it was
a pretty cool experience.
We stopped by a cliff overlooking the beach for a photo op
and water break. I scraped my leg
scrambling down the rocks to the water, idly wondering if there was any nasty
microbe in the rocks that might cause an infection. We had a few minutes at the beach before
climbing back into the UTVs.
I was directly behind the leader by this point and followed
him to another point where he stopped all the cars. Then he got out of his car and waved one set
of cars through before me. Then it was
my turn. I noticed the photographer and
others gathered at the top of a small incline.
As soon as I climbed it and looked down – let’s just say there was some
foul language. Spread before me was a
wooden bridge suspended over a whole lot of nothing. The cars were slowly going over it in single
file to the other side of the canyon. As
I sat there staring at the route, it suddenly occurred to me that the tour
guides had never shown us a map. We had
no idea beforehand where the course would take us. I certainly didn’t sign up for this. But, since there was no turning back, I took
the plunge. Very slowly. Just don’t look down.
Once I made it to the other side in one piece, suddenly
there was a problem. I didn’t see any of
the other cars. I made a few turns
trying to find someone but with no luck.
Then there was a guy coming up behind me screaming for my
attention. I stopped and he asked where
I was going. How was I supposed to
know? Never been here, remember? He turned me around – then turned me around
again. See? Even he didn’t know where to go from where
I’d ended up. Before I knew it, we were
going back over that hellish bridge, much faster this time as it was just the
two of us, and ended up back at base camp.
I still don’t know how that happened, but I was very glad to get out of
that car.
I swear, I don’t try to be the special one on these
tours. But that keeps happening to
me. Just another reason I hate group
activities.
The buses weren’t ready to leave just yet (more waiting) so
we were left to wander the facility. In
addition to the UTV tours, there were ziplining adventures across the canyon
(uh, no. The car was scary enough), a
turtle farm and a hiking trail. The
place also had a bar and a gift shop.
Please note that you could purchase the pictures that were
taken throughout the excursion. I
ordered a package for $35 and was told that I’d receive an email with a link to
the files in a couple of days. It is now
two weeks since I bought the package and despite my emails to the company, I
have yet to receive a link. If I ever
get the pictures, I’ll add them to the blog at a later date.
Busing back to the pier, we passed by the Hard Rock
Café. I’m a big fan of their merch; I’d
just purchased a t-shirt and bag in S.F.
I wanted to tell the bus to just let me out, but I knew they
wouldn’t. Unfortunately, the café was
way too far from the pier to walk and I was wary of being mugged by taxi
drivers. Maybe next time.
Instead, I did some shopping along the pier. Can’t say I’m a fan of the Mexican shopping
stalls. There were multiple vendors in a
big warehouse, all crammed together and hawking all kinds of stuff. There were the usual t-shirts and bags, but
also bottles of vanilla, knives, jewelry, just so much stuff. I found one booth full of these gorgeously
painted wooden bowls and a very eager man showing them off. Only problem was, I’d already run through my
cash, the few stalls that accepted credit cards only take Visa, and I’d left my
Visa on the ship. That Visa was my check
card so there was no way for me to get any more money. I left the guy’s stall and the shopping
complex, saying I’d be back (I wouldn’t).
The vendor followed me down the street to tell me where to get some
cash. Sorry, dude. I don’t even remember my password for my
Mastercard and there was no way I was taxiing to the ship just to get my Visa
and come back. I still liked those bowls
though.
12/20/19
I had heard some bad things about violence in Mazatlán, so I
decided to stay on the boat and have a massage.
A unique and relaxing experience.
I was so loose, I even let the Asian lady who gave the massage convince
me to book another service on Christmas day.
It was me, Michelle, and Mazatlán during that day and later a killer coq
au vin for dinner. This was, by far, my
favorite day of the trip.
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