Cabo San Lucas Day 3

Tuesday we decided to go downtown. The Pueblo Bonito Sunset has a free shuttle that runs every hour on the hour between 10 am and 11 pm to their sister resort, The Pueblo Bonito Rose`. It’s supposedly within walking distance to the Marina and the downtown area where there are numerous restaurants and shops to choose from. I would advise wearing comfortable walking shoes if you are going to do this. I made the mistake of wearing thin-soled flip flops and I was miserable on our return walk back to the hotel. I also recommend taking a hat to keep the sun off your face and of course, sunscreen. And although we were there in the middle of October it was still hot, and unbelievably humid. I looked like I had just gotten out of the pool by the time we walked back. My hair was soaked from roots to ends.

Before we left our hotel my husband took some money out of the ATM and I asked how much he withdrew, to which he replied 500 pesos. I proceeded to inform him that was less than $50. He shortly received his text from Chase Bank that alerts him every time he makes a purchase or takes money out, and it stated that $42 was taken out of his account. I believe the current exchange is about roughly about $12.5 pesos per dollar. So don’t panic if you see a price tag or menu item that reads $244. This is about $12 USD. After arriving at the Rose` we walked downtown and ate lunch at Squid Roe. I had the fish Tacos, which are very good, reasonably priced at $110, and more than I could eat. Mark ordered the chicken fajitas and said they were also very delicious. They use fresh ingredients and grind them in a bowl with a stone into salsa right at your table, which I found intriguing. Our new friends from Texas ate there the following day and had the Flaming Shrimp, which they also made at their table. She said it should definitely go on the list of recommended menu items. Squid Roe is a nice place to eat lunch in the afternoon. But at night it becomes a nightclub and I’ve heard it gets pretty crazy, although we never returned to experience this. Some people we met said they sat with the members from Pantera the night before after Sammy cancelled his first concert due to illness, and another couple we knew ran into Chris Angel eating here. So it appears to be a popular place to hang out at night.

After we ate, we walked around downtown for a little bit to do some shopping. Let me warn you right now, if you go to downtown Cabo San Lucas you are going to be plagued by the vendors and people walking around trying to sell you junk you don’t need. And I’m positive that bracelet for only a $1 was sterling silver. Note tone of sarcasm. At first I was very nice and friendly with trying to brush them off. Like “Oh, no thank you.” But after walking in flip flops in the heat and humidity as long as I had, I was starting to get irritated. Every time I would look at something, there was immediately someone there asking “Weesh wun yoo like?” I finally said “When I see it I’ll let you know.” This is such a turn off when you are just trying to shop. I was wearing my ceramic turtle necklace I had purchased a few nights before and I constantly had to explain to people I didn’t need two. I just finally learned to ignore them and keep walking. The only thing I bought was a colorful beach bag that ended up falling apart before the day was over.

We had to make sure and stop at the Harley Davidson dealership, which is at the entrance to the mall right on the marina, and get a shirt. According to my husband, I am not allowed to purchase a Harley shirt unless it has the name of the dealership and city written on the back. Unfortunately, they only had 2 shirts in the ladies section to choose from. I later spoke to some people we met at the hotel that told us the last time they were in Cabo they had a huge selection, so maybe we just hit them at the wrong time. I ended up settling for a turquoise tank top. It was either that or a black, sleeveless shirt that only covers half of my back and I’m a little to old for that look. We went inside the mall for a little while, where my husband had to purchase another swimsuit after accidentally throwing his in the bin along with his towel at the hotel swimming pool. I must say it was such a relief to shop in peace without being harassed by the vendors, and almost worth paying more for this pleasure.

As we were walking around the marina we met a gentleman who was a representative, so to speak, for some of the tours available, such as fishing, snorkeling, and whale watching. We wanted to take a snorkeling cruise, so we had him set us up for an outing on the Pez Gato the next morning for only $40 each. He called and made the reservations for us, and we got on the phone and gave the girl our information. He wanted us to give him $20 for deposit for each of us, and its not that I don’t trust anybody, but I don’t trust anybody. We asked if we could just reserve our spots with our Capital One credit card, since this would assure us of not getting taken. We spoke with the girl on the phone and she said to just bring it the next day and we could pay then. I’m telling you this to inform you not to give anyone cash up front since it is not necessary, as we discovered in this transaction, especially if it is a legitimate one.

We took a stroll around the Pueblo Bonito Rose` after we walked back from the marina. It is a beautiful hotel, although not as spread out as the Sunset. It is also located on one of the few swimmable beaches in the Los Cabos area. The beaches on the Pacific side are off limits to swimming because of dangerous currents and undertows. The expansive swimming pool at the Rose` is located almost right on the beach. We took a small stroll on the beach, which is a lot more populated than the one at the Sunset. It’s a nice beach with beach beds available for rent and a volleyball court. Although, one of the drawbacks is, again, the vendors, which we were approached by immediately upon setting foot on the beach. This takes away from the peaceful, relaxing setting. I’m not a big beach person anyway, since I’m not a big fan of walking across the hot sand or getting knocked over by incoming waves. And getting sand in everything is not my idea of fun. It was in my cell phone, my beach bag, my finger nails and other places I care not to mention. And no matter how much I rinsed off at the provided showers, I still could not get all of the sand out from between my feet and my flip flops. Some people enjoy this, though. But, I’m perfectly happy sitting by the pool with a pina colada in my hand while looking at the beach.

Speaking of which. We returned to our hotel taking the free shuttle which runs every hour on the half hour between 10:30 am to 10:30 pm from the Rose` to the Sunset. We spent the rest of the day at the Sky Pool where we ran into our new friends we had made earlier in the week. There we watched the sunset and then decided to retire to our room while the others went out to dinner. We went to bed at a decent hour since we were getting up early the next morning to go snorkeling. Today wasn’t the most exciting, but it was nice to relax and not do much of anything, which is what being on vacation is about, right?