Cabo San Lucas

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We thought about renting a car for the day but in the end decided to take the public bus to Cabo San Lucas. We are getting the hang of the bus system here, luckily the first bus that came by was a direct express, meaning that it only had a few stops between San Jose and Cabo. The fare for tourists $32 pesos, locals ride cheaper, something like $11 pesos. People here drive like lunatics down the highway including the bus drivers. They also fly through stop signs unless there are other vehicles there. While the seats were hard plastic and not very comfortable, the breeze going through from the open windows was cool and refreshing. I couldn't help but notice the picture of Jesus and cross which was mounted on the header of the bus above the driver, I said a quick prayer as we flew past cars and trucks along the highway. I think the driver just floored it and drove that bus as fast as it would go.

About half an hour later we made it safely to our destination which was the harbour at Cabo San Lucas. Everyone on the bus pretty much got off at the same stop so we got off there too. Across the street we found Puerto Pariso which turned out to be a beautiful indoor and outdoor mall surrounding the large marina. It was lovely, very high end, lots of beautiful stores and restaurants, lots of security and police, super clean. As you walk around the marina, sales people (we call barkers) try to temp you into their stores, or onto fishing trips or rides on glass bottom boats. We were just there to walk around, best not to make eye contact with these people if you can avoid it.

After we walk the mall end to end, we head out onto some side streets which are as usual very narrow. The typical Mexican flee markets, stores and restaurants line the streets. Cabo is very busy with vehicles, combing these with a very hot and stagnant day, I found the exhaust from the vehicles overwhelming and uncomfortable, so after a few blocks we headed back towards the marina and more open air. We found a little authentic Mexican buffet style restaurant across the street for lunch, much of it too spicy for me but the salad bar worked as well as a few items like the chicken and pasta. Ian really enjoyed all the variety including chili relenos, tamales, chicken con queso, verde pork, mole beef, Spanish rice and refried beans.

We caught a different kind of bus on the way back called the Inter Baha, this bus went a lot slower and stopped at every stop. This bus had more comfortable seats and was a little cheaper, $27 pesos. I felt a lot safer but it was definitely a hot ride back. We took it to the Mega so we could pick up a few things. We stopped in at Starbucks for a coffee and lemonade, then took the 20 minute walk back to the condo. It was the hottest day so far, 30 C, we were definitely ready for a swim to cool off.

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