CABO SAN LUCAS-VILLAGE TO BIG CITY.

I had the pleasure of visiting my friend, Michal Houston in Cabo San Lucas for a week.  On the way home from the airport, Michal stopped at Santa Carmela to pick up her cat at Annie Brogdon's house. I'd met Annie on an earlier visit to Cabo probably 2oo3..? We couldn't remember the year.


She had a lovely dinner of pork roast, creamy buttered potatoes and a delightful salad waiting for us. In Mexico, fresh strawberries are available and we had strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Michal's cat didn't want to go home, however.


The cat gets the run of a real yard at Annie's. So, Michal left the cat for a second week since she was hosting me with plans for an overnight at Magdalena Beach to see the whales among other things.


As we drove the rest of the way to town, I was stunned by the wall to wall buildings. Hotel, after hotel. Huge shops, a Costco, Walgreens, Walmart, like a mini America.  You could not see the water anywhere. Nor was she in her former house, a three bedroom house with three little tilapas  she and her husband occupied and rented part time since 1994. It sat up the hill in the Pedrigal and we walked down to the village which consisted of several bars, an old church and three or four restaurants and small adobe houses.  The main activity was marlin fishing. Cabo was advertised and considered the Marlin fishing capital of the world. From her windows, we saw plenty of boats going out in the morning and returning at mid-day to weigh the catch. We tried to get a boat to share, but we were unable to wangle a deal. I snorkeled from the beach away from the marina while Michal enjoyed the sun for an afternoon. It was heavenly. Margaritas and food were cheap and plentiful. People friendly and very little traffic. It was so much fun.


Michal and I traveled together to China. She likes to sleep in and I'm an early riser/exerciser. I'm up and had fixed myself breakfast before she showed up. She catches up with whatever on her computer while I took pictures around her 3200 square foot, 3 bedroom 4 bath condo she is renting for six months. It came furnished. But, the condo fees are $700 a month and electricity and water are very expensive in Cabo. The unit she is in has an HOA. The members voted down the proposal for a desalinization system because members didn't want to up-front the $2500 per unit because if they sold, the new owner would get the loan money back, instead of the original owner. You can see the bottled water on her counter.


She has a long deck that is entered from the dining room and all three king sized bedrooms.


From the deck you can enter a negative edge hot tub. Each of the 17 units has their own hot tub and deck.


Straight down, beneath her deck is a piece of almost bare land next to the old Catholic Church on the left.


To the right is a pool and a couple of buildings. The Mexican family that owned this piece of property that was once "in the middle of nowhere" were smart enough not to sell. They have their small house and developed enough of their land with a pool, a parking lot and a rental building. They still raise chickens and live a simple life. So every morning I awoke to roosters crowing and chickens cackling after laying their eggs. I found it charming.


The furnishings are very Mexican in flavor.



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And, large, like the house.


A Mayan calendar.


I especially liked this bedroom painting of a young Mexican girl.
Michal drives the narrow streets that are now  one way streets, to accommodate the increased traffic. At a marina restaurant, we met with about 30 of her friends. A couple of people I had met previously were there.


I must have been hungry because I took a picture of my food but didn't take any of the regular Tuesday Gringo gathering. They eat lunch and then adjourn to two smaller tables for canasta and single deck pinochle. My plate of chachaita tuna plate was excellent. I'm still not used to using my phone as a camera. and failed to take a picture of the group.


We walked along the marina and spotted Spring Breakers. Kids from the United States come to Cabo for spring break. It is such a feature they come all over from San Diego, Texas, New Mexico and walk around wearing as little as possible and have huge beach parties with way too much to drink.The girls get ogled a lot, but no one touches. The guys too, flaunt their stuff and can usually be seen carrying one or two drinks. We ran into them all over town. They are feeling a freshness and freedom from the restrictions they would face at home is the appeal. I didn't realize how popular it was until I saw posters advertising Spring Break.


The pier walkway used to be boardwalk, replaced by concrete bricks or cobbles. Michal wanted to reserve a boat for friends that are arriving in a couple of weeks.


The company is called Half Loco. Just a little craziness to be fun. A couple of guys were rinsing off their boat and squirting each other with the hose.


These cactus have been saved, but they were once free of all that concrete. They somehow manage to live.


Michal drove me to her new one bedroom condo. She is having it remodeled and we couldn't actually see inside. It is a unit on the 2nd floor. We visited the association office and I got to see pictures of it.


I took pictures of this walkway to the beach while she talked with the complex business people.


I loved this little outside bar. It was manned but no customers in the middle of the day.


The complex has a pool, tennis courts, a gym, and the usual amenities, but this place has a beach where people can enjoy the water more like her first home in the Pedregal.


The cactus will not be discouraged by the imported landscaping. True survivalists.


On the way home, we passed the small Catholic Church. You can see her rented condo up above in the background.

And next to it, the Mexican couple in the rented parking lot eating lunch with a rooster on the ground roaming free.
We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for company. Michal loves to cook and we made cream of broccoli soup, twice baked potatoes, sirloin steak marinaded and pan seared rare with a fruity salad. I had a beer but everyone else liked wine. Her guests were Glen Moon, whose wife Sandra was in the States with their kids at the moment and Tibore, a gentleman I'd met previously, from Hungary. His wife  and two daughters live in the states and have citizenship. Though divorced, they remain friends.   Apologizing for not taking pictures must be annoying, and I'm annoyed that I didn't. The camera is easy to forget when you are having fun and enjoying stimulating conversation. I went to bed stuffed from too much rich food in one day.

Continued tomorrow.