Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Zip Lines and San Jose Del Cabo's Art W...

Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Zip Lines and San Jose Del Cabo's Art W...: One of the favorite activities of Mexican vacation spots is zip lining. I love zip lining so I am no better than all the other tourists ou...

Los Cabos: Zip Lines and San Jose Del Cabo's Art Walk

One of the favorite activities of Mexican vacation spots is zip lining. I love zip lining so I am no better than all the other tourists out there. All hotels have their favorite companies that they use through their travel services. This was the one tour that we booked through the hotel. Our first trip was cancelled due to rain and on this occasion, the driver couldn't seem to remember that we were supposed to be picked up. However, once that was sorted out, we were taken about 20 minutes down the road towards Cabo San Lucas and then turned into the hills. The zip lines were strung in between the canyon walls with hikes in between.

I loved this tour but for me, it wasn't about glorious scenery, it was about feeling like I was flying. It is so free. The guides were funny and humorous, and safety felt like it was well taken care of. I did notice that my key for my locker opened up someone else's lockers so the illusion was there Mexican style. This tour had the usual pressure for tips and to purchase tequila for the tequila tastings, but it was good value for money I thought. Canopy Costa Azul Eco Adventures was the name of the company - and we still had a lot of our day left afterwards so another plus! Oh, and all these images had to be purchased. Sigh.

The tequila tastings were also on site. There were four flavours to choose from and sampling was encouraged. However, I chose not to sample due to bad experiences previously. This stuff had no cane sugar and was made from the Agave plant directly so it was rather different. Maybe someday, I will be brave. Lol.

Since we still had daylight left, we relaxed by the pool and then wandered to San Jose Del Cabo to find the post office. We decided to participate in the San Jose Del Cabo Art Walk, so we also decided to dine at Habaneros. Great restaurant! We ran into friends at the restaurant and they had a musician come by to serenade us. It was lovely and the food was definitely worth the stop!

From here, we ambled into town only to discover that the usual art walk had vanished into thin air. The plaza was almost deserted. Still, we were there so we ventured further. This led us to exploring the open door of the church, and there on the curb was some art. Being me, I don't give up so we wandered further and found art shops and proprietors doling out free wine and goodies. The southern charm opened the door to a friendly fellow and we spent a quick few minutes looking at his artwork before having to escape. Kisses were free for southern belles anyway. GRIN - I was so chopped liver. It was awesome! From dresses, to sculpture, to jewelry to crazy artist and tacky tourist marts - this little hollow had it all. Fabulous.

Art in city hall

The crazy artist's paintings

Inside of the church

Outside of the church

Art in the street

A wee museum

Now, I have no idea what the Art Walk was supposed to be, but by 9:00ish things were winding down. There are lots of small restaurants and bars so we stopped for a chocolate martini before heading for home. All in all, a charming and eclectic day.

Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Timeshare and San Jose Flora Farms

Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Timeshare and San Jose Flora Farms: I realize that I have delayed this post, simply due to the fact that I like to write about traveling in some sort of cohesive time frame, an...

Los Cabos: Timeshare and San Jose Flora Farms

I realize that I have delayed this post, simply due to the fact that I like to write about traveling in some sort of cohesive time frame, and on reaching this day I was almost lost for words. This would be the day that we booked into the owner's meeting at the Grand Mayan Hotel in San Jose del Cabo. There are redeeming features of this day in the life of a traveler in Mexico, but the morning left such a poor impression that I feel I should at least mention it again in passing without being too nasty about it (but I would really like to be).

To elaborate on my first commentary http://hooliganting.blogspot.ca/2013/11/los-cabos-2013-grand-mayan-and-san-jose.html Do NOT ever agree to sit through a timeshare presentation at this resort. Both my friend and I were required to attend, so in good faith we walked down and went to the desk. I informed them that I couldn't make any financial commitments that day, nor could my guest. The timeshare people work on commission, so we wanted to ensure that our presenter had the opportunity to make a living. The manager persuaded us that they just wanted to show us the property and make sure that we were getting the most out of our stay. Fine. We did the tour and it was lovely. Mind you, this is after maintenance refused to fix a locked door and had been to our room several times. It is after all the tours we booked through the front desk had glitches. It was after we heard about theft at the gift shop and shady practices by their accounting. So, we weren't really buying the whole glitzed shebang of a tour.

Breakfast was pleasant but nothing spectacular, and by the time that was done it was already 10:00. Then, round two of presentation, following by financial heart attack numbers, followed by sales pitches started. You are forced to say I am sorry, we can't afford this over and over again and it is very demeaning. From here, you say no and get sent to round 3, followed by round 4, followed by a last ditch attempt at round 5. At 11:10, we left to return our rental car completely worn out.

Now, I had been through this before and knew we hadn't been given a decent gift to even warrant that behaviour and I decided a long time ago that unless you are actually able to purchase something, don't even waste your time. Discounts and payments are not worth 2.5 or 3 or 4 hours of your time. I walked out with my friend and we got in the car and went for a spin before we had to return the car. During that ride, I got my friends take and realized how insulting the crew had been. So, I went and demanded an apology for treating a guest of mine badly and of course, they never issued one.

To recover, we spent some time by the pool and went to the concierge to book dinner at Flora Farms. The concierge, by the way, was delightful. The rest of the hotel staff were good to us, just the timeshare sharks were not. So, he booked us in and we went for dinner.

Now Flora Farms is a MUST do if you can swing it. The location is incredible. The staff was awesome. Live music played and blended right in. The food was organic and incredibly tasty. They have a couple of shops and homemade ice cream. There is a vegetable garden and the most amazing bathroom. This was by far worth the $20 cab ride and the $100 price tag. I would definitely say this was one of the best meals I have ever had. I am still annoyed I wasn't able to finish it. Sigh. So, to finish off this post...here are some images as my words don't do it justice.

Roast chicken

Homemade bread

Beet root and carrot gnocchi...oh...could live off these!

 

And you can even stay here

The bathroom! Seriously awesome!

Mail included.

Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Loafing and La Paz

Hooliganting: Los Cabos: Loafing and La Paz: Glorious sunshine streamed through the double deck doors and woke me up. So, the following day in Los Cabos became nothing more than a beach...

Los Cabos: Loafing and La Paz

Glorious sunshine streamed through the double deck doors and woke me up. So, the following day in Los Cabos became nothing more than a beach and pool day. The sand was warm on the feet and the bartenders were very attentive. By the end of the day, the skin was warm and the brain was relaxed. Just what I ordered!

We finished the day by wandering the streets of San Jose Del Cabo. This time, we did find the downtown and a very intriguing art district. The plaza was wide open with locals wandering in and across the roads. School children roamed the streets freely and we wondered about the school timetable. The vendors were inviting us in but laughed with us as we refused their almost free offers. Cheapo Phillipo was charming and fun, despite being over priced for our lowly budgets. Eventually we wound up at the Baja Brewery for supper after enjoying the street life. Fabulous food and a great outdoor eating area. What’s not to like?

Cheapo Phillipo (he tattooed himeself with the nickname)

Main Plaza

The following day we managed to snag a rental car for the day. Lesson learned: Either rent from the airport or the concierge. Do not rent from the travel desk as they were unreliable and not even apologetic. The concierge got us a great car price and size quickly and in the meantime, we had a cup of coffee.

The car was brought right to the hotel so we were able to complete all the paperwork from there. That was very convenient and so we set off for La Paz. Now, driving there was not that difficult. First thing to note is that speed limits seem to be guidelines, as are the stop signs and even traffic lights. In addition, with all of the construction they sometimes use real people and sometime cut out men with flags. The only road issues that were taken seriously were the Mexican military check stops.

In the meantime, we drove north through Cabo San Lucas on highway 19 through to Todo Los Santos. The rolling highway with the scenic blue ocean views added in with the mountains and tall cacti were spectacular. There were construction detours that required a bit of an adventurous spirit and I swear that neither of us saw the Hotel California (seriously – how did we miss it?).

The road to La Paz took about 2.5 hours. Once there, we decided to stop at Serpentario de La Paz. Outside the gates, we had some lunch and then wandered it. This place is volunteer run and can definitely use the visitation and funding to rescue animals. There were turtles and snakes, birds and an alligator, bunnies and more tortugas. I enjoyed the aviary where you could feed the birds. They were so trusting and landed willingly on arms and fingers. The bunnies were quite happy to be petted and even the large tortoise tried to get his share of the attention. However, the place isn’t that large so we headed out for more exploring.

 The little car bounced through the roads and we found ourselves down on the waterfront. So, we parked the car and walked towards the Marina and viewed the Malecon. Then, we found a delightful little museum tucked into a gorgeous building. There was art and views that took a bit of time to enjoy. From there, you can easily walk to the Cathedral Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Paz to take in the lovely art works, the ambience and Lady’s chapel. I was amused to see a day of the dead Halloween style display.

Next up was the Museo de Antropología  where you can get a sense of the history of the region. It seemed to have some displays that were still being redone and honestly, it doesn’t take very long to go through. We were done in under an hour. In fact, by the time we found a coffee shop and had some coffee, we were feeling like La Paz didn’t really have that much more to offer. So, more adventures of road works and bumpy roads ensued. We twisted and turned our way to Bandaros Beach and that should possibly have been our first stop as it was stunning. From rock formations, to a lovely bay and gentle breezes, you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.

 The only hiccup we really had was our stop there meant that we were driving home in the dark and we took an alternate way back using Highway 1. You are warned to watch for cows sleeping on the road, but I never saw an alive one until much later in the drive. What was more alarming was the crazy speed bumps that signaled a village ahead that you couldn’t see until you were pretty much impaling your head into the roof. My poor co-pilot didn’t even have anything to hang onto. In the meantime, I will say that the roads minus the speed bumps are really fun to drive. I just think that perhaps daylight might have helped. All in all, it was a great day.