MEXICO

Viva De Mexico!  We LOVE it with a passion.  We have traveled to many places in Mexico from the Yukatan peninsula with the resort areas of Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen to the west coast with Puerto Vallarta before the political unrest became so volatile.  The truth is that today you should be very guarded about mainland travel to Mexico.  BUT I have a friend who traveled into Tijuana frequestly for business.  She stayed in San Diego at night, but traveled through the border to her business meetings during the day.  There have been some border incidents, but she was able to go about her business related duties with relative ease.

 

CABO SAN LUCAS

Because we love the Mexican people and their culture, we have not given up on them.  We now own a timeshare just outside of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific ocean.  Take a look www.pueblobonito.com and you'll see why we love it there.  Los Cabos is on the tip end of the Baja peninsula...12 hours by boat from the mainland and 1000 miles from the California border and Tijuana.  So it certainly is no more dangerous than Charlotte North Carolina.  We feel at ease there and we spend several weeks in the winter months just catching some rays and watching sunsets.

Sunset from our resort in Cabo

 

The Arco...Cabo's most famous landmark

 

 

Since we go to Cabo between January and March, we are able to see the whales playing from our porch in the ocean.  We've even been out on a tour to see them up close and personal.  This was quite a great morning for both of us.  (We recommend the Breakfast Cruise on Cabo Escape)

 

In the town of Cabo we visited organic markets, a little cafe/torilliera where women ground corn into the pulp from which they make homemade tortillas.  After they cook them on a huge open skillet, you get to eat them!  YUM.  We also took a cooking class from an Arizonian Ex-pat, Donna Jones.  Now that was learning some good stuff.  We've been cooking her recipes all year and plan to get a nother lesson next visit. 

Donna Jones http://casadecolores.wordpress.com/

 

The road between Cabo San Lucas and Todos Santos has been completed, making the trip easy and worth it!  Todos Santos is very charming and full of artists, designers, and vibrant people.  The Hotel California is a great place to have lunch and then stroll up the street enjoying the shops.

  San Jose is the city closest to the airport in Los Cabos and a very interesting place to shop and tour. There is a lovely old church in the middle of town and tons of artists galleries scattered throughout town.  The beach in San Jose is better than it is in Cabo...much wider and more serene.  Probably not so many college kids on spring break too. 

 

 

 

If you rent a car, you may be tempted to drive up to La Paz or even to take a tour.  Not worth it!  We went on a Sunday morning and it took several hours to drive there through the mountains.  The mountain trail is pretty, but La Paz didn't show us much.  In fact there wasn't anything available to eat for lunch but Burger King...Really people.

We do recommend going over to Los Barrillos and the East Cape for a view of the less developed and startling beautiful coast along the Sea of Cortez.  If you plan to see Cabo Pulmo (best known as a great snorkeling site) do buy a tour or a SUV automobile.  We were not prepared for those bad roads.

Las Pampas...Angentine Steakhouse
Panchos...Mexican traditional
Cabo Cantina...excellent lobster
La Quesadilla...downtown bar
Hacienda del Coyote.  atmosphere was stunning, food great, and entertainment.