Cabo San Lucas

On November 23, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Mexico1 Comment

We’ve been home from Cabo San Lucas for a little over a week now and we’re already going through withdrawal. We’ve had one blizzard since getting home and are expecting snow on Thanksgiving, so the sun and beach seem like a distant memory at this point. We truly had a wonderful time visiting Cabo and walking around town and through the marina.

As you walk through the marina, you’ll continuously be approached by sales people trying to get you to take a glass bottom boat, take you deep-sea fishing, go on a time share tour, or play golf at one of the many courses around the area. It is definitely worthwhile taking a glass bottom boat out to the arch and to go to lover’s beach. The marina is also where you board the different dinner cruises, party boats, and fishing boats. We’ve done many of the different dinner and sunset cruises, but haven’t gone deep-sea fishing as of yet, perhaps on our next trip to Cabo.

There are many wonderful restaurants in the marina as well, all of them offering fresh seafood and tasty drinks. On Sunday, while we were there, we came across a restaurant offering all you can eat oysters. Since we love oysters, we definitely took advantage of that opportunity. At night-time, the marina area really comes to life with plenty of things to do and opportunities to people watch.

The downtown area also has plenty of vendors where you can purchase local trinkets and bargain with the store owners to get the best price on you souvenirs. At first it might feel awkward haggling over the price, but it is expected and don’t feel intimidated. If you don’t want to go downtown, there are plenty of vendors walking up and down the beach bringing souvenirs to all of the resorts for you to purchase.

At the resorts themselves, you can arrange kayaking, paddle boarding, parasailing, jet skis, golf, and more. There are also people walking the beach with horses so that you can take a romantic horse back ride along the beach. Our favorite thing about Cabo is the size of the resorts. There aren’t huge resorts with thousands of rooms, so whether going into town, walking the beach, or sitting around the pool, you’re not overwhelmed by tremendous crowds. We can hardly wait for our next trip to the beach, but it is going to have to wait for a little while.

Give and You Will Receive

On November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips2 Comments

It definitely isn’t true all of the time, but generally speaking, if you’re willing to give, you will get just as much in return. This is true whether it is just about being nice to the people around you or whether it comes to tipping the staff who waits on you. We’re probably guilty of over tipping at times, but we try to get to know the people who take care of us, especially if we’re going to be in a place for several days or weeks, and we tend to truly care about them by the time we leave.

When we’re at a resort, we will leave a tip for the housekeeping crew that comes to clean our room. We do it because that we know the resorts don’t pay them too much money to begin with, but also because they will usually make an extra effort and do something special in our room. On our trip to Cabo, we once again left a nominal tip every day, 20 pesos, which is about a 1 US dollar. Every day, when we returned to our room, we were greeted with another swan or other creation made from the towels and bed linens.

The same is true when it came to the waiter who took care of us at the pool every day. First and foremost, we took time to talk with him, learn a little about him, and yes we tipped him at the end of the day as well. In return, Castillo was always taking caring of us, bringing us whatever we needed, finding us wherever we might be in the pool area to make sure we were taken care of.

First and foremost, don’t give with the expectation of getting something in return. If you do, you will likely end up disappointed. However, if you give of yourself, treat others as you’d like to be treated, and genuinely show compassion to your fellow life travelers, you will find happiness wherever you go. It doesn’t take any effort to show compassion and treat those around you with the respect that they deserve.

The Draw of Something Familiar

On October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Mexico2 Comments

We love going to places that we’ve never visited before and learning about the different cultures. Sometimes, however, it is nice to revisit a place that you’ve been to several times before. We are heading back to Cabo San Lucas in the Baja Peninsula of Mexico during the second week of November. It has been a long, hectic year, and we decided that a week of rest and relaxation was needed more than a whirlwind adventure overseas. This will be our third time staying at the same resort in the past eight years, so we’re familiar with the restaurants, we know where to go to do some art exploring, and we won’t have any anxiety or apprehensions about what to expect.

One of the nice things about returning to a place that you’re familiar with is that you don’t lose a day getting acquainted with your surroundings. Our first day in a new location is usually one of staring at maps, trying to figure out the lay of the land, and learning the best way to get around to see all of the sites. A familiar place, such as the resort in Cabo, is almost like coming home to a home away from home. Friendly faces, familiar customs, the sense of calm that there shouldn’t be any unexpected surprises.

We are counting down the days until we are on the beach enjoying a Mai Tai and bathing in the sun. Even though we’ve been there before, we’ll still do some exploring, trying to find some hidden treasure we hadn’t seen before. We always try different restaurants and try to find where the locals go for fun and adventure. In many ways, it is just like exploring your own backyard, but better since it is in a different country.