R&R in San Jose del Cabo
09 March 2014 | San Jose del Cabo
After 5 days of R&R in San Jose del Cabo it was time to head out again on our way north around the 'east cape' and on to La Paz. But first a recap of our wonderful layover in the Marina de Los Cabos.
What a nice little town San Jose is. The marina is located a couple of miles outside of town across the bridge over the 'arroyo' or river valley that runs almost dry. We spent the first day or two just hanging out with the boat and enjoying the company of two other cruising boats that came in after us. One we had met up in Mag Bay a few days before, the other were new to us. Both crewed by young couples with interesting stories to share of how they got to this corner of the world. Gregarious Kathy just loves this part of cruising - the socializing - and of course the 2 for 1 margaritas at the hotel bar 5 minutes walk from the docks!
We then pulled the bikes out of the aft storage bin .. er .. cabin and headed off into town in search of groceries. The 'Mega' was recommended so we set out in what we thought was the right direction. Oops! Wrong turn, so back the way we came - exploring a new place on bikes is such an adventure in its own right. We eventually found the store and indeed it is 'mega'. Everything you need is there including tequila of course. We loaded up the cart with groceries then had a laugh with the folks at the checkout when we told them we were on bikes. OK - leave the tequila for another trip. We somehow packed everything into the saddlebags Kari got us for Christmas and headed back to the boat. Mission accomplished!
The next day we decided to take the bus to Cabo San Lucas. OK, two buses. The first was a local bus that rattles passed by the marina stopping everywhere and anywhere someone standing by the road is waving. We made ourselves understood that we wanted to be dropped off where the Cabo bus stop was. Amazingly, we were. The Cabo bus was a much bigger highway bus that brought us along "the corridor" between San Jose and San Lucas. We looked for and saw the hotels where we had stayed when we were down here on holiday about 8 years ago. The bus dropped us off within walking distance of downtown Cabo so we hopped off and set out in search of Cabo Wabo.
Of course we had to walk around the marina first. And there was a cruise ship in port so all the vendors had their traps set and trolling for tourists. And didn't we get caught. You'd think we were a bit more seasoned by now, but no. Kathy had bought a couple of tequila shot glasses in Ensenada and so we thought it would be fun to have a pair with Cabo San Lucas on them too. So we stopped at one of the vendors and of course Kathy found a couple she liked. Before we knew it they were wrapped and placed in our pack. "How much?" we finally asked. What? 250 pesos! That's like $12 each. So we cleverly talked him down to 200 pesos. Such a bargain. Of course in the stores around the corner they go for half that at least. Dumb tourists! Oh well. We walked around with buyers remorse comparing prices on shot glasses at every opportunity as we looked for Cabo Wabo - which we finally found - and enjoyed a nice lunch and a couple of Coronas - and of course Kathy found her new hat! The trip home meant catching 3 more buses - with a stop at the Mega to grab that bottle of tequila of course. All in all a great day (once I got over the shot glass rip off!).
Our last day we took the bikes into the centre of the old town. What a difference to the zoo over in Cabo San Lucas! Quiet streets with friendly faces not wanting to sell you 'something you don't need'. We biked around for a while up and down streets, that on foot you'd never get to - what a treat to see the real town and not the tarted-up tourist views. Instead of heading back the way we came across the bridge, Kath saw on the tourist map what was supposed to be a bike path that went up and around and circled back to the marina. Hmm, reality does not always match the artist's rendition. Turns out the 'bike path' is really the local dirt (more like sand) back roads that wander around, up and down hills, but do eventually pop out more or less back toward the marina. All good exercise working the gears on the bikes and trying to hold your course in the deep sandy patches. Definitely earned our afternoon cervezas!