March 7 - 11 1999 we took a short trip to Mexico. The flight departed around 6am in San Francisco so we stayed in a nearby hotel and woke up at 4:30am to catch the flight. We arrived around 9:30am and took a bus on the long drive from the airport to Cabo. The bus stopped at a store to allow everyone to buy some beer. The tour guide made it a fun trip.

What also made it enjoyable was leaving the 10 and 12 year old with their aunt. We phoned them a few times from a pay phone.

Cabo is the southern tip of Baja California, which is about 1400 miles south of Tijuana.

The airstrip is the vertical line under the "T" in Santa at Santa Anita, and Cabo is the "A" at the bottom of the map:

From the time we got off the plane to every time we walked on the street we were approached by people giving gifts for attending a timeshare presentation. If you are already attending one the vendor out-bids the prior offer. For spending a morning in a room with about 200 people in a timeshare presentation we got: One free parasail, One quad trip to the sand dunes, and a cruise for two on the Kaleidoscope Catamaran! In fact these became a big part of our trip.

After checking into our hotel we took a walk and found a restaurant for first meal. Restaurants cost about half of U.S. prices, which made it fun:

Google image of Cabo Harbor. On the far right are the rocks known as "Land's End"

We then took a walk out on the dock. That is our hotel behind us. (We are standing at "D" and the hotel is "H")

In the afternoon we bought some fish tacos to go and walked to the south side if the peninsula - sitting at "B" in the satellite image.

Unlike in Los Angeles, for example, we felt safe walking anywhere, even at night:

Back at the hotel bar Kim has a shot of Hornitos and a Sol beer

MARCH 8

We had lunch here:

Then we took a Quad Tour where we drove the quads through town with group of about 10 other quads our to an open dunes area several miles West of town. For a few hours everyone did their own thing. For example we drove up to that light house, and just drove in circles until we were dizzy. (They provided beer, and we brought our own too.)

We took a few trips to the Internet Cafe to check email. We saw this sign but didn't want to see a "bull fight":

MARCH 9

I really wanted to get a motorcycle for a day and do our own thing. I was able to rent this Yamaha which was similar to what I'm used to - I'm not much for street bikes. We drove back to the airport then had lunch in San Jose Del Cabo, then drove to the sand dunes. (I have video but unknown when I get it converted from 8mm analog to digital.) I was wearing thin boat shoes and it was a kick start, when it kicked back it felt it might break my foot bones. It was a challenge getting it started everytime, but ran nice. (The tags were expired.)

MARCH 10

On March 10 I went up in a parasail. The wind was gusty and I asked the operators if it was safe. They said "don't worry we are insured." It was amazing floating up there. (This photo is as i was going out - I was several hundred feet up once fully extended.)

We then went on a cruise on a 100 foot catamaran named Kaleidoscope. It went out at sunset. They started by pouring champagne for everyone, then other drinks were free too. I got quite drunk and spent most of the time sitting on the right front hull. I don't think it still runs. You can see it at the end of the pier near the small red boat in the water. I found a few images via google.

Images from Google:

On the Kaleidoscope:

Land's end from the Kaleidoscope:

On our final evening we went out for our most expensive meal:

I liked Cabo. The weather is warm and mild all year. There is lots of open space. I could imagine living there - owning just a quad or motorcycle for transportation.