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Cabo trip report I

R

rocketman

Guest
OK so I didn't go there by bike but still..... it was a trip so here is my report...in Five parts..

Cabo trip Report I

Well IÔÇÖm back from Cabo San Lucas and Jeanne and I had a blast. I took a ton of photos and have only just started to get them organized, but I did put some the more the interesting ones in a web gallery on my site.

Saw and did a lot really interesting sights and got a taste some great local food, so much so its hard to decide where to start my report.

First off let me say that as with every trip no matter how well prepared you are there is always so much more to do than you can possibly fit into a single week that Jeanne and I are already talking about a return trip. Turns out too we couldnÔÇÖt have picked a better week, just the week prior there had been a major fishing tournament that attracts a huge crowd, which by the time we arrived had most left so we didnÔÇÖt have to deal with really large crowds of tourists. Thing were pretty quiet witch gave us more space on the beach and we got some great deals on items we bought.

This was the first time we had stayed at the time-share we bought and it couldnÔÇÖt have been a better location, right on the beach, with a balcony from which we could see the beach and Lands Ends, which is the furthest point south on the Peninsula, and view behind us looking at the city and mountains beyond.

The Time-share unit (top floor, right)

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Lands End

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The Beach

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The mountains in early morning light

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Each morning we were treated to some gorgeous sunrises

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And each morning a Bald eagle would join us as we enjoyed the view and some great Mexican coffee as he preached on an adjoining building roof top

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Some days just enjoyed the beach, lounging in recliners enjoying a few beers and as always when I got enjoy a good Cuban cigar. We quickly discovered that what they refer to as ÔÇ£appetizersÔÇØ were so generous that they often severed as an entire meal. We also discovered that ÔÇ£happy hourÔÇØ two for one beers last pretty much all day! Now thatÔÇÖs my kind of happy hour! Note the size of the appetizer plate in this shot.

The RocketMan and RudieRider at the beach

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As usual there were a ton of venders everywhere, along the beach, in town, to and from town and in the little villages we visited. We have gotten used to this in our travels and have learned that as long as you donÔÇÖt engage them in conversation and just keep going with a simple ÔÇ£noÔÇØ youÔÇÖll do fine. I still amazes me how much some can carry, like this guy on the beach, not sure how he can see where heÔÇÖs going.

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Other days we wondered down to the main section of town and the Marina, a mere 5 minutes away. As such we never bothered to rent a car, really no need too and the one trip we took into the mountains we did as part of a small 8 person tour with a very good driver and guide. As such we probably learned more than had done it on our own, plus her knew some interesting little towns and spoke very good English. Next time we go we now know where to head to so can do a trip on own on and take time to stay longer.

Besides lots of eagles, there were a ton of brown pelicans, hereÔÇÖs one doing something I have never seen one do before, I knew they could open they beaks wide, but this is almost unreal!

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While this one seems to be ÔÇ£tuning upÔÇØ in preparation to belt out a tune!

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One evening the time share put on a ÔÇ£Mexican PartyÔÇØ with a marimba band and local dance Troup that did some traditional Mexican dances and a Mayan Dance of the Dead (as it falls on the same day as our Halloween)

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And it ended with some fireworks in the background as they performed the final dance.

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end of part I
RM
 
Cabo Trip Report II

Cabo Trip Report II

One day, as I mentioned, we took a day trip with a local tour company up along the coast to La Pas and then into the mountains and cross the peninsula to the Pacific side. This trip included a few small towns, one a small fishing village further up the gulf side between Cabo and Las Pas.

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Note what looks like very palm trees are really smoke stacks, almost all smoke stacks we saw were done like this with palm fans attached to the top. Kinda cool and makes them blend in with the back ground. We learned that palm trees are not native to this area but were introduced by outsiders.

Some local color along the road

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We stopped here for breakfast consisting of locally make fruit filled pastry, mango, papaya and assorted other fruits, including strawberries which are locally grown on large communal farms, between the fishing village and La Pas.

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. We were somewhat surprised to find that so many fruits and vegetable are grown in this area as it only gets rainfall for 2 months of the year, but they seem to have a good supply of aquifers in the mountains and most framing is done at elevations of 1000 to 2000 feet. The area has several mountain ranges with the tallest peak being over 8000 feet, as seen here.

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Next we headed over the lower mountains along the coast as we make our way to La Pas.
La Pas is one of the few major cites and sits on the gulf coast around 160 K, from Cabo.

The town square at the edge of the Bay of La Pas.

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The bay itself

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And a few more shots of the town.

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Since all the towns and cities in this area were founded by Spanish Missionaries, as the Mayans were a nomadic culture, they all had at least one church most of which date back at least several hundred years.

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After La Pas we headed east across the mountains to visit an old former mining town, man talk about great motorcycling roads!

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As we climbed the mountains I noticed there were many wide dry river beds, as seen here, which during the 10 months of the dry season are often used as convenient roads, just about all had tire tracks running along them.

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In the small mining town we visited, our route actually took us on one such river bed, you can see the tire tracks and since they are fairly flat it makes perfect sense to utilize them as such during the long dry season.

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End of part II

RM
 
Cabo Trip Report III

Cabo Trip report III

The mining town we visited is now pretty much a ghost town now, but there were a few hangers on and a small school for the children of the farmers in the area. It is a state run boarding school since the farms are so wide spread and the students live in dormers for the school term, all of which is provided free by the state government.
Here is one wall where the caretaker was busy painting the stones in bright colors

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The remains of the smelting towers where the ore was once processed, curiously this mining town was run by the French, the towers being build by an individual named, oddly enough, Eiffel, so I guess Baja Mexican can claim to have their own ÔÇ£EiffelÔÇØ Tower. Ha Ha.

A few more shots of the town below

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And of course the church..

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Next it was on to another small town on western slopes of the mountains facing the Pacific Ocean, called Todos Santos. This town has become noted for it growing artist population, including many Americans who have moved and established several art galleries here. It is also the location of one of the several ÔÇ£Hotel CaliforniaÔÇØ, which the locals claim to be the one made that inspired the famous song by the same name, but by all accounts the same claim is made by several towns with establishments of the same name.
Either way here is

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An old door on one side of the building leading into the interior court yard which head a caf?®, bar and shops.

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Another interior shot

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Some shot from around town.

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A peddler on a trike selling fresh fruits for consumption, on the spot.

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Local art work, very colorful as is typical of Mexican art

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A mural that tells the entire history of Mexico in less than twenty-five feet!

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Not sure how the surfer fits in to the history, except maybe as an indication of advent of tourism?

I also saw this BMW GS in town, the tags were from the state of Alaska! Wow, now that must have been some trip, pretty much as far along the western coast of North America as you can go.

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While there we also visited the local culture center where people have donated various objects that depict the local life, art and history. Another very informative display there showed how they used to build houses out of intertwined sticks without the use of nails or rope. They would start by placing upright poles at intervals to form the outside of the house, the by threading green sticks between the upright poles in a woven pattern, using smaller uprights spaced between the fixed poles the tension of the weave would hold the woven walls in place as the sticks dried. See the detail shot below

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This also allowed the walls to breath and as there was so little rain fall the open structure of the walls was of no great concern.

After leaving Todos Santos we headed back down the final leg along MX19 to the ocean and saw a beautiful sunset. As we were told several times the Baja Peninsula is one of the few places were you can see the sunrise and set over the water from a single vantage point.

Along the road we saw a number of these small structures, seem they are placed at points were people have died along the road, much like you see state side with small crosses and flowers. They all seem well maintained and the families take great care in ensuring they have fresh flowers and place bowls of food an water in them as well.

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We also saw a lot of free range cattle, horses and donkeys, they would just wonder onto the highway as they pleased. We were told that driving at night can be very treacherous as they like to lie down in the middle of the road when the pavement is still warm since the desert air turns cold quickly once the sun is down.

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And finally a sunset over the Pacific

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end of part III

RM
 
Lovin' the pics. Just one little correction. I believe the bald eagle you pictured is actually an osprey, also called a fish hawk. They're fun to see in the air with a fish, because they always hold the fish in the most aerodynamic position, i.e: facing forward.
 
Cabo trip Report IV

Cabo Trip Report IV

Beauty and the Beasts

DonÔÇÖt EVER let anyone tell you the Baja desert isnÔÇÖt full of color or simply nothing more than dry river beds and cactus. Nothing could be further from the truth as this next set of photos illustrate!

Another reason that we happened to have picked the perfect time of year to go there was that it was only a month or so from the end of the rainy season and the desert was still in full bloom. There were flowers everywhere and the terrain on each side of the mountain range unique. On the side that gets the greater amount of rain, there were flowering bushes in abundance while on the northern side the cacti were huge, many of which are well over a thousand years old. I had no idea they could live to that age.

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And now for some of the ÔÇ£beastsÔÇØ I saw ..

Besides the one airhead GS from Alaska, in Cabo I saw this one, often parked right next to the Harley dealer at the harbor.

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Along with the 2 BMWÔÇÖs there were some cruisers, HDÔÇÖs and even one like Jeannes C 50 T

There were also a few brands IÔÇÖd never seen before such as this one

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A sort of upright twin cruiser look-a-like make by ?? called a Dinamo

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Riding a bike could be a bit tricky in town, as our tour guide told us, traffic lights, stop signs and other such, were treated as merely ÔÇ£suggestionsÔÇØ! Ha Ha!

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\

A ÔÇ£sidecarÔÇØ rig

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And another odd ball, note this is only a 200 CC machine but dig the speaker system on it! Made by an Italian company judging by the name ÔÇ£ItainioÔÇØ or some such I think it was, IÔÇÖll have to check, I think I got a shot of the engine close up. I saw several of this brand in town

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The Harley shop had a cool cut-a-way engine on display.

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And there was also a BMW dealer, bet they sell a lot of GSÔÇÖs! Even the road to our time share on the edge of town was packed dirt.

Did I mention the great beer and Cuban cigars, yet?

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End of part IV

RM
 
Cabo Trip Report V

Cabo Trip Report V

Lands End and the final day…

See we’re almost done….

On Thursday we took a boat out to Lands End the furthest most point on the Peninsula, about a ?? mile out from the beach. There any number of frigate birds on the rocks and colony of sea lions near the famous Lands end arch. This is where the Sea of Cortes and the Pacific Ocean meet.

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The depth of the water here is over 2000 feet even as close to the shore as it is! Wow!

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The famous “Pirate’s Cave”

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And still more Pelicans

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A few more sunrises….

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Did I mention the beer and great Cuban cigars?

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The final night Jeanne and I treated ourselves to a truly awesome dinner at the harbor at a place we had a glorious breakfast the same morning. So here’s the obligatory food shots. The beef they raise in Mexico is some of the best I’ve ever tasted, this night we had braised beef tenderloin they prepared right at the table, it quite literally melted in your mouth!

I had the Thai shrimp in coconut milk for an appetizer. MMMMMMM

In the evening many of the bar on the beach would put out tables right on the sand, and you would wonder along the beach and simply sit down where you pleased. In fact several evenings Jeanne and I dined bare foot, and in one place called the Giggling Marlin they had a “pet” rooster wondering around cleaning the scraps and crumbs off the floor. How great to dine at places where shoes and shirts are NOT required! In fact I wore nothing but sandals the whole week, when I even bothered to wear any foot wear, that is. Now that’s living!

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The RocketMan and Rudie Rider at dinner…

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And the main course

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(and NO, no one puked on my plate, it was much better than this makes it look, believe me!)


I can’t wait for our next trip, which will find us on one of these come Feb.

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Damn I love traveling! I’m looking forward to a return to Cabo, and now I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind riding the entire length of the Baja Peninsula one day. It’s a 1000 miles one way from Cabo to Tijuana along MX Rt. 1. Much of it along or near one of the two coasts and across the mountains.

And one last shot of Lands End in some early AM fog

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And those are just a selection of the shots I took. When I get the rest of the good ones up on my site I’ll post a link.

RM

Over and out…..
 
Muchas Gracias Rocketman y Rudie Rider: Outstanding pictures & interesting narrative!

Thanks for the article: made my workday during lunch time enjoyable; looks like you & Jeanne had a wonderful time. I miss Dos Cabos so much! Muy Magnifico!

Having gone to Dos Cabos over thirty times in the last thirty years you would think that I wouldn't get excited over new fresh pictures of Paradise; but I still do!

dancogan is correct: Your morning avian friend is indeed "Osprey Haliaetus"; not a bald eagle, but referred to throughout Mexico as aguila pescado or "fish eagle."

When Hernan Cortez landed in La Paz in 1535 the "Indians" he met were from the Pericu tribe, which is a Baja California offshoot of our mainland Mexico Seris.

We in AZ Beemers ride every springtime to El Desemboque; a Seri coastal village.

The works of Gustave Eiffel are all over Baja California Norte y Sur. The beautiful church in Santa Rosalia was shipped over from the Paris Eiffel Iron Works by El Boleo mining company for their parishioners. Sent over by ship, piece by every numbered piece! If you're at the church do not miss El Boleo Bakery; fresh croissants and French bread "pan". Also in Guanajuato ciudad near Leon the Mercado, city shopping center, was built in the 1800s by Gustave Eiffel Iron Works

If you two are free over February 15-18 we AZB's are riding to Bahia Kino, Sonora.

Vaya con Dios,

Chuy Medina "El Burrito Ballerina"
aka Don Stanley www.azbeemers.org
 
Thanks for the report. Great pics; especially of the water!
 
Gracias

All your work is greatly appreciated. Loved every pic. Todos Santos is one of the premier surf spots in Baja.


3780682
 
Thanks for the article: made my workday during lunch time enjoyable; looks like you & Jeanne had a wonderful time. I miss Dos Cabos so much! Muy Magnifico!

Having gone to Dos Cabos over thirty times in the last thirty years you would think that I wouldn't get excited over new fresh pictures of Paradise; but I still do!

dancogan is correct: Your morning avian friend is indeed "Osprey Haliaetus"; not a bald eagle, but referred to throughout Mexico as aguila pescado or "fish eagle."

When Hernan Cortez landed in La Paz in 1535 the "Indians" he met were from the Pericu tribe, which is a Baja California offshoot of our mainland Mexico Seris.

We in AZ Beemers ride every springtime to El Desemboque; a Seri coastal village.

The works of Gustave Eiffel are all over Baja California Norte y Sur. The beautiful church in Santa Rosalia was shipped over from the Paris Eiffel Iron Works by El Boleo mining company for their parishioners. Sent over by ship, piece by every numbered piece! If you're at the church do not miss El Boleo Bakery; fresh croissants and French bread "pan". Also in Guanajuato ciudad near Leon the Mercado, city shopping center, was built in the 1800s by Gustave Eiffel Iron Works

If you two are free over February 15-18 we AZB's are riding to Bahia Kino, Sonora.

Vaya con Dios,

Chuy Medina "El Burrito Ballerina"
aka Don Stanley www.azbeemers.org


Wow, thats for the info! I tried to find out the type of bird that was and all I got was that is was an eagle, I thought it kinda looked like a hawk there were several others that looked simillar but were mostly all black with some red on the beak. We're planning on several return trips but probably not til 09 as our timeshare is an every other year deal, plus we have so many other places we want to visit! Next time we will prob. go in feb-march when the whales are down there birthing. We were really taken with the small villages and towns and will most likely spent more time exploring them now that we know something about the area. The guided tour was a good introduction so that next time we can head out on our own.

If it weren't for the fact we already have travel plans for this Feb I'd take you up on the offer, maybe in 09 ?

RM
 
Lovin' the pics. Just one little correction. I believe the bald eagle you pictured is actually an osprey, also called a fish hawk. They're fun to see in the air with a fish, because they always hold the fish in the most aerodynamic position, i.e: facing forward.

Thanks for the correction, I kinda thought it was in the hawk family but all we got from the folks I asked was what sounded like the spanish word for eagle. I did see one fly by with a fish in its claws, the fish was obviously not happy about the situtation! It was wriggling like grazy, probably not to happy about flying or being someone's breakfast!:eat

RM
 
Great pics. Looks like an incredible trip. I love Mexico!

Thanks, it was! Next time we plan on spending more time in the interior, visiting more of the small villages and maybe an overnight stay somewhere. I wanted to have a beer in the Hotel California but there wasn't enough time. Maybe next time. We will most likely rent a car or bikes and go on our own. the HD dealer rents them in Cabo and there is a BMW dealer in town as well, but I don't know if they rent or not.

And I did a little research on the Dinamo motorcycle, seems its made in China (?) for the South American and African market. Came mostly in 125 150 and 250 cc displacements. Haven't found anything on the other brand yet. some places listed them as Dynamo (with a "y" not and "i").

RM
 
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