m - Cabo San Lucas, Baja Mexico

With the really good feeling of a lovely day at San Sebastian still
glowing, we headed off to the show of the night - boy was it good!
While we sat and waited for it to start, questions were being flashed up
on the screen as in Who wants to be a Millionaire. They were all
questions relating the other parts of the worlds and the couple next to
us played along - oh boy, we learned a lot! And the show was just
fantastic. Its funny how an hour of enjoyment goes by so fast. The
costumes and singing were amazing - altogether a really wonderful
production.

After the show, I thought I would check up on the time to meet up with
our tour in Cabo, and discovered that it was only at 9.15am! Whoo hoo -
we could sleep in. Not a chance, with sunrise, the cruise-gremlin
prised open my eyes and I found myself waking up on the balcony watching
Cabo slide into view with the sun slowly lighting it all up for us.
Just beautiful. This was another time where the ship did not go onto a
jetty and the tenders were used again, but most people were heading off
really early for their Cabo experience and we were quite happy to hang
back and wait for the later tender.

The view from the deck was lovely, we watched at two other cruise ships
slid gently into the bay, as the para-sailers littered the bay and as
the waters became more and more filled with little boats going in all
directions - and then it was our turn. Seals glided through the water
everywhere, pelicans flew right up close to our tender to check for any
fish and suddenly we were part of all those rushing around little boats.

We were taken to meet up with our tour. We had decided on a very short,
one hour trip in a semi submersed submarine with glass windows
underneath. And there she stood, in all her glory - the Yellow
Submarine! There were again only a few of us on this trip which was
great again. At first we sat on the top deck and were again bombarded
with the birds checking for food and sealions everywhere. We motored
past the huge towering cliffs of Land's End of Baja... At this point we
were in the Sea of Cortez, with the Pacific Ocean just on the other
side. There is a temperature different in the water of around 8 degrees
even though the waters meet just a few short beaches further down. One
of the gaps in the cliffs, deliver a beach that you can get to both the
Sea of Cortez and the Pacific ocean.. it looked lovely with crystal
clear waters.

And then it was time to go below deck where we we found what looked like
an aquarium. The glass windows are the whole length of this little
submarine and many beautiful fish of different shapes, colors and sizes
swam lazily past as we hung literally feet away from the rocks and
reefs. There were starfish dotted on the rocks everywhere, we saw a big
needle fish, puffer fish and some huge groupers. It was really lovely.
There were snorklers below us and the bubbles from their tanks added to
the scenery. Then off we went, around the point to the Pacific side
where we found different type of fish and a few very colorful starfish.
I could have stayed down there for hours.... but soon we were told that
we could come back up on deck and see what there was to see on the
outside. Up on deck again, we were met with a really great close up
view of the arch and on the way back we slowly cruised by a few small,
beautiful beaches that were almost deserted. But they were really small
and the other beaches were not accessible from one to the other.

So after our ride in the Yellow Submarine, we wanted to go for a walk
around the town. With three cruise ships in town it was chaos. Total
chaos and I quickly felt our souls wilting. We spotted a bicycle taxi
and took that for a short ride to what we thought was the other side of
town, the driver huffing and puffing and offering us a city tour - at
around 2 miles and hour. We declined. This end of town held just more
tourist shops and about the same amount of people. I was looking for a
hat and we must have had 'sucker' written on our foreheads as the one
guy wanted $30 for a simple hat......we found one a bit further on for
$5. And so we decided that this was not what we wanted to do and I
really did want to walk on the beach, so we did an about turn and headed
to the water taxi jetty, hopped on one and told him to take us to that
beach that goes all the way through to both oceans. Now we were smiling
again, shoes off in anticipation and heads back soaking up the sun again.

The water taxi guy took us on a tour first, this little boat had a glass
bottom too and he took us really close up to some rocks to see some fish
- we could see shadows of fish, but looking over the edge of the boat
was clearer. What was quite amazing was where we were...... all around
us, sometimes only a foot away, were other taxis doing exactly the same
and the snorkelers were everywhere! At one point I wanted to lean over
the edge and straighten the snorkel of one diver - yes, we were that
close! There was also a sailboat of about 30 in length hovering around,
small boats and then there came the yellow submarine too. The bubbles
from the divers were everywhere around and I wondered just how no one
got injured. There is no way at all that I would snorkel around there,
not with all those boats around.

And so he moved on closer to the arch where there was a little "window
to the Pacific" - more light a gun opening in the rocks where the water
pounded through and then receded so that we could see all the way
through. The sealions honked, the seagulls screamed and the waves
crashed and the motors of a good many boats hummed all around us - it
was not peaceful at all, but it was soooo good being on the water,
rocked around and the smell of the sea is just lovely. Around one more
rock and there she was.... we were right under the Arch again. There is
a huge cave with its own private beach stretching in front of it and a
good many very strange rock structures stretching way up into the blue
sky. The waves here was much bigger, this is where the two bodies of
water meet - the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez.... uuuup we went and
then down went the bows and we could feel the slide begin.. Those water
taxi drivers have incredible control over their boats and we could tell
that they read the waves very well.

Just then the driver looked up, frowned and asked "there are whales, you
want to go see?" Well YES! So he turned that little boat around again
and we headed right out to sea, the waves increased dramatically and we
clung on harder and then there they were - two huge whales breaking
water just about 20 feet away from us! Oh wow. There was a guy on a
kayak literally 5 foot from them - his face told that he did not expect
that. As those whales broke water there was a hush from all the boats
and then the clicking began. And the hunt was on again - we followed
the whales almost all the way back to the cruise ship out in the bay and
we got a few really lovely tail photos as well...... and then it was
time to go to our beach for our walk. What a taxi ride - by far the
best I have ever had.

We hopped off the bouncing bows of this boat and deposited in crystal
clear waters and soft white beach sand........ aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
There were a good few people around, but it was not crowded at all. We
wandered around the cliffs just enjoying the sand between our toes, the
quiet after the madness of all the activity of the other boats and the
excitement of the unexpected whale tour. There was a guy sitting on the
beach, under a brilliantly multicolored umbrella, selling ice cold beers
out of a cooler... yum! And then there was the Pacific ocean crashing
into the shore in front of us.... and yes, that water is definitely
colder than that on the Cortez side. The beach was quite sloped and we
were warned that no swimming was allowed on the Pacific side at all.
Well, there were a good many people in the water - families with small
kids! With our good and cold beers we walked away from the crowds and
found quiet. Only the sound of the ocean slooshing onto the sand and a
few gulls whooshing through the air. The sun gently baked a tan into
our arms and legs and we found ourselves smiling broadly again. What a
good day this had been so far.

Too quickly it was time to meet the water taxi again. We had already
paid him for a return trip and he said that we should not go with any
other boat or they would charge us. So we walked back to the Cortez
side of the beach, found a soft rock to sit on and watched the world go
by while waiting for our taxi. I found some brightly colored crabs
scuttling around the rocks and some interesting barnacles and stuff on
the rocks. I loved watching the kids as they ran to the water, only to
head back the same way, screaming enthusiastically, as the waves chased
them away. The timing was great, our taxi, the New York 1, arrived
right as our beers ran out. On we hopped..... well, it was not as easy
as that at all. The boat was hopping and dancing in the waves crashing
on the beach and we each had our camera's with us too. So they were
handed to a guy waiting to help (and get a tip), then we clutched the
handrail and quickly rolled ourselves up on board. Interesting and
definitely not elegant at all. But we were on. And we still had about
an hour to get to the tender to take us back to the Constellation - so
all was good.

The other people on the taxi were also on vacation we we went along
while they did the tour of the sea lions, pelicans, arch and window to
the Pacific. And then - there were some more whales! He asked us if
we wanted to be taken back first or if he could head out to the whales.
Whales, of course! The ship will wait - we hope. Immediately we could
see that the waters we much rougher than before and it was not long
before we were all sprayed with ice cold sea water. Fortunately neither
Gypsy or Nomad suffered a dousing and they both still work great. We
headed out to the whales and a good many other little boats that were
also trying to catch sight of these huge animals. One moment we had a
clear view of everything around, and the next we were way down in the
bottom of a dip between waves, so deep that I was beginning to wonder at
the idea. But it was great, we saw the whales again, followed them for
a bit and then headed off to back to dock. It was really good to see
the excitement of the others on the boat - the kids were absolutely in
awe, their huge eyes taking it all in with a nervous grin on their faces
at the same time. Lovely.

We made it to the tender in time, well in time it seems as people were
still being rounded up and ferried on boat an hour later. We went up on
deck to get our last looks at it all, the sun had started its silver
road across the waters and most of the water taxis had stopped for the
night. It was a lovely time of a day, when everything was wonderful,
the memories are great, the slow wind down is good and gentle...... and
the views still lovely. We watched the last of the para-sailors, the
last of the jet ski's whizzing around at high speed and a good few
sailboats, sails stretched tight, heading home. And then the wind
picked up, driving us all inside again. A few of us were hangers on and
tried to stay out there, but soon we had to give up too.

And it was New Years Eve....... time to get ready to see the new year
in. As I said in the other email, we were in for two celebrations due
to a time change.....Frank and I also wanted to do something different,
so we got a bit dolled up and headed off to get some official photos
taken! (Ok, breathe, U3!) We had about three taken, all posed and
beautifully smiled for and they came out really nicely, we think. After
dinner we went to the Reflections Lounge which is right at the top in
the pointy end of the boat - there they played tunes of the Beatles
while we enjoyed a strawberry dachairy (sp?) And then off we went to
find one of the other celebrations going on..... Now remember, this was
already 1am in Chattanooga! And yes, Frank was still awake. (Breathe
U3) He pretty much was the driving force behind us staying up. I was
really really tired, you know, like when even your eyeballs feel heavy.
So to stay awake we wandered around between the different sites on the
boat - all filled with people enjoying their evening and appearing to be
wide awake. At around 11.30pm (1.30am Chatt time) we joined the throngs
at the main atrium and the main stairway. There they had balloons and
ice carvings of the year 2011 ready to unveil on the top of the steps.
And so the countdown began. Frank's eyes were still bright and awake
and I was seriously fading. And then it was time - along with the final
minute's countdown came a glass of champagne, the balloons fell, the ice
sculpture was unveiled and ........... there it was. A whole new,
uncluttered, clean new year to make into whatever we could. Everyone
wished everyone around, it was a really good vibe

Right afterwards was the time change which would take us back to
11.15pm, 2010, but that was enough for us both. We had raised a glass
to everyone at home at their New Year, to others around the world, seen
the new year in on the boat time and we were happy that we had it all
covered. So off to the cabin we headed, along with many others also
doing the same thing, interestingly enough. By the time we were ready
to close our eyes to end the day and the year, it was, once again, the
new year. So we wished each other a very tired, quiet and happy 'Happy
New Year' and went to sleep.

What a wonderful day. And a lovely way to end a year that has been
really great to us.

Happy New Year to you all..... I hope that 2011 brings you a good
balance in your life; that you are given a good many happy surprises,
and that you give and receive lots and lots of love, light and laughter.

Annie

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