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Mexico
Cabo San Lucas - Mardi Gras meets martial law
Located
at the picturest southern tip of the Baja peninsula, Cabo has
to be on the short list for the party capital of the world.
By
Jack W. Peters
Cabo
San Lucas, Baja California Sur November 2000. All of the rumors
are true. Rock star Sammy Hagar owns and plays at Cabo Wabo Cantina.
Bikini clad tourists shop, fish, and bake during the day, then dance
on the tables at night.
Famous
or infamous bars and nightclubs grace every beach and main street.
The once sleepy fishing village of now 18,000, boasts some of the wildest
bars youve ever seen, even veteran party goers will be impressed.
These fine establishments include El Squid Roe, Giggling Marlin,
Carlos and Charlies, Hard Rock Café, Margaritaville,
and The Office. Interested in a quiet romantic drink? Forget
it, you can do that at home. Most of these places have a borderline
obnoxious bar host with a microphones energizing the crowds with contests,
dancing and world class partying until breakfast. And why waste time
with drink glasses? The beach restaurant The Office, has their
own Mexican John Belushi look-alike. In Blues Brothers attire
and to the soundtrack of Mission Impossible, he pours tequila
right into your mouth. The host at El Squid Roe uses a glass
bong looking device that he blows into the top to shoot tequila right
into your mouth at impressive distances without spilling a drop.
A watchful
marina security officer swaps glass bottles for plastic cups
Tourist, racers, and locals party
down at the infamous El Squid Roe
Not to
worry if bar hopping is not your thing. Cabo does have something for
everyone. The scenery itself is awe-inspiring. The rouged mountain
terrain offers jagged rock hills with desert sand and barrel cactus
that flow right to the aqua green ocean beaches. Warm tropical temperatures
make it an ideal year around playground for site seeing, golf, fishing,
snorkeling, SCUBA diving and shopping.
A note
to first time travelers. San Jose Del Cabo is not the same as Cabo
San Lucas. Its close, actually it is where the Cabo International
Airport is located, but about 30 miles east of Cabo San Lucas. The
entire area is known as Los Cabos. Nothing wrong with San Jose
Del Cabo, but while staying there we heard complaints from tourists
that their travel agents from Wisconsin or where-ever, did not realize
the distance, leaving their customers with lengthy and expensive bus
rides into downtown Cabo.
Trouble
in paradise? Are there any drawbacks in the land of $16 phony Cuban
cigars and all the $7 Pina Coladas you can drink? Well not many, once
remembered that youre in a high cost gringo resort town in an oppressed
third world country. Throughout Mexico, some corrupt police officials
have caused the military to take over law enforcement operations. Law
enforcement and military are also edgy from increasing drug related
murder, crime and violence. In resent years there has also been a minor
rebel uprising in the southern states of Mexicos mainland. Be warned
that if youre foolish enough to partake in drugs, firearms or anything
else illegal, you do not have the same rights and freedoms enjoyed in
the States. Mexican jails do not offer bail, (unless your already waiting
to serve a five year or more sentence), the court system considers the
accused guilty until proven innocent.
The main
thing to remember is to keep a close eye on valuables, or better yet
leave your Rolex and other fancy stuff at home. The locals are constantly
trying to sell you something ranging from silver necklaces, timeshare
properties, to someones sister. From the moment you get off the plane,
keep your eyes open on whats going on around you and your hand on your
wallet. Your most used, new Mexican phrase will be No Gracias.
The good news is that the Mexican people are friendly and the government
does want you there and enjoys relieving you of you money as much as
the locals. When going back to complain about my obviously phony Cuban
cigar, the lady vendor said in her best English, Maybe you would like
a t-shirt then?
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Small world?
While
leaving a parking lot one of the locals hits us up for a parking fee
of a couple of Americanos. Sounds reasonable right, but after closer
examination I noticed our parking attendant was wearing a Lane County
Parks and Recreation shirt. Hey, Lane County thats were we live
in beautiful Eugene/Springfield, Oregon, U.S of A! I told him we are
not paying because hes a little out of his jurisdiction. Legitimate
parking attendant? Maybe, but probably not. It is a good example of
how the Mexicans take capitalism to an extreme by hitting you up for
a buck everywhere you turn. The Mexican people including the attendants
you meet in the hotels and restaurants are more that helpful, just dont
let any be too helpful. Do not buy anything illegal unless you want
to extend your vacation in less than convenient concrete accommodations.
Do not take advantage of offers to drive you to your hotel and other
free goodies if you are willing to spend a little time checking out
a timeshare. If you want to spend your vacation getting a sales pitch,
you could have saved money by staying home to chat with the telemarketers
that call all day.
This part
of Mexico provides a great opportunity to explore and enjoy with enough
to do and see to make everybody happy. Either in the resort areas or
in the back country, it is great fun to meet all kinds of locals and
tourists. There is no shortage of Gringos checking out the sights,
looking around taking pictures in a dazed awe. While in Todos Santos,
(a small town about 50 miles north of Cabo), we met an American couple,
checking things out like we were. Todos Santos is the home of the Hotel
California, apparently the one the Eagles have been singing
about all these years. We introduced ourselves to discover that not
only do we live in the same city back home in Oregon, but our offices
are two blocks away from each other. Not bad considering we were 1700
miles away from home.
Despite
the need to be cautious, (like you would in any unfamiliar city), without
a doubt, for sun and adventure, Los Cabos is the place to be. For more
information ask your travel agent and be sure to check out our article
Real Mexico Travel Tips.
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