So we are at Mike and Michelle's house on a summer evening in June of 2022. They were hosting a pool party, and if you have followed any of our adventures with the neighbors you already know we are a tight group and we get together often. Nothing unusual there. Then Michelle brings up Cabo San Lucas. She and Mike were booked for an all inclusive resort in February 2023 and she thought we should join them. Brent and Amy chimed in that they are also going. Well, Mexico is not our thing. All inclusive is not our thing. And although we had travelled with these folks for weekends we had never been international with any of the neighbors. We are dear friends and travel well together, however, so that really was not a concern.
Lynn and I looked at each other with all of these thoughts going through our heads. With minimal discussion we arrive at the same answer at the same time.
Hell Yeah! We're in!
And so it began. We got all the details from Michelle and booked everything as soon as possible to make sure we were all on the same time frame. The trip would be in February, with Mike and Michelle arriving Saturday 2/11, Amy, Lynn, and myself would arrive Monday 2/13, and due to work commitments Brent would be arriving on Wednesday 2/15.
Since this resort was all inclusive the only other planning needed was activities outside of what the resort offered. So we all worked on different things and eventually came up with a plan that we all agreed on.
- Camel safari on the beach. WTF!? Camels in Mexico? Riding on the beach? OK. Sign us up.
- Whale watching boat tour. This is a little more in line with what we would think to do in Cabo. Sign us up.
Other than that we did not book anything ahead of time. We knew we would be spending a lot of time at the resort since the beaches and restaurants there were awesome, and included. We also knew we would venture out for some local cuisine and atmosphere at some point during our stay. With this type of structure we would all have the ability to form our own itinerary and also get together as a group. Perfect!
So the day came. Mike and Michelle had been there for two days already. Lynn, myself, and Amy were flying out Monday morning on a 9:00am flight, and then Brent joining the rest of us on Wednesday.
For international flights from Charlotte it is recommended getting there 2 hours before your flight. Ok. We weren't taking any chances so we are up and out by 6:30am.
We got through security and met Amy at the gate.
Due to the amount of travelling I had been doing for work Lynn and I had been upgraded to first class. Sweet! We'll take it if offered but we never pay for first class. We realize we can have two trips for the price of one first class ticket. Just seems silly to us. But hey, points are awesome! Complimentary morning cocktail before the plane is even fully boarded, anyone? Yes, please.
We landed at Los Cabos International about 12:30pm local time. Our resort, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica had a shuttle waiting. It was about an hour drive to the resort from the airport. Lynn and I really had no idea what to expect. As I mentioned before, all inclusive resorts just aren't our thing.
Well, when we got there we were impressed. This place was beautiful and it was not what we typically thought of as an all inclusive. We had visions of basically a cruise ship on land where everything is over crowded and lines are long. This place was chill. Really chill. Loving it!
With it being Valentines week there were these glass hearts everywhere. Lynn loved these things. She bought a bunch of them to be shipped home. We now have glass hearts all over our house...LOL.
We had made plans to meet Mike, Michelle, and Amy at one of the restaurants in the resort for dinner. After exploring around a bit and getting cleaned up it was time to meet up with them. So far we were liking this situation!
The meal was excellent! We really had no point of reference on what to expect from and all inclusive. This was exceeding our expectations. What you need to keep in mind, however, is that some items are up charges. This could be top shelf drinks (Jack Daniels is top shelf? WTF?), certain menu items at the restaurant, the list goes on. So in the end all inclusive may mean a lot less than you think it does when going in to it. No worries. Our goal was to have a good time with good friends. And we had an excellent evening with good friends.
So the next day was the camel safari. Hell Yeah! What are we even doing? I have never thought that riding on a camel on the beach would be something that I wanted to do. I am a gear head. If it doesn't have a motor I am probably not going to include it in a tour of the sand dunes. This was awesome!
Our reservation was something like 11:00am at the camel excursion. This place was a central location for all kinds of excursions. They had 4 wheelers, side by sides, Jeeps, and of course, camels. The facility was well managed and included a bar, a restaurant offering authentic local taco fare, and even a Tequila tasting bar where you could buy local Tequila brands. We sampled... of course.
We had been wondering why a place like this would have camel excursions. It started as a camel rescue facility that took in camels that were abused in zoos, circuses, what have you. It grew from there. These camels are treated like royalty. They have lenient shifts and off times for relaxing. They have intensive veterinary care and most importantly are loved and appreciated by the staff.
Our time came up for our excursion and we were introduced to our camels. First up is Mike and Michelle, followed by myself and Lynn, with Amy bringing up the rear. The total group was about 6 camels plus one that was the camera camel, or camera person, or camel and person carrying the camera.
So off we went!
I've got you, babe! Hang on!
Meanwhile Amy, who has an equestrian background and owns horses is taking it all in stride. I'm surprised that she did not have a wine carafe strapped onto the saddle.
And we continue down the coast...
When we got back to the "base camp" the tradition is that you feed your camel a carrot and bond so that if you return the camel will remember you and offer you good will and a more adventurous journey.
This was a fantastic experience. We are against any type of animal abuse or exploitation. After experiencing this outing we realized that this is the opposite of that. These camels are living their best life and are cared for far beyond our expectations. We fully support Cactus Tours in their endeavors. Next time we are going for the motorized beach run!
After that it was back to the resort for the afternoon. We spent the day around the pool and dinner in the resort that night.
The next day Brent was to arrive so Amy was staying around the resort to be there when he got there. Mike and Michelle were planning to spend most of the day on the beach. Lynn and I opted to go into the city of Cabo San Lucas for the day. We had some friends from Nashville, Lee and Erika, who coincidentally were also in Cabo that week. Our first stop was to meet them for lunch at The Baja Brewery which overlooked the bay.
We then spent the afternoon exploring the area. The area around the harbor is a fantastic place to spend an afternoon. Shopping, good food, and tequila of course. We also had other friends from Ohio, Susan and Paul, who happened to be in Cabo that week so we made plans to meet them for dinner.
The next day Lynn had a spa treatment booked for the morning, then all 6 of us went into Cabo San Lucas. We chartered a tour of the bay and the famous land mark El Arco. This is a natural rock formation in the shape of an arch on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. This is considered the separation point of the Sea of Cortez (aka Gulf of California) from the Pacific Ocean. Beaches on the eastern side of the Baja Peninsula have calm waters and the beaches are excellent for water sports. The western side of the peninsula, where our resort was located, has extremely rough surf and beaches are not open for water sports. Of course, this did not matter to us, we weren't there for water sports.
Anyway, the tour of El Arco was fantastic! We had a great crew and learned a lot about the area. The beach on the Sea of Cortez side of the arch is called Lovers Beach, all lovey dovey. The Beach on the Pacific side of the arch is called Divorce Beach, all rough water and treacherous.
On the way out from the marina we had a sea lion tagging along...
After the tour we had lunch by the harbor and were serenaded by a mariachi band.
After that we headed back to the resort and spent the afternoon on the beach. We saw whales just off of the shore. The sunset was fantastic!
The next day, Friday, we had reservations for a whale watching tour. This turned out to be highly successful. We saw a LOT of whales. Our guide was very entertaining. We also were able to see our resort from the ocean which was kind of cool. We also passed by the arc so we were able to get another look at that.
Later that night we went off the resort to have dinner at La Frida. This was an excellent dining Experience!
The next day being Saturday it was time to say goodbye to Cabo and head back home. This was a fantastic trip and spending time with good friends made it all the better. Our resort, Pueblo Bonito Pacifica provided an excellent vacation. The food and service were impeccable. The grounds and facilities were meticulously maintained. I think this experience has warmed us up to the idea of all inclusive resorts. We certainly will not turn down an opportunity to share the experience with good friends in the future!
Please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below. Also, I can be reached at Rocky@Rocklyns.com should you feel the need to reach out.
No comments:
Post a Comment