Birthday in Cabo

A little backing up before we actually arrived in Cabo.

Between Guatemala and Mexico we had a change from the "doldrums", calm seas, that we'd been experiencing and it got a little rougher.  Serenade is so stable we didn't really feel much, just a gentle rocking but the windy waters themselves were beautiful.  Thanks to my friend Michelle for these photos!

I know it's pretty much impossible to see but there's a whale breaching in the photo above.  I've circled it so you can see where the fuzzy image is.  We were too far away to get a good look but there were many whales spouting and splashing as we approached Baja California on the 8th.  It was great fun to stand out on the balcony and watch them.

Eventually land came into view and we were happy to see calm waters.  Pretty sure Captain Stig was even happier because he was leaving us there in the hands of a new captain until June when he will return to finish the cruise with us.

And why the excitement over smooth seas? Because Cabo San Lucas was the first port in 61 days that we'd been able to actually use our tickets and take the tenders to the dock.  Here's my own sense of amazement as we sat on the port tender to get to town.

So many boats of all kinds, shapes and sizes throughout this marina and almost as many hawkers trying to sell you a tour on a glass bottom boat, or out to the arch, or whale watching, or riding a camel, or jet skiing or parasailing, or on and on and on.  It got a bit overwhelming.  More so when you add in all the souvenir sellers.

Caught a glimpse of this pretty Green Heron as we walked along.  I hadn't realized there were so many different kinds of herons but I'm learning thanks to this trip.

As I mentioned before we saw an awful lot of pelicans in the marina, probably more than I've ever seen in one place before. 

The beach is just across about 30 yards of water from where the tenders come in but you have to walk a mile and a half to get there, not kidding.  There was turn after turn to get around all the boats moored at dozens of docks before we got to sands where I could collect a vial full of grains.  I took off my sandals to check the water temp so Karl snapped a photo of me in the water...except my feet are missing.

There was a nice stretch of sand here and lots of people enjoying loungers in the sun, just sitting on the sand, or swimming in the clear waters.

Ah, here we go, my feet showed up again!  The water felt chill at first but after the waves had approached and receded several times I decided it was actually pretty pleasant.

Lots of brown gulls flying around the beach here.  I appreciated this one posing so nicely for me.

Once I'd dusted the sand off my feet and gotten my sandals on again I looked around for Karl so that we could take a selfie at the beach together, but unfortunately he had moved on so it's only me in this one.  

One last photo of pelicans, I just got a kick out of this group sitting on the boat, looking like they were trying to decide where to go.

Most of the restaurants we'd seen were still selling breakfast as we walked to the beach but on the way back there were more opening up and all were serving lunch.  We were really feeling the need for a taco fix so when we checked out the menu at Los Orígenes Tacos we decided to give them a try.  

We were pleased to be able to get Horchata and fresh orange juice, as well as delicious tacos here.  Apparently I was too hungry to take pictures of our food.  The tortillas were all homemade which made everything even more delicious.  I had a fish taco on a corn tortilla and a shrimp quesadilla on a flour one.  That latter dish was more like a larger taco that was stuffed full of shrimp.  Karl had a beef taco and shrimp taco, then added a fish one after I told him how good mine was.  I think we serendipitously happened on one of the best taco places in Cabo!

Just as we got our food these mariachis came by wondering if we'd like a song.  We opted for two.  The guy on the left was quite a character, especially when I started doing a video later on, he hammed it up for me.

One thing that was kind of surprising was the military presence at the marina.  These four were just a few of many soldiers that we noticed.  Not sure if that was normal or just when cruise ships are in port.

Apparently these two sea lions hang around waiting for fisherman's leftovers, someone has created a business selling the fish heads, spines and tails to tourists so they can feed them to the creatures, who in turn stay put to be fed.  I was waiting for the pelican to have a bite taken out of it but it was completely ignored.

Snapped a nice shot of Serenade and the iconic tip of Baja California as we tendered back to the ship.

And then we had this wonderful view from our balcony the rest of the afternoon until we departed.  I sat out there admiring it while I treated myself to phone calls to some of my favorite faces.  Such a lovely way to spend my time.

When I got back to the room that afternoon I found that Cecilia had left this fun Happy Birthday banner on my door for the day.  She's so talented with her embroidery machine and so organized to have made so many things before leaving.

We had another delicious dinner at Chops with the Posse to celebrate mine and Ian's birthday, born on the same day a few years apart.  

Cecilia had ordered this special birthday cake for us, chocolate with a dark chocolate sleeve decorating the outside, oh was it good!  A perfect way to end a day that had been relaxing and full of birthday wishes from family and friends!