We had a pretty good sleep considering the base died away some time during the night and the lights in the palm trees next to us were turned off. As usual, we woke with first light, but contrary to our normal behaviour, Dan got us straight out of bed to go and see the sunrise. By the time we were out of the van and on the beach, the sun had risen over the resort-clad eastern side of the beach. It threw orange colour into the sky and turned the sand from a dark grey colour to a light yellow.
We walked along the beach away from the already warming sun, amongst the local fishermen with their mighty long poles casting way out into the sea. When we saw a huge amount (probably near a hundred) of boats out in the bay by the cliffs of the peninsula, we assumed they were all out for a sunrise cruise. When Dan pointed out they were fishing boats, probably for charter, it all made sense that, in complete unison, they all motored out into the sea at full speed. Within minutes, they were all white specs on the horizon. The great race to get the first catch of the day it seemed.
Along the beachfront, we walked by the dozens of resorts and restaurants running through the morning procedures, setting tables out, laying out the rental gear, putting cushions on chairs. There was hardly a tourist in sight yet, only us and the locals. We wondered about the various nets in the water that fronted each resort. We thought maybe they were for the stingrays, but surely not sharks. Dan spotted a few jellyfish in the sand, followed by more and more so I think we found our answer.
When we reached the end of the beach, we carried on walking into the marina. This was an example of wealth in Mexico that we hadn’t yet seen. Such a contrast to the isolated towns that barely had running water that we’d become used to. We walked barefoot around the cobblestoned pavement, happy to be out and about at this time when the place was deserted apart from the waiters and waitresses setting tables and the locals walking to work. We quickly understood that we’d been right about the fishing boats. There were stalls up selling charters all over the place and the prices, though American, were pretty reasonable.
Looking at the various menus on display, it was disgusting how much they were charging people. Everything was labelled in USD and they were similar prices to what you’d pay back in the states. But then again, why not take advantage of those who are ignorant of the going rates in Mexico?
Nearing the end of the marina, again we struggled to find a taco stand and our bellies were rumbling. We carried on past the marina and through the streets among workers on their morning commute until we made it back to the beach again. We’d resigned ourselves to making burritos for breakfast, not at all a bad thing, but when we got back to the car, there was a truck parked next to us slinging food. No tacos unfortunately. While I tidied the car a bit, Dan went to the next truck over, one of a more stationary nature, and found there were tacos on offer for 20 Pesos, a price we liked. Sweet! While they didn’t have any pescado (fish), they had chorizo and papas (potatoes) and some marlin which I tried. It wasn’t fried fish, but it was pretty good.
The morning had started out cool enough for us to wear jumpers, but by the time we finished breakfast, we were down to our bathing suits. Ready for an easy day, we got our umbrella and walked to the beach. We weren’t at all worried about the parking ticket we’d received yesterday that was only valid until 7am this morning, we were confident no one would be checking. We moved the car closer to the beach and we were set.
We were interested in people watching and that’s exactly what Playa Médano offered to us. The beach was still pretty quiet by the time we set our umbrella down between a row of ones up for rent. Most of the vendors had set themselves up so they were asking anyone who walked by if they were interested in what they were selling. We were next to the massage house so we heard a lot of people get that offering. After a bit of lying around, chuffed with ourselves about the umbrella, I did a bit of writing, then it was necessary to cool off in the water. We hadn’t tried the water temperature yesterday, just assumed it was typical Pacific Ocean cold, so we were both pleasantly surprised when we dipped our bodies in to find it refreshingly cool and easy to stay in for a long while. Cabo was definitely giving us good vibes now! Dan had a dip same as me and took Cleo with him since she was becoming a hot dog. They cuddled in the water like father and child, Cleo trusting Dan completely to hold on to her.
It was great to see a cruise ship roll in around 10am. It had seemingly come out of nowhere and parked itself right in the middle of the bay. Nowhere near enough room in the marina so the cruisers were shipped ashore with the small boats hanging off the side of the huge cruise liner. I think it was a baby cruise ship compared to the one I’d been on in Alaska, but it was still an impressive size that dominated the bay.
As the tourists started increasing in number, so too did the vendors. There were all sorts of both. Tourists were mostly American, but there were families, couples, friends, kids all of different body shapes and sizes. Some vendors walked the beach with their wares while the water sports guys flew around on their jetskis in the shallow water trying to drum up interest. Initially there wasn’t much interest, but after everyone had had lunch, they were on for it and the waters were full of everything from jetskies, paddleboards and kayaks to parasailing boats and glass-bottom boat ferries. Money, money, money. Our dirtbag camp stood out amongst the rest with our dilapidated umbrella that looked like it would fly away at any time.
When we both got the nibbles for lunch, Dan, the gentlemen that he is, left me to do some writing as he went off to get us another round of tacos. They had pescados this time so when he returned, I was treated with a taco and a nearly cold Coca Cola. Lunch done, we were ready for a break from the beach and drove out to hit the Walmart we’d intended on seeing yesterday. It was only a short drive and we were there. It was more like a mall with a Walmart in it and, being too hot to leave Cleo in the car, we figured we’d take her with us. Just like a baby, she sat in a shopping cart like the special treatment case she is.
Inside Walmart, I stopped when the guys at the door said something in Spanish about Cleo. What I should have done was kept walking like Dan did, as if he knew what he was doing. After a bit of Spanish speaking to them, they were convinced and let us by. We’d been interested to do a comparison of Walmarts between countries but it didn’t take long for us to just want to get out of there. We’d both quite enjoyed being out of America and away from the general American public and inside this Walmart, we were back there. Everyone was buying party supplies for their hotel rooms while we needed the essentials like dog food, bacon and beer. We got everything we needed and got straight out, stopping for a dipped cone at an ice cream stand outside to try and beat the heat.
It was sweltering hot back outside and we were both hankering for a nice grassy park somewhere close so we could lie under a tree. After a bit of searching on Google maps, it seemed there was nothing of the sort. If we weren’t by the beach, we would be in the desert. Still, we tried, exploring the area near our beach carpark. We drove down sandy roads amongst bushes, but didn’t see a patch of grass that wasn’t enclosed by a resort fence. The only shade we found was underneath a highway bridge but, homeless as we are, it wasn’t a place we wanted to hang out. The only option we had was to go back to the beach. Not the worst choice really because the breeze coming off the water made it cooler.
It was only 30 Pesos ($1.50) to get in to the carpark this time and we found ourselves a spot in the now full lot. In the two hours or so we’d been away, the number of people on the beach had multiplied to be in the hundreds if not thousands for the entire stretch. The water was absolutely a buzz with all sorts of motor sports. The only entertainment we needed was the people all around that we could watch. We made up all sorts of stories about them. At one point, we were alerted by Cleo of a baby horse running wild and free behind us. She was obviously the child of one of the big horses offering horseback rides. Cleo thought she’d have a go, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
When a bit white pitbull came onto the beach and sprinted into the water after his owner, Dan got a bit jealous that Cleo wasn’t as happy around water, but he soon changed his tune. A couple had just mounted two horses to go no a horseback ride when the white pit bull spotted them and decided to bit and yap at one of the horses tails. The lady on the horse held on for dear life as the horse bucked and kicked, trying to get away from the attacker that was yanking on his tail. The horse wranglers did their best to spot the woman and get the dog away. Meanwhile, the dog owner just clapped his hands and called to his dog but the pitbull was in another world. When the horse wrangler hit the dog to try and get it to stop, the owner actually told the guy to stop hitting his dog when he wasn’t doing much at all to stop the dog’s biting! Eventually the inevitable happened and the woman was thrown from the horse. She fell hard, but pretty gracefully onto her left side. Her husband watched on, powerless, from the mount of the other horse. The horse got away and the pitbull was put on a chain and drama ensued. Instead of the dog owner offering to pay for the horseride, they were in an argument. The couple decided not to do the horseride and went back to their umbrella after a few photos and a few minutes later, the military arrived to mediate the argument between the horse wranglers and the dog owner. What entertainment!
As day turned to night, we watched the tourists slowly melt away back to their rooms and the cruise ship pulled up anchor and left the bay. We kept running back and forth to the car to resupply on cold beers but each time it seemed to take longer than expected. On my trip, once I got to the car, I decided I was hungry so made us both some chicken and cheese quesadillas that served as dinner. On Dan’s trip, he was gone a particularly long time because he’d towed someone out of the sand while getting more beers. More good karma!
I was keen to hang around for the moonrise, set to happen around 8:20pm. By that time, we pretty much had the place to ourselves until a couple came and sat next to us. We’d met Christian earlier in the day when he got talking to us since his girlfriend was off taking a boat tour of El Arco (The Arch), when they returned, we got to meet Lidia and we started talking. They’d driven down from San Diego same as us, but they’d done it in only two and a half days! Lidia, a preschool teacher, could only get one week off so they were making the most of it. Christian had the best English of any Mexican we’d met so far but Lidia was our saviour, able to translate pretty much anything between the two languages. It meant we could talk about everything. It was nice to watch the moon rise over the horizon together. It was faint when it peeped out over the ocean, turning to a red colour, before fading to orange, then white as it went higher into the sky.
It had cooled off now, so Cleo was bundled up in some towels between my legs and we were all in jumpers. After I put Cleo to bed in the van, I returned to the beach where we drank beers and rum and cokes as we chatted away vibrantly. When the moon was well and truly high in the sky, we were all well drunk and someone said skinny dipping. Before we knew what was happening, the four of us were running naked into the water. While we didn’t have the beach to ourselves, we were too carefree to notice. We swum about in the cold water, embracing the waters of Cabo under the moonlight. We must have stayed in for about half an hour before the cold became too much and we retreated back to the sand. For the sake of warmth, we quickly dried off and put our clothes back on and that signified the end of the night. We gathered our things and staggered back to our cars. We’d exchanged details so we could meet up the next day for a hike and said “Buenos noches” before heading to our separate cars.
Cleo was happy to see us return to the van. We shoved our gear inside, gave the bed sheet a quick flick to get rid of all the sand and we were in bed. Despite the loud music playing nearby from the party goers, we both fell right to sleep.