On February 23rd Viki and I headed to Long Beach, California for a Mexican
Riviera cruise. At the LA airport approaching the cabs, a man standing at the curb asked
if we needed a taxi. He said he’d take us to Long Beach for a price that was reasonable,
grabbed one of Viki’s bags and sped off. I quickly realized he was moving away from all
the cabs and as I asked where his was, he cut through and across the traffic that was
stopped for a red light. We were forced to follow and run as the light was turning. At
the other side I again asked where his cab, as we arrived at it – a new, unlabelled SUV
with darkly tinted windows. We said no way and succeeded in getting our bag back. As we
returned to the proper side of the street, he sped away in his vehicle. Very scary, as
he manipulated us so quickly and easily.
Long Beach was rainy and 64 degrees. It was sunnier the next two days
of cruising on the Carnival Pride, but still chilly. I was unaware that the ocean temperature
in the low 60’s would be such a major influence. On the morning of the 3rd day we arrived in
Puerto Vallarta. I had decided to scuba dive at Las Caletas and Viki decided to stay in Puerto
Vallarta and wander about near the ship. The trip for me was over an hour in a catamaran that
was a party boat – open bar at 10:30 am and they were eager to give me a beer, which I declined.
It was chilly with the sea breeze, unlike Viki’s experience, as she roasted on shore. The
highlight of this excursion wasn’t the scuba dive, but coming up along side a baby humpback,
a mother and a male escort. We got to watch them flip their tails at us several times. The
baby looked quite large until you saw the backs of the adults roll by.
At Las Caletas, only 2 of us had signed up for scuba diving. While the
other passengers headed for lunch, I received instruction, slipped on a wet suit, had a tank
and weights strapped on and then stepped off the pier into 15 feet of ocean. I disappeared
below the surface, but the inflated vest brought me quickly back up. I gasped in air that
sounded like Darth Vader breathing, my vision was obscured by bubbles and splashing as my
ears tried to adjust to the loud volume of the bubbles. I fought back the claustrophobia,
proceeded under the bow of the catamaran and over to the marker buoy. Then it was time to
make my descent. I released the air in the vest and sank 15 feet to the sandy bottom with
brief stops to adjust my ears along the way. I was amazed at how quickly the pressure builds
in your ears, but I quickly adjusted. I had to wait quite a while at the bottom for the other
new diver, as he was struggling with the descent. It was disappointingly sandy water with
visibility only clear for a few feet. Other scuba divers on the cruise ship said it was
unfortunately poor conditions all over Puerto Vallarta that day, as some had seen visibility
of 80 feet in previous dives at this location. When we were both at the bottom, we were
instructed to hold the rope on a piece of concrete and the instructor disappeared to the
surface for reasons I still don’t know. Very strange for the two of us, with no experience,
to be alone down 15 feet, even if it was only for a minute or so. When the instructor returned,
we made our way along the reef. The other new diver had trouble keeping horizontal, but I was
fine. There were lots of fish, but the visibility was poor. The instructor picked up a puffer
that had turned itself into a perfect ball in defense. He placed the spiky ball on my flat hand,
which was pretty cool. I also saw large needle fish and a small ray. The instructor handed me
a sea star and an anemone like blob that attached itself to me with small soft tentacles. We
hadn’t gone very far before we had to turn back on our half hour dive. On the way back, the
stress and exercise were making me feel ill and I finally had to ask to go back up a few minutes
early. Quite an experience, but one I doubt I will ever do again.
Las Caletas was beautiful, but without Viki, the next hour and a half at the beach was truly lonely.
The return trip was entertaining, as the crew all did individual dances to music. The female
photographer began to strip for her dance – they screeched the music to a stop and the crew
restrained her – quite a performance. Then our host danced to “I’m too Sexy”, undid his belt,
flashed the end of the belt, then took it off and approached a female passenger. As he extended
the belt to capture her, he looped it around her male friend instead – the music screeched to a
stop and the crew restrained our host – another great performance.
I was so happy to see Viki waiting at the pier. We grabbed a bite to eat and we walked along the
beach where she had been earlier in the day. At evening in the sunset it was finally a day worth
remembering. Viki showed me where she had finally left the beach and discovered a Starbucks in the
sweltering heat earlier in the day. She ordered a frapachino and they called out “Biki” when it
was ready. She said it tasted marvelous, but about half way through, she remembered the warnings
about not drinking the water in Mexico and in a panic decided to abandon the rest of the drink.
We also sat in a small square by the ship and listened to a band playing soft evening music in the
warn night air. Viki let me know that she had navigated across 8 lanes of traffic earlier in the
day with the help of locals who showed her how to cross in stages where there was no light. On
the other side was a Walmart where she bought 4 outfits for Raya and a couple toiletries for herself.
She said it came to 169 pesos and she had no idea how much that was, but she figured with Walmart,
it couldn’t be too bad. When she finally got the bill online, she found out all the purchases came
to $15 in total.
The next day we arrived in Mazatlan. I had been
there as a teenager with my parents. We decided no to do any cruise tours and walked
off the ship into the town. We were inundated with people trying to take us in vans,
taxis and open vehicles that looked a little like overgrown golf carts. They were
relentless and there must have been 50 vehicles looking for business. One driver
shouted “how cheap are you” to other ship passengers who turned him down. When we
finally got to the end of the hawkers, an elderly gentleman asked if we’d like a tour.
I said no, but something in his voice and his willingness to let us go made me change my
mind. Hernan took us on a 1.5 hour tour of the city, which we enjoyed immensely. We
watched the cliff diver take a plunge for tourist tips, stopped at several viewpoints
on the coast and went inside a magnificent church. It was great fun in the open air
vehicle and we had a great time.
Our last destination, the next morning, was Cabo San Lucas. This is a picturesque
city at the tip of Baja California.
It is mainly hotels in an arid bay with a magnificent sandy beach. We took a kayak and
snorkeling expedition.
Although they indicated at first that it was too rough to reach El Arco, the arch at
the tip of the peninsula,
we ended up making it there. It was eerie as ocean from the Pacific side swelled through
toward the Sea of Cortez
where we were. I was excited and enjoyed it, but one of the other kayaks swamped and they
had to be rescued
by the boat that accompanied us. On the return from the point, we were almost at the snorkeling location
when there was a loud splash about 75 feet away. We got the pleasure of watching a baby humpback play.
It jumped about 5 times as it made it’s way from the bay toward the open ocean. It was accompanied by a female
and an escort who only showed their backs – very large when contrasted against the playful youngster who had
seemed large itself on first sight, but was dwarfed by the adults. The guide said they had never seen whales
on the kayak trip before.
The snorkeling was a thrilling experience, starting with the rush created by jumping in to
65 degree water. Viki had Carol’s mask with a corrective lens, so unlike our Caribbean
experience, this time she had a great view. There were tons of fish and the clarity was
excellent. We saw a giant pipe fish, lots of sergeant majors, angels, colorful damsels,
parrot fish, eels and just about everything you could imagine. We even saw a shore bird
diving under the water. I thought it was an otter or a seal at first. The instructor
allowed about 20 minutes of snorkeling for those from Washington state or Canada but
considerably less for anyone else. In fact, only 6 out of 11 went in and 2 were only
there for 5 minutes. I was first in, last out at 16 minutes. I would have stayed longer,
but hypothermia was setting in. I spent the next several hours trying to warm up. It was
a perfect day at our balcony with the pleasant breeze and the view of the rocky
point.
The next day we traveled back to Long Beach. The 64 degree surface temp, a
20 knot ship speed and a 25 knot head wind made for freezing conditions that serve as a reminder
that a winter Mexican Riviera cruise shouldn’t start north of Cabo San Lucas. On March 2nd we
arrived in Long Beach and taxied to Redondo Beach after the driver got lost 3 times. We walked
along the beach in lovely temperatures. There’s something about the air in California when it’s
clear that is just remarkable. At around 11 we were able to connect with Marion, Sherry, Michael
and Daniel for lunch. Then we went to Daniel’s place that he rents with 4 other guys for $3,800
per month. It has a magnificent view from a hillside overlooking the city, Redondo beach and the
Palos Verdes hills. Mohammed joined us there with his nephew. The swimming pool was too expensive
for Daniel to heat, but he did succeed in dumping his younger brother and cousin
into it.
The next morning, we got to take another lovely walk along Redondo Beach before
heading to the airport for Vegas. It was the best weather of the trip at Redondo Beach and I
began longing to live in California again, which I hadn’t felt for many years. Vegas was cool
at 64 degrees, but fairly pleasant. We stayed at the Excalibur the first night (scene of a ricin
poison scare two days earlier). Our regular visit to our favorite location at the Bellagio’s
chocolate café was a major disappointment – no more prosciuto paninis on the menu, the syrupy
coke that I love had been watered down to a typical standard level and palmiers (elephant ears)
were no longer for sale individually. You had to buy minis in a gift box for $14. It was a bit
of a shock to have our favorite anniversary cafe slip out of existence. That night we made up for
it with the highlight of our Vegas trip, as we thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Love at the
Mirage – the Beatles meet Cirque du Soleil. The multiple simultaneous performances, elaborate
costumes, intricate props, great Beatle music and audios, plus people dropping from the ceilings,
flying off of trampolines and racing up and down ramps on roller blades was unbelievably brilliant.
I was already talking about seeing it again as I left. That night we both had the $7 sirloin, baked
potato and veggies at the Excalibur, which was excellent.
The second day in Vegas we moved to the Flamingo. We had never been there and this was a
great hotel. All the rooms have floor to ceiling windows which make them very bright and
provide excellent views. Our unit looked north and we were pleasantly surprised to find
out it overlooked a court yard full of palm trees, swimming pools and an area for birds,
swans, koi and of course – flamingos. We also found prosciuto paninis and 75 cent palmiers
at the Venetian! That night we went to see Bette Middler at Caesar’s Palace. It was a great
show, but paled in comparison to Love for me. Bette does get a little crazy, rolling around
on the stage in a mermaid suit, dancing in a wheel chair and telling vaudeville type jokes.
She is an excellent performer and singer. Despite all her antics, she really comes through
big on the serious stuff.
Our last night in Vegas we were at the Bellagio. With all the lake front units sold
out this time, we only got up to the 11th floor. After having a full suite on floor
34 the last time, it wasn’t quite up to the previous memory. The fountains are magnificent
though and I watched them for hours. To top it off, Viki developed an allergic reaction,
which almost kept her from returning home the next day. We made it home though, and our
fabulous view condo makes it hard to leave home at
all.
