Welcome to Mexico!

Welcome to the world of your Favorite Author, Poet, and Expatriot: Matthew Dexter

“There is a broad range of stories here I’ve written, many of them early writings and nothing I hope will haunt me for decades. Everybody has their favorites, and I hope that you too can find at least one story that enchanted your imagination. This is a small sample of the first 100 stories, and I hope the next 100 will be better beyond reason.” –Matthew Dexter 

http://matthewbdexter.wordpress.com/about/links-to-matthews-fiction-stories/  

 

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Below is a small sample from the thousands of articles and reviews written by Don Mateo. Most of these pieces and pictures are related to Los Cabos, Mexico. This is not a blog. These are not even the best articles by any means.

One for the Road

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/323/pagina-21.htm                  http://www.shootsandvines.com/?p=1023                http://fullofcrow.com/onefortheroad.html                 http://www.gloomcupboard.com/2009/04/88.html

I accept the offer with reluctance and drink the enormous tequila shot in sync with the drunken tourist who orders it for me. I don’t normally drink tequila, ever since the public debauchery, pervasive car crashes, naked blackouts, and arguments with cretin vagrants made it difficult for me to stay in control. The bartender is speaking perfect English, while I’m working on a post Christmas cerveza binge. The female tourist sits across the bar and smiles as I file another few Noche Buenas into the briefcase of my stomach.

 

I finally decide to reciprocate her offer and order another couple tequila shots. She accepts, but with trepidation and much less enthusiasm than before, which makes me immediately regret the gesture. Embarrassment festers in my mouth like an infected cold sore. The vile liquid tastes like fire. I often admire the local gringos who bath in tequila every afternoon at Tanga Tanga–talking, smoking cigarettes and wasting away the hours of each day in the lazy comfortable shade like a demented coffin maker convention waiting for the wonderful call from heaven.  

 

I bid goodbye to Rips and begin walking out into the night—a horrific vision of an apparition with way too much tequila and holiday brew broiling in his gut. Leaving Plaza Mariachis and the delicious smell of fish tacos mixed in with humongous burritos simmering from the grill of Taco Loco, I walk into the night. I get about seven yards before the familiar gentlemen’s club pushers begin to offer the lusty lascivious intoxication of the naked ladies inside.

 

“You want to look at the ladies?” he asks.

 

I’ve heard that about a hundred times in Cabo, and probably a dozen by the same man. It’s like a malignant cancer that you can’t escape from because it always discovers you on the streets every evening to demand a lonely meeting with the sweat-glistening flesh of the other sex. 

 

“Claro que no compa,” I answer.

 

I’ve never understood why anyone would pay to look at naked ladies, but maybe I’m crazy and capable of things beyond just paying exorbitant amounts of money to sit with a bunch of tourists in a smutty and salacious club. The men continue with the fallacious accusations and exaggerations of the beauty inside.

 

“But everybody wants to look at naked ladies…que onda? You want to come and look at the beautiful young girls, right?”

 

“Gracias, no soy tourista, pero gracias–no voy pagar un centavo ver chicas desnudas, nada, nunca…the naked ladies pay to see me.”

 

“Oh, ok–ahhh ok,” they say. They turn away to concentrate on the next guys walking down the street minding their own business. They never say anything to the ladies. You can almost hear crickets chirping when a woman walks past, then back to annoying the males. They actually happily stand out on the streets and do this all night long.

 

I make it around another corner and am no longer even going to look them in the face the next time they decide to ask me about the girls. I can see them waiting for me, like a bunch of sharks who can taste blood in the water. They’re hungry for my money, and there’s nothing I can do to avoid them.

 

“Hey buddy, you want to look at the beautiful women?” they ask.

 

“Estoy bien compa,” I tell them. “No tengo tiempo ahorita, y puedo ver chicas desnud—”

 

Something suddenly stabs my in the head, just above my right eye. It’s a street sign and I just walked right into the sharp edge and cut an inch of flesh from my face. I wipe the blood on my t-shirt, dabbing the cut since the blood’s not gushing at all, even though the wound is very deep, and probably could use a few stitches.

 

Even as I mutilate my face trying to avoid the losers on the street, I can’t escape their incessant gibberish. At least this time they stop talking about naked ladies. Maybe my blood would stain the beautiful bodies. 

 

“You’re cut,” one of them says, as if I hadn’t noticed.

 

“You’re bleeding,” says another.

 

He sounds sincere, even though I can’t help but feel like he got his pound of flesh out of me. I probably left my skin on the street sign.

 

“Estoy bien, es nada,” I say calmly.

 

More than two years have passed since this event. If I could go back and change anything—take back the scar or the pain of looking like a monster for a few months after putting so much peroxide on the cut I bleached one eyebrow orange, I would not change a single thing. My wound has healed, but the scar will always remind me of the molestos en la calle. Next time I intend to hit the street sign so damn hard it nearly decapitates me, because there’s so much more to Los Cabos than hearing about naked ladies.

 

  

 

 

 

 

I once knew a senorita that drove too fast. She eventually crashed her car into the back of a Coca-Cola delivery truck at six o’clock in the morning in front of Home Depot when she was high on crystal methamphetamine.

“This place will eat you alive,” said the middle-aged man at Baja Cantina dockside about a year ago. “There’s nothing more cowardly than growing old and dying naturally.” (That’s what I think he meant to say.)  He was talking (loudly as most gringos do in such places) to his friend, another local gringo. His words happily echoed through my ears like distant thunder and the ineffable mutter of reverberations from a horrific traffic accident which actually never happened. There’s magic in the streets and the highway embraces some of the most amazing, secret and secluded beaches in Baja.

Casa Bonita Fine Home Décor is an escape from the madness and an entrance into the ethereal. Mexican home furnishings and hand crafted art is sold at decent prices. Let’s face it: the prices in Los Cabos are exorbitant, as everyone tries to take advantage of tourists and make a profit off that one percent of locals with millions of pesos in the bank. It’s cheaper and a much better option to order items from Guadalajara or someplace where you will find the same exact items at one third the price.

But Casa Bonita is to die for. Casa Bonita Home Décor offers an extensive selection of wonderful home furnishings. From colorful parrots carved with fastidious precision, to intricate miniature figurines and fine Mexican artwork, Casa Bonita is a gem in the desert. The “glass blown factory” is the perfect place to get a taste of real Mexicans blowing glass. Just remember to endeavor to drive safely, often using high beams with caution because there’s nothing worse than a Spanish accent coffin.

Picture Perfect

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/319/pagina-01.htm

If you’re searching for the perfect and most majestic surfing spot on the surface of the peninsula, look no further. Your journey is about to begin. The aquatic ethereal is contagious in Los Cabos, and the currents are swirling with a courageous left point break at Monuments Beach. An advantageous break for expert surfers only, with an ethereal vision of land’s end and the arch from a perspective unlike any other surfing beach in Baja.

Here flows a heavenly vision with a fast break from a wicked take-off zone exposing a number of jagged rocks, above a potentially vicious undertow. Monuments is the only beach close enough to town where you can discover a decent surfing cove, even while witnessing smoke clouds drifting from the numerous chimneys and smoke stacks of cruise ships in the beautiful bay of Cabo San Lucas.

In my mind I can instantly imagine myself paddling into paradise, gliding gracefully backwards upon the foaming crests of whispering waves cascading toward the golden crescent shoreline, performing tricks like a natural born aquatic acrobat–a visceral mermaid with a surfboard. I’m not the Michael Phelps magic man in this image, but there must be seaweed in my mouth. I should have alluded to my deluded delusions merely as reveries from another water pipe dream, but life seems to shudder in the darkness and utter us toward Los Cabos like a rudderless sailboat. 

Like boats against the current, we beat on. There’s a light in the distance. The arch will be here when we’re all gone. Centuries after we’ve died and Los Cabos lives on, the arch will promise something larger than a monument. The currents from the past and the waves of the future will be washed beneath the rocks of fate, but those seconds we were alive in Los Cabos were precious beyond words. Cabo is an endless and euphoric utopia; a senseless state of mind, a restless inspiration in the soul. People who live in Los Cabos are individuals who believe in following their dreams at all costs–whatever the price. Heaven on earth is deciding where the current divides reality with a dream.

Nearly seventy years ago John Steinbeck said, ”The very air here is miraculous, and outlines of reality change with the moment. The sky sucks up the land and disgorges it. A dream hangs over the whole region, a brooding kind of hallucination.”  

For months it seems that enormous birds used to scream incessantly from the rooftop of Costco, but they must have soared toward the heavens. The submerged pearl has never risen to the surface on its own, so the purpose of Los Cabos isn’t just to happily touch the ethereal amid a collection of perfect visions, but to actually surf it to the shore.  

An Interview with an Institution

 http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/312/index.html      

   

Walking into the office of Mr. Bisbee is like walking into a coffin. It’s not often you get to interview one of the most significant pioneers in the history of Los Cabos. Before me sat Dracula, drinking blood and thinking about fresh Marlin meat…juicy and sweet.

 

It was an honor for me to meet the man who has helped shape Los Cabos into what it is today. Bob Bisbee is a class act all the way, and it was an unmitigated honor to speak with him. I am sure it was not such an honor for him to be in the company of a young journalist such as myself, but his timeless message is one which I humbly attempt to deliver to you with the best method I know how.

 

Mr. Bisbee has been coming to Cabo since 1960. In forty-eight years there are surely few others who have initiated such a significant influence and impact on the development of Los Cabos as Bob Bisbee. He has not only witnessed the persistent development of Los Cabos over decades of revolutionary evolution, he has become one of the premier institutions in bringing this ethereal beauty into the residual community which has become Los Cabos.

 

“You love it for the prosperity that it’s brought to the people down here,” he tells me, with a smile and a flash of the eye that you can only find in those who have seen Los Cabos when it was nothing but a small fishing village of four hundred grisly residents when everybody knew one another.

 

“We’ve got more boats and more money than we’ve had at the same time last year,” Mr. Bisbee beams confidently, even with the ignorant indignant interviewer in his presence. “So we’re up, right now we’re up.”

 

And yes we were. The tournament was an enormous success by the extraordinary event on the first day with the colossal catch of that monster beneath the waves. If I know anything, the only way to follow up a terrible question is to ask one even dumber, to make me look even worse and younger. Only a demented moron can have any pretensions in the presence of one of the most important men in Los Cabos. That’s my job.

 

“And ah, how would you–you know, when you first started the tournament, did you ever imagine it would evolve into what it’s become nowadays?”

 

I should have shot myself in the face with a scuba spear gun, but the face he made gave me some sympathy and cut me some slack.

 

“There’s no way to have even imagined…there wasn’t even a comparison.” At least he didn’t growl so loud this time.

 

“I started out with six boats and ten thousand dollar prize money–now we’re two hundred boats and five million dollars in prize money, so there’s no comparison…there’s no way to even think.”

 

“Well in Cabo, I came here in 1960,” Mr. Bisbee reflected, envisioning the land Cortez and Steinbeck knew so well, as few of us can even imagine. Without roads and homes and only the golden ethereal majesty of the virtually uninhabited majestic aquatic desert on the edge of the earth.

 

“These people come down here to fish,” Mr. Bisbee boasts, “they don’t come here to play golf.”

 

I am already an idiot so why not get futuristic and prophetical?

 

“Where do you see the tournament in um…in another twenty-eight years,” I ask him, “or twenty years, could you imagine how it would look then, with all the development already?”

 

He stretches back and perhaps starts to pardon me for my tonterías and for being an ignorant gringo living in a country that he has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for, and a city that he has helped designate the Marlin sport fishing capital of the world.

 

“Ugh, it’s hard to say,” he contemplates, “we have seven teams from Russia here this year.” He rubbed his head to confirm, “seven teams from Russia…four teams from Japan–and these other countries they’ve got a lot of money and they’re looking for ways to spend it…we’re gonna help em.”

 

And teams with money they are. Like prosperous miners during the gold rush, Los Cabos has become the modern day diamond in the dirt. The Billfish with the will to dish out millions. Imagine Vladimir Putin sitting on the deck waving the pirate flag rather than invading neighboring democratic nations. I don’t know anything about fishing, but I can see land’s end from my house. Maybe next year we can see Todd and governor Sara Palin participating, reeling in some marlins and murdering some sea lions.

 

“Speaking of the money,” I say, but coming from an artist like me it sounds like a lion pissing on an elephant’s face.

 

“They’re not charters–they’re long line boats,” he growls at me from behind his desk.

 

I’m a baboso. While asking him about the controversial “Shark Norma” regulation 29 I had obviously made an error in my vernacular.

 

“I think it’s the worst thing in the world,” Mr. Bisbee explains, “this fish means more to these people around here–all the hotels, every business, the thousands of people who depend on the fish industry…”

 

“…It’s just asinine,” he tells me.

 

“That’s all it is…it’s greed,” Mr. Bisbee professes, “a handful of people–and it’s gonna ruin Cabo San Lucas if it keeps up.”

 

I couldn’t agree more.

 

Bohemian Butterflies

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/311/pagina-23.htm                                                     

There is something exceptional that separates normal people from common maniacal foreigners in Baja California. This is especially true at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, in Cabo San Lucas, where the majority of these extraordinary expatriates congregate, usually choosing to live in communities amongst themselves, amid synthetic Mexican culture. Here they exude a strange new aroma of oceanic vapors, choosing to stay longer than any sane vacationer ever should.

 

Existing within improvised gringo colonies like deranged Bahamian butterflies bathing in warm puddles of Jamaican rum, with a tequila chaser, these perverse lunatics live morally impoverished lifestyles, which breed a different, significantly sinister type of character. Provisional dwellings are welcomely embraced by the most wealthy and lazy among them. Depravity is openly accepted by these affluent lunatics, and even more so by their poorer counterparts, who outnumber the rich by about ten to one.

 

With broken English and barely spoken Spanish, their instincts crash down upon the natives like the tempest waves from the rains of hurricanes yet to come. The sole collective impressionable effect of their inebriated temperaments can be observed by the noticeable layer of fresh sweat and white foam that submerges and collects on their lower lips during sunset. This cathartic happy hour countenance lasts eight hours for them. 

 

These ignorant gringos are legally documented residents and illegal immigrants alike. We are inextricably linked together like Mexicans north of the border. We are all susceptible to the impressions presented by the tasteless actions of the few. Your messages have painted us all an ugly shade of Caucasian. Ugly Americans and Canadians have painted such a disgusting picture of us all, and what a shame for that.

 

In Cabo we are all walking that fine line between heaven and hell. The only difference is that some of us are running faster than others, and some of us are hovering upside down on our heads holding onto that mile high tightrope in the sky with both hands clenching the noose, afraid that if we try to stand up against the winds of time we might not make it. So we choose to roll on, never loosening our grip, hoping that we can only one day summon the courage of conviction to exercise whatever strength and athleticism still remains after decades of abuse to our mutilated bodies to summersault profusely backwards and land in reverse on the tips of our toes.      

 

Tasteless expatriates wake up! The time has finally come to rise up and change your attitudes. You need to go one day without drinking! Are you even capable of experiencing a simple day without drinking, you depraved and degenerate alcoholics? Can you go one single day without thinking something negative about Mexicans or your insignificant problems? It doesn’t matter if the traffic is bad and the construction is sometimes a pain in the ass. So what if it takes months for the mechanic to fix the car when it should take days, and he asks for half the money up front? We are living in paradise and we are not gringos and Mexicans; we are all fortunate residents of utopia. You belligerent gringos need to stop denigrating Mexicans and appreciate the nation where you have chosen to live, or get the hell out and good riddance!

                                                          

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/310/pagina-05.htm

Para visitar los sitios de los anunciantes que hay en esta pagina haga click en su logo o en el link   Web: www.lat22nobaddays.com E-mail: lat22roadhouse@yahoo.com     Edicion 310 - Octubre 1 al 15 de 2008     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Paginas Centrales 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24   Para visitar los )     Web: www.tuttobene.com.mx E-mail: info@tuttobene.com.mx   Web: No disponible E-mail: elmesondezapata@hotmail.com

A Dance to Remember

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/294/pagina-04.htm  Though obviously no longer the secret uninhabited tropical desert of decades past, nor the secluded utopia fishing village initially created for a reclusive band of resilient natives and a few ambitious migrants, Los Cabos still shimmers with undiscovered treasures and enchants visitors with an illustrious sailing history. Our aquatic oasis having forever cast the mountains with beauty and exuded a luminous glimmering beacon which beckons to the oceanic heavens above, and our escape into paradise has become beautiful beyond belief, and shall remain so, ethereal and shimmering until the end of time.

This modern-day tourist utopia of land’s end has evolved into a sprawling Mexican beachfront metropolis of epic proportions. Los Cabos has definitely seen its fair share of renovation. She’s been glistening with unlimited evanescent splendor, listening silently to the winds of change forever. Through deafening hurricanes and raging currents, to the calmest days on earth, the waves are always alerted first, and every single day sailors from around the globe are fixated on Los Cabos.

Her shores have seen perpetual magnificence and timeless infinite natural beauty since the beginning of time itself. Altruistic expansion has risen slowly from the bottom of the golden sands of the Pacific Ocean and priceless islands sunken centuries earlier have finally been restored, given new honor while catapulting the future into our open hands.

Ocean, sea, and desert have merged seamlessly like lyrical words and written the poetic song of the ages, and with the opening and expansion of Marina Puerto Los Cabos http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/297/pagina-05.htm in San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur has become a visceral symphony of melodic mysticism, silencing cynicism while all residual mysteries have been answered by the palms of God and Poseidon.

Dutch and British pirates have given a colorful history to the ethereal canvas of Los Cabos. Spanish conquistadors and missionaries have brought religion, while Pericú Indians bestowed enrichment as the indigenous ancestors who started it all.

The motion of the ocean is always changing, while the arch marches toward paradise like the hundreds of thousands of rowdy ignorant spring breakers about to invade our shores for a taste of liberation and

Mexican freedom, inspired and driven like Miguel Hidalgo and his raging Aztec warriors fighting valiantly, united for Mexican independence and equal rights.

These days the exquisite waters, turquoise waves, and upscale marinas of Los Cabos are flourishing like no other glamorous cape on the planet. Affluent boats, yachts, and vessels of various persuasions and dimensions are springing up like an epic Pirates of the Caribbean manifesto reenactment. It’s becoming exceedingly difficult to select the best method to conquer the seas because there’s an increasingly growing fleet to choose from.

Though if you’re searching for an extremely opulent sailing experience, escape into a world of extraordinary luxury aboard Slow Dance; the ultimate and newest opulent sailing opportunity in Los Cabos.

Waltz into the heavens aboard this 80 foot motor sailor with spacious and luxurious accommodations. The first class amenities below deck include three staterooms with “en suite” bathrooms and showers, flat screen televisions, DVD players, an extraordinary living room, dining area with full kitchen, and a yacht-wide state-of-the-art stereo sound system.

Don’t worry, you don’t even have to raise the sails, since the expert professional crew will take care of everything, with separate crew quarters and always friendly service, allowing you to live out your dreams like royal kings and princesses in wonderland.

Go slow dancing aboard the two-and-a-half hour private whale watching tour, enjoy a spectacular sunset cruise, or take the private four hour sail. You will not end up on Gilligan’s Island, although the included champagne and house wine pouring copiously might make you feel like you’re soaring toward the sky.

If you decide you like the decadent feeling on cloud nine and don’t want to return to earth then simply take the one night, three night, or god forbid, weeklong charter up into the Sea of Cortez to explore some of the extraordinary 244 islands and bays. Most of these islands are uninhabited, so take your gamble Las Vegas or Caliente style.

Just be careful what you wish for, or you might end up toasting a waltz with the mythological Aztec Queen Calafia in the lost city of Atlantis. Dare to sail far enough toward the end of the earth to discover the hidden secrets of heaven itself. Just remember; what happens on Slow Dance, stays on Slow Dance!

Los Cabos Restaurant Reviews

La Casa Country is an eclectic fusion of Mexican charm which uses an exciting element of western American music to add an enticing element of celebration. The extensive menu offers delicious Mexican dishes cooked to perfection with exquisite recipes from mainland. Attentive, always exceptionally friendly service meets a festive country western dance show, and the circular setting assures that every table is presented a wonderful view of the performance. The rustic ambience is magical, with cattle antlers on the rafters, cowboy saddles on the walls, and an enormous deer horn chandelier towering above it all.

Multiple television screens permeate country western music videos. La Casa Country will transport you into another culinary dimension. Expect nothing fancy or pretentious here, just a Mexican mountain ranch family atmosphere with a mouthwatering home cooked flavor and an authentic cowboy taste. The house specialty is juicy steaks and fresh seafood, and upon entrance you will have the opportunity to watch salsa prepared from scratch right in front of your nose in a molcajate bowl

Situated in a picturesque Irish castle with unprecedented panoramic views, Brennan’s Bar & Grill has catapulted itself to the forefront of elegant, sophisticated dining. Perched gracefully above downtown Cabo San Lucas, overlooking the water and land’s end from a unique perspective unlike any other Mexican oasis, Brennan’s is a welcome edition to the already exquisite Los Cabos restaurant repertoire.

Below the stone dining terrace the city lights glimmer like fabulous Mexican roman candles exploding and dancing like enchanting unicorn dragons across the sky. The moon merges with the shimmering stars and consumes the night with a palpitating aura of magical enlightenment. The Irish pub ambiance permeates from every direction and merges impeccably into an elegant castle setting. The Mexican international fusion cuisine is exceptional.

The exquisite Mexican international cuisine adds a Spanish element to your palate that manages to enrapture your soul and entrance your imagination, awakening ancient history to the glorious times when the Saint Patrick’s Brigade fought with distinguishing honor and brought Irish blood across the border into paradise. The stones which envelope this picturesque inn and castle restaurant were actually transported directly from the surrounding mountains of Cabo San Lucas, inspiring a natural and symbiotic dining environment.

Arts and Sushi is an eclectic Japanese restaurant that serves up a fresh selection of delicious sushi from the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean. Using only the best natural ingredients, specialty dishes include magnificent sushi, sashimi, and Japanese cuisine prepared masterfully by a gifted kitchen staff lead by chef Gregorio Hernandez, presented with a trendy contemporary artistic flair. Majestic modern art sets an exquisite indoor ambiance, while the marina views from the patio provide a refreshing aquatic setting that goes hand in hand with the delicious oriental gastronomy.

For an appetizer try the mussels, shrimp, and crab wrapped in mouthwatering sea bass and lightly fried with a wonderful sesame sauce, or if you’re looking for something a bit more zesty savor the sashimi currican, fresh fish with spicy crab basked in a creamy yusu sauce flavored with tasty orange, chile, soy and black sesame seeds.

Entrées include spicy pan-fried sea bass or dorado, shrimp Toban Jan, and tuna teriyaki. Curry aficionados should certainly try the lobster, definitely flavored to mouthwatering perfection in a heavenly creamy sesame-curry sauce. With extensive beverages, enjoy the expert martinis, hot and cold sakes, or Sapporo beer.

All sushi restaurants are not the same, and this place is living testament to that assertion. With subtle Mexican influences in the sauces, French and American inspirations can also be hinted in the visceral flavors of this distinctly favored Los Cabos Asian eatery. From now on, the only name you need to remember is Arts and Sushi.

Las Palmas is an exquisite oceanfront restaurant with an open window into the heart of paradise, exposing the greatest vision on the planet. Visit the end of the earth wishing for the waves to enrapture your appetite, and all your prayers will be answered with delicious enticement. Las Palmas is the most ethereal beach restaurant in Los Cabos. Where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, delicious seafood and Mexican cuisine is celebrated in a festive environment that inspires vibrant revelry amid an unprecedented menu and incomparable scenery.

If you’re searching for the freshest seafood look no further. Your craving will be rewarded and your visions for visceral beauty brought into fruition, given homage amid the breathtaking background of majestic mountains descending gracefully into oceanic utopia. Dine on the covered patio overlooking paradise — or with your toes in the golden sands of Medano Beach, holding a cold beverage with the most spectacular sunset in the solar system in front of your table, slowly toasting your every move while the waves gently serenade you with live music.

Situated in the picturesque patio of the charming Hotel Marisol, Buon Appetito is a significantly different Italian cuisine, and definitely a triumphant addition to the San Jose del Cabo restaurant scene. Buon Appetito is a delicious little Italian bistro with a magnificent menu of exquisite dishes and a beautiful unpretentious allure which consumes the charming courtyard patio with something new and special, happily exuding a very romantic mystique that actually brings a tiny piece of Italy to Los Cabos.

Ambience is certainly an integral component to the appeal of Buon Appetito. With a bubbling fountain centered nicely around the dining area, something special can not only be found in the extensive menu and the friendly attentive service, but within the elegant minimalist Italian décor of the courtyard itself.With two wonderful Italian chefs, one from Naples and the other from Milan, the kitchen successfully covers a diverse range of delicious Italian cuisine. For an appetizer try the steamed mussels with oregano and red wine, served in a delectable garlic wine broth. Seafood dishes are the house specialty, and the fresh baked bread is a homemade delicacy.

Having created a truly Mexican fusion using the finest ingredients from treasured family recipes handed down through generations, Pancho’s chefs hail from every corner of the nation. Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz, Sonora, Guadalajara, México City, the Yucatán, and of course the Baja California Peninsula, ensures that there is something for everybody in your party. The house specialty is tortilla soup with crisp tortilla strips, chicken and avocado.

Pancho’s Restaurant and Tequila Bar is a colorful Mexican fiesta which dishes out an eclectic celebratory ambiance and a delicious menu of traditional indigenous domestic and American cuisine. It is here where Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa is worshipped nightly and brought back to life daily, victoriously celebrated, adored and worshipped in the commemorative hand painted murals, historical memorabilia, floral decorations, vibrant paper banners which triumphantly adorn the vivid multicolored tablecloths and wave nostalgically from the walls.

 

Festive meets the romantic at Pancho’s, where mariachi and Mexican trios will serenade you tableside, and the world’s largest collection of Tequilas awaits in the adjacent famous tequila bar, with over 575 types! Try the Mole Oaxaqueño (chicken with delicious mole sauce, made with 32 different ingredients) or the Burrito Yucateco (seafood burrito with shrimp and fresh fish in a spicy guajillo sauce.)

Endeavor to remember saving some room for a flaming Mexican coffee during desert, and then enjoy a majestic moonlit walk along this treasured stretch of shoreline. If you feel like relaxing after your meal simply take advantage of the fabled ambiance of Medano Beach heaven, with luxury massage tables situated only seconds away from the restaurant and specially trained masseuses ready to comfort your muscles like no other spa in Los Cabos.

The wonderful ambiance provides the secret ingredient that luxury hotels cannot provide, with unprecedented vistas and sweet serenity. The freshest seafood is delivered to the restaurant daily, prepared with the best methods in Baja, and the inexpensive prices of

Las Palmas are sure to tempt you to return. If you’re yearning for something more than just bikini contests and drunken debauchery, but still want to appreciate eating in the sands of Medano Beach, Las Palmas has it all. People of all ages will surely savor the rich flavors of this diverse menu, offering buffalo wings and a special menu for the children. Adults will appreciate the fine wines and full bar.

Boats of all sizes and persuasions float in front of your table like decorative poetry in motion, as the eclectic setting changes every moment, creating a canvas that dances in front of your very eyes. There is no denying that dining on Medano Beach has finally met its master, so if it’s breathtaking panoramic scenery and delicious cuisine your after then you’ll find all the answers at Las Palmas.

Sailing Into the Edge of the Earth

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/292/pagina-24.htm Have an appetite for majesty and speed?  Welcome to Los Cabos. Now come feed your insatiable hunger for marine momentum, quench your incessant thirst with some warm salty water, and then kiss the marina, the world, and the dirty pirates goodbye.

Discover what you’ve been missing and everything you’ve ever been searching for aboard the exotic treasure of a lifetime, an aquatic adventure that never ends in your mind, like unspoken hidden beaches and secret vistas of the mesmerizing, dancing horizon of Los Cabos during those alluring final moments when the distant colors are so magic and mystical that you can’t decide where earth ends and heaven begins. 

Endeavour to take a cold drink from the America’s Cup and refresh your mind. One minute later it’s like a warm toast to the magnificent ocean, a significant incident of unmitigated exhilaration, an ethereal waltz with the Gods. America’s Cup is an unprecedented excursion, a perfect encounter with the surface of paradise itself. A three hour Cabo Adventures journey into the unknown.

Cabo is full of depravity, decadence, and degenerates, but this excursion is certainly healthy and actually worthy of meeting expectations, especially for those who believe in higher edification, even inspiring mentions of the sublime.

The hours devour your attention as you hunger for the ultimate victory, that drink from the cup, the one that knocks you off your feet and makes you feel more complete than anything you’ve ever tasted or experienced in your life, or ever will again. Only while sailing on the waves of paradise aboard the America’s Cup adventure vessel will you ever endeavor to understand the lives and ultimate sacrifices of the greatest sailors alive.

They live and die for all this glory. The pride of many nations and royal families relies on this trophy, as the races of all countries unite, they will do anything while letting nothing stand in their way toward attaining the bragging rights and tasting the visceral unattainable sensations of adventurous racing champions. Now we can all experience it aboard extraordinary professional racing boats, on the priceless sailing venture of a lifetime. 

“Hey mate!”

“Trim the sails and grind the wenches!”

Once you leave the marina it’s time to raise the sails and take over the water like no other craft in Cabo. A few minutes and the main sail is flailing in the wind, levels above all other sailing vessels and you have now become master of the sea.

Seriously, you’re really sailing this thing like the billionaire champions of the planet, the multi-millionaires who flock to this unique aquatic sport. These boats are so authentic and real, they could not only compete in the America’s Cup, they could actually win it, so visitors are given the unique privilege of sailing these extraordinary yachts like the best in the world.

Once the life vests come on and you hit the open seas, it’s all over mate! The New Zealanders will coach you as the ropes crackle like thunder and the boat shutters and slivers into motion with the velocity of lightning bolts and the carnivorous force of a mythological dinosaur, in symbiotic harmony with the picturesque shimmering waves, inspiring you onward, into the glowing horizon, currents growing and rising almost up to the deck, and the splashing salt from the turquoise surface of the water assaulting your skin like delicious Pacific snakebite teardrops from the oceanic abyss of another world.

Cabo Adventures uses their imagination to inspire the thrill of yachting, providing an unprecedented experience aboard two exceptional professional racing vessels. These 80 foot boats were formerly raced in the America’s Cup, and both provide professional racing at the top level, having traveled across the seven seas and back again.

Ever since the initiation of the America’s Cup in 1851, when Queen Victoria of England christened the tournament, we have been waiting and wishing for the pirates to return. Now, finally in 2008 the great Queen Califia has reemerged and taken the crown for Los Cabos; so let the tasting begin!

The Aquatic God

“I hate Dolphins.”

“Nobody hates Dolphins.”

“Well ok, but who cares about the dolphins anyway?”

“Nobody,” “they’re only for babies, old people with cancer, and innocent children.”

“Dolphins are stupid. Not for machos.”

This I told myself over and over again as I slowly prepared to embark upon the adventure. My girlfriend always talks happily about the dolphins. Every day.  Every damn day. Xochitl actually blissfully envisions these perpetually beatific, angelic sea creatures every other minute.  

Like a young daughter opening her eyes for the first time, or an angel rising her tired head with the first magical hints of sunlight on Christmas morning, she’s consumed with luminous enchantment like the shimmering tangerine sunset of Los Cabos. Her common ethereal reveries and daydreams of dancing dolphins have become my worst nightmares. So the only way to shut her up was to meet the Dolphin himself.

Marshall was his name. He was large. Colossal, but nimble. Beautiful beyond belief. But also athletic and strong. An alpha male. He weighs about 650 pounds. Marshall has an insatiable appetite for fish, and a wonderful dolphin girlfriend, which some might say is his other addiction, but I beg to differ. I can understand. It’s something special, seductive, and Marshall lives for affection and deserves to be enraptured like everybody he encounters. 

He gives the priceless gift of joy to the world like only Santa Clause can understand. Except Marshall doesn’t need sleds or magic reindeers to fly. He doesn’t need theme songs either. Marshall’s out of this world and pure to the core, like ether. He’s very smooth, and always smiles. It took me a while to warm up to the cold water, but another experience so sweet and majestic I cannot even endeavor to remember. Marshall haunts me in my dreams.

It almost makes me cry just thinking about this titanic picturesque mammal. This visceral mermaid. He  jumps over totem polls and kisses me. He gives me wild rides on his fins, then uses rings to dance them around his enormous nose, with those big black eyes and that smile. Oh that magnificent smile! I can’t get it out of my mind.

Looking back now, Marshall was my savior. Cabo Adventures is by far the greatest company in Cabo for appreciating an unprecedented, authentic vacation experience. Sure there are many companies emerging like rainbows each new morning, springing up like wild cacti flowers in the tropical desert every day, but if you have an insatiable hunger for true vacation ecstasy, Cabo Adventures will devour your attention, shower you with pure, authentic, ethereal enchantment. There’s nothing boring about it.
 
Cabo Adventures and Cabo Dolphins is truly the exception. Cabo Adventures is the best, especially in terms of unprecedented amenities, majesty, professionalism, and safety. The treasured moments resonate from entrance to departure. The memories last forever.

The best thing about Cabo Dolphins is that virtually anybody can participate in the activity. Often in Cabo it’s one for all and all for one, so the young go off to get crazy while the old appreciate the serenity, but Cabo Dolphins unites all ages and races because the Dolphins can’t tell the difference. As humans and nations we start wars in the name of ignorant differences and religions, but the dolphins still love us all the same.  

I thought I was too cool for the Dolphins. Dolphins are not for machos. Not for Cabrones. But que chido! Now I can’t get them out of my mind. I’m going insane. Esta  chingon. A huevo! I want to take one home and put it in the swimming pool. I want to sing carols and dance with Marshall in front of a smoldering chimney on Christmas Eve.

He inspires the fire of my emotions and then extinguishes it with his smile and his fins, in my dreams as we swim like exceptional mermaids of Poseidon drifting into the perpetual abyss of land’s end, immersed beneath the orbiting amber-orange sun, jumping gracefully betwixt the arch and the moon, lifting me higher, into galaxies still unknown and worlds yet to be discovered, our palpitating hearts pounding like Christopher Columbus’ apparition with subterranean visions pointing like Neptune’s middle finger towards the lost city of Atlantis and the heavenly shimmering stars above, so large and vivid, like fabulous Mexican roman candles exploding and dancing like enchanting unicorn dragons across the sky, shining so close we can reach up and touch them all.  

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/291/pagina-25.htm    http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/291/pagina-26.htm

The Nirvana of Privanzas

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/293/pagina-27.htm I never actually saw what happened to my grandfather. I wasn’t there when his 70-odd year old body was mercilessly buried into the ground, beaten repeatedly by the unhappy young policía.

I was only searching for an old dirty cotton shirt. One so old and forgotten that I could easily tear it into shreds and nobody would even miss it. It needed to look fresh and comfortable, but had to be stained so dreadfully that it was inevitably in no condition to ever be worn again, left for dead after a final washing, tossed triumphantly behind a rainbow mountain of multicolored rags.

Reaching with dedicated perseverance and exerting great efforts, I eventually found what I had been searching for. From my boisterous silent determination you would think there were some sacred indigenous treasures buried in the most intricate hidden corners of the highest cabinets, beyond the worn out clothes, those which had obviously survived years of gregarious feasting, or even decades. Above the golf visors. Behind some empty boxes from Christmases long forgotten. It was silk and wonderful.

It was sitting in the cabinet closet closest to the garage door, where it’s nearly impossible to open since it was extremely difficult to reach behind all the protruding key knobs and hat racks. I had to use a chair from the kitchen for assistance after making the decision to search every corner, narrowly escaping catastrophe on many occasions. I cut my right finger wide open reaching into the farthest crevasse I could find. But there it was! A flowered Hawaiian shirt built for a prince.

Certainly the type tourists use all the time during tropical vacations. You would think I needed it for an emergency tourniquet or something to cover a bloody wounded appendage, but stupidly I only wanted to use it for constructing an improvised cotton bandana for my head. I must have been highly influenced by some unfashionable styles, or in denial that I looked pathetic, a decrepit bandana-headed fool.

Standing on the tips of my toes and digging through throngs of clothes, in the upper cabinets above the scotch whiskey bottles and the brand new cans of tennis balls. Fuzzy green, and even yellow, purple, orange tennis balls that smelled better than a new car. So fresh and clean. There’s nothing like opening the airtight aluminum can of a plastic tennis ball container and exuding the synthetic unmistakable aroma that erupts in those first few seconds after removing the sharp silver top.

I was proud of the brown food stains which blessed me with this beautiful garment. 

Probably from some horrible cocktail or wonderful spaghetti sauce accident.

It felt so nice and the European materials were woven so tightly I could sleep in it, and probably would.

Oh you should have seen the looks I received.

You would have thought I was adorning the abhorrent headdress for the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan or something.

¨Where did you get that?¨ they asked.

I explained it all. I had nothing to hide.

Later that afternoon I learned that my grandfather, a retired attorney and judge, was using this shirt as evidence, having been assaulted and arrested.

I have come to respect the policía. I find the police in Mexico way better than the United States. In my three years living in La Paz and Los Cabos I have only been unnecessarily accosted by the policía about three dozen times. Each time I had no problems making friends and expressing views. Mechanics in Baja are an entirely different story, and god save their souls.

My grandparents were apparently not so fortunate. They beat my gringo grandfather to a bloody pulp and then tossed him in jail for nothing. I blame all parties involved. I think my grandfather should have spoken better Spanish.

The real epitome of stupidity is Fincamex, which promises to respond to all inquires and provide attentive service. Except they have stolen and made a fool of so many of us in Los Cabos for so long now, using their corruption, playing their deception like a mariachi violin of lies. It’s time for them to listen to the music, repent for their sins and beg for forgiveness, or with God as my witness they shall pay for what they have taken from our families!

Instead of breaking promises for the better part of four months to many customers they owe money, they should forever stop lying and treat everyone better. They should stop borrowing our dreams, breaking our hearts, and destroying our tomorrows. Listen Fincamex: It ends here and now, or continue with the corruption.

Either way, I always know where to find some new bandanas. Perhaps grunge is coming back into style. Kurt Cobain meets Gael García?

Cabo San Lucas Restaurant Reviews

 

Solomon’s Landing offers a glistening fisherman ambience, an exceptional marina view, and a smorgasbord of delicious dishes. As far as menu diversity goes, Solomon’s Landing is the king of Los Cabos, with limitless options and fair prices. The casual setting perched above the marina is priceless, and provides a great spot for people watching and admiring the boats in the marina.

The Mexican combo is luscious, consisting of a wonderful and generous synthesis of traditional Mexican dishes such as chili relleno, chicken enchiladas drenched in delectable red sauce, fried tajitas, served with steaming rice pilaf, smoldering black beans, and guacamole. The shrimp and fish is also exquisite, cooked to whatever specification you prefer, served with a colorful medley of succulent roasted vegetables. The fresh sweet Pacific red lobster is phenomenal, steamed to succulent perfection and then seared in golden butter like no other restaurant knows how.

The pastas are also amazing, and sushi is available as well. Basically you could eat at Solomon’s Landing every day and night for an entire month before you would ever tire of the food or even desire to experience anything different, and in neither one month nor seven separate vacations could you ever experience all the wonderful selections their extensive menu has to offer.

At Solomon’s Landing it’s a perpetual eclectic fiesta of enormous lobsters, shrimp, steaks, fish, tacos, fajitas, tortillas, sushi, pastas, chiles, cervezas, filet mignons blanketed with fresh mariscos (seafood) wrapped in tocina (bacon) sitting inebriated atop a warm bed of fiery picante enchiloso (as spicy as you want it) salsas.

Dinner entrees from $14 to $60 U.S. for the combo platter for two of lobster, shrimp, fish, and filet mignon. Solomon’s Landing is located on the west side of Cabo San Lucas marina behind Tesoro Los Cabos Hotel. The restaurant has a seating capacity for 130. Open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. For reservations call: (624) 143-7606.

Baja Cantina Dockside is the quintessential Baja fisherman bar with an adjacent delicious restaurant. Covered by an enormous palapa and smothered with fishing memorabilia, this is the visceral embodiment of fishing and the very epitome of where Ernest Hemingway would choose to drink and scribble his afternoons away if he were still alive today. The views of the Cabo San Lucas marina are extraordinary.

Baja Cantina has a reputation that has lingered in the air for decades, a fabled epic in and of itself like The Old Man and the Sea. Baja Cantina seemingly has a life and vibrant pulse of its own, even when all the other neighboring restaurants and marina bars seem to be empty, Baja Cantina is always overflowing with vibrant conversations and people of all ages. The bar area is often standing room only, and the restaurant gets jam packed almost every night of the week. A live trio provides Mexican music to accompany the delicious dining experience, and the Baja Cantina ambience is unprecedented.

The food is always exceptional at Baja Cantina, and a recent renovation of the menu has expanded the delicious possibilities, which are now virtually limitless. New dishes such as surf and turf and coconut shrimp have added a modern flair and element of contemporary nuance to the traditional quintessential cantina restaurant. Ask for the jubilant friendly giant Charlie because he is the greatest waiter alive and will entertain your children and everyone with his wonderful attitude and jokes.

Baja Cantina Dockside is situated in front of L-M Dock, Cabo San Lucas Marina and Tesoro Los Cabos Hotel. Dinner entrees range from $11 to $45 U.S. for the lobster. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with seating capacity for 100, and groups up to 150. For reservations and groups, call please call (624) 143-1591.

Facing the cascading mountains gliding gracefully into the sea at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula, the conspicuous physical beauty of Baja Cantina Beach Grill is exotic and magnificent here at land’s end, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez and the majestic tropical desert gradually descends into warm waves and kisses the golden glistening shoreline.

If you came for a great view, there is a simply no better restaurant to experience land’s end up close and personal than Baja Cantina Beach Grill. An elegant ambience lingers in the sea breeze and each evening live jazz music exudes harmony and provides a wonderful accompaniment to the stunning land’s end sunset. Eat on the terrace overlooking the water or with your feet in the sand underneath the stars, experiencing the amber moon and violet sunset merging into an electrifying aquatic oasis and painting the ever-changing canvas pink and vibrant purple with the flowing ethereal ink of heaven’s pen.

The full bar and extensive menu provides numerous eclectic dishes, each of which offers a distinctively delicious element to the Medano Beach dining experience. The simmering shrimp, beef, and chicken fajitas are sensational, and the fresh fish and seafood selections are simply exceptional. This Mexican seafood fusion triumphantly incorporates the beautiful music and uses the exquisite views to seduce your palette and enthrall the senses.

Baja Cantina Beach is located on El Medano Beach at Cabo Villas Beach Resort, just a few doors down from Mango Deck and Billigan’s Island. Dinner entrees range from $14 to $45 U.S. for the lobster. Baja Cantina Beach is open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with seating capacity for 150. For reservations and groups, call please call (624) 143-9773.

 

Dining at The Brigantine is an ethereal culinary experience consumed with exceptional Pacific Ocean vistas. The visceral views will enchant you as soon as you step through the main lobby entrance to the enormous Playa Grande Resort, which you don’t even need to do since you have the luxurious privilege of using extended luxury golf carts, which are always available to comfortably chauffeur your entire party directly to the huge opulent doors of The Brigantine.

The Brigantine is a festive and elegant oceanfront restaurant unlike anywhere else in Los Cabos, filled with sophisticated enchantment and glamour, yet without all the pretentiousness commonly associated with fine dining.

Sitting adjacent to the ocean, tables are perfectly situated to permit visitors the amazing occasion of witnessing boats simultaneously floating in every direction at the same time, as if you were actually dining happily amid the Pacific currents of paradise itself. Many of the most famous party boats, catamarans, and sailboats flutter back and forth while the sun dancing tirelessly across the entire horizon and provides breathtaking panoramic views for your meal.

The intimate romantic setting is heavenly, and the congenial service at The Brigantine is always exceptional, with an experienced wait staff taking care of every intricate detail with an affable attitude permeating like the last rays of the tangerine sinking sun, always the very epitome of courtesy.

The menu is extensive with many great dishes to choose from, an impressive wine list, and a full bar. The seafood molcajate bowl for two is delicious, and the Caesar salad is prepared right in front of your table and served with a sweet, delectable dressing. The insatiable setting of The Brigantine is simply exquisite and the live piano music provides an ambience of elegant sophistication.

The Brigantine has a seating capacity for 60, and the spectacular setting is ideal for weddings and private parties. Most entrees range from $20 to $38 U.S., with the seafood molcajate for two listed at only $50 U.S. The Brigantine is located at the Playa Grande Resort. Open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Phone: (624) 143-7575.

The Evolution of Beauty

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/289/pagina-25.htm There is certainly no denying the assertion that the resorts of Los Cabos are among the finest and most luxurious in the entire world. Unfortunately, but not purposely, the personalized touch is sometimes lost shortly after you walk through the enormous doors of the lobby and leisurely make your way toward the decadent designer spas. Sure they pay intricate attention to every individual and each specific detail of the experience, though my contention is that they often forget how most people want to be able to talk with their friends while receiving a pleasing massage or other wondrous beauty treatment.

Of course you will always be greeting with a warm smile and treated very kindly by attentive professionals who will provide an exceptional day at the spa. Yet what likely will be lost is that precious opportunity to spend valuable moments with your friends and family. Often groups of women enter the spa together on vacation but are eventually separated and unable to experience and appreciate the services collectively. Now men are even getting into the action of accepting spa procedures, and it is increasingly difficult to keep all of your companions together while everyone is simultaneously receiving various treatments.

But this contemporary beauty dilemma has all changed now, thanks to a new and dynamic revolution in skin and spa treatments, ushered in by Suzanne Morel, whose Suzanne Morel’s Face and Body Care is pioneering a whole new refreshing mentality of land’s end beauty while inspiring the next majestic wave of Los Cabos relaxation.

There is finally a wonderful new alternative to the boring monotony of Los Cabos spa treatments so alluring and enchanting that you don’t even ever again have to step one foot outside of your home or hotel room. Suzanne Morel’s Face and Body Care is a refreshing alternative that happily offers her personalized and extensive spa services and actually brings the paradise directly to you, delivering all of her dedicated professionals to your villa, home, or hotel room. 

What’s the point of going to the spa when Suzanne Morel’s Face and Body Care will make your hotel or villa flowing with enchantment, while keeping your dream vacation between all of your friends and loved ones without meaningless separation?

With over thirty years in the spa business Suzanne Morel and her fabulous staff of twenty-seven 
have the expertise to cater to your every personalized need. Specializing in weddings and honeymoons, Suzanne Morel’s Face and Body Care will provide an ambience unparalleled in any of the most refreshing settings of those decadent monstrosity resorts and spas of Los Cabos.

Suzanne Morel’s Face and Body Care has triumphantly initiated the long awaited catalyst for the next fabulous generation of Los Cabos spa treatments.

A Dance in the Clouds

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/287/pag09.html It’s clearly obvious that Los Cabos is an ethereal oasis of epic proportions. Whether vacationing or for those of us fortunate enough to live here, being in our paradise is like experiencing the sweetest part of heaven and living out all our wildest dreams at the same time.

But there is so much more than just the obvious immediate beauty to be discovered here. Like an ancient diamond, through time our cape region holds sparkling treasures that have risen from the visceral golden sands, oceans, and desert mountains of our land’s end paradise, and to discover these extraordinary riches we must journey further north, into the heart and soul of Baja California Sur itself. Into the small towns where indigenous ranchers have lived in symbiotic harmony with nature for centuries, decades before Los Cabos was even on the map.

Like a majestic adrenaline induced cloud of enchantment floating over our sunny oasis, it seems that every day amazing new activities are rising up from the treasure of our land and inspiring our ethereal Los Cabos to journey to even higher levels. Canyons can rise to the skies, rivers can dance with the cacti, and the deserts of our cape region can surprise us all by getting even better every day.

The Canyon Canopy Adventure is the best of the best. A walk in the clouds and a waltz with the exquisite beauty of our region, which is now finally being appreciated and enriched by amazing activities seemingly rising up all the time, like Cabo Adventures, which goes far above and beyond all other companies, providing unprecedented service, safety, and personalized attention to every specific detail. Cabo Adventure’s Canopy tour has it all. Exhilarating zip lines provide the ride of a lifetime, while the scenic backdrop is like visiting a magic land, lifting a magic wand, and deciding to fly through the air and defy gravity for the sake of feeling alive and flying like an angel.

There is no better time than the current to fly like an eagle. Now is the best time to visit the canyon because the weather is perfect and the recent rains have left running water flowing everywhere, with cascading waterfalls glowing like natural diamonds and illuminating the scenery with shimmering enchantment. The spectacular scenery is unprecedented and the animal and plant life is absolutely extraordinary. Truly a great way to experience nature outside of Los Cabos.

You never know what you will encounter around the next magical corner. Granite climbing walls, ropes dangling across picturesque flowing rivers, rappel lines, and tandem zip lines where you can race your friends across stunning canyons glimmering beneath the magnificent golden sunshine. The course is a treasure trove of ecstasy with rewards every step along the way.

This is an exhilarating way to enjoy nature and push yourself to the limits, and even a little bit beyond if you so desire since the expertly trained guides will protect you every step of the way. Safety is their main concern, using double lines, state of the art equipment, and the most skillful, experienced, and friendly guides anywhere, like Cristian, Annibal, and Freddy, who will lead you straight into the heart and soul of paradise itself.

A boat is currently being built that will float visitors through the air like a supernatural butterfly, to smoothly and perfectly transport those who are physically unable to enjoy the zip line across the canopy, enabling absolutely everyone to experience the magnificent scenery and participate in this event.

The best part is that virtually everybody can participate in the Cabo Adventure’s Canopy tour. Children eight years and older are welcome. 250 pounds is the maximum weight limit. The tour itself lasts about two hours. Bottled water, Gatorade stands, and small lightweight backpacks filled with water will keep you going. Make sure you bring sunscreen, insect repellent, and most importantly good sneakers or hiking shoes. I say most importantly because I stupidly left my hiking shoes in my car and embarked on the adventure in sandals.

This actually eventually turned out to be a blessing though, as the amazing guides happily taped up my feet so that my sandals would not fly off, and helped us all in the same manner, by providing absolutely spectacular personalized service with attention to every specific need and safety foremost, all with the most congenial demeanor and sociable attitudes. These guys and girls who work for Canyon Canopy really deserve credit, they are truly fabulous people at heart and exude the genuine essence of what makes Los Cabos such a fantastic wonderland. Cabo Adventure’s Canopy tour is the best new adventure experience Los Cabos has to offer.

Unlike any other destination on the surface of the planet, in Los Cabos we are all living together in a paradise heavenly oasis, and after you finish the zip line course you’ll want to do it again. Eventually you’ll go home and dream about it, but once you’ve experienced the pleasure of this treasured adventure nobody will ever be able take away those timeless magical visions of your wildest dreams.

 

 

Start Your Engines

http://loscabosmagazine.com/winter_2008_15/star_your_engines.htm Ever wanted to settle a bet with a friend or a loved one in an unusual and exhilarating setting? Well, if you’re reading this sentence right now then put down the magazine, after you finish this wonderful article of course, and then head on over to Cabo Karting Center, hit the track and never look back. Drive with a lead foot as heavy as a million palapas, like a relentless madman on a mission using the momentum of your tires to inspire your dreams and beat your companions into submission, all in a friendly and good natured manner of course.

Become the maniacal driver you’ve always wanted to be, or the one you’ve always feared. At Cabo Karting Center you are actually happily encouraged to do so. The strictest safety regulations, top of the line equipment, helmets, visors, and intricate precautions provide an exhaustive safety net, so you’ll never tire of using the extensive precautions to drive like a maniacal race car sensation. Safety and performance are the main goals, and Cabo Karting goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that you experience both and gain the most optimal experience possible.

The top of the line technology of Cabo Karting Center is absolutely spectacular, it’s like actually reenacting the most intricate karting video game, but actually in real life and you’re the participant. Feel the wind whistle through your wrists as you maneuver around the course for fourteen spectacular laps at speeds up to 45 miles per hour with your feet inches from the track. Children enjoy ten laps. Race your companions or just face the clock on a one-on-one battle with yourself.

Conveniently situated just a few miles outside of downtown Cabo San Lucas before Costco enables Cabo Karting to be an amazing activity that takes only an hour or less, and the memory of the experience will last forever. Cabo Karting Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., the experience is timeless.

The process is simple. Registration only requires typing your contact information into the computers, and within minutes you will be given your safety instructions by experienced experts, who will answer all your questions with the most congenial attitude imaginable. Then you will receive your kart and enter a latitude of living out your dreams on a professional racing course.

The best part is that virtually anybody can participate in this activity. No previous training or special licenses are required to experience the visceral thrill ride of a lifetime in this exhilarating wheel-to-wheel competition. Racers must be a minimum of 4 feet tall, and all participants need to sign a release form. A parent or legal guardian must sign the consent for those under 18 years of age. Drivers must arrive and be prepared to go 15 minutes prior to their scheduled race time. Prior to every race, each and every driver must attend the race and rules briefing.

Optimal attire for this activity is sneakers, and women should place their hair in a pony tail, and not wear dresses for obvious reasons. Tight fitting clothes are better than loose fitting clothes, and most importantly please remember to use sneakers and not sandals, as one stupid anonymous Los Cabos Magazine journalist did, ending up losing some skin on the back of his heal.

I can report that the experts at Cabo Karting Center advised him that sneakers were the better footwear and warned this writer that sandals are strongly not advised. More importantly I can report that this handsome aforementioned journalist also defeated his girlfriend mercilessly on the track so it was all well worth it and all minor wounds are superficial compared to the ecstasy of Cabo Karting bragging rights.

Seven different colored flags lead the way and indicate course conditions, and you’ll feel like a professional racer when you see that checkered flag flailing in the air and you slam your foot on the accelerator like a bat at of hell.

The outdoor track itself is absolutely extraordinary. It is on this specific type of course that F1 champions have honed their driving skills before pushing their names toward fame and fortune. The Cabo Karting Center track usually runs clockwise, except on special occasions.

All of the karts at the Cabo Karting Center are American made Stratos XS karts, which is indisputably the best kart in its class. These top of the line karts allow drivers to safely and confidently push the limits of their individual race skills, and even a little bit beyond if they desire to do so, since safety is pervasive.

At less than $29 U.S. Cabo Karting is an amazing activity that offers more enjoyment for your money than virtually anything else in Los Cabos. Group packages are available and a private indoor air conditioned facility is available for your private event. The amenities of Cabo Karting Center are very impressive, to say the least. The best part is that residents of Los Cabos can actually participate in as many races as they desire for an entire first year, absolutely free!

It is completely in your own hands to determine your speed, since the exclusive state-of-the-art Speedsheet race tracking system keeps precise record of every specific detail of your Cabo race experience, statistics, and ranking. Points determine who gets the privilege to participate in contests, so you determine your own destiny.

You can check online to review your progress and compare yourself to the other racers, the highest rated and fastest of whom participate each week on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. to determine exactly who the greatest racer in Los Cabos is. Tournaments are coming soon, so bring it on!

 

 

Canyon of the Fox

http://loscabosmagazine.com/winter_2008_15/cayon_of_the_fox.htm

Los Cabos is forever shimmering with pervasive natural magnificence, which you can easily find in every direction you turn, but to discover the most intricate beauty of Baja California Sur you must travel northward, toward the charming towns of indigenous ranchers who have existed in isolation for centuries, subsisting amid the land, rivers, mountains, and canyons, and there you will discover the hidden corners of ethereal paradise itself.

Los Cabos is a priceless tourist oasis, and everything you could every imagine is within minutes, but sometimes we must journey a little bit further off the beaten path to search for the most breathless treasures on earth, those majestic places that make you feel as if you are living in a dream and every second is a blessing consumed with the aura of enchantment.

You won’t read about these magnificent places in any other tourist guides, but don’t worry, we’ll give you all the intricate secret keys to the experience and if you listen hard enough you might even discover how to find the map to unlock the fountain of youth itself.

As you travel farther away from the heart of the tourist center, beyond the glitzy luxury resorts and past the international airport you will encounter an arid and extremely hot climate. San Jose del Cabo has the privilege of the estuary and the abundant natural water supply to enable and sustain life, and this is the reason the airport was built here and not Cabo San Lucas. All sands in the glorious bunkers of the world famous golf courses of Los Cabos came from the rivers of these exquisite regions north of Los Cabos.

The heat is so oppressive in these northern regions, with summer temperatures reaching upwards of 120 degrees in the shade, that not even animals can survive, and the solid granite rock creates more than just a spectacular scenic backdrop, since even the animals are unable to travel through this barrier. The few tiny animals who are actually able to survive in this harsh environment are nocturnal, and their size is so small because it is easiest for these animals to find food and water.

The plants are not dead, they only might look so because they are dormant. That’s the only way they can survive. The heat of the sun is so powerful that 80 percent of the moisture in the plants is lost immediately. You will never find dark trees because only pale colors can reflect the light, and the luminosity from the solar rays near the tropic of cancer are gargantuan. Plants only have about one month to produce, and some plants grow leaves and flowers in only two to three hours.

There are many problems with this merciless environment. An ice-cream analogy can be used to explain the significant problems in this unforgiving climate. Like a child who cannot decide which flavor of ice-cream to try, the animals cannot decide which plants to eat because they are all blooming at the same time. The solution to this dilemma is synchronization. The cacti can bloom anytime they want because they are able to store water, and thus the plants can avoid competition. The human equivalent is that we as a species don’t need to eat all the foods and fruits available to us in order to survive.

Cabo used to be an island, and the entire peninsula is moving four centimeters northwest with the Pacific plate. The granite of Cabo is synonymous with moving plate tectonics. Cabo is four or five million years old, situated on a flat marine plain. Six million years ago the ocean was crashing here on these mountains, not as the waves are upon the beaches of Los Cabos today.

There is a difference between granite and sediments. Mountains made of sediment caused everything to sink into the bottom of the ocean, and this pushed the debris into the rocks. Different colors indicate different ages. There are many layers and whales and shark teeth can be discovered in the mountains. It is always green in these wonderful mountains because of the waters.

Along your journey you will encounter the towns of Miraflores, Caduaño, and Santiago. The town of Caduaño is also living symbiotic with nature, the exact same way as it was 100 years earlier. The opposite of this is Cabo San Lucas, which seems to be changing dramatically almost every other week.

With a four wheel drive vehicle you will be able to journey along highway one east to the town of Santiago. After driving through the entrance, turn right just before the main square at the intersection and then all you have to do is proceed up the hill to Sol de Mayo and enter the ethereal Canyon of the Fox. It is a two to three hour moderately easy hike through the canyon to the waterfall with a slight elevation change along the way.

Make sure you bring good shoes, preferably hiking shoes, sun screen, a camera, a bathing suit, and plenty of water. It is best early in the morning from October through April, and the optimal season is after the rains and hurricanes have left their impression on this majestic environment, so there is certainly no better time than the present to enjoy this amazing journey into the gates of nature’s greatest oasis.

The hike itself will take you along a well marked trail that will pass spectacular indigenous animals, plants, and cacti, providing some of the most fantastic views and scenery on the planet. This will enable you to experience our spectacular region the way it was before any development, with nature flourishing and shimmering like the rivers which glimmer and fill the canyon with enchantment.

The final result is an ethereal cascading waterfall that will enrapture and seduce your eyes and soul like nothing you have ever seen in your entire life. Dive in and refresh yourself, swimming with the Gods amid the greatest treasure that nature has ever dreamt, and then you will discover where the waves and ocean once existed millions of years earlier, in the timeless cascading waters of the fountain of youth.

 

 

The Diamond of Chileno

http://loscabosmagazine.com/winter_2008_15/the_diamond_chileno.htm  Many visitors virtually unfamiliar with the visceral aquatic beauty of our exquisite cape region may still continue to happily question whether Los Cabos is actually truly worthy of the exceptional reputation it has earned throughout the years. I am here to personally and enthusiastically affirm that it most certainly is.

Los Cabos has become famously synonymous for being a favorite haven to several of the greatest beaches in Mexico. Playa Bahia Chileno (Chileno Bay Beach) is living proof and testament that Los Cabos is in fact an indisputable and unprecedented treasure of sand and water. No other majestic Mexican oasis, or for that matter any destination on the surface of the planet, can offer such a diverse wonderland like our extraordinary arrangement of picturesque waterfronts.

Everybody who is familiar with Los Cabos and the golden shimmering shoreline between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo simply cannot deny that there is essentially something genuinely remarkable and special about Chileno Bay Beach. Situated amid the ethereal epicenter of the “Tourist Corridor,” Chileno is easily accessible from the heart of both San Jose and San Lucas.

Chileno is what many Cabo aficionados consider to be among the best beaches in the entire corridor, if not the most beautiful and scenic beach in all of Los Cabos. Chileno is a dream. Not just any dream, but one of those magical dreams you never want to wake from. That is, unless it comes true.

Anyone who claims to know Los Cabos in any shape or form simply cannot deny that this exquisite crescent stretch of palm defined, sun drenched shoreline is not an impressive vision to behold. Your first impression will be filled with unexpected enchantment. Your second will be even better.

All those Los Cabos dreamers who know the intricate ins and outs of every beach, even the ones they don’t put on the maps, can easily put Chileno on their top three list. With the possible exception of neighboring Playa Santa Maria (Santa Maria Beach), most Los Cabos residents cannot even endeavor to remember the treasured name of a better scenic bay situated so close to the shimmering heart and soul of Los Cabos.

Chileno is wide and relatively flat, which enables the perfect environment for running, sunning, strolling, and always safe swimming. The only beach in this fabulous area with restrooms, Chileno separates itself from all the others with its unique, stunning, and eclectic scenery.

An elaborate palm grove labyrinth offers more than an adequate natural umbrella, but actually provides plenty of heavenly picturesque spaces for shade. Magnificent, rocky reefs run parallel to the beach, blossoming with orbiting galaxies of tropical fish, sea turtles, shells, moray eels, invertebrates, sea urchins, sponges, lobsters, gorgonians (sea fans), and starfish.

Diving, snorkeling, and swimming amid the warm turquoise waters of Chileno is absolutely extraordinary, like synchronized swimming in ecstasy with Poseidon himself. Make sure to take an underwater camera because this underwater postcard is like no other dominion in the universe, full of bright beauty and vivid colors you won’t even imagine existed until you witness this experience first hand.

Chileno receives organized snorkel boat tours around noon, so if you’re searching for more privacy just stroll to the left-hand side toward the reef and the palms. Here there are multiple secret areas to find that perfect unearthly spot by the scenic cove region facing the ocean to your left, especially heading northeast past the point as you approach the shoreline coming from the parking area. To reach this secluded oasis you need to walk a few minutes from the central area where you’ll enter, where most beachgoers are usually congregated, instead choosing to walk past them and cross the rocks on the far left-hand side of the beach, so make sure you bring your sandals.

Here to the left edge you will find amazing tranquility amid shimmering picturesque brilliance. Except for the few private luxury residences embraced by palm groves in the distance you will be immersed in elegant serenity unlike any other paradise in Los Cabos. I shouldn’t mention this because some of us wanted to keep this pretentious secret treasure all for ourselves because it’s certainly a worthy and priceless paradise.

Many familiar with everything Los Cabos still consider this impressive, usually secluded Chileno region an easy ethereal journey from the entrance, and for many years it has been vested in indefinite secrecy, until now.

I couldn’t honestly complete this article about the best beach in Los Cabos without mentioning and telling you absolutely everything, describing the specific secrets so that you can discover the majestic treasure that might get me killed by my fellow local beachgoers. But I’m ready to die for this. Just kidding! Happy swimming in paradise!

The Echoes of Enchantment

http://www.loscabosmagazine.com/fall_2007_14/echoes_enchant.htm

Every evening Los Cabos comes alive to the sweet melodies of musical enchantment.

Local live music is an eclectic fusion of exquisite sound and beauty. Many talented musicians from around the globe are using our magnificent setting as an exotic tropical stage to bestow extraordinary musical performances upon us.

Here in Los Cabos, harmony is a charming instrument of enchantment, which awakens the ear to the cathartic spirit of a perfect vacation. You can hear it drifting melodically in the wind, watch it dancing hypnotically through the air.

No need to whisper about the secret anymore, since the reasons are obvious and infinite. Right now it’s easier than ever to discover why land’s end is like no other destination on the surface of the earth. The currents are changing and live music is rearranging the usual nightlife scene by constantly offering more amazing musical options.

The eclectic selections of live music are virtually limitless. The wide array of superb choices and voices can be heard pleasantly echoing in every direction. From gentle harmonies in luxurious beachfront hotels in San Jose del Cabo to roaring land’s end marina cantinas in Cabo San Lucas, and all along the magnificent resorts of the golden crescent corridor shoreline between, live entertainment is the vibrant fluid that uses music to pump melodious vitality through the palpitating heart and soul of Los Cabos.

Here, amid shimmering unprecedented elegance, perpetual entertainment is more than just a state of expression, it is a way of life. It flutters from another mentality, a jubilant butterfly of an attitude which parallels the sunny latitude of our beautiful land’s end location. Live music in Los Cabos is nothing less than a stunning accompaniment to the exceptional beauty of the region itself.

A plethora of sweet ethereal sounds and live musical options can always be found floating leisurely in the oceanic breeze almost everywhere you roam in Los Cabos.

At Mango Deck Yael performs live music ballads every night. A few miles outside of Cabo San Lucas, with an exceptional arch view, Peter Bacon performs his famous piano man oldies repertoire Thursday through Saturday from 6:00 p.m. to 9 pm at Latitude 22+ Roadhouse Restaurant Bar.

Nikki Beach Club has amazing DJs playing electronic music from 10:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, surrounded by a lush ambience of gorgeous young patrons from foreign countries all around the planet sitting leisurely upon white lounge bedding amid a decadent and hedonistic setting, which is perhaps the most popular beachfront swimming pool in all of Los Cabos.

Sancho Panza Wine Bistro and Jazz Club Restaurant is a visceral musical reincarnation that the fabled squire himself would be proud to have inspired. With nightly jazz performances, this magical and festive musical ambience creates an unprecedented dining experience, and the smooth harmonies will enrapture and seduce you. You will dance with the spirits and trance yourself into a daze of enchantment.

Cabo Wabo is the undisputed king of vociferous live music, and the nightly rock groups hit the stage and get hot around 10:00 p.m. Many famous and legendary rock stars have been known to make surprise appearances, so on any given night you never know who you might find or what type of live performance to expect from an unpredictable evening at Cabo Wabo Cantina.

Not to be outdone by the restaurants and bars of Los Cabos, street performers of various persuasions and abilities can be found wandering the avenues at all hours of the night, especially around the downtown area of Cabo San Lucas. A private improvised performance or a romantic serenade can be a timeless and exclusive encounter that will remain an indelible Cabo vacation memory for the ages.

Los Cabos is a majestic musical oasis unlike any other vacation destination on the planet. The exotic scenery is a phenomenal natural backdrop that inspires musicians and provides vibrant entertainment amid melodic expressions of life, happiness, and celebration, all of which are pervasive exclamation points to leisurely land’s end living. 
 
Wherever your Los Cabos journey takes you, remember to discover the symphonic treasures of our heavenly land’s end paradise. The endeavor will be well worth the experience. As the future progresses, the wondrous profusion of live music will only continue to further diffuse beauteous melodies throughout Los Cabos.

Cactimundo Press Release

Cactimundo is an eclectic botanical garden dedicated to the promotion, conservation, and reproduction of Mexican desert plants, as well as majestic collections of many other exotic species from the farthest corners of the earth. Come experience Latin America’s largest and most important collection of cacti and succulents, including numerous endangered species nearly extinct in their natural habitats, which have previously never been on exhibit to the public. The setting is unique in terms of unprecedented architectural design and plant display, all of which provides an educational and enchanting experience.

A Journey into Nirvana

 http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/286/index.html 

 

 

 

Beneath the exquisite riches of Los Cabos lies hidden the timeless indigenous treasures of our extraordinary flora. Beyond the conspicuous magnificence of our exotic cape region lies a visceral beauty that exudes smoothly from the numerous truly exceptional museums and gardens which gracefully promote and celebrate our Los Cabos paradise. 

Here at land’s end, an ethereal aquatic desert flourishes beneath sunny tropical splendor, and neither hurricanes nor time can ever take away the stunning beauty of our natural environment. I cannot endeavor to remember a better place to experience cacti than being gently immersed amid the tropical picturesque setting of Cactimundo Los Cabos Botanical Gardens.

Situated in the heart and tourist hotel zone of San Jose del Cabo, this magical oasis for cacti aficionados shimmers with a tropical aura of ecological majesty. As if all the greatest cacti species on the surface of the earth were gloriously imprisoned and given new life and freedoms to grow unabated within this exquisite vibrant habitat for all of Los Cabos to appreciate. 

The impressive collection offers exemplary artistic craftsmanship because the talented gardeners from Miraflores are exceptional and without exception among the finest in all of Mexico, taking extra special dedicated effort and time to design and create an exceptional masterpiece. The result is among the finest on the planet, a shining beckon of beauty that few even know exists. Until now.

Cactimundo cordially invites you to support nature. Open up the beckoning floral doors of perception and enter heaven on earth. An oasis garden of epic proportion awaits you within.      

Cactimundo is an eclectic botanical garden dedicated to the promotion, conservation, and reproduction of Mexican desert plants, as well as majestic collections of many other exotic species from the farthest corners of the earth. Come experience Latin America’s largest and most important collection of cacti and succulents, including numerous endangered species nearly extinct in their natural habitats, which have previously never been on exhibit to the public. The setting is unique in terms of unprecedented architectural design and plant display, all of which provides an educational and enchanting experience.

Gardening classes are offered for free, and those searching for the perfect cacti to make improvements in their own private gardens will certainly want to take advice from Arturo Ramos, the manager of Cacti Mundo and god of all cacti this side of the Nile River. He will deliver experienced knowledge and professionalism to your every specific question while educating and imparting secret recipes about how to grow the best desert plants in Los Cabos.
 
All local schools and universities are especially encouraged and invited to come visit the collection, and students are given a special group discount. Tourists and locals searching for something more than the usual Los Cabos activities will especially enjoy this exquisite treasure. A visit to Cactimundo is a journey into nirvana. An investment into the future of an extraordinarily diverse, eclectic, and florally beauteous Los Cabos.

Another Day in Paradise

      

 

The clouds clung to the horizon

  

like raindrops dancing with the distant Pacific,

                

as if hung from the sun by an invisible string.

 

Significant but nothing more than residual remnants from a miserable tropical depression,

    

Now deceased and forlorn like the deepening shades of indifferent colors

           

fluttering upon the receding currents like demented butterflies upon the surface of the water,

      

wondering how to discern one crashing wave after another,

              

we sit amid the insipid September afternoon,

                      

nothing more than aquatic silhouettes kissing between two embracing seas,

 

and the past is nothing but yesterdays shadow,

 

a passing storm which will never last,

 

and tomorrow is the carnival of life.

http://shortstory.us.com/2009/06/another-day-in-paradise-by-matthew-dexter/

 

The Journey of Learning Surfing

Los Cabos is a tropical aquatic desert paradise and an unprecedented majestic oceanic playground on the edge of the earth. Land’s end marks the entrance to the ethereal currents of heaven itself. The Pacific embraces the Sea, and immerses me with the possibilities of learning how to surf.

Thinking of the wonderful adventures awaiting me in the water instinctively stimulates my imagination. In my mind I can instantly imagine myself paddling into paradise, gliding gracefully backwards upon the foaming crests of giant waves cascading toward the golden crescent shoreline, performing tricks like a natural born aquatic acrobat. A visceral mermaid with a surfboard.

Cabo Surf Hotel is a picturesque boutique hotel for surfers with the unique privilege of being conveniently situated on a perch just above beautiful Playa Acapulquito (Acapulquito Beach), one of the premier surfing beaches in the region.

It is here where Cabo Surf Hotel excels and separates itself from all of the other hotels in Los Cabos, by providing unprecedented attention to every detail of the surfing lifestyle and offering first-rate service for surfers and those who want to safely learn the techniques of the sport. Exceptional surf instructors provide professional daily lessons to surfers of all ages and ranges of experience. 

I show up at eight O’clock in the morning for my first ever serious attempt at hanging ten.  My initial impression is one of beguiled wonderment as I gaze outward from the waterfront patio of the refined Seven Seas Restaurant toward the glowing oceanic horizon and the mesmerizing waves as they rise higher and shimmer beneath the golden early morning sunlight before colliding with the crimson shadowed shoreline.

There is no turning back now. But I am beginning to have doubts. All that remains from my lingering confidence is shattering with the breaking waves, scattering my brazen optimism like grains of sand suddenly fluttering into the water.

I have no surfboard, plus the waves appear much larger than those in my dreams. Fortunately, the Cabo Surf Hotel offers everything I need, and I’m greeted by one of the most friendly people I have ever met, who hands me a wetsuit with a wide grin and a firm handshake. He begins by giving me a board and an introduction to the basic paddling maneuvers.

I am immediately put at ease, or at least as much as I can be without trying to appear outwardly nervous concerning the excursion about to take place.

There are two other students in my class, and we are all a bit hesitant about the lesson at hand because of the cold weather, but we endeavor to put our reluctance out of my mind for another couple seconds while we practice what we have been instructed with our own boards. Once our instructor agrees that we are all ready to proceed into the water, we enter one by one.

I am the last to submerge myself, and subsequently blast myself in my head for being such a coward. It’s only cold water, I tell myself as the others take an early lead. I struggle to catch up, paddling with all of the muscle I can muster, forgetting about the cold water until it splashes me in the face. I laugh and continue past the break line. My arms and hands are already feeling a little bit tired, and I give credit to the surfers who make the sport appear so leisurely, graceful, and easy.

We’re paddling against the wind and eventually make it out past the jagged rocks, which we obviously don’t want to ride a wave into. The instructor then gives us more advice about improving our paddling techniques, surfer etiquette, and perfect positions on the board, instructing us which direction to paddle into the currents after we catch a wave.

The fist large wave approaches and one of my companions catches it with ease, drifting leisurely into the swell and standing up on the board with style and grace. The exuberant instructor screams cheers of appreciation and I’m inspired to give it a try. He enthusiastically tells me to paddle and gives me a swift push as I follow his instructions and battle the wave with passion as it catapults me forward.

The velocity rapidly increases as I get up on one knee and endeavor to stand. Unfortunately I cannot seem to remember exactly what I’m supposed to attempt, and instead of standing elegantly I smash head first into the refreshing surf and laugh at my submerged initial effort. I paddle back out with unfathomable  determination, like an aquatic cowboy thrown from his ocean saddle, listening to the melodic waves as they take me down again and again.

The instructor never gives up on me, and after another hour of subsequent attempts I finally catch a fresh wave and ride it to the shoreline before colliding with the sand and realizing that some of us are never going to become professional surfers. Though at Cabo Surf Hotel on Acapulquito Beach we can all be given the opportunity to live out our dreams. But, I think I’ll stick to sandcastles.

The Roads Less Traveled

Los Cabos offers a plethora of exciting off-road adventures, and what better way to explore the desert than flooring a Baja race car and riding effortlessly towards a formidable jump with your heart in your stomach? Adrenaline pumps relentlessly through your veins as you fly airborne toward the dust below. Before you know it you slam back down to earth like a feather with wheels, never even feeling the impact and now determined more than ever to launch farther and with more velocity on your next lap.

This is the ecstatic racing sensation drivers experience when participating in Wide Open Baja adventures. Wide Open offers participants the exclusive opportunity to drive authentic Chenowth Magnum racecars at their private 1,500 acre racing ranch adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Five miles of diverse off-road terrain provides the electrifying thrill ride of a lifetime in the same cars used by professionals racing the Baja 1000.

This exceptional desert training course allows courageous visitors to push their vehicles to the limits, and perhaps a little bit beyond. Inhibitions are nonexistent as you race around the track like a bat out of hell. The essential safety equipment includes a helmet for communications with the crew chief and the fundamental training makes this an especially entertaining activity without all the dangerous elements usually associated with off-road racing. 

For those of us who are searching for something a little less audacious, Baja Bora offers off-road jeep tours through secluded scenic regions of Los Cabos. Baja Bora will take you on an exciting high speed journey through places in paradise that few people have ever seen. You will traverse effortlessly past isolated desert ranches amid a wide array of diverse environments and majestic undeveloped land.

The tours of Baja Bora take guests deep within the secret roads less traveled amid the deepest heart and soul of Baja California Sur, exploring the scenic beauty in luxury, with comfortably air conditioned custom Jeep Cherokees where not even the dust can touch you. The surrounding mountains tower above and rush toward you as your vehicle becomes one with nature, effortlessly, yet gently brushing the rustic tropical dessert shrubbery aside as if it were nothing but the wings of a butterfly.

These fully loaded two passenger jeeps provide everything you need while you embrace nature and keep company with exotic wild animals.

If sitting inside the comfort of a four wheel drive vehicle sounds too confining and you decide to evoke the inner spirit of your trailblazing soul then consider a Baja Ride off-road motorcycle tour. These expertly guided motorcycle expeditions allow riders to explore the great outdoors with up close and personal attention during an adventurous excursion through the mountainous desert terrain.   

Endeavour to discover the other side of Cabo. The one that only those willing to travel farther and deeper into secret regions can appreciate. The conspicuous physical beauty at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula is magnificent. Yet the treasure at the end of the road will beckon you farther as you answer the call of the wild. In Los Cabos the off-road adventures are limitless, and the infinite adrenaline-induced pleasures are enchantingly addictive.

The Suicidal Butterfly

 http://staticmovement.com/dexter.htm                                              http://www.cynicmag.com/feature.aspx?articleid=2839                                     Although I have a tendency to notice other people who sit alone, this homeless man didn’t initially seize my attention. Nor did he seem particularly out of place. He sat a few tables away from me, blocked partially from view by the protruding umbrella. There was nothing especially peculiar about his appearance, but he was exceptionally short. So much so that I didn’t even notice him for about an hour.     

He was heavily bearded and even his hands were incredibly timid. Since his fingers trembled mercilessly from advanced epilepsy, he hid them in his lap, concealed ineffectively by the granite rim of the glass circular table where he sat.       

Had it occurred at any other outdoor Mexican restaurant, I might have considered the absurdity of watching a homeless man sitting at a bar drinking a cold refreshment.  But it was an exceptionally oppressive September afternoon, and this was definitely not your ordinary establishment.  

By Mexican restaurant, I mean we were resting at a bar in Mexico that offered affordable American nutrition, like cheeseburgers and chicken wings, both delicious and greasy enough to eventually clog even the healthiest of arteries.      

The bartender delivered the food from a tiny window carved into the wall of a small room which they called the kitchen. This claustrophobic space imprisoned the voluptuous old lady with smoke, like a hopeless baby engulfed and held hostage by the rising ocean waters consuming the subterranean dungeon of a sunken pirate ship.       

For his part the homeless man looked no worse off than any of the other usual costumers at  Tanga Tanga. I had been watching him discreetly for hours, as he gradually devoured my attention, one drink and two limes at a time.      

Like all bars in Cabo San Lucas, unsuspecting tourists were relentlessly drawn to this place like moths to a flame. But the dangerous element came from the poorest clientele, especially the inebriated dichotomy created between the natives and the tasteless expatriates from the United States.  

This was a volatile mix which often tempted and taunted me toward an awkward and unfriendly predicament. Each time I survived only by carefully reviewing my limited options. Usually choosing to walk rapidly away from the open invitation for violence, only escaping and making it safely out of harm’s way by using the most conspicuous meandering route imaginable.            

He drank his grapefruit citrus soda from the can, and wiped the lid carefully with a napkin to prevent any potential contamination before lifting the beverage to his lips. He quickly finished the liquid in one sip, or at least in the first few minutes. But he persisted to pretend that his drink was not yet empty, instead choosing to raise the aluminum can to his mouth at random increments for about an hour before seemingly admitting to himself that it was in fact finished.      

When this finally occurred he would walk quietly away from the tables and excuse himself through the crowd with such apparent natural grace and beauty that I wondered if he had choreographed the steps of his own departure. He knew exactly who to find, and where he was most likely to discover the next twenty pesos for a refill. His hands shook with vicious spasms as he took the change from his onlookers, and even the cook could see that he was innocent, harmless. But he looked like a savage, and the tourists couldn’t have it.      

His arms were glistening with the fresh layers of sweat which had collected while he was nervously working up the courage to summon the confidence to beg. He looked discouraged as he wiped the warm perspiration from the coins before he lay them down on the bar. A minute later his drink was finished again. This went on for seven seemingly endless hours, and by the end of the day he was so drenched with sweat that he looked like he had bathed and then showered.         

He was a puppy dog, polite and obediently unintrusive. Not like the rude stares exuded by the cruel canadien man sitting between us, who rejected, mocked, and embarrassed the respectful vagrant for the better part of three hours. This was the only person who the innocent toothless patron had attempted to request money from who had rejected his plea. He was otherwise successful and victorious, having spent a glorious afternoon in the company of drunkards and other ignorant tourists.                 

I felt like a foreigner, and in many ways I was. I had come down to Mexico after finding myself without a home, when most of the wealth I had was instantly invested into a bus ticket down the Baja California peninsula, one way of course. I initially wanted to go to Las Vegas, until I discovered the difference in cost and that a ticket to Mexico would be cheaper than pissing away my last penny at the closest casino or slot machine from the local greyhound station.      

It took a couple days on the unpredictable peninsular highway to travel the thousand mile distance from the international border, but after the first dozen stops in the middle of nowhere I got used to the ride and even met a few new friends. They never spoke any English, but they were always in a hurry to get to work. Either at the local prison, the factory, or to pick berries in the infinite golden fields in the middle of nowhere that faded into the crimson horizon.       

Most jobs paid between three and ten dollars a day. That could easily cover the modest bus fare. But the endless despair was invisible. Perhaps hidden within their smooth sun-drenched faces, with the perfect skin that never wrinkles and the happy eyes that twinkle like those you rarely see outside of third world countries. They didn’t seem to mind that they were underpaid and inadequately educated, and I wish I could have gotten a position right beside them, but of course I couldn’t because I was an illegal immigrant. So I stayed on the bus and patiently watched the dust collect on the front of the windshield, then cover the entire vehicle with the Mexican debris of a warm summer breeze. 

Somehow I ended up in Cabo San Lucas a few hours later at this bar on the main drag of town, across from the marina and amongst the locals, who crowded around me and began to laugh and ridicule the homeless man. It was that ugly time of the afternoon when the standing room only mentality took full effect and the early pleasantries of alcohol turned into the drunken melancholy of an evening at the end of the earth, which was where we were.      

I focused most of my attention on my newfound friend, trying my best to ignore the ignorant tourists and regulars, especially those who had only lived here for a few months but pretended that they owned the whole damn peninsula. Some of them had actually spent a decade dancing to the rhythm and booze of Tanga Tanga, but people like me and the homeless man had been waltzing aimlessly through life and forgotten memories in our minds for centuries.       

That was our connection. Every moment was focused on the hopeful pursuit of a better tomorrow, but he had the strength to wallow in his misery without alcohol, which I swallowed with joy, attempting to relinquish my endless sorrow.  It had been this way ever since my unexpected induction to nothingness, and I don’t want to bore you with the vivid details of my failure since this is the story of a homeless man who gave his soul to the world. Besides, you’ve already heard a million stories just like mine, and I’m the one who deserves to die, not him.         

I thought he was considering melting into his seat when suddenly something made him rise unexpectedly and chase a black butterfly across the empty street and fade out of sight someplace  on the other side.        

“He’s such an idiot that he actually thinks he deserves to get free drinks all day,” the Canadien man shouted, “after all, he’s homeless because of his own actions, and lazy people never deserve a free handout. How can you teach a man how to fish if he can’t even swim? He should just go outside and play in traffic and see what happens. Do society a favor.”      

This guy was obviously nothing more than an ignorant drunkard who was mustering the strength of his intoxication to interrupt my train of thought. Plus I lost my homeless companion.      

“He was only drinking a goddamn soda genius,” I politely informed the stranger, a sunburnt tourist, who looked more like a lobster than a human being.     

“Give him a break he was thirsty,” I added, paying my tab with the last ten dollar bill in my pocket, then heading after the so-called lazy homeless refugee.      

I heard laughter and words which I’m sure were directed disparagingly toward me as I ran away from the bar, and if the Canadien man wasn’t so far away I might have come back just to strangle him.             

The homeless man had knelt down in front of a car parked beside the entrance to a pharmacy. I gave him sufficient space so that he wouldn’t notice me, but I couldn’t help but slowly approaching from behind, hoping to figure out what he was studying so intently.       

He picked up the dark object and held it motionless in front of his eyes for a few seconds, and I could see immediately that it was the same butterfly that had drawn his attention away from the bar. I used discretion and turned away when he made a sudden attempt to see if his strange actions had attracted anyone, but since a crowd of about a half dozen had quickly surrounded us I was not discovered as the innocuous spy who I has suddenly become.         

The butterfly was obviously dead, but the surprising aspect of the event occurred when we observed the vagabond hastily yet accidentally rip one of the wings away from the insect’s body, which had inadvertently gotten caught between his unkept fingernails. This unintentional impalement triggered an initial  reaction of utter bewilderment in the man, which created a ripple effect that quickly swept through his entire frame, shaking him to the very core, enraging him with unmitigated self-directed condemnation.            

He cursed himself and the onlookers as he took what remained of the butterfly and placed it gently on the sidewalk beside the entrance to the pharmacy. What alarmed me most was the unexpected speed by which he recklessly ran away from the scene, darting in-between traffic like a dog about to die, a chicken with its head cut off.      

Somehow he managed to safely make it to the other side. Though he kept running at such a frantic stride that during my pursuit I almost got sandwiched between a sanitation truck and a school bus full of construction workers. But the risk was worth it when I was finally able to catch up to the man and follow in his footsteps. His pace was becoming less feverish by the minute, but I was growing ill from the sickening expressions of contempt which he attracted from random strangers who turned their heads after he passed to take another look at his ragged clothes.       

I don’t know why I decided to follow him, but for some inexplicable reason I could not stop. I watched him weave through back streets and narrow alleys that were infested with wild cats chasing rats desperately toward the sewers. We walked past open windows of butcher shops with skewered pigs roasting in the flame cookers, where the aroma filled my nostrils with the reminder of hunger, until the swine’s bloody carcass and perpetually dripping fat curbed my appetite and kept me in pursuit of my subject.       

Daylight began to fade and the people of the night began to replace the mainly innocent pedestrians of the day. You could tell the difference between those who had just woken up from those who had been working all day by the way they walked and how they carried themselves. There was a devilish illumination within the pupils of those who were about to embark upon a night on the town, an urgency in the words they spoke, a demoniac bounce in their steps as they went about their business, patiently waiting for the hour when they shower themselves with alcohol and devour the meat of hedonistic decadence.           

Many of them were already heavily inebriated, but as the streets grew busier I had to keep my eyes on the meandering path of the man I was chasing. He was racing down the main drag and appeared to be making his way to the blind man who was posted outside the only supermarket in downtown Cabo. He stood in front of the door to the adjacent Aramburo pharmacy with a sign that implied he was blind and his hands intertwined and outstretched, palms open to the heavens in hopes of a few loose coins.      

The homeless man emptied his pockets and filled the blind man’s hands with the contents, as an expression came to both their faces with such delight as if all the desperation and struggle was worth it for this moment.       

“Gracias amigo,” the blind man said in sequence about eleven times, increasing his voice at each new interval.       

The homeless man relied with a silent pat on the shoulder before strolling down the sidewalk toward the Taco Fiesta restaurant. I didn’t expect him to stop, if for no other reason than the overpriced tacos and beverages they sold. Most of their customers were tourists and most locals didn’t think the food was great enough to pay twice as much as other places.            

I was wrong though. He walked into the open air restaurant and took a seat at a table beside an old woman who was sitting on the ground nearby, hoping to evoke sympathy by the intricate web of wrinkles which defined her face, her hands toward the sky as people walked past. She was homeless and very dirty, since the evening was well underway and she had been outside collecting dirt and change all day.        

The homeless man ordered a grapefruit soda and paid with the change he kept in his sock. He drank it without taking the lid away from his lips and then left a generous tip on the table. On the way out he gave the old lady the remains in his other sock, along with a few small denomination blue peso bills.        

The lady blessed him with her clenched hands and she took his arm in her own, as they both shook together in rhythm and watched the trembles, united by disease and old age, they were one in the same for this moment. The exchange was significant enough to flood my eyes with tears, which I had to wipe away so that I could follow my subject up the hill before he disappeared.      

When I got to the top of the hill I exhausted all efforts to find a trace of my new hero. I finally gave up and was headed back down the road when he jumped out from behind a truck and threw his arms up in the air.      

“What are you following me for,” he asked, “who are you?”      

“I don’t know who you are,” he continued, “but I speak English and I’ll call the police if you don’t stay away!”       

I was about to explain but it was already too late. He ran away. Full speed down the precipitously steep hill. He was screaming at the top of his lungs in words of English which I could not distinguish. He didn’t think to look in both directions when he encountered the intersection, since it was a one-way street. He hit the car with rapid precision, almost as if this hideous event had been rehearsed like some intricately choreographed horror scene. The collision lifted the man off of his feet and catapulted him through the vehicle’s windshield.      

The impact was merciless and the fragments of flesh, blood, and loose change were sporadically scattered all over the dusty road. The momentum of the crash left the car inoperable, since the homeless corpse was embedded in the windshield, obstructing vision. The driver collided with the building almost instantly.              

He stumbled out of the mangled car and attempted to walk away from the scene. He didn’t make it that far though, since the police had quickly arrived and decided to give chase when he would not respond to their innate demands that he stay in one place. Since he was staggering in a jagged direction they easily caught up to him and placed him under arrest.       

There was something about his face as he came closer that caught my attention. It was the Canadien man. But not the same person he was earlier in the day. He had metathesized and changed into the cancer of the night. I watched as he infected the Mexican police and paramedics with his hostile disease. They responded with aggressive treatment to prevent the spread of his malignancy and he disappeared belligerently into the night.      

I trembled uncontrollably at the sight of the homeless man being extracted from the cracked windshield. It took hours to get his body free of entanglement. Debris and shards of glass were the only evidence of a disaster when the sun illuminated the beautiful Cabo San Lucas landscape a few hours later.       

I walked sluggishly down to Tanga Tanga and took a seat at the bar with the tourists. I ordered a cold soda and consoled my guilt and torment with the bitter taste of lime and wasted time listening to the mindless conversation of the morning.        

Nobody cared that the homeless man was dead. Nobody was upset that the man they met yesterday ran him over. The only tears were shed by the cook, who drowned her sorrows with a glass of cold water amid the smoke that engulfed her kitchen. I listened to the others as they conducted their drunken business, wishing that I was with the homeless man in heaven.       

I stayed all day, until exhaustion beckoned me away from the bar and a black butterfly fluttered between my arms. I followed him across the street, hoping he would lead me somewhere. Hoping he would take me home.   

THE END

The Plantation Web

It was the most atrocious sight that my eyes had ever seen. The vivid details of horrific human degradation were written everywhere. Her tears painted the dirt floor, creating small elliptical imprints in the dust beneath her attackers naked trembling feet, drenched in sweat. Her torment filled her half clenched eyes with blind confusion and obvious misery. The rays from the oppressive midday sun were blocked partially by the frail pale window curtain covering the pane, now covered in tiny bloody handprints.

They almost looked like the hands of a doll, and in many ways they were. I figured that the glowing crimson splatter left over by the broken and corroded fingertips looked more like those from plastic figurines than human beings. I would have cried to death too, if it weren’t just a hideous dream.

Nothing but a figment of my own overactive imagination, I thought as I rolled over, trying to get the little girl’s dying face out of my mind. Although she was actually only an infant, and this tragic event really did occur almost two centuries earlier in the exact same spot where I now slept. Or more precisely, where I now lie awake, afraid to close my eyes, and so I shiver cold, confused in bed alone, watching the warm sweat collect on the white sheets that reflect beneath the full moon.

The room is illuminated by a yellow incandescent gloom. I’m consumed by fear and wish that I had never experienced the dreadful conversation from a few hours earlier, which was now haunting me like a demented ghost. My twisted stomach felt sickened when my mother told me that I had spent the last five days sleeping in a bedroom built upon the wickedly cursed spot where a most vicious plantation murder had occurred. Only the plantation owners were not the ones who were killed, but a poor innocent slave family was slain, their remains immediately set ablaze. Their restless spirits no doubt flooded my empty heart and soul with dark clouds of regret as I battled the images I evoked while I slept.

My mother’s cryptic words echoed over and over again in my head, as her shrill voice drilled itself into my brain, in the same eerie tone that she said those six grim sentences. She spoke with a grin, but the images of disdain were vividly written in her eyes, which fixated on the brass chandelier light fixture hanging above her head instead of my own because the subject matter was too ghastly for her to bare.

She had to tell me the truth because I had heard a rumor from a local boy earlier in the morning that I couldn’t believe. It was absurd, yet looking back I wondered why he had come to me while picking grapefruit off the tree growing in the adjacent neighbor’s yard. It was early in the day and I was still too tired to question his presence, since he was a young West Indian boy with bright orange eyes and a very dark complexion.

His appearance on the Caribbean island of Nevis would not have been considered strange or provoked any surprise from me at all, had he not been climbing a tree limb and singing French. My parent’s neighbors were a middle-aged Dutch couple who were out of town, thus they most likely were not aware that a young native was stealing dozens of their freshest fruit. They were not racist people at all, yet I should have taken more notice about sixteen hours earlier at how strange my chance encounter with this emaciated little boy was.

The house was miles away from the center of town, and I didn’t see any vehicles or bicycles around anywhere near the child or the road in front of the picturesque Caribbean home. After thinking the kid was only joking with me I quickly walked away from the front gate and headed home. By the time I turned around a few seconds later the boy was gone, nowhere to be found. He seemingly disappeared into thin air, without making a sound. Silence filled the town for a few ethereal moments as I scanned the grass and the road with closer detail and much slower this time. After a half minute of shivers and the beginning of persistent goose bumps I knew that I would never see him again. I felt strangely sad for hours and decided to confront my mother about this mysterious encounter, hoping that she could shed some light on this perplexing event.

“What did he tell you Matt?” She asked in a startled manner after dropping her coffee mug on the warm granite floor of the kitchen.

It shattered and splattered her beverage everywhere. It was as if my words had murdered the mug and the grains of decaffeinated Columbian brew consumed the room like blood spatter from a new type of unspeakable crime scene.

“He said that we will never be forgiven,” I was beginning to explain, quivering as the monkeys began to scream and run across the patio, almost falling into the pool in their ascent of the white picket fence. She knelt down and scraped the brown grainy remains of liquid from the freshly painted mahogany cabinets and shiny polished brass handles.

“Forgiven for what Mom?” I asked as she began to throw the wet paper towels at the monkeys through the open kitchen door. The towels were soaked with coffee of the strongest aroma imaginable and she clumped them into a tight ball and tossed them like a pitcher, or a child throwing a freshly packed snowball with every intention of hitting some malicious target.

She finished her cleaning with great rapidity and drew me with both arms into the living room, pointing her finger at the wicker chair with its back toward the monkeys sunning on the grass and running wildly up the tropical trees. The large palm tree was blowing in the breeze beneath the cloudless sky. My mother sighed and began to recount the macabre history of our new house, dissolving the mystery that had stricken me since my meeting with the little boy, and particularly his sudden disappearance which I witnessed soon thereafter.

“In the beginning of the nineteenth century this property was a plantation,” she began with a slow tone, and a description of the way things were a couple centuries earlier in the Caribbean.

“Actually this whole road was part of the plantation,” she continued, picking up speed and courageous volume with each new word.

“The owners were rich but they were not mean or overly torturous to the slaves. As the story goes they often invited their favorite slave family over for dinner and even allowed them to release some of their inner frustrations and fellow elderly slave relatives from everyday outdoor labor, those who they believed were too old to work on the plantation as productive hands. The slave owners formulated a close-knit bond with this slave family and the man who owned all this land gave them protection as best he could. He was often punished and ridiculed by the other plantation owners on the island for his preferential treatment of all slaves in such a racist aristocratic society. Even though he still needed them to earn his money and harvest the land, he loved this family like his own.”

My mom hardened her expression as she began to account for the words of the boy from earlier. Her eyes glazed over and froze upon the wall as she recalled the past and the secret web of evil that had survived for centuries on the island. A spider dropped from the mahogany rafter above, as it lowered itself to my eye level for a few moments before flying, or floating, back up to the ceiling, climbing the string it called home. I looked up for a second and noticed that’s its nest was huge, sprawling across one corner of the wall, too high to remove, to immense to clean, and yet too impossible to ignore.

My mom must have noticed my head twisted awkwardly toward the roof because she caught my pupils with her own as she spoke, then broke the extended silence with a moan. That was the last time that I would ever look into her eyes again.

“Our house and property lies on the outskirts of the plantation boundary,” she continued as the spider considered whether to descend again. He decided that it was too risky to lower itself so close to my head, and I imagined that he went to bed in the filthy web of his black widow instead.

“In 1822, after twenty-two loyal years as servants, the slave master decided to give his favorite slave family a new place to live for their growing family. He allowed them to build a small home so that they could better raise their small children away from the densely crowded dormitory where the dozens of other slave families lived, under one roof with too few beds to have one for each individual person. They built their house on the grounds of our property. The slaves built their new home exactly where your bedroom is.”

A tremble of fear froze my face and the cold wind picked up and sent shivers through the open windows, into my veins. This was my first visit to the new Caribbean house, and the room where I was staying was completed just prior to my arrival. It was an addition to the original home, and was not even considered in the blueprints until a few stones were found on the ground below the wild uncut grass that grew on that side of the house. The stones seemed to form an oval, and though unplanned, the additional bedroom seemed like a perfect idea at the time of the discovery of this foundation, which was in fact the boundary for the home of the slave family.

“The diameter of the narrow portion of the oval shaped parameter of the new room was twenty-two feet, as was the original slave home. The wider elliptical sides of the oval addition room were also identical to the slave house, and measured roughly twenty-two feet in radius. The room was destined to be alive once again, and the original foundation stones from 1822 were used in the new wall, forming an ellipse around this perfect new bedroom. Your father and I knew this would be the most beautiful room of the whole house. That is until we heard the lurid details of the murder. And even worse we just learned yesterday about the rape and cover-up of the burnt corpses. That poor girl’s infanticide.”

“Tell me Mom,” I yelled, even though she didn’t take her eyes from the light fixture above her, “why the hell did he say we will never be forgiven? Why did he come out here to find me and how did he disappear so quickly? Where did that boy come from? Where does he live?”

I could tell that my questions were resonating in her mind as I fired them at her, but it was as if they didn’t register in her memory and she couldn’t endeavor to formulate a response. I measured that it took her a few seconds to select which question of mine she least wanted to answer.

“Or when did he die?” she suddenly shuttered back without so much as a flicker of her eyelids.

“What?” I stuttered back, although by the time I had finished bludgeoning the word I already knew exactly what she meant.

“It was a devastating travesty though Matt, I’m sorry. Maybe he lives in town and he heard about the new addition and just wanted to freak you out.”

She tried to calm me down, but she still couldn’t look anywhere near my direction. She finally got up and kissed me on the cheek with her eyes shut, “Don’t worry about it, it was a terrible thing that happened a long time ago in a different world. You’ll be fine, I promise. I’m going to bed.”

It wasn’t the fact that she was going to bed that bothered me the most, it was the realization that it was only late afternoon when she decided to lie down and go to sleep. This was particularly unusual, but since today was all about the peculiar I watched her shoulders fall back as she walked away from the living room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and growing confusion.

I waited in my chair, watching as the shadows grew taller, hoping to stall the unset of sunset. I was not ready to sleep, but I was attempting to convince myself that my vision of the child with the dire message was only a dream. Perhaps an illusion, or some sun induced hallucination. But the conversation with my Mother was too real to dismiss, and the spider was spinning slowly down from it’s mount and riding the web to the ground.

Since I still had many unanswered questions, I decided to ask me father for the answers.

“I can’t believe your mom’s asleep already, and you’re scared of a haunted bedroom.” He joked even though I knew there was truth in his assumption that I was getting too carried away with something that was probably much ado about nothing.

Now I’m not so sure. I could hear the floor crack beneath where I lay motionless on the bed. My head was throbbing with an unexpected sensation that left me struggling to separate the real sounds from the fake. If I could have translated the beating in my temples to language it would probably read as some ill-fated poetic warning. A foreboding attempt to get out of that damn bed, burn down the addition room first, then murder the memories and destroy the whole house. I felt like a mouse trapped in a cage, but the bed sheets were immeasurably heavy, perhaps caked with enough sweat to make a cotton mattress feel like a steel labyrinth with no exits.

The strange sounds began to grow louder and the wind began to howl incessantly. The white silken curtains began to float like a ghost in the late night breeze. The light outside the bedroom window beside where I had once slept peacefully began to flicker between darkness and bright glimmer, perhaps from the cold bulb attached to the fixture not being significantly tightened, and the loose connection which was confusing me was probably only a simple error in design or assembly. Except that my mother already told me when I arrived that the house was finally all complete, except for the motion detector light outside the new addition room, which would be operational in a few weeks when the only electrician returned to the island.

The light was not connected to any electrical or other source of power, yet the winking persisted for five straight minutes like lightning. Then just as suddenly as the sounds and intermittent flashing had begun, they ended, and the words of my father filled my mind with mystery again.

“The slave family had four children when they moved into the house, and another baby girl on the way,” my father continued as he lit a Cuban cigar and blew a steady yellow stream of smoke toward the web on the ceiling. The spider seemed to sense it coming and moved toward the center of his nest as the vibrations from the tobacco plume began to consume his new home, as well as our own.

“Two of the children were girls and the other two were boys,” he continued, “and on the sixth day a fifth child was born. Her name was Nora Obala, and she filled the family and new home with hope and love. Everything was perfect for a few months. But then their whole world and the pristine reputation of the plantation was incinerated by the flames that tore through the house. Through your own room. Our new addition.”

A chill of unforgiving terror ran through my neck and down my spinal cord as he finished speaking.

Yet I still wanted to know more, and he hadn’t answered any of my real questions.

“But what caused the fire?” I asked, “and what does any of this have to do with murder and forgiveness?”

“I’m getting to that Matt,” he continued. By this time the spider was lying in the fetal position trying to escape from the pervasive smoke all around him.

“Nora, and all the little girls in the slave family,” he continued, “were raped viciously and mercilessly by the slave owners only male son, who was a demonic, demented teen that ravaged the plantation and ultimately destroyed his family’s good name.”

“He began abusing the two older girls when they were only two years old, and was even caught once by the slave father, or so the story goes.”

My dad looked very uncomfortable speaking about this but he could tell by the glimmer in my eyes that I was not going to let him quit before I had all the answers I needed. He sat back and placed the cigar into an ashtray he found buried on the beach, presumably dating back nearly two hundred years.

“Well one day the boy’s father walks in and catches his son in the aftermath of this heinous act and threatens to banish him from the plantation and cut off all inheritance and property if the abuse continues, since all would eventually go to him being the oldest and only male son. The boy promises to stop and no incidents of abuse concerning the boy were believed to have occurred for many months. Yet one day the boy decided to get closer to Satan on the plantation than he had ever done before. He would always do his harmful deeds when the strong male slaves were far enough away on the other side of the plantation for him to get away with it. But this time it didn’t work out according to plans.”

“The evil teen decided to abuse the littlest slave girl one day. An infant who was not even a year old yet, and could barely walk, let alone talk. But she screamed like bloody murder and cried her eyes out for five minutes,” my father continued, his voice now little more than a weak whisper.

“The father of the little girl must have heard the screaming and made it home in time to find the plantation owner’s son in the aftermath of getting dressed and trying to clean the blood from the dusty floor. The father wanted to kill the boy, but instead he picked up his little daughter and cleansed her wounds with a fresh wet towel. Then he told the boy that he had crossed the line this time and there was no reason why he should not inform the teen’s father about this atrocious event as soon as he saw him.”

“Yet the boy’s father was away on business and would not be returning until the next morning, the twenty-third day of November, 1822.”

“Obviously the teen is scared to death of this event and although a sick pedophile, he was not an idiot and defiantly could not afford to be cut out of his inheritance and property. So he formulates the sickest plan imaginable. That night he takes a knife to the necks of all six members of the slave family, one by one, methodically starting with the father and two son’s, then the mother, and finally the two girls. Though in his haste and quick act of tasteless silent vengeance he lost track of the little infant, and after an extensively thorough and labored ten minute search of the small one room house, she was no where to be found.”

“Baffled, but unconcerned, the teen torched the house with kerosene from three lanterns he found inside the home and ran away as fast as he could, fading into the night, watching the flames from a distance as the other slaves began to attempt to extinguish the blaze. But it was too late. By the time the flames finally subsided enough to go inside it was almost dawn, and they were all of course long dead and nothing remained but scorched blackened corpses, and the smell of death, burnt flesh, and bone.

My father extinguished his cigar in a glass of water. The spider was nowhere to be found. The web was motionless. The story was dead.

“The fire was believed by all to be an accident involving kerosene lamps that seemingly must have been set ablaze accidentally by the baby or one of the other small children. But they never found that baby’s remains in the house with the rest of her family, and she was never seen or heard from again, not by anybody, ever.”

My father walked away toward the door leading into his own bedroom and left me alone to contemplate and digest the sad tragedy that had occurred so close to home. I could still hear his footsteps fading away in my head as I lay motionless in bed, hoping that the motion detectors would not start flickering again. My mind was triggered with frozen emotions of sadness, and only the crying finally broke through the silence that had befallen upon the room for the last nine minutes.

It sounded almost like a baby crying silently. Then it grew louder, and with each passing minute it started to grow more wild and pronounced. The voice started to evolve into the screech of a little girl, a girl crying for food or shelter, or both. But just as soon as I figured out that she was probably two or three, the crying changed again, into an older girl, perhaps a young women. But then it all abruptly ended forever, all the sounds and images and even the wind began to die down.

Something inexplicable gripped my heart and compelled me to roll over and get out of bed. I attempted to do this when I realized that the past five nights have been so peaceful. I had slept uninterrupted until this sixth night. Still, I find relief because it was only a few hours of nightmares and an overactive imagination. So it felt wonderful not to have the hell scared out of me anymore. The moonlight illuminated the antique wardrobe with the initials N.O. engraved in the sun bleached wood. I rolled over but was met by the fragile arms and dark torso of an old lady lying next to me in my bed. The red digital clock read 2:22, November twenty-third.

The Pirate Suitor

 http://www.shattercolors.com/fiction/dexter_pirate.htm

Even as a little girl, Samantha Anderson had always been especially precocious. But now she was as well-known for her beauty as she had always been to me for her brilliance.

I watched with awe as she sat leisurely on the wet deck of the sailboat, peacefully embracing the lazy reflections from the water as they fluttered across her angelic sunburnt face. She was gazing toward the jagged protruding shoreline, while the setting sun was hazily painting the Mexican ripples various shades of red and orange. Her head was aimed directly at the waves breaking upon the golden sand.

As I approached, I noticed the Pacific Ocean leaving its final impression of the day upon the cluster of freckles which covered her shoulders, like a constellation, as the salty mist collected on her back for a few lingering seconds in transparent speckles, before evaporating in the heat of the Cabo San Lucas summer. I was immersed in my silent observation of her natural youthful splendor, now initiated by my delayed acknowledgement of her seemingly sudden transition from childhood to womanhood.

I only wanted to protect her, and had actually been successfully in this endeavor most of her life. I kept her away from the steady stream of teenage boys who relentlessly attempted to sneak off with her all week long during our vacation onshore, whether for benign reasons and intentions, or not.

They came in waves, fueled by testosterone and blessed with the convenience of lenient liquor laws. Yet I succeeded in keeping most of these potential consensual molesters at a great enough distance to prevent any negative influence. Since I was her only uncle, it was my self-proclaimed duty to look after my niece. It was my way of keeping my younger brother and sister-in-law company on their adventure below the border.

But now I had a sickening inclination that the scores of young men who were perpetually drawn to Samantha were not attracted by her magnetic personality or mature wisdom, but her eyes were radiant and full of life as she listened to music blasting through her headphones.

My growing shadow was just about to approach the bow when she broached the question of why I was always pestering her with my stern presence and excessive protection.

“I told you not to come so close to me. You’re being punished for terrifying that handsome young man on the dock,” she warned, without breaking focus of the waves and the familiar oceanic melodies dancing through her mind.
“Darling Samantha, wearing bikinis like those don’t leave much undressing to the imagination of your suitors,” I offered back, my shadow now motionless, except for the subtle movement of my short grey hair, gently blowing in the warm tropical breeze.

She smiled innocently and sensed the truth in my implicit suggestion.

“Uncle Will, I’m sorry but I’m almost sixteen now, so you’re just going to have to be more tolerant of my constantly evolving social life. This sometimes involves boys, so be prepared.”

“Boys?” I contested with laughter.

“Samantha, that last one at the dock was nearly my age, and the two at the marina were college kids. I’m only looking out for your best interests. You need to focus on your work and make all your dreams come to fruition. Please don’t let any boys kill your ambitions.”

“Nobody will interfere with my goals,” she promised, accepting the cold glass of lemonade I handed her, after assuming that it was ok to get closer only if I offered a gift of atonement.

It was a nice moment we shared together on that mahogany deck, watching the ocean slowly project an amber glow on the aquatic rocks in the distance, which shimmered like a tiny river running through a submerged corral reef.

It was almost as if we were sailing on the wings of paradise. Riding the crest of our wonderful destinies, and the sunset was welcoming our future and all it had to offer. Only there was much more to this scenic escape than meets the eye. We had actually come here to relieve the recent past, in an attempt to begin to pull the fragmented pieces of our tattered lives together.

Our family had been shattered six months earlier by the devastating news of the death of Samantha’s younger brother, who committed suicide, choosing to hang himself from the brass bar on the roof of the closet where he decided to die. The glass chandelier which adorned the marble fixture of the dining room ceiling one floor beneath the scene of the tragedy was the only sign that anything was ever wrong. The crystal petals shook ferociously, producing a pleasant sound that rippled throughout the empty home for a few ominous seconds of desperation as he gasped for air, attempting to tear through the rope cutting through the flesh of his neck

Yet the braided rope encroaching upon his throat didn‘t snap and break his neck when he kicked the chair to the floor, the way all the websites claimed it would. The chandelier shook for five straight minutes of final waning regret, but his body wasn’t discovered for eight more hours.

The misery devoured our family initially, but as the shock wore away we found strength within one another, and though sadness still exists today, we came down to Mexico in hopes of finding reprieve. It was a memorial celebration which Samantha’s brother would have wanted us to experience, a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Since Cabo San Lucas was always his favorite destination, his remains were scattered in the waves. Samantha had not been able to take her eyes away from the ocean since she helped provide this final wish to her deceased brother, as if she feared he would leave her again if she lost sight of the water.

She had been smothered all week long by potential lovers and admirers but she was really dealing with her own personal struggles, which she kept well hidden behind the immaculate smile she presented to the world.

We had no idea what was about to unfurl in the next thirty seconds, but we instantly learned lessons on how to shout at the top of our lungs. I think my voice was more powerful than my niece’s, but her recent sore throat was probably an impediment to the projection of the fear and alarm that struck us both. We knew as soon as they boarded our boat that the bearded men meant potential harm, because their leader was holding a carving knife in his right hand, his other arm pointed at the cabin where the rest of our party was situated.

His attempted gesture with the knife was not an especially effective method of gaining their attention. But the rise in our voices at the sight of this rudimentarily armed mutiny was enough to accomplish their objective, garnering the attention of everyone within seconds. They all looked demented, but the other two intruders were younger and much less sober than their leader, who was eager to announce himself as the new captain of the ship, his crew using rope to tie us to the wheel in the cabin.

“At least it’s not the anchor,” I muttered to my brother, after discovering that the rudder submerged six feet underneath our cluttered bodies was not going to be steering us back to the marina.

“This is no time to joke,” my brother advised.

He was white as a ghost and I could see the terror in his eyes as he spoke.

“Are you pirates aware that this is a privately owned vessel?” Samantha asked.

Their leader flashed her an almost entirely toothless smile, seemingly completely aghast and speechless as he tried to figure out the young captive’s intention and unusual line of questioning.

“We have a satellite tracker device on board,” she lied, “and I thought modern-day pirates only struck cruise ships in Africa, did you guys get lost on your way to Somalia or something?”

She smiled after she finished her polite, yet uninvited inquisition. But since our captors only spoke Spanish, most of her words made no sense to them at all. At least that was my suspicion, judging by the fact that they spoke no English during their demented sailboat hijack.

But they definitely selected the best time to do it. Now the darkness was closing in on us, four innocent victims of an aquatic abduction mission, hidden in the cabin, bound for destruction or whatever else these drunken idiots had in store for us.

“My sister worked for the American police force in a small town outside Amarillo, Texas,” the captain kidnapper suddenly announced with respect, “tracking down criminals and car thieves with global positioning systems hidden in automobiles.”

His face was ashy, with more hair than his head, as he brushed his double chin with a gigantic cigar as if in deep meditative thought, interrupted only by an even deeper puff of tobacco.

“Besides, we came on board too fast for you to signal anyone,” he continued, “which is the reason we have attached you to the wheel, out of sight in the cabin, merely as a precaution.”

He answered Samantha’s question, while debunking my false assumption that he was too stupid and drunk to be bilingual.

“Why did your sister get fired, stealing automobiles?” Samantha continued.

I couldn’t believe that she actually had the audacity to suggest any such connection to his own behavior, but the portly captain did not appear to take any offense to it.

“She was never fired,” he answered, “she was hired because she went to college for criminal justice and she never even missed a day of work.”

“But you said she worked for the police,” Samantha pressed further, “did she get fired?”

I couldn’t even believe that my niece could suggest these inflammatory insinuations, which could easily be interpreted as insults by an intoxicated, armed attacker, who had us bound to the boat he was stealing.

He looked flushed for a few seconds and I was convinced that he had just been disrespected. But then he didn’t get furious like I figured he would. Instead he got very sad, and almost looked like he was about to cry, as tears suddenly filled his already bloodshot eyes.

“My sister died a few months ago,” the captain replied, now beginning to cry.

He wiped his clenched eyelids with both hands, and if he had any hairs in the front of his head he would have lit them on fire. I was almost waiting for him to incinerate his forehead, but it never happened. I imagined that if he had it would have almost matched his scraggly chin and face.

He reached in his right pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief, folded neatly, amazingly clean. He carefully unrolled it in his hand with the tips of his filthy fingers and thumb, exposing a golden lighter that he appeared reluctant to touch.

“This was given to me a month before she moved away from us,” the captain told Samantha, holding out the lighter for her to examine.

“She carved my initials in it,” he added, allowing Samantha to get close enough to read the cursive lettering.

“It’s nice,” she observed.

His knife was now secured in a leather waistband holster a few inches in front of her head, and he seemed to trust or respect her much more than he did the rest of us, who he did not ever address or acknowledge.

“I’m sorry about your sister,” Samantha said respectfully, “I really am.”

“It’s ok,” the captain replied, intricately folding the lighter back into the handkerchief with his other hand, placing it safely back into his pocket.

He left us alone and went to the bow to confer with his companions, who were drinking tequila from a plastic three liter bottle with a rattlesnake trapped inside. The reptile looked alive as it swam from side to side as they raised the bottle to their lips and passed it around.

“It’s dead,” the captain announced, noticing that all four of us were curious.

He brought the beverage closer to the cabin so that we could examine it, using his kerosene lantern to light up the marinating serpent. It looked alive but closer examination revealed that it was in fact dead, though moving vibrantly in the liquid, black eyes wide open, with pieces of flesh and layers of skin floating in tequila. He asked Samantha if she wanted a drink, and thankfully she silently declined his offer with a frightened shake of her head.

“It’s been in there three years,” he advised her, “it’s good.”

“I’m sure it is,” Samantha confided, “but even so I don’t think right now is the appropriate time for such an experiment. With the whole kidnapping and grand theft sailboat thing going on, you know?”

That made the captain smile again, and it seemed that he was getting more interested in talking with my niece than helping his shipmates plot their course on the glossy nautical map they had laid out on the bow with lanterns on each corner.

“I like you,” the Captain confessed to Samantha, “but try to make yourself comfortable because we’re going to be sailing all night.”

#

 

I was awake well before the fist light of the new day. I think we all were, since we were up most of the night trying to situate ourselves comfortably, which was an impossible task to accomplish in the dark, cramped cabin. We were trapped, with our arms tied behind our backs, breaking instruments and dials with our feet every few hours.

The first thing I noticed was that there was no land in sight, and the golden horizon was not quite as exquisite as the day before. I was very sore, and we had not been given any food, only two bottles of water which we were unable to lift to our lips. The captain had his crew come down every few hours and offer us their assistance drinking the warm liquid.

I thought my bladder was about to burst when I finally convinced one of the men to let us each relieve ourselves at the rear of the boat, using the ladder. They watched over us, humiliating my sister-in-law as she prayed for them to release us immediately. Samantha sang a sweet song and dove into the ocean, leading to a few moments of frantic commotion as her parents started screaming and our captors struggled to turn the boat around.

We were now gliding, using a steady wind to distance ourselves from whatever the captain wanted to escape from. All three of them were visibly ill and exhausted. If not for the persistent commands from the captain I imagined that the two other vagabonds might not have summoned the motivation to turn around for Samantha at all. But they did and she was eventually pulled aboard, laughing hysterically and looking refreshed and beautiful as ever.

“Well what was all that about?” the captain asked.

“I couldn’t just go to the bathroom with all of the intruders watching me could I?

“Plus I needed a swim,” she added, removing the drenched sweatshirt she had slept in, revealing the same bathing suit top she had worn the day before.

The captain was amused, but not particularly upset with her. Yet her parents and I were furious, and we told her so. It was a dangerous stunt, considering that she had no life preserver, with no land in sight. A reckless and brazen attempt to gain attention. But for some strange reason she knew and trusted the captain would return for her, which he did even before she resurfaced.

My brother was now wide awake and infuriated. He was demanding the captors to return his boat to land immediately because his wife was a diabetic and he needed to examine her health. We figured we would have returned to Cabo San Lucas last night, and therefore had brought no provisions on board for another day. Not until Samantha spoke did the captain even indicate that he had heard any of my brother’s words.

“My mother really does need some basic testing equipment, she‘s hypoglycemic” she politely explained, “so please drop her off someplace near a pharmacy or hospital.”

I was ashamed at myself for getting so upset with Samantha a moment ago, but all my anger instantly changed to pride when she convinced the captain to give his crew instructions to take us back toward dry land to help my sister-in-law.

Within a few hours we docked beside an enormous rock, and one of the crew went to go purchase the medications that my sister-in-law wrote down for him, the captain refusing to allow one of us out of the boat, fearing this would provoke trouble. The captive returned a few hours later and in all that time nobody else approached or came within view of the sailboat.

“I hope you’re satisfied,” the captain told Samantha, “we’re eight hours off course now.”

Samantha’s mother injected herself with insulin and returned the needle to the captain, who now allowed two of us to be untied at once to provide more room in the cabin. The captain spent most of his day with Samantha, asking questions while the crew controlled the sailing and the sky grew dark and foreboding.

Their bond deepened when she learned how the captain’s sister had died, according to him suicide, victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“They let her carry a firearm,” he explained, “and this new medication she was using to battle manic depression suddenly pushed her over the edge.”

“That’s tragic,” Samantha said with sincerity, as they sat on the deck watching the sunset.

The sun was well above the horizon, but the clouds were so thick that it was indistinguishable. It had been growing darker gradually all day, and the wind had begun to howl persistently. We lost sight of land again hours ago and it seemed we were headed for a storm. Samantha asked the captain if we could make it to shore before the rain began, but he told her we were hours from any land on the map. He said the plan was to get to a small uninhabited island by morning and they had to proceed on track.

“My brother died of a heroin overdose,” Samantha told him, “actually it was a suicide. He hung himself, but the heroin would have done it for him sooner or later.”

“Samantha, how dare you say such terrible things to this thug,” my brother interjected.

Her mother agreed and pleaded with her daughter to speak the truth and never lie under any circumstances. Her confession was news to us all, but it seemed to have some kind of mesmerizing effect on the captain, who seemed to relate to Samantha because both of them had siblings who had recently taken their own lives.

“So how long have you stayed away from the needle?” she asked him, pointing to the small depressions from track marks on the inside of his forearms. They were so small that I had not noticed them, nor had her parents, but it occurred to us all that Samantha had some sort of trick up her sleeve.

The waves grew larger and dark, as the mates drank tequila from the snake, and I tried to convince the pirates that we were in for a major storm that might kill us all by morning. The captain pretended that he couldn’t hear me, but I could see in his eyes that he was frightened at the prospect of either losing his boat or his life.

“I don’t want to die,” he quietly confided in Samantha a few hours later, “so untie them and tell them we need all hands on deck. Make sure they listen and obey my commands if they want to live through this.”

We were finally all free from the wheel for the first time, but now the captain demanded that everyone be tied to the ship by an ankle, since the sea was much too rough to be able to maneuver, let alone pick somebody up. Plus, it was so dark that I doubted anybody would even be located if they fell overboard.

My sister-in-law was crying hysterically as she tried her best to use a steel bucket to help one of the mates drain the water from the deck, which was collecting inches by the minute, with the waves crashing sporadically upon us from both sides of the boat. I did my best to help them control the sails, but since the cold wind was ravaging us so mercilessly it took at least three of us to manage the main sail. We had to duck every once in a while to avoid being struck in the head by the metal as it swung wildly about.

We were all tied to the mast, which seemed like a masterful plan, until the mast began to splinter like weak timber and tear apart like crackling thunder, at which point we were commanded by the captain to untie our own legs as fast as possible. We all did so with the knife he lent us, of course only after cutting himself and Samantha loose. We all listened to the wood failing, and before the last crew member had a chance to free himself he was launched ferociously into the ocean. Even his scream was swallowed by the sea before we had a chance to realize he was gone. The captain screamed for us all to tie ourselves back to the boat, to stay low, and hold on for dear life.

We were tossed violently from side to side for hours, bruised and bloodied by the profuse movement of the waves. I prayed that the relentless lighting would target the ship, strike our vessel and save us all the inevitable struggle of drowning individually in the tropical depression. I was ready to die when Samantha was forced over the bow by a surge of foam, disappearing below the water without even a mutter of despair.

Before any of us could act, the captain was up and over the boat. The only sign of him was the rope that connected him to the bow, which almost broke when the slack ran out. The last remaining pirate crewman yelled in Spanish for us to help him pull the rope, and we all did, until the captain finally reappeared at the surface next to the boat, Samantha in his arms. She was choking, spitting out water, coughing uncontrollably. But she was alive, and we pulled them both on board and rode out the storm together in the cabin all night long, as the boat broke apart, from fragment to fragment.

The rising sun seemed to free us from the storm, but forlorn and worn out, nobody held out much hope. Our boat was going down. It took a while, but the waves were finally taking control, and we all knew our only hope was to hold onto the floatation buoys we were using for life preservers since the actual life vests went overboard with the first big storm surge. They were being handed to Samantha and her mother by the captain when he unwillingly conceded them to the sea, an ominous sign.

I remember holding onto a barrel for hours, all of us using separate improvised devices to stay above the surface, rotating between them and using a rope to stay connected to each other. The next thing I know I was spitting up water and lying on my back on a cold steel floor, soaked in bloody saltwater and urine, my family alive and awake beside me, smiling as they realized I was going to be fine.

We were in the hull of a Mexican rescue vessel, being transported to the hospital.

“How long was I out for?” I asked my brother, hugging my niece who lay leisurely beside me, smiling.

“A few minutes uncle Will,” she interjected, “but we knew you’d come around. Who else would be able to destroy my social life so well if you were dead?”

The officials were asking us various questions about our experience, and it seemed like everything was going to be better in the future. We were all together now. One big family. Four gringos, two pirates, and an adventure of a lifetime.

“Where’s the nearest saloon?” Samantha asked, “I feel like a rattlesnake tequila.”

THE END

 

24 Minutes

 

It was 24 minutes before midnight

when I cried into the lonesome river of lost hope

and shivered tearless once again,

fearless in a daze I quiver alone

wondering if she will ever hear this,

as the murky water wells slowly upward,

and compels me to shutter

with petrified words I dare not utter,

another summer in hell,

silent sentences and confessions of repentance,

confusions void of trivial amusements,

musings once again better left unspoken,

heard by no one.

http://shortstory.us.com/2009/07/24-minutes-by-matthew-dexter/

 

The Snowdrop Spider

I awoke to the flutter of another unspoken memory,

a butterfly that sputters its wings inside my mind

Like a spider spinning its intestines into a nest,

a web of desire that reflects my entire life,

uninspired with strife.

Los Cabos: Where Land Ends and Fire Begins

 

http://www.fiery-foods.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1944:los-cabos-where-land-ends-and-fire-begins&catid=79:mexico-and-central-america&Itemid=150

Los Cabos: Where Land Ends and Fire Begins
Recipes:
San Jose del Cabo Chicken Stew
Marlin Quesadillas
Cabrito Stew (Kid Goat Stew)
Los Cabos Seafood Stew
Cabo Killer Salsa
Cabo San Lucas Guacamole with Chile Habanero, Chips & Salsa
San Jose del Cabo Guacamole with Chile Habanero, Chips & Salsa
When one thinks of Baja and Los Cabos in particular, the image of tacos and burritos instantly comes to mind. However, there is so much more to Cabo than just fish tacos. Don’t get me wrong. I love fish tacos. Almost as much as I love lobster or shrimp tacos. But we have a host of other, much more unusual Mexican recipes besides just the aforementioned notions of traditional Mexican food. Cabo is original. It’s a spicy Mexican oasis where land ends, purple mountains descent into the ocean, then merge with the Sea of Cortez, and the Pacific cliffs inch toward the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula. The Sea of Cortez embraces the ripples of the Pacific ocean and stirs a potion of the most ferocious enchiloso foods that will make your tongue explode and your eyes water. You will breathe fire after you try these unique dishes, made with one of the hottest Mexican salsas on the planet. I have lived in Cabo for the last year, and Baja California Sur for the last two, and doing so has brought me one step closer to burning the roof off my mouth. Dancing with jalapeños and habaneras can be hazardous to your health. The bad thing about living year-round in Mexico is that the napkins are very small, and even worse, excessive use of salsa with these amazing foods will require at least a few dozen napkins and some fresh water to comfort your tongue. After Tabasco sauce got too meek, I decided that I needed to leave Phoenix and Tucson behind. After all, Arizona salsa and synthetic Mexican cuisine can only take you so far. So I came to La Paz, but quickly got bored with the Baja taco stands within three months and made the plan to move to Los Cabos. I don’t know if this decision will kill me, but the salsa has brought me one step closer to the edge almost every night, and again every morning with the wonderful breakfast stands. I should know, I am the self-proclaimed emperor of enchiloso. I might not deserve this title, but I have gone to almost all the taco stands and open-air restaurants at four in the morning, exploring the culture and the natives, the real Baja California lifestyle, and this taste of spice has enchanted me to find the best recipes. I have discovered the hidden treasures of Los Cabos and the majestic surprises on the menu, even those too secret to display. From marlin quesadillas at Surf Taco on the main drag of Cabo San Lucas, just across from the Pemex gas station beside the famous restaurant La Quadalupana, which was first founded in Mexico City in 1933, to home-cooked meals of baby goat in the most remote locations in Los Cabos. In Cabo you never know what you might discover. I learned that I needed to find some better napkins or at least a handkerchief to comfort my ravenous appetite for spicy cuisine. Tequila and Cerveza can be very dangerous south of the border, but a diet of endless Mexican food can cure any disease I’m just a gringo, but I’ve challenged many a local in unofficial enchiloso eating; and though victorious, I have acknowledged defeat to the empty napkin dispenser at least a hundred times. I don’t mean to brag. In fact this is nothing to be proud of. I have badly singed my tongue so many times that my lips are permanently chafed and chapped at the corners. But this demon within me beckons constantly for more recipes, with hotter salsas and peppers, to build an empire of spicy delicacies, quenched only with the Los Cabos blend of herbs and spices. I mend the fences with the locals and drink salsas in all colors, though the greens are way hotter than the reds, and they say the guacamole protects you from the bacteria, while the limes keep the flies away from the beer. But the spice racks and salsas are always within inches from the tables, which will enable you to maneuver swiftly within the corridors of Cacti Mundo, the botanical garden with the succulent collection of the best thorny treats on the planet. The gardeners in this majestic palace of plants all come from Miraflores, a small town about fifteen miles from Cabo. They have kindly introduced me to a wide variety of the most unusual fiery spices and delicious dishes, all of which I have never tasted before, or anywhere else since. They will simultaneously make your eyes and mouth water insatiably. They changed my life when they invited me to their family ranch and we feasted on succulent baby goat, known as Cabrito en su sangre, cooked in its own blood. This sounds kind of creepy, but the taste will haunt you forever, like an endless memory of a hungry ghost that will never die. The recipe is a treasured family gem vested in indefinite secrecy, and I tried everything to get it, but though this treasure is not yet in my possession, I’m still working on it. Never before have I savored such unusual delicacies as these special Cabo dishes. The homemade seafood and chicken stews were like heaven on earth, or purgatory since we ran out of water and napkins, and only the cold Corona could steer us away from the dangerous road of enchiloso. Cabo will transform you into a new person as soon as you arrive. But if you never leave, perhaps you can eat fiery salsa with every meal and find the greatest local dishes in all of Baja. You will merge into an alter ego if you stay too long, but after a few weeks you’ll gain strength and evoke new strategies of using small cocktail napkins as tongue buffers and building a habit of tasting the strangest Cabo recipes you can find. Or maybe you’ll just keep lying on the beach with spicy cuisine in a white take-out box with at least five different salsas and spices to keep you company. The greens are better than the reds, but the more salsa you use with these recipes is key to unlocking the flames within the dishes. Just remember to check the napkin dispenser or your take-out box before you hit the scenic land’s end beaches between San Jose and San Lucas. Los Cabos is referred to by many locals as Cabo San Locos. It will make you crazy. But it will also lead you toward the road less traveled and the most tasty unusual foods in Baja, especially if you search long and hard enough. Discover the infinite possibilities here at the end of the earth, where heaven has blessed us with fire and the waves are the largest napkin on the planet.
San Jose del Cabo Chicken Stew (Serves 6)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 large onion, sliced as thin as possible
3 jalapeños, chopped
12 green olives
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups tomatoes, chopped, try to find large tomatoes
3 tablespoons capers
3 ribs celery, chopped
½ teaspoon chipotle
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried leaf oregano, crumbled
10 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 boneless chicken breasts
Cook while stirring onion in vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet until tender. Stir in all remaining ingredients except the mushrooms and chicken breasts. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Place chicken, in a single layer in skillet, skin side up. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Add mushrooms, cover and cook for another 15 minutes until chicken is done.
Marlin Quesadillas (smoked) (sauce to accompany fish)
Cut onions, tomatoes, and chilies into dice. Sauté in garlic butter. Add tomato sauce with chilies and peppers. Marlin quesadilla sauce will be ready in about five minutes.
Quesadillas de Marlin (smoked)
Let the sauce simmer. Meanwhile, heat flour (or corn) tortillas filled with cheese (any kind you like) on a skillet or griddle. (The same way to make a quesadilla.) Next smoke the marlin to perfection, then crumble some of the smoked marlin into a bowl with a pinch of chipotle powder, and stir gently in the hot sauce.
Marlin Quesadillas
This recipe makes one quesadilla. Instead of using two different cheeses, you can always substitute in 2/3 cup of the Mexican Blend cheese that you can find in your local supermarket. Making two quesadillas with this recipe instead of one is wonderful because you will not waste any tomatoes and everything will be used void of leftover vegetables.
2 12-inch tortillas (the largest kind you can find, usually considered big enough for burritos)
½ large tomato, chopped
2 tsp diced jalapeno peppers /3 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 fillet of smoked marlin, cut into thin narrow strips
2 tsp diced onion
1/4 tsp. cilantro
1/4 tsp. chipotle powder
Before you start on the quesadilla, slice up the smoked marlin into long thin strips.
Melt a small amount of butter (one or two tablespoons is perfect) in a large 10-inch frying pan, or try using a wok if you’re really ambitious. Place one of the tortillas in the pan, and quickly spread the cheese in the center portion of the tortilla, leaving about an inch or so uncovered on the outer edges. Spread the tomato, onion, peppers, and the delicious smoked marlin strips over the melting cheese. Sprinkle the cilantro, chipotle, (and any spices, peppers, salts, or other such seasonings you want to experiment with) on the fresh marlin. Next, place the second tortilla over the quesadilla. Allow the bottom tortilla to reach a golden-brown hue for about 1-2 minutes.
Successfully flipping the hot quesadilla over to the other side without losing all the contents is a risky maneuver. I recommend using a spatula and proceeding with caution: slowly and meticulously is better than trying to show off for your friends, family members, or any pets in the kitchen.
This is why it is so important to use a large pan, or wok. If you have a large surface it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You can also use your hands if you are very careful. This is the strategy I usually employ, though sometimes I burn my hands unexpectedly (or maybe it‘s a self-fulfilling prophecy) and I genuinely regret that endeavor for a few seconds.
Whatever method you use, as soon as you’ve done that flip, brown the bottom tortilla for another minute or two. Once it’s golden and cooked to perfection, take it out of the pan (carefully) and slice it up into four, six, or eight symmetrical pieces. Then serve it with salsa, jalapeños, and any side dishes you desire.
Cabs San Lucas Guacamole with Chile Habanero, Chips & Salsa
2 fresh avocados
1/2 clove garlic
1 roasted jalapeño
2 roasted, peeled and chopped habaneras (or the hottest chilies you can find)
3 pinches of cilantro
San Jose del Cabo Guacamole with Chile Habanero, Chips & Salsa
2 limes
Salt (as much as you desire for added flavor)
1 bag fresh flour (or corn) tortillas (8 inch works best)
2 cups corn oil or other available oil (for frying)
First peel the fresh avocados. Next, smash them into a molcajete paste (mortar and pestle). This may be hard to find outside Mexico, so if you can’t locate a malachite, try improvising with a mixing bowl and a fork. Finely chop the chile habanero, garlic, and cilantro, Then add to your malachite (or mixing bowl.) Next, gently squeeze in the lime juice and add your salt for flavor. Mix together until desired combination is achieved, and then serve with fresh Mexican tortilla chips. (or Doritos)
If you want to make your own tortilla chips, just heat oil in a large frying pan until 350 degrees F. Next slice tortilla into wedges, then deep fry them for about 3 minutes, or until they become a nice shade of golden brown. (crisp) Sprinkle with salt then keep warm until desired in a 200 degree F. oven.
Cabo Killer Salsa (very hot)
Serves/Makes: about 2 cups
1 ½ cup fresh water
1 cup marinara sauce (about 10 ounces)
1/2 cup onion, diced or chopped
9 fresh Habanero peppers, with seeds, chopped
9 fresh Jalapeno peppers, with seeds, chopped
2 tablespoons white vinegar
¼ teaspoon chipotle sauce
¼ teaspoon standard hot sauce from bottle
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
Directions:
Mix all ingredients into a small saucepan over medium or high heat. Next, bring liquid to a slow boil before reducing temperature, and let simmer for about 35-40 minutes (or until chunky enough to serve)
After salsa cools, place in a jar and refrigerate overnight. (or eat hot if you’re crazy enough)
Los Cabos Seafood Stew (Miraflores)
4 jalapeños; chopped
2 habaneras: chopped
1/2 cup Onion; Chopped, 1 Medium
1/2 cup Green Chiles; Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic; Chopped finely
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Basil Leaves: Dried
1 teaspoon Sugar
2 cups White Wine (or Sangria); Dry
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Orange Peel; Grated
1 1/2 cups Orange Juice
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon chipotle pepper
1 Teaspoon Cilantro; Fresh, Snipped
1/2 teaspoon Oregano Leaves- Dried
28 oz Italian Plum Tomatoes; *
24 ea Soft-shell Clams; Scrubbed
1 1/2 lb Shrimp; Raw, Shelled.
1 lb Fish; **
6 oz Crabmeat; Frozen, ***
* Use 1 24oz can of Italian Plum Tomatoes (untrained; cut in half.) ** The following fish can be used: manna ray, sea bass, marlin, cod, mahi-mahi or red snapper fillets that are cut into 1-inch pieces. *** Crabmeat should be thawed and drained, with outer layer removed. Cook and stir onion, chilies, jalapeños, habaneras, and garlic in oil in 6-quart Dutch oven until fresh onion is tender. Then stir in remaining ingredients except seafood. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Next add clams; let simmer and keep covered until clams open up, (5 to 10 minutes.) (Discard any clams that have not opened; they are bad luck.) Carefully stir in fish, crabmeat, and shrimp. Heat to a boil; reduce heat. Let simmer and cover until shrimp are pink; and fish flakes easily with cocktail shrimp fork, (4 to 5 minutes.)
Cabrito Stew (Kid Goat Stew)
4 lbs. kid goat meat cubed
1/2 cup water
1 T vegetable oil
3 chiles serranos
2 tsp. salt
4 garlic cloves
1 12-oz can tomato sauce
5 tsp. mixed spices (cilantro, pepper, and cumin)
2 tsp. flour
2 tsp. chipotle
Brown meat in oil; add salt. Grind spices and garlic and add a small amount of water. Add spices, tomato sauce and enough water to cover meat. Simmer 35-45 minutes. Blend flour and 1/2 cup water. stir into meat to make gravy.

 

Shop Till You Drop at Land’s End

Los Cabos is a culturally diverse Mexican oasis at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula. Shopping in Los Cabos is an exotic and aquatic experience. An amazing vacation of unparalleled shopping opportunities await you here in Los Cabos. Naturally an array of shopping goes hand in hand with your stay here, where land ends and oceanic heaven begins.

 

Fashion in Cabo is original and innovative, setting the trends of American fashion and decadence. Latin American culture embraces all sizes, ages, and races, as individual tastes merge into one unprecedented style, miles ahead of our time. Only in Los Cabos can you catch a glimpse into the high fashion of the future.

 

Boutiques are like restaurants in Cabo. They line the side streets of Cabo San Lucas ranging from posh designers, world-class jewelers, and gourmet cuisine, to hidden trinkets, exotic bargain souvenirs, and deliciously dilapidated taco stands. The plazas of Cabo San Lucas all offer a distinct variety of goods and each provides a unique ambience and exotic shopping environment.

Fine dining, shopping, and easy living come together with natural grace at Puerto Paraiso Entertainment Plaza and the adjacent Marina Cabo San Lucas. Some Places, like Puerto Paraiso Plaza, are huge and obvious. Others consume intricate corners of more distant back roads. Fortunately, all you need is within walking distance from the heart of Cabo San Lucas.

Special pleasures can be discovered between the twin cities of Cabo San Lucas and the more mellow San Jose del Cabo. Renting a car will enable you to journey slightly off the beaten path and explore these beachfront resorts, each with individual stores and treasures as majestic as the mountains which descend into the waves.

Las Tiendas de Palmilla is a sophisticated luxury shopping center which offers an endless selection of high-end boutiques. Among the attractions are jewelry stores, day spas, art galleries, fine restaurants, coffee shops, an amazing bakery, homemade crafts, and much more.

If you’re looking for an exquisite silk handbag, that next luxurious scarf, or just some new swimwear for the resort pool, Las Tiendas de Palmilla is the best place to go. Men can also enjoy shopping at the luxurious Las Tiendas because it offers fashionable golf clothes and accessories, perfect and especially convenient for those preparing to hit the aquatic desert courses situated within minutes from Palmilla.

Among the many internationally recognized brand name designers sold in Las Tiendas de Palmilla are Piaget, Harry Winston, Pineda Covalin, Chopard, Tommy Bahama, and Emilia Castillo.

San Jose illuminates a unique charm and authenticity all of its own. A traditional Mexican city, with historic church steeples reaching toward the stars, narrow cobblestone streets, and endless boutiques and opportunities. Specialty stores and a more authentic Mexican feel provide the vibrant exotic ambience as you shop this more traditional sister city of the more explosive Cabo San Lucas. Furniture, hand blown glass factories, ceramics, artwork, cigar stores, and local souvenirs are among the popular commodities sold in San Jose del Cabo.  

Beautiful people, limitless shopping, and unique culture at the end of the peninsula is a multifaceted, constantly evolving dichotomy of American, Canadian, and Mexican sensibilities, fashion, and ideals. Come find out for yourself where it all comes together.

Ixtapa What?

Situated in the picturesque southwestern Pacific portion of the country, Ixtapa  is considered by many to be positioned directly in the heart of The Mexican Riviera. Ixtapa is located one hundred and fifty miles northwest of Acapulco. A modern tourist paradise with aquatic vistas and  miles of great beaches. The region is perfect for exploration, both underneath the ocean surface as well as in the many caves and lagoons that consume the land. Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are two major tourist cities separated by only four miles, making this unique area of Mexico home to twin cities that are entirely different yet connected into one major tourist hotspot.

The Reemergence of Acapulco

Situated around a deep picturesque bay, where the fishing is spectacular and the living is laid-back, Acapulco has evolved from a small Aztec port village into a magnificent Mexican Pacific tourist resort. There is simply no other southernmost destination in Mexico with such amazingly stunning scenery surrounded by the amount of sophisticated tourist amenities found in Acapulco. Here the Sierra Madre Mountains merge seamlessly with the water, amid palm lined beaches and precariously steep cliffs. The
sun drenched days are leisurely, seemingly inevitably leading into the world famous nightlife scene, which in Acapulco is often spontaneous and impulsive, yet always explosive.

Los Cabos goes Wireless:

Technology Night was unveiled recently in downtown San Jose and hailed as a huge success by all in attendance. Presented at the Tropicana restaurant by Hotspot International, a Mexico City based corporation going on its fourth year, hoping to soon equip the hotels and guests of Los Cabos with the best in new wireless internet technology. The purpose of the event was to promote the growth of affordable high-speed service within the resorts of Los Cabos. More than thirty local hotels and associations were represented, and about seventy attendees listened intently to the presentations in both Spanish and English. This was quite beneficial, since some of the company’s representatives did not want to jeopardize their bilingual proficiencies with public speaking, and some of the distinguished guests preferred to interpret the high-tech terminology in their respective first language.  Hotspot International is the premier high-speed internet access connectivity company in Latin America, and the interactive leader within the Mexican hospitality industry.  They are also currently providing wireless connectivity services in Argentina and Chile, with future services soon coming to Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Hotspot offers secure and reliable prepaid passes with the fastest internet connection available, not only in hotels but other public areas such as cafes, airports, marinas, restaurants, and potentially anywhere else you might desire accessing the web.  A hotspot is an area where wireless internet is provided through Wi-Fi technology, which usually occurs in a public area where customers pay for access. Our local Los Cabos hotels are particularly interested in establishing the best in premium internet services for their guests, especially since according to Hotspot International, 52% of guests won’t return to a hotel if they are not satisfied with the internet service. Ten years ago internet was the tenth most requested hotel service, but currently it is the second most essential guest requested service, and keeping their guests completely satisfied with the best in wireless internet technology will keep visitors returning to local hotels throughout Los Cabos. Cheaper phone service is also available through this technology and Hotspot International prides itself in never having lost a costumer to any of their competitors and being very easy to use. You don’t even need a telephone or even have to leave the comfort of your hotel, all that’s required is your Hotspot Pass access code.  Hotspot assures the highest standards of security on the internet, and this added protection ensures that your personal information is prevented from being viewed or attacked by any hackers or other uninvited internet intruders. Hotspot International has already been implemented at many local hotels, including Las Ventanas al Paraiso,  Fiesta Inn San Jose del Cabo, and Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos.  At the end of the evening the four presenters were given a warm round of applause and many local Los Cabos hotel representatives appeared very enthusiastic about incorporating their resorts with Hotspot International technology, or maybe they were just excited about the delicious dinner. 

 

Mexican Metamorphosis

There is something exceptional that separates normal people from common maniacal foreigners in Baja California. This is especially true at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, in Cabo San Lucas, where the majority of these extraordinary expatriates congregate, usually choosing to live in communities amongst themselves, amid synthetic Mexican culture. Here they exude a strange new aroma of oceanic vapors, choosing to stay longer than any sane vacationer ever should.
      Existing within improvised gringo colonies like deranged Bahamian butterflies bathing in warm puddles of Jamaican rum, with a tequila chaser, these perverse lunatics live morally impoverished lifestyles, which breed a different, significantly sinister type of character. Provisional dwellings are welcomingly embraced by the most wealthy and lazy among them. Depravity is openly accepted by these affluent lunatics, and even more so by their poorer counterparts, who outnumber the rich by about ten to one. Habits vanish from their decadent manners like forgotten ghosts from their most remote nightmares of early life. Those infantile dreams we all experienced before we could even coherently speak our first complete sentence. Or perhaps just prior to our first word. You know, those indelible images now too old for any of us to remember?
      But I still try every day and night to travel back through time and make things right before it’s too late. Before it’s all over.  I’m utterly afraid to die. I remember when I was five, running hastily into my mother’s bedroom in the middle of the night, trying to explain to her through aching sobs of hysteria why “I don’t want to die.” Reason being that I knew exactly what being dead would feel like. I still do. Nothing! Absolutely nothing. No sounds, no senses, no thoughts, no meaning, no time. This was my first existential acknowledgment of my own mortality and inevitable demise. That satori moment of enlightenment scared the hell out of me.
      It has become an indelible memory which haunts me endlessly every day. Yet I no longer lie awake crying relentlessly into a clenched cotton cartoon illustrated pillow case with the Muppets till dawn in debate with this common tragedy of fateful humanity, begging to a subconscious demon which likely doesn‘t even exist, while he eats away at my mind like remissive Alzheimer’s disease feeding upon the inoperable brain cancer of a terminal patient.  I did this over and over again in my head, all alone, for years. Sometimes it’s just better to embrace terror instead of letting it gently shake you to sleep.
      In Cabo we are all walking that fine line between heaven and hell. The only difference is that some of us are running faster than others, and some of us are hovering upside down on our heads holding onto that mile high tightrope in the sky with both hands clenching the noose, afraid that if we try to stand up against the winds of time we might not make it. So we choose to roll on, never loosening our grip, hoping that we can only one day summon the courage of conviction to exercise whatever strength and athleticism still remains after decades of abuse to our mutilated bodied to summersault profusely backwards and land in reverse on the tips of our toes.      
      For these gringos, all sense of appropriate respect for Mexican locals in remembrance to propriety fades gradually away, then washes into sand, dissolving faster than desert rabbits mating upon the aquatic rocks at land’s end during the loveliest and loneliest monthly cycles of low tide. With broken English and barely spoken Spanish, their instincts crash down upon the natives like the tempest waves from the rains of tropical storm Paul. The sole collective impressionable effect of their inebriated temperaments can be observed by the noticeable layer of fresh sweat and white foam that submerges and collects on their lower lips during sunset. This cathartic happy hour countenance is reminiscent to the Pacific summer hurricanes, which ritually submerse the picturesque arch that marches onward toward the end of the planet, under six feet of raging sea water. 
       After a few months of exile, their faces and expressions begin to take on a peculiar definition, and after the first year or so these perverse gringos no longer look like tourists at all, but rather a local mix of Mexican and American cultures, sensibilities, and irrational behaviors. Their skin expels a deep brown tan, their hands are pink from the sun, and lifting drinks to their lips all day. They are usually a few pounds heavier than before they entered Mexico, especially the men, who are endlessly fed wonderful home cooked meals by beautiful Mexican girlfriends and restaurants. An anorexic expatriate in Mexico is very hard to find. A sober one after sunset can be impossible to trace.  
        They invade Cabo like hurricanes, embracing the aquatic beauty at land’s end, unknowingly stirring up confusion like oceanic potions of cold brews that soon lose all flavor and color, and then take the tasteless expatriate individuals further away from another realm of reality, like a solar eclipse over the ocean. They march onward, with sandaled footprints, and uncut toenails which collect filth that accumulates exponentially as the afternoon progresses. Their footprints paint the Baja dust and push toward the heavens as they savor twilight from marina cantinas. Like shadows of atonement from the golden setting sun covering a rye field shaped similar to the corona of a narcissistic princess from the Roman empire, they sink and fade gently into the horizon of condonable alcoholic degeneracy. 
       I cannot condemn these men, but every time I peer at myself in the mirror of Mexican bathrooms where soap and toilet paper are more treasured commodities than diamonds, my reflection further separates me from them because I have not yet lost all of my sanity. My hair is short and neat, though perhaps that hint of a receding hairline detracts from my soft skin and gentle features. I sometimes look much older than my twenty seven years, but my face is usually not red. The same cannot be said for the crazy expatriates, who have noses so luminous that most of them are reminiscent of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. This mistaken identity can often lead to awkward confusion on Christmas eve in Cabo San Lucas.        
       It was upon my return to the United States that I finally realized the mirror was no longer required for self examination. I could instead see my reflections vividly sparkling within the eyes of passersby. Either girls with pale arms who thought I was cute, or guys who knew I was insane but on some sort of spiritual journey. Or the woman at the luggage carousel who exclaimed with great distaste, “I hope I never see that face again in all my life!”
      In my defense I was up till six in the morning a few hours prior to my flight, drinking tequila and an unmentionable consumption of Mexican beer, so my appearance was in all honesty quite horrific. I knew I must have looked like a half drunk monster on his way to Hades, but this elderly white man sitting next to me on the plane seemed to think I was an Islamic terrorist like that Adam the American guy who’s hiding in some intricate cave in Pakistan like the coward he is and became.
       I was waiting for this paranoid middle-aged man sitting beside me to complain about my unusual presence, or hung-over stenches, but the male flight attendant thought I was cute, so I knew I was safe. “Una coca,” I told him when he offered a beverage, which solidified my residency within Baja California Sur, while simultaneously further distancing myself from the gringo tourists in my row. The gringa girl sitting behind me wouldn’t shut up the whole damn  flight, and even the music in my headphones could not drown out her childish dialogue and giddy groans, and I remember being reminded how I now and forever love Mexican girls who speak perfect Spanish and have exotic accents when they speak English much better than girls from upbringings such as my own. 
        I was the last person to make it on the plane, and I’m sure half of the passengers saw me as if I were naked while I walked across the sweltering runway to board the staircase to the aircraft. I suppose I was taking my iPod and computer out a little bit too often during the flight, and writing notes feverishly while listening to music can confuse older men who might assume I’m trying to blow up a plane. But this is a crazy irony in and of itself since I’m not particularly fond of flying, plus all I was really trying to do was take down some notes of my crazy day and travel troubles, of which there were many.
       For starters, I forgot that I had been living illegally in Mexico for more than a year, and thus did not have the proper immigration documentation to pick up my ticket. This gave me about an hour to scramble half drunk, reeking of booze, asking questions of nice young Mexicans in broken yet hopefully coherent Spanish, seeking directions and assistance. Which they all gave me, except for some old guy who would have rather deported, arrested, or murdered me in cold blood than stamp my immigration papers, which I scribbled a second after I found his immigration stand. He sat there and penetrated deep within my eyes, not even trying to hide his bitter distaste toward me as an individual, or perhaps his latent or blatant manifest racism. I don’t know why that man disliked me so much, but he hated me with a wicked passion.
        “You have two options,” this overweight, balding immigration speculator snarled at me, with the hopes of instilling cataclysmic fear in my heart, which he would have succeeded in achieving, had it not been that I was mercilessly hung-over and running frantically late. I desperately only wanted to make my flight, catch that plane, and I knew neither of the immigration Nazi’s two options were good ones.
        “No, no, no,” quickly, calmly, reassuringly came the beautiful blessed voice from my latest young native airport helper to my aide, and thank god, that kid probably saved my life. So after an exchange between the two of them in Spanish I was on my way. “Dexter?” The pretty young women standing beside the gate asked me. I nodded.  “You’re the last one,” she smiled, and that was that. I don’t know how I managed to make that plane, but  in my head I knew I was going insane, if not already way over the edge. 
        I was definitely given strange glances by everyone on the aircraft and at Sky Harbor International airport in Phoenix. Not the curious stares exuded from the Mexicans when I’m the only American in a very Hispanic shopping center food court, nor the stares from the tourists at the beach when I lie beneath an umbrella that only locals use. For these were looks of a person without a country, without a home. These were looks of people who saw an American transform into a ghost of what they presumed I had once been, and they were all right. I had become a depraved and decadent gringo living in Cabo, and I was no better or different than all the others.
       But it’s ok because I’m one of them now. Not yet completely corroded at least. I’m a lover of all things Mexican. Except perhaps the corrupt policia who harass me for no reason almost every other week. But even these experiences make me stronger, so I have no regrets. I would not change anything. Except perhaps everything as it pertains to the insane American and Canadian expatriate communities here in Baja California. I now speak English with a Mexican vernacular, as if it were my second language.
       For starters the language issue, or lack thereof, would enable the gringos to assimilate more efficiently with the Mexican natives. If you’re living in a Spanish speaking country wouldn’t you considering attempting to make some significant efforts to learn and use a few simple words? I mean besides just hastily combining languages and creating absurd phrases such as “I need to go to the casa,” or “wow this salsa is really caliente,” which would actually make sense if salsa was caliente, however it is not, it is enchiloso. Maybe it’s only me. It’s quite possible that “I‘m the crazy loco.” After all, the mirror never lies.
       Now here I sit back home in Mexico, thousands of miles away from my own country.  A fall from this height would be catastrophic, but for some strange inexplicable reason I enjoy loosening my grip on reality every now and then.  Hell, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Transplanting Paradise

Since the warm weather is seasonably perfect year round, beautiful beaches never get cold, and spectacular scenery never grows old, throngs of fascinating visitors have traveled to Cabo San Lucas over the decades. It’s reasonable to assume that millions of people are already familiar to some degree with the climate of paradise which exists here. They’ve seen it in numerous photos of this picturesque peninsula where land’s end meets the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean.

We locals affectionately refer to this twenty mile stretch of shoreline which separates the best twin cities of Mexico as the Tourist Corridor. Perhaps to keep our secret alive, since this southern tip of the Baja California peninsula has dozens of the most scenic remote beaches in the world. We need to keep them pristine and majestic, so this stretch of heaven is vested in definite secrecy, protected by only our closest friends.

To us, Twin Dolphins is not just a resort and marine species, but a secret beach. The actual physical southernmost tip of Baja is the adopted symbol of Cabo. An arch in the ocean, depicted in postcards, souvenirs, and as the painted logo of pervasive local taxis.

You’ve possibly seen the arch in photos already, or probably will soon, or certainly will when you arrive in Cabo San Lucas. You’ll catch a glimpse of it from within the window of your taxi on the drive downhill to Cabo San Lucas during your trip from the international airport in San Jose del Cabo. It will take your breath away. Really, I know that’s the worst cliché, but the oceanic arch in the mountain is the most beautiful sight in the world, trust me. If you don’t agree with me when you arrive here I’ll buy you a frozen margarita.

With so many amazing activities and the best nightlife in all of Baja California, everyone who comes here wants to follow and then fulfill their wonderful visions of dream vacations, and almost all travelers do. But besides souvenirs, amazing pictures, and the upside-down arch of their enormous smiles, visitors sometimes struggle with leaving, without knowing how to take the true essence of Los Cabos with them.

Never-ending growth of opportunities in Cabo San Lucas has made our home away from home one of the most wonderful vacation destinations in all of the world, and now you can take a piece with you forever.

Whether for your stay in Mexico or your home in the United States,
DESERT LANDSCAPING OF MIRAFLORES offers the best rates and most exceptional professional service and international shipping in all of Baja California Sur.
Cacti Mundo Los Cabos Botanical Gardens, San Jose del Cabo is the most impressive collection of cacti you’ll ever find, anywhere. Their business manager owns the company and is the proud proprietor of the aforementioned team of experienced landscape architects and can be reached at cactimundo@msn.com.

The Sweetest Spot on the Marina

Don’t we all deserve the right to eat dessert for breakfast every now and then?  You might consider this an absurd suggestion, yet one restaurant actually hopes we experience the urge to splurge both day and night. Locals and tourists alike will definitely appreciate this luscious waterfront atmosphere, with the rich sensual selections amid an eclectic menu offering surprisingly sensible prices.  Whether inside the bakery purchasing a fresh homemade dessert for later, or sitting inches from the marina eating a delicious dinner, you will certainly be greeted by a friendly face in the fine dining ambience of Senor Sweets, where the soothing light music will pulse smoothly through your veins alongside your chosen indulgence. 
       Beneath glimmering moonshine or splintered sunlight, Senor Sweets is Cabo’s undisputed king of sweets. Whether enjoying a wonderful full course meal, or a quick espresso with your cheesecake,  a visit here will undeniably be an endeavor that you will remember forever. The location itself is arguably better than any other marina restaurant. Situated conveniently adjacent to Puerto Paraiso’s main marina entrance creates an amazing location for eating, reading, or just being inspired. The unobstructed aquatic views will leave you mesmerized as the flavors of your favorite dish intermix with your taste buds and hypnotize your tongue.
       The plethora of sweet culinary offerings here are unprecedented anywhere else in Los Cabos, and
with such a unique approach to cuisine, it’s no wonder that in only two years Senor Sweets has grown from a small family owned bakery into a full blown restaurant style café.
       The bistro exudes an enchanting and delightful aroma that permeates effortlessly through the air like a majestic tropical vapor cloud from a delectable magic potion. At night this establishment is often loaded with hungry sweet-toothed patrons of all ages, searching relentlessly for the right ingredients to savor and make their palates explode with flavor faster than a convulsive volcanic eruption.  The family friendly atmosphere is casual and comfortable, making this bistro the perfect place to bring generations together in a mutual appreciation for creations of sweet sugary flavor.
         Whatever your age, only at Senor Sweets can you treat yourself to a journey that will bring you backwards through time itself, to a place when you were young, traveling to a world without worries, where comfort was at the tip of your tongue. 

Going Loco in Los Cabos

Los Cabos has everything. It is simply hand´s down the best oceanic escape in the entire western hemisphere. With mesmerizing scenery and first class accommodations, everything is perfect. Even the two summer storms could not effect life at the end of the earth, where both hurricane John and tropical storm Paul occurred, made land fall, and left without bestowing any permanent devastation upon the saintly cities of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. Both storms brushed past without creating any significant local incidents, only scattering warm dust swept by the relentless muds bred from runoff rain waters.

These recent tempests breezed past without leaving any irreversible damages, and the balmy winter weather with eighty degree temperatures at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula is now better than ever, much more than just an unprecedented paradise, Los Cabos has grown into a perpetual evolution Mecca of fashion, beauty, and fun, especially in the spring and summer months.

The tropical weather is even better than the natural aquatic spender, which is a plethora particularly existent within the infinite beauty of beaches like Chileno and Santa Maria, which are situated halfway between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. These two are the best for majestic scenery and breathtaking views. Snorkeling, swimming, fishing, and sailing is spectacular here, or renting a car and traveling the sandy golden regions and roads toward those beaches even less traveled will enable you to drive to any shoreline you want, and you can proceed slightly off the beaten path to any beach in Mexico because they´re all public, accessible to everyone.

Among the four and five star resorts the best are the one and only Palmilla, the Westin, and Las Ventanas. Each are situated facing the Sea of Cortez between the two towns of Los Cabos on the four lane highway, and the Palmilla has the best shopping and elegant boutiques in all of Mexico.

Las Tiendas de Palmilla is Cabo´s newest luxury shopping center, and offers an endless selection of antiques, jewelry, day spas. three fine restaurants, a coffee shop, bakery, amazing arts and crafts and the greatest variety of oceanic views anywhere. The Palmilla golf course hugs the Sea of Cortez and the public wireless Internet access in the center area of Las Tiendas de Palmilla will enable you to check email and get some work done, if necessary.Los Cabos will definitely always float you back home with fathomless unforgettable memories of oceanic heavenly inspiration, which will make you yearn to return to where land ends for a second taste of heaven. In other words life begins in Cabo, earth ends, and the Sea of Cortez meets and kisses the pacific ocean amid glistening mountains and cavernous fountains of aquatic arches carved naturally into angelic rocks, and marches toward the ethereal entrance to heavenly paradise.

The Puerto Paraiso shopping center is the mall in downtown Cabo San Lucas and has everything, from Ruth Chris Steak House and marina views and access, to a multiplex movie theatre and wireless Internet outdoor coffee shops. The Cabo San Lucas marina also has wireless access in most bars and restaurants such as Baja Cantina, which offers the best views of dozens of multimillion dollar yachts in all of Cabo. The Nowhere Bar offers complimentary sushi and boasts the best specialty shots, music, and mingling marina bar.

Cabo Wabo, Squid Row, and Zoo are all within walking distance from the marina and are among the best in all of Baja California Sur. The best nightclub in Baja California is Passions, located at the hotel melia in downtown Cabo at Nikki beach, which is also home to Nikki beach club, the best beach club atmosphere in the world.

Gap, Diamonds International, Taxo silver, Versace, Dulce Gabana, and hundreds of other local stores and Mexican boutiques have the widest variety of high fashion in Baja California. You can find anything in Cabo. Lorenzillo’s is on the marina and has the best seafood. El Pescador has the second best, located downtown in Cabo San Lucas just behind the Aramburo supermarket and pharmacy, both of which have everything you need.

The Crazy Lobster is an open air restaurant directly across from El Pescador and offers the best prices of Lobster specials with a casual atmosphere worth experiencing any day or night of year, any time.

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Journey Past the Beaten Path

I cannot even endeavor to remember a better place to taste the true indigenous flavors and savor the extraordinary historic and cultural essence of Baja California Sur than exploring the enrichment found within three secret nearby towns bordering the magnificent foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Dry Forest.

Situated less than an hour from San Jose del Cabo, Caduaño, Santiago, and Miraflores  are delightful Mexican towns that will shower you with unprecedented ambience, splendor, authenticity, and simplicity of life.  

Caduaño, Santiago, and Miraflores are each shrouded in ecological enchantment, located amid the most majestic northern corners of our splendid cape region. These tropical desert forest pueblos (towns) are easily accessible by traveling adjacent to the Sea of Cortez along the scenic road to La Paz, highway 1. 

The tropic of cancer is located within minutes, and the always comfortable climate kisses visitors unaccustomed to such comfortable serenity with the vivid natural beauty of Baja California, which exists only in boundless infinite images found within these hidden towns. 

Shadows and sunlight effortlessly paint foreign portraits of endless exotic beauty upon the fertile landscapes, slowly, while the moon and stars above are always luminous and magical. Ranchers and farmers cultivate the land with purpose and passion, always placing the interests of family and community above individual needs. These magnificent little towns are secret gateways to the towering mountains of Sierra de la Laguna. 

Amidst the exceptional scenery of this cultural desert ecosystem exists the endemic fauna and flora completely unique and indigenous to this region of southern Baja. I can assure you that during this adventure you will not find any timeshares, nightclubs, or beach vendors. However, you will definitely discover exquisite physical and spiritual beauty sitting alongside a protected environment unlike any other exotic destination on earth. 
Witness the wondrous coexistence of lifestyles and traditions from natives who are ancestors of pericues and pirates. During the 16th and 17th centuries their ancestors selected this eclectic region as a hideout to plunder the Spanish galleons that stopped at this provisioning point on the Manila trade route. Many residents from the towns have foreign surnames like Robinson, Green, Collins, and Rosseli.

Caduaño is a tiny town located about 25 miles from San Jose del Cabo. You will reach a file of rustic houses situated around a small plaza, followed by an abandoned sugar mill that hasn’t been operational since the previous century when the village was a prosperous sugar cane producing community. As we continue driving through the network of soil roads and paths followed by vast vegetable plots and colorful fruit orchards, you will notice numerous cattle and sheep ranches. Caduano is renowned for its delicious traditional homemade fruit candies.

Miraflores is the next magical town. Located about 30 miles from San Jose del Cabo, this village is populated by ranchers and farmers who have become famous and world renowned over the years by making fabulous leather and furniture handcrafts.

The church in Miraflores is located near the small plaza just past the post office and a few local grocery stores. Natives of Miraflores celebrate the patron saint day, the feast day of la Virgin de Guadalupe on the 12th of December. Residents also celebrate a fair in the middle of  July to celebrate the Pitaya harvesting season.

This picturesque village is also renowned for the longevity of its people. In a prior visit to this town I had the distinguished honor of being introduced to a 101 years old Miraflores native named Clotilde Robinson, which was a bittersweet experience since Mrs. Robinson was feeling lonely ever since her 104 year old cousin suddenly passed away the previous year. 

Santiago is the third and largest colonial town, located about 35 miles from San Jose del Cabo. You will delight your eyes as you see the colorful agriculture farms and fruit orchards surrounded by thousands of majestic palm trees which represent an important source of palm leaves for making palapa roofs throughout the cape region.

As we bypass the small plaza there is the post and telegraph offices, a gas station, some stores, and a market selling local fruit and vegetables. The town was Founded as “Misión de Santiago el Apóstol” in 1723 and the natives celebrate its patron saint day the feast day of St. James on the 25th of July. Santiago has a small rustic museum located next to the church with interesting exhibits such as colonial artifacts and local fossils.

No visit to Santiago would be complete without a trip to the Santiago Zoo, which has an extraordinary variety of animals endemic to the region, complimented by a masterfully cultivated decoration of gardens, featuring mango and avocado trees and a variety of cacti species and succulents endemic to the Southern Baja region.

You can continue to proceed along the same road as the Santiago Zoo for a few miles up into the Sierra de la Laguna mountains to visit Canon de la Zorra (the Fox Canon), which is one of the largest waterfalls in the entire Baja. After parking the car you will hike through a trail listening to the sweet melodies of birds and the rhythmic sounds of cascading waterfalls, where you can jump or dive from the rocks from about 30 feet into the cool, blue water below.

There is no better way to end this nice amazing adventure of a day than with a delicious  lunch sitting in the gardens of the Restaurant and Hotel Palomar in Santiago.

Caduaño, Santiago, and Miraflores are sacred unexplored places, with friendly native faces, that display great satisfaction existing amid the traditional Mexican ways of living, paving the future with amazing moments from the past, and bringing Baja California back to its roots.  

The Mexican Incentive for Foreign Investment

Fueled by a lucrative tourism industry with an increasingly booming economy, Baja California Sur is transforming itself into much more than just a modern-day Mecca for tourists. This least populated Mexican state is currently surging toward the forefront of the global real estate market by developing a sophisticated infrastructure which is attracting workers and residents from all over the world. This evolution is most evident in the Cabo San Lucas region at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula, where oceanfront homes and deluxe hotels are being constructed as quickly as physically possible. The resulting significance of this rapid development is a magnificent population growth throughout the entire region, which in turn is creating unprecedented job opportunities for locals.       

This is an advantageous occurrence for duel purposes. Not only is it creating more wealth for the Mexican economy, but also making it easier for Mexicans to find decent paying jobs within their own country, which thus alleviates the need for these individuals to migrate and work illegally in The United States. Certainly, if offered the same wages as those paid to their Mexican counterparts living north of the border, most Mexicans say they would rather work and remain in their own country close to their families and homes. 

The construction industry is expanding significantly, witnessing a constantly increasing demand for workers, particularly young males. This is the same crucial demographic as the majority of illegal immigrants who choose to cross the border in pursuit of better wages and opportunities to provide for their families.       

The key to controlling the influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico to the United States is to continue improving the economy and conditions within the Mexican market, thereby providing Mexicans an incentive to remain within their homeland. Besides exasperating the immigration issue north of the border, the loss of workers to the United States also adversely impacts the Mexican economy and workforce. Yet with the continued expansion and pervasive development occurring in Baja California Sur better salaries are now being offered, which is mutually beneficially to both countries.       

The demand for real estate in Baja Sur is changing the landscape of immigration and Mexican American relations by providing Mexicans with more opportunities to find reliable employment within their own country. In turn many Americans are deciding to invest in Mexican land and businesses. This reciprocal relationship is aiding both economies and making progress towards erasing the mistakes of the past.         

The hospitality industry in Baja California Sur is also currently flourishing as a direct result of this spreading surge in urban development. This rapid construction has created more infrastructure for tourism and produced a rippling effect which has swept across the entire peninsula and kept tens of thousands of workers employed.       

By investing in its own development, the Mexican government is providing opportunities for its citizens to make an honest living. This healthy demand for employment has also reduced the crime rates, since many crimes previously committed in Baja California Sur were perpetrated primarily out of necessity.        

Baja California Sur is emerging into a majestic land of economic determination and opportunity. The physical attraction of its location is the catalyst for this growth of development, as the aquatic beauty embraces the tropical weather and the southwestern desert submerges perfectly amid the currents of the Pacific ocean and Sea of Cortez.      

This rippling effect of expansion has a crippling effect on the necessity for Mexican workers to cross the US border illegally. As growth continues, this will hopefully encourage those thinking abut becoming illegal immigrants to consider staying in their own country closer to their families and promoting the employment opportunities which now abound.     

The construction that initially aimed towards building luxurious high value real estate such as world class golf courses and plush resorts is now beginning to trickle down to those struggling for economic security. Especially the small family owned shops and businesses, which are also benefiting from the decision to expand Baja California Sur into a modern Mexican tourist hotspot, with the amenities to match any other resort community on earth.      

As more and more people migrate to Baja California Sur to live, the conditions are beginning to improve for all. This is bringing new hope to the locals and those who might otherwise be risking their lives trying to cross the border, and perhaps dying during the perilous journey inspired by their quest for living wages, who are now instead choosing to stay in Mexico because of the vivacious economy of places like Baja California Sur.      

This enchanting allure of Mexican beauty and land development is procuring domestic economic security for its citizens living south of the border by inspiring expansion, thereby beginning to cure the ailments which have stricken the United States as a result of the illegal immigration debate.       

The tides are finally beginning to change. By bringing new investment and commitments to Mexico we can all embrace the future and the pursuit of improved relations between the two countries.

The Angel’s Playground

Los Cabos is a culturally diverse Mexican oasis at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula. Races of all ages and occupations come together for an amazing vacation where land ends and oceanic heaven begins. The weather is always perfect in the late winter and early spring, bringing independent minded travelers together for a tropical venture the likes of which you will be hard-pressed to find in any other coastal destination on earth.

Fine dining, shopping, and easy living come together with natural grace at Puerto Paraiso and the adjacent Cabo San Lucas marina. Fashion in Cabo is original and innovative, setting the trends of American fashion with flashy colors, diamonds, and shiny accessories such as gold belts and sleek silver purses. Latin American culture embraces all ladies, as individual tastes merge into one unprecedented style, miles ahead of the time.

Only in Los Cabos can you catch a glimpse into the high fashion of the future.
Boutiques and restaurants line the side streets and range from posh designers to taco stands on the side of almost every road, as the scenic land’s end beaches between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo are among the most beautiful and remote in the world.

You will find dozens of high-class hotels, spas, and five-star resorts on this portion of four-lane highway known as the tourist corridor. Renting a car will enable you to journey slightly off the beaten path and explore these beaches and resorts, each with individual stores and treasures as majestic as the mountains which descend into the water at land’s end, where the Sea of Cortez marries the Pacific Ocean.

Though nightlife in Cabo San Lucas is unprecedented and made famous by restaurants and nightclubs such as Squid Row and Cabo Wabo, San Jose has a unique charm and authenticity of its own. A traditional Mexican city, with church steeples reaching toward the stars, narrow cobblestone streets, and endless boutiques and opportunities. Beautiful people and unique culture at the end of the peninsula is a multifaceted, constantly evolving dichotomy of American, Canadian, and Mexican sensibilities and ideals.

Come find out for yourself where the Americas unite and inspire the latest trends in fashion, nightlife, beauty, health, and ambitious relaxation amid the most beautiful beachfront real estate in all of Mexico.

The Rise of Manzanillo

Situated along Mexico’s gold pacific coast, Manzanillo hosts a treasure-trove of picturesque scenery.  The tropical jungle collides seamlessly with the ocean, as the surrounding mountains tower above the pounding surf. White sand beaches line this coastal region, and the fishing and shipping is infinite here in Mexico’s busiest port city.  Palm trees line the colonial streets and flood the prestigious beaches, which are filled with the sweet music of exotic birds and the sounds of profound love of leisure. The golden sun reaches deep into the glowing turquoise currents of the Pacific. The growing amenities of this region evoke tourists from around the globe, uniting the old traditions of Mexico with the perfect promise of a modern paradise.

Want to Start a Revolution?

http://loscabosnews.com.mx/online/284/pag07.html  

The black ribbons were blowing gently in the warm summer breeze from brown wooden columns of marina cantinas, just as they have been for many months now. At first they were conspicuous and instantly riveted my attention, instinctively gloomy, like a funeral procession and how the roomy hearse always stands out amongst the other vehicles. Now they have become a revolutionary movement, an expression of defiance, and an integral component to the local scenery.

Nearly a day can pass by without noticing this cultural symbol in multiple stickers of opposition in automobile windows, an expansion of the pervasive black ribbons which has been given to denote this emotional local crusade. It has become a campaign against the federal politicians who have invaded Los Cabos by hastily and ignorantly proposing potentially devastating legislation that threatens the very sanctity and inherent beauty of land’s end.

If you care to see any manta rays, sharks, dolphins, or whales in the near future in the Sea or Cortez, please don’t hesitate to take action now.

The kaleidoscope sunset of Los Cabos is a colorful enchantment like no other tropical dominion on the surface of the earth, with visceral pink shades of celestial tangerines dancing each evening with blue skies and merging seamlessly into turquoise green waters. This purple ethereal vision stands in stark contrast to the dark ominous ribbons.

The somber bows were tied perfectly and currently the entire municipality of Los Cabos is united and inspired for the common purpose of fighting against and overturning federal government legislation concerning this legislative endemic to our treasured fishing community.

In the past few months time, the ribbons might have faded and lost a little of their shimmer and shine, but people are still listening and the glistening message of unity is resonating amid natives who are using a negative to unite and come together. 

The lingering question is whether our voices and message will be heard or become nothing more than another silenced reverberation from us, the people who want to preserve the wonderful fish species which have flourished peacefully in our majestic waters for a number of millenniums free of government regulations. 

Nothing less than the extraordinary visceral beauty and magnificent natural ecosystem of Los Cabos is at stake here. Hopefully they will hear the echoes of our communal message and our passionate heartfelt words will reverberate like thunderous hurricanes through the towering mountains and preserve the sacred treasures of our oceans for future generations to cherish forever.

Vivan Las Tapatias!

Puerto Vallarta is a perpetual paradise with exceptional scenery.  Surrounded by harsh tropical mountains with thick picturesque jungles and bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Puerto Vallarta has a personality all of its own.  This Mexican coastal village has evolved into a modern day tourist treasure-trove without diminishing all of the rich cultural heritage and local traditions which have existed in Puerto Vallarta centuries before it turned into a major vacation destination.  Adventurous travelers searching for adrenaline will discover majestic pleasures while experiencing nature at its finest. Vacationers looking for rest and relaxation will savor the hypnotic sound of rhythmic waves pounding upon the golden shoreline. 

The Cancun Resurrection

Cancun is a majestic Mexican Playground on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. With white sand beaches, soothing sunshine, and warm waters, it is no wonder why this tropical beach resort community is Mexico’s preeminent coastal vacation destination. The marine life and beach activities are numerous and diverse, while the infrastructure is immersed by the magnificent physical beauty of the region. Cancun is an archeological treasure-trove with an illustrious history. Spectacular ruins from the ancient Mayan Empire sit adjacent to this modern tourist destination, and the entire region is decorated with extraordinary indigenous history. Cancun offers a diverse array of activities for visitors of all ages and interests.

An Epic Feast with Sancho Panza

If you’re looking for the perfect place for great food and drink, who knows better than Sancho Panza?

The menu is extensive and eclectic, offering delectable dishes of delicious Mediterranean cuisine. The nightly world class live jazz music and impressive fine wine selections provide the perfect accompaniment to the warm summer evenings. Let the pleasant breeze slowly serenade and send shivers fluttering down your spine as you grow mesmerized by the comfortable ambience of enchantment.

There is definitely no other place like Sancho Panza in Los Cabos. After almost eleven years, this epic restaurant is as novel today as it was a decade earlier. Through all of the constant changes and pervasive renovations of Los Cabos, a town where restaurants often come and go like changing tides, many of them nothing more than forgotten memories of breaking waves, Sancho Panza remains at the top of its game.

The Mediterranean fusion cuisine evokes a Latin flavor by using the world’s best ingredients. The result is a collection of extraordinary recipes chosen from a diverse menu that has received rave reviews not only throughout Mexico, but from all around the globe.

This jazz bistro is more than just a wonderful restaurant, it is also home to an impressive art gallery featuring original Mexican and Cuban artwork. Cuban cigars are also available. Sancho Panza has the fairest prices and best fine wine selection anywhere in Los Cabos. The martinis are world famous, and there is definitely no better restaurant to relax and enjoy a great bottle of wine.

Owner Ron Kleist was the first wine importer in Los Cabos and nobody knows wine better. Ron Kleist is the undisputed wine pioneer and conducer of Los Cabos. Ron has used his extensive knowledge and expertise to create the greatest wine and jazz bistro that Baja has ever seen.  

The majestic setting and festive musical ambience creates an unprecedented dining experience, and the smooth melodies will enrapture and seduce you. You will dance with the spirits and trance yourself into a daze of enchantment. Few places are timeless treasures that make Los Cabos the greatest destination on the surface of the earth. This is one of them.     

Through it all, years and months have become nothing more than weak walls, and if we push hard enough we can knock them down and walk through time. More than four centuries have elapsed since Sancho Panza was instinctively written into the vivid and lucid imagination of Cervantes. Ron Kleist has successfully kept this festive spirit alive every legendary night for more than a decade. Sancho Panza Wine Bistro and Jazz Club Restaurant is a visceral reincarnation that the fabled squire himself would be proud to have inspired.

The Sky is the Limit

Los Cabos is a majestic oceanic playground on the edge of the earth. With perfect weather year-round, whether sunning on wet sand, sitting on dry land, or swimming beneath the picturesque turquoise waters, you will always be immersed in magnificence.

Diving below the currents will open up glorious corral dominions that have only been envisioned within the most opiate induced dreams of Poseidon himself. Yet above the surface, Los Cabos is also merging into a sophisticated magical oasis.

The perpetual evolution of a contemporary Los Cabos can be seen in the fusion and unprecedented integration of many impressive new medical techniques used in spectacular spa amenities never before seen anywhere in Baja California Sur.

A spectacular scenic region once shrouded in enchantment and exotic mystery, now Los Cabos has written the next chapter in its fabulous history by implementing many amazing technological breakthroughs and innovative procedures that have modernized medical technology at land‘s end.   
 
Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than the local skin care industry. The day spas in Los Cabos are among the finest on the face of the planet. But modern technology has now ambitiously propelled and unfurled its shimmering red carpet of medical beauty treatments upon the glistening golden sands that entrance our secular heaven of land’s end. 

Sophisticated new equipment and techniques have catapulted Los Cabos cosmetology into the 21st century. Now Los Cabos residents don’t have to travel thousands of miles to undergo simple skin procedures, which has long since been the case. 

No longer do we have to sit in airports in foreign countries like the United States, cowering in shame with our faces swollen like a pumpkin, our eyes inflamed like a deranged Jack O’ Lantern, sealed almost entirely shut.

No longer do we have to endure the dreaded delays of planes that have not yet arrived while praying that boarding will begin shortly.  No longer will we have to experience that agonizing moment of humiliation when the lady sitting behind us in the gate waiting area eventually says what’s been on our mind all day.

“That person’s face is very swollen with red dots all over it.”

No longer do we have to cower in fear for concern over whether the lady will notify airport security about whether there might be another potentially contagious tuberculosis patient on the flight.

Then when we finally board the plane and take our window seat we no longer have to watch the young man sitting in the aisle beside us change rows, even though there was already an open seat between us.

No longer do we have to endure the hideous experience and hassles of international air travel with a face that looks like it just got lit on fire by a sadistic pyromaniac and then smashed shut by Mike Tyson‘s right fist, while living in a place where modern cosmetology and sophisticated skin care doesn’t even yet exist. Until now.

We no longer have to worry about any of this. Since Cabo has opened its doors to numerous revolutionary resort spas and wonderful skin centers.

Cielo Day Spa in San Jose del Cabo is the best of the best. From microdermabrasion to hot stone massages, they offer extensive options and state of the art techniques to rejuvenate the skin and restore the glorious youth that the beautiful sun may have stolen a few years from.

Now within seconds, like a magic wand, years can be painlessly lifted away. With no down time, always professional service, and inexpensive treatment prices, there is no need to ever again even leave Los Cabos for skin treatments.   

Common issues such as wrinkles, sun damage, age spots, acne, roseacea, spider veins, and all other signs of aging can be gracefully and effortlessly washed away, like golden grains of tropical sand swiftly blowing into the rippled oceanic waves of time itself.   

Viva Mexico Cabrones!

Mexico is a majestic vacation destination with a plethora of spectacular attractions and unprecedented natural beauty. The extraordinary diversity of the country has something to offer the specific individual interests of all visitors. People of different ages can all appreciate the various places that make this nation one of the greatest exotic getaways in the modern world. From the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, the prolific growth of Mexico can be seen in the number of visitors who annually come to this magnificent region. In 2005 alone, 22 million international tourists selected Mexico as their vacation destination, making Mexico one of the top ten requested destinations on the planet. With continuous warm weather, picturesque deserts, oceans, and tropical jungles, it is no wonder why this paradise has become so popular. No other place on earth can simultaneously offer such a diverse array of outdoor adventures and tranquility amid scenic treasures that can only be discovered by visiting this amazing oasis named Mexico. Luxurious world class resorts and extraordinary tourist communities have catapulted Mexico to the forefront of the global tourism industry. The already impressive physical infrastructure of the country is expanding incessantly, and this perpetual development will only increase the already immense potential of a warm hospitable nation that embraces tourism with genuine affection. The rich cultural traditions and heritage of Mexico will merge historical significance to the futuristic vision which the country has embraced in becoming one of the world’s leading vacation destinations, with the amenities to compete with any other nation on earth.

Cabo Real: The Majestic Aquatic Desert Gem of Los Cabos

http://www.igolf.com/review/golf_courses/Cabo_Real/101/

Los Cabos has grown from a secluded cape at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula into a modern-day golf Mecca of epic proportions. The reasons are infinite and obvious, as the conspicuous physical beauty of the region provides an oceanic backdrop that is simply spectacular, to say the least.  The scenic courses are gloriously extraordinary and the Sea of Cortez makes the aquatic desert Cabo Real one of the highest rated public courses in the entire world.

One needs only to examine the beautiful Cabo Real golf course, situated along the tourist corridor between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, to truly understand that sometimes when humankind aspires toward developing a majestic region, results can exceed all hopeful expectations. Certain ambitions can surpass all reasoning and reflect unprecedented perfection. Cabo Real is a majestic oceanfront playground for those fortunate enough to play, or discover, the course that supports the unparalleled oasis that awaits you in the breathtaking environment beyond the cultivated arroyos and landscaped sand traps of land’s end.

One can only endeavor to imagine a more miraculous and spectacular setting than Baja California Sur. A contemporary Los Cabos has emerged at the forefront of global tourism by displaying the aquatic splendor amid a tropical desert that has attracted sport fisherman for decades. Now world class golf courses are raising the bar and attracting tourists on par with any other vacation destination on earth. Cabo Real is leading the pack and breaking par like no other place on the planet.

Opened in 1994, and designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., Cabo Real is a picturesque gem that is suddenly being given the credit it deserves for its challenging design and extraordinary natural beauty. Not only are three ocean holes on the back nine some of the best oceanfront property in the world, but you can also watch whales during the winter months. Seriously, Cabo Real is one of the best whale watching courses on the surface of the earth, if not the very best.

The temperature in Los Cabos is always warm and temperate and with basically no rain, so golfers can enjoy 350 days of perfect weather. Endeavour to discover another better location to play than Cabo Real and you might be searching for a while.

In 1996, whales put on an amazing display during the PGA Senior Slam Tournament. The Cabo Real course consists of 7,060 yards of awe-inspiring landscape. The course plays similar to those in the desert southwest of Arizona and southern California, and the combination of ocean and desert is truly breathtaking. In 1999, the PGA Senior Slam Tournament returned and Cabo Real is sure to be home to many world class professional tournaments for years to come.

The clubhouse, locker rooms, and basically everything in Cabo Real has recently been renovated, making the facilities state of the art and among the very best of any Mexican public course. Holes 13,14, and 16 have recently undergone renovated vegetation plantation of colorful varieties and also new palm trees. Cabo Real is home to what many local golfers consider the toughest front nine in all of Los Cabos. This 18 hole par 72 resort course has a slope of 140 and some of the most extraordinary views any golfer will ever appreciate. An average of 20,000 rounds are played in Cabo Real every year, and at just under two hundred dollars the pleasures are expensive, but well worth the endeavor.

Party Like a Rock Star

Nightlife in Los Cabos is an explosive never-ending phenomenon. An unprecedented perpetual paradise and a world famous event that occurs every single night.

There is certainly no better place to party on the surface of the earth than Los Cabos.

Nightlife and partying are both Olympic sports in Los Cabos. Festive celebrations and fiestas are not only a way of life, they are a pervasive state of mind. 

Where land ends, debauchery begins. Intoxication is not only encouraged, it is openly embraced in Los Cabos. Nightclubs are like holy temples in Cabo, and happiness is a golden goddess evoked through exotic alters of hedonism.  Bars and nightclubs are everywhere in Cabo San Lucas.

Cabo nightlife is diverse and eclectic, with exciting options ranging from the outrageous to the serene, and of course everything in-between. From wild nightclubs to soothing jazz and piano bars. Mariachi to Trance, hip hop to salsa, there is an array of music everywhere you look.

From beach bars to marina cantinas, Los Cabos has it all. From large luxurious clubs to small dilapidated dive bars, you’ll find everything you could ever desire at the tip of your fingertips because your options are limitless.

Visitors vacationing from all around the planet discover Cabo for the unprecedented beauty. To relax by day amid the mesmerizing scenery, and then to let loose when the sun sets and gently fades into the glowing oceanic horizon, awakening mystery and the greatest nightlife scene in the history of Baja California, hands down.

Cabo nightlife opportunities abound in every direction and the opportunities are virtually endless.

Cabo Wabo, El Squid Roe, Zoo, Passion, and Giggling Marlin are among the famous staples of the Cabo San Lucas club scene. The close proximity of most Cabo San Lucas clubs and bars ensures easy and effective pedestrian exploration.

The more mellow San Jose del Cabo offers jazz clubs, salsa bars, blues, and a more subdued environment.

Those who want to visit the glitzy resorts along the tourist corridor will require other methods, such as taxis, which are pervasive throughout Los Cabos, so there is never any excuse for drunk driving.

Get loose and have fun, but please don’t drink and drive. Our expert DMCs, hotel and vacation club concierges, and travel agents can expertly arrange transportation, be it a taxi, a chauffeured limousine for the night, or a private shuttle. Whatever you need, Los Cabos Guide will lead the way.

The Paradox of Paradise

       In 1974, with the intention of making money off the country’s extraordinary natural beauty, the Mexican government took the incentive toward implementing the infrastructure to transform Cabo San Lucas into one of the most alluring tourism destinations in the world. Looking back thirty-three years later, it’s evident that they certainly succeeded in this endeavor.
       The company responsible, Mexico’s National Trust Fund for Tourism Development, or Fonatur for short, has shaped the creation of the nation’s foremost locations for tourism, including Cancun, Loreto, Ixtapa, and Huatulco.
       Here where the Pacific meets the Sea, the prolific growth in Los Cabos can be seen in the estimated three million visitors who frequent this region each year. Even more evidence of this continual expansion of Los Cabos can be noticed in the residual effects of the initial Fonatur investment, as seen by the pervasive construction and population explosion. The local population is now sitting at over 100,000 residents, yet these figures are especially difficult to verify because there are many larger neighborhoods which are harder for the censuses to accurately report for a variety of reasons, not to mention lack of street names.
         If you’ve recently driven into town around five O’clock in the afternoon you’ve presumably experienced the traffic on the roads. And though the rapid development of numerous large shopping centers has undeniably brought convenience and lower prices to the locals and tourists of Los Cabos, it’s impossible not to notice the negative repercussions of unabated population growth. A commute that a few years ago usually occurred without any incident has now turned into a significant and inevitable traffic gridlock.
      My implication is not that local development has created hideous ramifications, but rather that it breeds an ambiguous effect from rapid population growth that makes existence both easier and more difficult for those of us living in Los Cabos.
         The southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula is not facing extinction, but it is the fastest growing resort and tourism community in Mexico. Only time will tell if the physical infrastructure of this spectacular region can handle the influx of people who have decided to reside here at the end of the earth. We have all come for the same reasons, but must make it a priority to protect the environment that we treasure by not overdeveloping this heavenly land beyond our means. If all goes well, in thirty-three years we can leave our grandchildren with a precious little piece of paradise.

Head in the Clouds

http://www.mexicanpacific.com/Article.asp?PT=Los+Cabos&id=461487

Head in the Clouds

As dawn broke, we finally arrived at our hiking destination at the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna dry forest, determined by the point at which the jagged, precarious terrain could no longer sustain our off-road vehicles. Our eyes were collectively focused on the impressive towering mountains that surrounded us, hovering more than a mile above the ground like an unattainable perch that taunted us to attempt the perilous journey at our own risk.

The six-thousand-foot peaks pierced through the canopy of collapsing clouds and embraced the desert floor, while the higher elevations of this diverse forest gently gestured toward the pine summit of the sky and heaven itself. The eclectic environment came alive as the vibrant biodiversity immersed us amid some of nature’s greatest treasures, as we endeavored deeper into the majestic forest, making our journey an even better expedition the further we trod into this mysterious unknown region.

We lost sight of the summit and quickly became one with the mountain range itself, getting lost in the awe-inspiring majesty of the floral desert plants that surrounded us as we pushed onward and upward, climbing thousands of feet in elevation during one ambitious and powerful initial push toward the invisible summit above.

We could not let the mountain defeat us, so we spent hours of energy devouring every ounce of strength in our exhausted bodies as we ascended the steep desert terrain, which eventually began to panoramically change right before our eyes.

The dry forest slowly subsided to xeric scrub and the air became more difficult to breathe into our lungs, which were unaccustomed to such a dramatically-rapid ascension to higher elevations. We all felt that we had reached as much as we could for one day, as the golden setting sun melted into the glowing oceanic horizon that provided a window into the world below.

The abundant shrubbery and approaching summer months provided a warm place to camp, and we set up our tent as best we could on the crooked rugged terrain, and cooked chicken and shrimp fajitas, both equally delicious after climbing nearly a mile into the sky. As the night grew dark, we could hear animals crying and the orange moon shining like a celestial tangerine in the sky, as if warning us forebodingly to turn around. We would do no such thing.

We awoke at first light to cold frost on the ground and the eerie sounds of strange birds singing something unlike anything we had ever heard in our lives. The chirps were vivid, vicious, and loud, like knifes tearing apart the remnants of the starry night, echoing life and consciousness into our eardrums like reverberating thunderbolts.

We were extremely sore from the previous day’s ascent, but felt inspired to climb higher, if for no other obvious reason than to quiet the exotic birds for awhile.

The scrub suddenly faded into a magnificent pine-oak forest with impressive trees stretching as far as our eyes could see. We climbed all morning with remarkable speed and reached the summit by mid afternoon. The crimson sunlight splintered the sky and provided an extraordinary panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, Sea of Cortez, and the immense aquatic desert below unlike anything we could have ever imagined. We had entered heaven seven thousand feet above the sea and there was no place higher on the Baja California peninsula. We had discovered the island in the sky!

How to get here
The Sierra de La Laguna dry forest is an impressive treasure-trove of majestic scenery situated about two hours north of Los Cabos, or 25 kilometers. This magnificent stretch of forest hosts an abundance of indigenous species which have been living in perpetual seclusion for centuries.

Take the Pacific highway between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas into Todos Santos. At kilometer 85 to La Burrera, proceed twenty kilometers east of Todos Santos. Drive to the gate and park.

Because the trail is not well marked and those without experience in the region can easily get lost, guides are advised. Maps, and GPS are also a good idea. Bring plenty of water.

The Island in the Sky

        The opportunities in Cabo San Lucas are seemingly endless. The possibilities in San Jose del Cabo are infinite. Yet many of these activities are considerably expensive. Specifically aimed towards taking a significant amount of your hard earned change, many attractions in our lovely country are designed for acquiring our money as much as providing a luxury experience.
       Yet there is nothing more valuable than the natural physical infrastructure and priceless majesty of our splendid cape region. It’s free for all, beckoning us to discover the riches that lie hidden within the distant roads less traveled. For these we must journey deep into the most remote and unexplored corners of our paradise. Into the heart and soul of Baja California Sur itself.
       The Sierra de La Laguna Dry forest is an impressive treasure-trove of majestic scenery. Situated only about two hours north of Los Cabos, this magnificent stretch of forest hosts an abundance of indigenous species which have been living in perpetual seclusion for centuries.
       Sierra de la Laguna is home to hundreds of beautiful and unusual plants, animals, and birds which have evolved undisturbed in virtual isolation. Home to multiple distinct ecosystems, Sierra de La Laguna is significantly different than any other region on the planet. It is a scenic tropical paradise. It is an island in the sky. An ethereal environment of heavenly oasis awaits you in the forest.
        Ten million years ago this area was not an isolated ecosystem, until it collided with the Pacific landmass where it now sits, kissing the tropic of Cancer amid the picturesque southern portion of the Baja California peninsula. These towering seven thousand feet mountain peaks hug the floral ground and nudge the surrounding dessert, gently gesturing toward the pine summit of the sky and heaven itself. When it rains the water splutters down the mountain range like a mystical cascading fountain.
        Ten percent of its treasured species are completely indigenous to the region. That means you can’t see them anywhere else on the surface of the earth. This season is the perfect reason to visit the Laguna. With the current spring weather everything is in full bloom, so there is certainly no better time to travel into the wild than right now. 
        The environment comes alive while the vibrant biodiversity immerses nature’s greatest treasures, as you endeavor deeper into the forest, making your journey an even better expedition.
        Remember that you can never envision what you might discover hidden within the secret regions of paradise. This magical land will enchant you like no other. The exquisite and mysterious Laguna has been vested in indefinite secrecy seemingly forever. Until now.

The Great Outdoors

Los Cabos is a majestic oceanic playground on the edge of the earth. The sports and activities are virtually limitless, offering infinite outdoor activities and riveting opportunities for people of all ages and persuasions. 

Those of you who have previously visited Los Cabos are already familiar with the most popular options that abound throughout our exquisite cape region. But new and unusual activities are now consistently coming to fruition, building Los Cabos into a boundless Mexican oasis, a magical destination of unprecedented possibilities.

With perfect tropical weather year-round, whether on land, sea, or sand, there is simply no better outdoor vacation paradise on the planet. The Pacific currents merge seamlessly with the Sea, leading Los Cabos toward the evolution of a multifaceted aquatic desert nirvana with never-ending dimensions of outdoor phenomena. 

Los Cabos is the sport fishing capital of the world. Enough said.

The marine activities and water sports in Cabo are like no other place in the history of the global tourism industry. 

From surfing to snorkeling, swimming to fishing, yachting to sailing, wave running to parasailing, there is simply no more prevailing destination on the surface of the earth. Diving below the currents will open up glorious corral dominions that have only been envisioned within the most opiate induced dreams of Poseidon himself.   

Kayaks, party boats, and cathartic catamarans run rampant across the turquoise blue waters of land’s end. From whale watching during winter, to snorkeling under the warm summer waters, Cabo always has something to offer.

Cruise ships often refuse to leave port on time because the conspicuous physical beauty is addictive and enchantment is a fleeting nail in the coffin of sweet parting.

The majestic palm trees and aquatic mountains descend into the sun drenched waters, and the tropical breezes from picturesque beaches splutter upon the opulent greens and scenic tees of fabulous world class golf courses.

The inland desert surroundings ripple with intricate hidden beauty like symbols of ancient civilizations that refuse to subside with the fine white sands strewn by the hands of time itself.  

From Cabo Pulmo to Sierra de la Laguna, pirate ships to ski diving, horseback riding to mountain biking, Cabo has it all. Discover the great wide open and endeavor to explore the most secret scenic regions off the beaten path in the deepest heart and soul of Baja California Sur itself.

From  ATVs to off-road racecars, guided tours to motorbike explorations, bird watching to mountain climbing, zip lines to binge drinking, helicopter tours to public intoxication, Cabo has it all. 

My name is Matthew B. Dexter and I welcome you to the other side of Los Cabos.  

The golden future will only continue to further catapult Los Cabos to the forefront of the global tourism community.  

An Estuary Oasis

Situated in the heart and soul of San Jose del Cabo is a majestic tropical nature estuary which exists in symbiotic harmony with the picturesque surroundings that encompass our exquisite cape region. The estuary is a modern day Mecca for bird lovers, who flock to this exotic spot from around the globe, united in their desires to get an intimate, up close and personal glimpse into the world of the more than two hundred and fifty species of birds who call this estuary oasis their home.

There are many great methods to wander around the estuary, and each of them offers a unique approach to Los Cabos bird watching. Perhaps the most creative mode of transportation is to rent a kayak and paddle through the beautiful aquatic streams at your own leisure, traversing amid the tranquil waterways that flow throughout the entire region.

We journeyed into the estuary in sea kayaks as if we were searching for the fountain of youth, or yearning for some Mexican ecological adventure better and different than all the rest. Something that would make us feel like children again, innocent and independent travelers without limitations or the necessity to conform to ordinary boundaries.

The surrounding flora and fauna engulfed us immediately and provided an eclectic and dynamic aquatic canvas backdrop of exotic tropical birds and indigenous flowers of the most significant and profound colors imaginable. We paddled through the tranquil currents with unfathomable purpose and passion, entering an aquatic land of enchantment like no other.
There is also a well maintained network of nature paths which are ideal for those who want to observe the estuary in a more traditional way. Visitors can also rent bicycles or other devices to travel through the estuary. However you choose to make the journey, the end result will always reward you with a treasure trove of scenic enchantment.

Herons, egrets, pelicans, cormorants, gulls, frigate birds, Turkey vultures, Caracara, and Osprey are among the many exotic birds which all congregate together in this tropical environment throughout the year. Waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading bird species are among the many which migrate to the estuary every winter. The estuary is a popular spot for many birds to rest before traveling to other tropical regions. You never know what you might find in the estuary.

The most scenic time of day to visit are those hours closest to sunrise and sunset, when the colors of the sky paint the environment a vibrant collage of colors and embrace the nature within the estuary. Those who are more interested in bird identification may prefer to visit during the brighter hours of the day when they can use the sun to its full advantage by classifying the various species.

Admission is free and there is a cultural center which will answer all of your questions.
By definition, the estuary is located where the fresh waters of the San Jose River merge with the salt waters of the Sea of Cortez. The estuary itself consists of about 125 acres. Many animal and bird species rely on the estuary as their only source for fresh water. Thus, the estuary is an integral and essential component to life for many of our most treasured animals.

Besides being full of beautiful animals and birds, the estuary has a rich cultural history for the indigenous people of Baja. Pericu Indians were living in this area when the first Spanish missionaries founded Mission San Jose in 1730. Centuries earlier, pirate ships sailed into the estuary lagoon to lay in wait for the opportunity to attack and plunder the treasured gold and pearls of the Spanish galleons returning from the Philippines. Today the estuary is a glimmering gem tucked comfortably into the San Jose del Cabo landscape, beckoning us for discovery.

A Day in the Sun

http://www.loscabosmagazine.com/fall_2007_14/living_It_up.htm The main swimming beach in Cabo San Lucas, El Medano (The Dune) is a majestic aquatic gem covered in white shimmering sand tucked comfortably into the picturesque cradle of land’s end. Here, the deep blue currents of the Pacific Ocean merge seamlessly with the turquoise-hued waters from the Sea of Cortez, awakening a magnificent oasis of spectacular scenery and activities unlike any other coastal destination on the surface of the earth.

This wondrous ethereal landscape is the palpitating heart and soul of Los Cabos. El Arco (The Arch)  connects the heavens with this golden stretch of sand, and secular pleasures flourish amid the timelessly seductive currents of an unprecedented oceanic paradise.

The extraordinary land’s end view acts as a natural instinctive magnet, attracting visitors from all around the planet like the warm waves which perpetually kiss this exquisite crescent shoreline. Playa Medano (Medano Beach) is the phenomenal catalyst and explosive epicenter from which the entire mentality of the Los Cabos municipality ripples outward.

A wonderful attitude of luminous carefree jubilance parallels the sunny tropical latitude of land’s end.  There is definitely something special hovering over this astounding region like a magical dream of enchantment, slowly surrounding us, even floating underneath the salty water like the smooth rudders of sailboats. 

My mind is full of mystical wonder every time I jump off the boat and sink my toes into the soft wet sands of Medano Beach, landing upon the foamy remnants of timeless treasures where pirates once plundered. Los Cabos was the perfect hiding spot for pirates preying upon the vast riches aboard the English ships. 

I remember to pinch myself to make sure that I’m still awake. My vision is quickly fixated upon the shimmering crimson glint from the lingering sunrise that hangs like a rainbow gently over the mountaintop above the Pacific in splintering streaks.

The magnificence of Medano Beach is almost surreal.

To be specific, the magnificence of an early morning visit to Medano Beach exudes a distinctly surreal authenticity. Almost as if the extraordinary fantasy and beauty of the event itself nourishes a realism that is cool and  refreshing,  like the breeze of the ocean. El Medano is certainly worthy of being considered among the most scenic beaches in the known world.

I sit in the sand and let my mind quickly drift into another land. I watch as boats float, sail, and motor from the marina into the deeper serene waters in front of El Medano. The close proximity between Medano Beach and the marina works in symmetry, like an arch, connected the two areas together like an aquatic bridge. Our location to the ocean connects us all in Los Cabos, and what better method of transportation to evoke the visceral essence of the region than water taxi?

In the distance cruise ships sit at bay, waiting impatiently for their shuttle boat preparations to finish and the opportunity to embark upon Los Cabos. Aboard, hundreds of vacationing patrons aim their fingers toward Medano Beach like foreign explorers, as if Christopher Culumbus’ distant ancestors have just discovered the lost continent of Atlantis. 

Wave runners skimmer upon the surface of the water like reincarnated sea animals from another dimension, agile modern machines that seem to invite exploration from a different perspective. A catapult ride to land’s end. They splash gentle currents swiftly past my position as a subliminal sign of encouragement, and so I proceed to embark upon an expedition, shifting once more from sand to sea.

In seconds I’m launched like a cannonball toward the arch, catapulted on a march that Poseidon himself would have appreciated. Minutes later the towering mountain within my vision grows larger and I approach the rocks, instinctively making the spontaneous decision to turn around and race back toward shore like a whale on a mission.    

I thank the young man who kindly helped me land my wave runner effortlessly onto shore, before climbing aboard another glass bottom water taxi headed toward the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula, and the sandy hidden wonderland of Playa del Amor (Lover’s Beach). Here, the waves break upon the sands of land’s end from opposite directions, connecting the Pacific with the Sea of Cortez.

After admiring the sweet serenity and diverse beauty of Lover’s Beach for a few hours, I begin to miss all of the amenities and services and finally decide it’s time to get back to Medano Beach. El Medano is lined with restaurants and bars, all of which provide everything you would expect from an exotic and luxurious resort destination.
 
Kayaks line the shores, alongside equipment and pervasive advertisements for numerous other water sports and interesting activities, including parasailing, sky diving, snorkeling, fishing expeditions, banana boat rides, waterskiing, and volleyball. Friendly venders comb Medano Beach with products of all persuasions, and tempt me to purchase a very affordable new pair of sunglasses.

Perched on the patio above El Medano, Mango Deck awaits me. The upper level of the restaurant provides a great view, but I decide to eat on the beach itself, with my feet in the sand, an ideal location for
people watching and observing the crazy contests which occur every afternoon on Medano Beach. I enjoy the live entertainment while the traditional Mexican dishes are delicious, and the frozen margaritas are vicious. The cold drinks and warm spicy foot go hand in hand at Medano Beach, and after lunch it’s time for a nice siesta in the sand.      

Medano Beach is a beautiful dream that enraptures the soul and enchants the mind. It has been this way since the beginning of time, and I am nothing more than another foreign born pirate plundering the exquisite natural riches and wondering about the existence of envisioning paradise at the end of the earth.

Kayak Cabo: The End of Purgatory and the Entrance to Heaven

http://canoekayak.com/features/stories/winterescapesbaja/Kayak Cabo: The End of Purgatory and the Entrance to Heaven

Why To Go: Certain destinations evoke preconceived notions of spectacular beauty and infinite opportunity. Cabo San Lucas is no different. It’s a majestic playground on the edge of the earth. Where the oceanic world ends, breathless heaven begins. Warm waves from the Sea of Cortez embrace cool cascades from the Pacific. Mountains kiss ripples in the water. The aquatic arch carved naturally into the rocks marches toward the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.

This angelic golden gateway serves and marks the perfect place to start your excursion. Paddle through and decide for yourself where dreams become reality. The Scenic land’s end beaches in the Sea are among the best on the planet. Secluded and diverse, this oasis coastline leaves you immersed in unprecedented panoramic scenery, with whales and sea lions beneath your kayak to keep you company. The constantly evolving rock face fades gracefully into the jaggedly protruding shoreline, showing you the way, as you paddle northeasterly along the uninhabited golden beaches, amid turquoise currents which orbit your kayak. The tourist corridor is the shoreline connecting Cabo San Lucas with San Jose del Cabo. This is the most spectacular place to paddle in the Sea of Cortez. It’s the ride of a lifetime. Rewarding, yet dangerous. Usually tranquil. Always unpredictable.

If You Go: Expect the unexpected. Weather is temperate, water is always warm, but temperatures fluctuate. During summer months daytime temperatures can reach upwards of 115. Dramatic temperature drops are not uncommon when the sun goes down. This is especially true in May and November. Bring sunscreen, hat, food, clothes, tent, cell phone, and an abundance of fresh drinking water. Call Tio Sports for kayak rentals when you arrive. 143-3399 (www.tiosports.com) For the best guidebook pick up Los Cabos Guide at any hotel. (www.LOSCABOSGUIDE.com) Costa Azul for outfitting. Weather can also change in the blink of an eye. Hurricanes between July and October can be devastating. Make sure to bring a radio for warnings or read the local paper before the storm impacts the tip of the peninsula. If a hurricane hits, give yourself sufficient time to assure you’re safely onshore, away from the beaches to wait out the storm. But when the rains cease, head directly for the Sierra de la Laguna Dry Forest to paddle the unfathomable precipitation, amid mesmerizing improvised ponds and glistening streams created by the torrential fountains pouring down the mountain.

While You’re There: Many beaches will be uninhabited, and you’ll have miles to explore. Hiking, fishing, snorkeling, swimming midcourse at Chileno and Santa Maria are best. Currents, riptides, and undertow can be hazardous, so please bring a life vest. Even highly experienced swimmers have died in these picturesque waters. Bring a buddy to paddle with, and remember this is Mexico, so 911 doesn’t work. Dial 066 instead, and speaking some Spanish and keeping track of your progress with the guidebook map of the beaches will help. All beaches in Mexico are public, so you can camp anywhere. No permits required. There are also dozens of hotels along the corridor. Some of the world’s best resorts. Eat, camp, grab a beer, margaritas at Brisas beachside bar and RV park at kilometer 29, just past Zippers when you arrive in San Jose.

Put-In/Launch: Playa Medano (San Lucas)

Take-Out: Playa Costa Azul, at Zippers (San Jose)

Miles of Paddling: 25

When to Go: Anytime. (winter is best!) Whale-watching December to March

Best Boat: Sea Kayak

Local Shop: Costa Azul (directly across four-lane from Zippers)

Fast Fact: Los Cabos was first observed in 1534 by Spanish explorers searching for the enchanted mythical island of Queen Calafia.

The End of the Earth

http://www.ftmyersmagazine.com/FtM-edit.LosCabos.html

If you’re looking for an oceanic escape unlike any other coastal destination on earth, look no further. Los Cabos is a majestic playground on the edge of the earth, where the tip of the Baja California peninsula sinks gradually into the sea. Here the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez connect, kiss the aquatic mountains, carve an arch in the rocks, and part toward the heavens.

Land’s end beaches in this region are among the most scenic on the planet, especially between the twin cities of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. Hidden within this mostly secluded twenty mile treasure of coastline you will find space where time stands still, where breathless moments of natural beauty last an eternity.

This jagged shoreline forms enclaves and warm tide pools that will draw you into the horizon like the setting sun. The snorkeling, swimming, and fishing on these beaches is the best in Baja, and the color of the water is like no other shade in existence. Turquoise hues paint the waves a bluish green, merging perfectly with the golden sand and pink corral rocks which encompass the backdrop. You will be immersed in the natural splendor of the canvas of land’s end, and then you will begin to discover that paradise does exist in certain infinite forms.

But should you ever get bored with the tranquil beaches of the “tourist corridor,” which is the local name attributed to this spectacular stretch of land, there is always action in Cabo San Lucas at Medano beach, just adjacent to the marina. Here the water sports are unlimited, the sky is filled with flying Parasailors, and the water is filled with kayakers, wave runners, boats, cruise ships, and anything else that floats. Venders comb the beaches with products of all persuasions, and the bars and restaurants are among the most exciting in Mexico.

Medano beach is the place to go for people watching, bikini contests, and a great place for children because the water is tranquil and the waves meek. This is also a great place to find a boat to take you over to Lover’s beach, where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez and the waves break upon the golden sand from opposite directions and collide on the land from both sides.

If you ever get tired of sitting on the beach and desire to go farther out to sea , then you can rent a water craft or a fishing boat at the marina and take an excursion for the purpose of escaping the heat and reeling in some marlins.

The sport fishing scene in Cabo San Lucas is world renowned. Each October prestigious tournaments occur and offer unprecedented millions in prize money for the lucky fishermen who can reel aboard the biggest catch and bring it back to the shore in time.

You will find a plethora of deep-sea fishing excursions and different types of boats and interesting, quirky local characters to take you out on the water. They will have everything you need for the day; drinks, food, music, and anything else you request will be quickly and efficiently provisioned.

Traveling by catamaran or chartered boat between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo is the best way to see all the scenic beaches at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. There are dozens of wonderful boats that embark upon these pleasure cruises each day.

Here you can meet other tourists, or take a smaller craft and travel with your loved ones and friends, instead of embracing the aquatic party that usually develops on these wild offshore excursions. Either way, you will be able to see how the desert land curls like a golden snake and exposes the secret uninhabited beaches that shimmer in the distance, inviting exploration and enjoyment.

About halfway between San Jose and San Lucas are two of the most amazing beaches in Mexico, Chileno and Santa Maria. Here you will enjoy the best snorkeling, kayaking, and swimming in the Cabo area. These may be popular spots and are sometimes quite busy, so it’s best to go early in the morning, especially during the week because all the locals frequent the beaches during the weekends.

The best weekend beach for privacy is in San Jose, between Costa Azul, where you first pass the giant overhead road sign welcoming you to San Jose del Cabo, and Brisas beachside bar and RV park, at kilometer 29 on the four lane trans-peninsular highway connecting San Jose with San Lucas.

The Cabo San Lucas marina is among the finest in the world, surrounded by dozens of the best restaurants, stores, and bars in all of Mexico. The Puerto Paraiso shopping center is a newly constructed upscale mall with a plethora of opportunities and even a multiplex movie theatre on the top level. Puerto Paraiso is also adjacent to the marina and within walking distance from Playa Medano, and if you ever get a rainy day, which you won’t, there is no better place to walk around than inside this spectacular shopping mall denoted in Spanish as “Paradise Port.”

Los Cabos is the end of the real world and the beginning of the fantasy realm. The oceanic natural beauty will inspire you to find something deep within your soul. A piece of ecstatic sublime that you will want to hold on to forever.

The majestic mountains descend into caves filled with breaking waves and the arch at land’s end will make you want to pass through paradise and enter heaven. But be careful what you wish for, because you may never want to leave.