C IS FOR....

CABO SAN LUCAS

Cabo, as most of us call it, was a small Mexican town at the tip of Baja, California, the peninsula on the west coast of Mexico.

I say "was" because it is no longer as small as it was when we first visited it about 35 years or more ago. On the map above Cabo is right at the very tip of the peninsula and San Diego just above the border in the top left hand corner. Cabo has become a popular tourist spot especially for cruise ships and for those who want to do some fishing in the Gulf of California. It also has a good number of resort hotels, but the main obstacle is how to get there.

You can fly Air Mexico from San Diego or you can drive the length of the peninsula.  When we flew there the plane came down very low and we wondered where the runway was.  Suddenly we swooped over a cliff and down to the runway below.  Exciting! Back then the airport was just a series of thatched roofs with tables inside.

If you decide to drive, it is 760 miles.  Today there is a half decent road, but still you have to watch out for loose cattle, unorthodox driving and don't drive at night or pick-up hitch hikers.  You may also be stopped by police toting rifles, but mainly looking for people carrying drugs.  Remember, in Mexico you are guilty until proved innocent.  Our boys went to Baja quite often years ago, as helpers with those driving the Baja 500.  That's when they were into off-roading with their trucks.

This was the photo we took of Cabo last month.

Today, I wouldn't think about going across the border, though many do.  We are just too aware of the drug problems and immigration tangles nowadays.  I'm so glad we got to do it all those years ago before all the illegal activity.  It is fascinating countryside and Gray Whales can be seen in the winter off the coast as they make their way down to the lagoons where they give birth before returning back up north again.

On our original trip, we let our boys go fishing all day out in one of the pangas from a nearby community with a couple of the local fisherman.  (I can't believe now that we would let them do that alone, but it was different times).  They came back triumphantly with a hammerhead shark, which our youngest had caught (at about age ten). It was bigger than he was!  Such excitement!  Somewhere we have a photo of him holding it up, but don't know where it is right now.  That was before computers and I haven't put the multitude of our old photos on the computers.

Recently, Cabo received the full brunt of a hurricane and had much damage in their tourist area as well as their city.  They have been scurrying to get everything put back together for the tourist season.  Our cruise ship stopped in at Christmas time and things were already put back together. Tourism is a vital resource for the locals.

The very tip of Cabo San Lucas in December.

Beautiful blue skies and calm seas.

This is my entry for ABC Wednesday.  Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger Owen Green and their worthy team of helpers.  To see more fascinating entries, please click HERE.