Zipping along

There we were, sailing along, and not anchored at the harbor at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at 7 a.m.  What was with that?  Our captain is never late getting the ship docked or anchored.  We watched and it appears that perhaps the pilot did not arrive on time.  At least that’s my story.  We were more than an hour late, making us late to leave for our excursion … a zip line. 

Once we got anchored, here's always something to see in  harbor.

The tender took us to the dock.

There's always someone in most of these countries with a big gun.

And how would we get to the zip line?  A bus ride, of course.  I’m so tired of bus rides.  The only good thing about this one was that there were only 10 of us and it was a small tour bus.  They even gave us a bottle of water.  Wow.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.  But it was an hour-plus on the bus.

We went through some pretty barren country.

We arrived at our destination, after going through a small village, and then up a dusty dirt road that took us over rocky river beds that didn’t seem as though they’d had water in them for a very long time.  We were getting further and further away from our ship.  Maybe we were being taken to the desert to be mugged and left to fend for ourselves and find the way back to our mother ship.  Then a little thatched hut appeared, and some yellow vehicles and some people.  Were they going to kill us, or were they going to take us on an adventure?

The adventure version of the story won out.  We were in the Sierra range of Baja California, rocky, but beautiful in its own way. 

These folks were very nice and got us outfitted in our riggings.  The difference this time is that we also had shoulder harnesses in addition to all the other stuff we were used to wearing.  We had a safety briefing.  We were not allowed to bring cameras on the zips, so you’ll just have to read this.  Photos will follow at another time when I get home as I do have a disk with pictures to share.

 

They got us all geared up.

Full gear.

We were loaded up into the yellow vehicles that made me think of old military transport trucks, and off we went … up still another dusty dirt road.  We arrived at our traverse area and then walked to the first zip line.  It wasn’t very long, but fast, and fun.

Loved the bright yellow color, of course.

Up the dusty road we went.

In all there were about seven zips and some surprises as well.  What made this adventure the best zip of all, is that there was more than just short and long and extremely fast zips.  In between the zips we usually had to walk a ways, sometimes far, sometimes up a hill but it was so worth the sweat.  There was a dual wire we had to cross over a rocky ravine … you traversed by foot on the lower one and balanced yourself by holding on to the one above your shoulders.  We did a 100-foot rappel down a rock cliff, we climbed up what was probably a 100-foot rock wall on another one, we did a tandem zip and we did one upside down.  The final zip was 1,800 feet long, and fast.  I made like a cannonball.  I wondered if I'd stop.  I stayed in my tucked position anyway.  And stop I did.  Wow!!!  Speedy and thrilling.  What fun this was … and so exciting.  This is the most awesome zip line I’ve done, and it will be hard to beat it.

On one of the zips we’d come across a draw and a little creek and pond.  We saw a large group of people walking in through the river bed and some were dressed in white.  It was a baptism ceremony.  What an honor to see it as it’s not a usual activity during a zip.  Of course, no camera.  But it’s burned in my memory, the people being baptized in the pond, the colorful clothing on so many of them, the singing, the person playing beautiful music on his guitar.  It was lovely.

When we were done we were tired, and were treated to drinks and homemade quesadillas.  With full tummies and our thirsts quenched, the ride back to the ship didn’t seem nearly as long.  What a great time we had.  And our ship did not leave without us.  That’s always a good thing.
 

These pigeons were waiting for a share of the food.

Handmade tortillas for our quesadillas.

 We sailed out with the afternoon tide, or maybe not.  We left behind the Cabo harbor that is beautiful, surrounded by rocks that glow in the sun, homes built all around and boats big and small coming and going.  Jet skis were zipping back and forth across the water, birds diving, seals catching fish and pelicans chasing and giving the seals a hard time. 

Couldn't resist more pelican photos.

They sure do enjoy sitting on the top of poles and peering out over everything.

A golden glow over the rocks was stunning.

Then it was back to the sea.  Monday, March 30, would be at-sea, and our final full day on the beautiful Golden Princess.

But there are always things to do.  One of our new friends, Vangie, would be singing in the passenger chorus and wanted us to come and listen to her.  Done.  There was a passenger talent show we wanted to see.  Done.  And some very amazing talent, I might add, including a man who played the recorder, some Asian ladies who danced and had brought costumes, a lady who played the piano, another who recited a poem, a lady (who had danced with the Asians) who did a belly dance and a gentleman who sang opera.  It was excellent.  Who knew there was so much talent? 

The passenger chorus did a great job and everyone wanted them to keep singing.

The other daytime activity was another culinary demonstration.  I wanted to do this because it included a galley tour, and when we’d gone on it before we didn’t have cameras with us.  I wanted photos.  Living proof I’d been there.  There were so many facts about the galley, but I forgot the handout.  It was amazing what they do, how much food is prepared, how they calculate so there isn't a lot of waste.  The culinary staff is truly amazing.

The executive chefs.  The one on the right is the Pastry Chef and his sugar-free desserts were better than most of the sugared ones.  But these folks and their staff do a great job.  All food is made from scratch, and it's amazing what they can do.

 

My calculations for pastries were that they made 500 of everything.

They show you can have fun with vegetables.

Big pots ... and good stuff inside.  The soups were awesome, the sauces, and their roasted veggies were tops.

Chocolate, of course.

Who could resist this colorful masterpiece?

A chocolate eagle about to take flight.

Yep.  More chocolate.  They were preparing for Easter.

A photo?  Of course.

We closed out the day having dinner with all of our new friends and taking in the evening show called British Invasion.  It was all the old music from the Brits, Beatles and so on.  It was an excellent show and put us in a good mood even though we knew we had to disembark the next day.  Waaaahhhhh!!!!  So be it.

There just aren’t enough adjectives to cover all the wonderful things we’ve seen and done on the South America adventure.  Would I go back?  You bet.  Would I want to spend time in some of these countries on my own?  You bet.  Another cruise?  Where do I sign up?

The lighthouse at Los Angeles Harbor brought it home to us that we would soon be off the ship, and back to reality.

There were some seals there to greet us.

March 31 … disembarking day.  Sad, sad, sad.  But it was what we had to do.  The ship came on into the harbor and the gate was connected to the ship.  We had to say goodbye to our housekeeper and leave the Golden Princess behind.  It was time to head on to our next adventure.

Stop.  I don't want to get off the ship.

What I didn’t realize was that my next adventure would take me on flights to San Francisco with Jaz, then back to Los Angeles and on to Phoenix to meet up with my friends, Verlie and Joe.  That’s where my motorcycle adventure would begin.  I was ready after having spent the best part of the day in airports and on short flights between the cities.  It was the best I could do with what I had at hand.