Cabo San Lucas
We had a bag check as we left the quay and then immediately we ran into our first locals trying to sell us trips. Trying to avoid all the barkers we walked through the gates signposted Downtown. Through there we found ourselves on a road lined with hotels and apartments. After walking along the road a little way we gave up and walked back through an arcade to the marina and the quayside.
This did mean that almost every few steps we were accosted to go on trips. It was very hot and humid as we walked towards the dolphin pool. We were not approached to visit this venue to swim with the dolphins, they were keeping a low profile.
We carried on walking all the way around the marina and went out into the downtown area by Diamonds International. After walking a few hundred yards we turned around and walked back to the marina as the empty shops and bars didn’t look very inviting. We went back all the way past where we had come ashore earlier.
The small public beach
The quay by the indoor market did not have any fishing boats docked as we passed. We turned past the market and were passing pickup trucks loaded with catches of fish. At the end of the street we turned left and we came to the walls of the Naval Base. As we passed the base a pickup truck was coming out loaded with soldiers. They were all armed with assault rifles and had their faces masked.
Once past the base we came to a public beach.
In front of us was a tower and behind that we could see the two cruise ships at anchor.
We sat on a ledge by a wall and chatted to passengers off our ship. They told us that the sea by the beach was hot enough to boil eggs. We sat in the shadow of the wall and watched boats coming and going into the marina or landing on the beach itself.
There was a sentry box at the end of the pier below the tower and we now had an armed sentry watching over the boats coming and going. On the top of the tower there was a large bird also watching over the beach. I have no idea what the species of the bird was.
We were getting hotter and hotter even in the shade and it was time to leave. I walked around the corner to see the rest of the beach before we left.
As we reached the road another pickup truck passed. This one was from the Federales and was again full of men with assault rifles all wearing balaclavas. The buildings opposite the Naval Base were in ruins.
Further along the road above us were more apartment buildings.