Food and More Food….Grand Gala Buffet and Cabo San Lucas

After leaving Huatulco we had another sea day on Friday before arriving in Cabo San Lucas. Never wanting to allow anyone to go hungry for more than a minute or two, the big feature of the day was the Grand Gala Buffet.

But before that, Jim Brochu presented his talk on Joan Crawford. He had met Joan while on a cruise with his father as a young teenager, and ultimately Joan became almost a surrogate mother to him. She was entirely the opposite of the image presented by her daughter Christina, and this is part of the reason he does this talk.

Surprisingly, no one left Jim's talk early to get to the buffet for photos...as usual, we took a few pictures and then went up to the Trident Grill for something light.

The headline entertainer for the evening was
Lou Gazzara, cousin of the actor Ben Gazzara, and
a great singer in his own right, with a 5 octave range. He
has a regular show in Las Vegas.

We had a day and a bit of clear blue skies and warm temps in Cabo, arriving just before 3:00 PM, an hour ahead of schedule. This was a tender stop, and while it had not looked too hopeful on the way up, by the time we arrived the winds had dropped and the bay was calm making for a nice easy tender ride into port when we went in at 4:30 to meet our evening’s tour.

Arriving in Cabo San Lucas

We had two tours here that we booked through Viator. The first night we did "Eat Like a Cabo Local" booked with AvoCabo Food Tours. There was just the two of us, and the owners, Johnathan and Robin, took us away from the tourist area into the areas where the locals live and eat. We started with grilled corn from a street vendor who sells 500 cobs a night, and finished with an Ahi tuna tostada that was so fresh the fish was likely swimming in the bay that morning! All topped off with a freshly made Churro from a street vendor filled with traditional Mexican condensed milk!! It is a family business and they apparently sell 1,000 a night!!

The corn vendor

Corn in cream sauce with queso, with the consistency
of cheese curds. With the added spices it sure
was tasty!

We didn't buy from him, but this vendor was making hot
dogs wrapped in bacon and served on fresh baked buns.

Our next stop - El Burro Loco, the Crazy Donkey

Inside El Burro Loco - Salsas and Agua Fresca - delicious hibiscus tea

Proper Mexican mole sauce - yes it has unsweetened cocoa in it, but
it tastes more like the chilis that are some of the 70 ingredients that
go into making it. The sauce takes all day to cook.

Across the street from El Burro Loco, we stopped at El Paisa Taqueria
for the best tacos in Cabo. The meat is cooked on a spit like a
shawarma, which is called a pastor.

Our beef tacos on fresh-made corn tortillas, with pineapple, guacamole
and salsa on top.

We didn't eat here either, but this 'supper club' Maria Corona,
has been around for a long time. Dinner, musical entertainment
and dancing all in one place. This is the kind of place where
Mexicans go to have a night out.

This is Wachanango's, a fairly new restaurant specializing
in very fresh fish. It is one of Jonathan and Robin's favourite
spots in town. That's Jonathan under the sign.

The special of the day - a cripsy tostada with guacamole, fresh
ahi tuna, shrimp and an onion marmelade on a little soy sauce.
Boy, did that taste great!

Here we are, enjoying another course of our progressive
Mexican dinner.

For those of us who wanted to, we could try Mezcal, the original
Mexican drink. Some say that mezcal is a form of tequila, but
it is really the other way around, mezcal came first...and yes, if
you look closely you will see that there are crickets on that plate.
No, we did NOT try them!

And for dessert, churros rellenos, stuffed churros filled with
condensed milk cream.

Walking around the harbour toward the tender
pier after the tour.

An art installation at the harbour

 Sunday morning we took an early tender in to make sure that we would be on time for our next tour, and found a few interesting things while we were waiting.

Morning sun shining off the rocks at Cabo

A fishing boat that spent the day not far from our ship

The famous Cabo sign. 

At the Lighthouse, the Tequila Store and outdoor
museum, where you can take a tour that
explains how tequila is made.

One of the displays outside.

Sunday's tour was whale watching with CaboTrek. Once we found the whales, our guide figured out that we were in the midst of a competitive group, which is a number of male humpbacks fighting for the right to mate with a particular female. We saw at least seven, two of which swam right under our boat, A third surfaced so close in front of us Larry, who was standing behind him, heard the Captain exclaim "Madre de Dios" as he took the boat out of gear to avoid hitting the whale. The boats are supposed to stay 100 metres from the whales, but apparently the whales have never been told this!! As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are several thousand words worth of pictures……

On our way out to find the whales.

Some boats do get a little close...

Various fins and flukes appeared out of the water here
and there....

And sometimes a little tail slapping went on....

The whales 'fight' by bumping each other, which roils
up the water.

  

We left Cabo just as the sun was setting, which made for some nice pictures as well.

Two fellow Canadians, both from Montreal - Rafael Derkson,
usually the leader of the Crystal Show Band, but also
the Assistant Cruise Director for the world cruise on
trumpet, and Richard Pucci on the piano

Monday and Tuesday were sea days and passed in the usual routine of lectures and food, but no trips to the pool. We had crossed the Tropic of Cancer shortly after we left Cabo and Mother Nature reminded us of that we had left The Tropics with noticeably cooler temperatures. Fortunately on Monday she also gave clear, blue skies, so the sunshine was nice.

Jim did his final talk on Lucille Ball, and has us all
wiping our eyes again as he told about getting the
last autograph she ever wrote....

The highlight of Tuesday was not on anyone’s schedule. About 1:00 Captain Vorland came on the PA to tell us that a US Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, was approaching us and would pass to our starboard (right) side. Even better, she was conducting flight operations and passed us at something less than two miles. We saw several planes, F/A 18 Super Hornets according to Mr. Google, take off and land in the fifteen minutes of closest approach. Later in the day we had three high speed passes by aircraft from the Nimitz which startled the heck out of a number of passengers, including us!! Larry bumped into the Vice Captain a little later and asked if the Navy asked for permission, and he said no, they just called and told us they were going to use us for “target practice” drills!

The USS Nimitz sailing by.

Sunset at sea

The appetizer plates from our dinner at Silk -
spring rolls, pot stickers and crispy prawn fritters

And main courses - rice, sweet and sour pork,
and Mongolian lamb chops.

Today, Wednesday, we are in San Pedro, the Port of Los Angeles, for turn around day. Approximately 600 guests disembarked this morning and another 700 guests, including the remaining World Cruisers doing the shorter itinerary, have been boarding all afternoon. This evening the World Cruise officially begins with the big Balloon Drop at 8:00. Pictures to follow!