Our Vacation Cont.

As our ship starts to move away from its final port, it is time to catch you up on our adventure. We finished day three with reading, relaxing, and getting ready for our first day in Puerto Vallarta, we had to get up early to get to our activity. It was called the 4x4 Tropical Safari, we were in Mercedes Benz All-terrain vehicles. It was basically a large truck with seats that run parallel to the road. It had loops in front of you to hold onto when the car rocked back and forth over the very unstable ground. And believe me it rocked. At one point I leaned so far out that it cracked my back. Our first stop was at traditional Mexican square where our tour guide a very funny man named Manuel told us the history of the Spanish in Mexico. Then we stopped at “the ladies house” where they showed us how to grind corn, and made fresh tortillas for us and gave us tacos (mom liked this much more than I did) then mom decided to use the bathroom there, where she had to bring a bucket of water in with her to flush the toilet (this is of course after you have thrown out the paper in another bucket by the toilet) I decided I could hold it in. Our next stop was our “hike” which was really more of a walking tour of the flora and fauna through tons of mud (mostly I wondered where Merryweather was). Mom held a wooden stick to help her along, as Manuel demonstrated the various trees and growths and then ate a few termites. I again passed on this option. Our next stop brought us to a grocery stand where we used the sort of normal toilets. And once back on board Manuel passed out the beer, showing them how to drink while also rolling in the car. Our last stop was at a secluded beach that was obviously owned by the tour company because various groups doing the tour all came to this spot. They had a really great meal for us, with grilled meat and chicken and so forth. We put our feet into the water and boy was it warm. Then we got back into the truck and Manuel brought out the tequila and then proceeded to demonstrate how to drink it properly. Then we went back to the ship I jumped into the pool and cooled off a bit before showering for dinner.
Our next stop was Mazatlan, where we decided to go to the Hacienda and lay around the pool, it was about 40 minutes from downtown. It was very warm and the hacienda was very nice. It was interesting how just on the other side of the mountains we were in the tropics but here was mostly desert. It was fun and we just read by the pool and they served us a very traditional Mexican meal, which again mom enjoyed much more than I did. Caesar was our tour guide and he was funny, but not as crazy as Manuel. When we returned to Mazatlan, Caesar gave us a brief tour of the city and then back on the boat for dinner and another comedy act. Caesar’s favorite saying was Okay-Dokey and probably said it about 300 times in the 5 hours we were with him.
Our last stop today was Cabo San Lucas, we had to take the tender out to the land because the port is not deep enough for the ship, it was a perfect day and we went to shore and mom did a little shopping before our next adventure. It is called America’s Cup Sailing, where you get onto a real yacht that has competed in the America’s Cup. We had to help with the sailing. They had use grinding, tacking, and jibing, and hoisting the sails, so basically they have you turning very quickly this crank and then the boat would tip to one side and everybody would hold on for dear life. It was so much fun. After a while of sailing really fast as it was tipping they evened it out and they let people captain the boat, mom took a turn. Then they again tipped it to the side and hoisted three of the passengers up in a harness over the side and we would raise and lower them into the water and then swing them forward. This was all done by us turning the cranks. I would highly recommend this to anyone going to Cabo! Wait til you see the pictures. Until next time.