Mexico: sun, music and beach

We had two destinations in Mexico, Huatulco and Cabo San Lucas. Both places differ in their development, as while Huatulco has only built the port with a pier for cruise ships and a small infrastructure of roads with shops and restaurants around it, Cabo San Lucas has already been developed into one of the new, consciously elegant beach resorts 25 years ago. It is already much more well-known and has an airport nearby. After Acapulco is no longer recommended for tourists due to security reasons, as it is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, the Mexican government has chosen the Pacific peninsula off California, after Cancun, to build hotels to attract tourists, which the country urgently needs as a source of income. Above all, they are striving to counteract the negative image of Mexico in the USA, which is becoming even stronger under Trump. Everything is super clean, new and tidy, with a lot of police, no beggars, reserved street vendors, and a high standard of infrastructure with wide roads, all beautifully planted with palm trees and cacti. Our tour guide even asked us to tell others at home that Mexico is not as terrible as often portrayed in the media. I already had the impression that the Mexicans are very touched because of the American attitude towards their country and thus very concerned about their future.

In Huatulco, I drove into the interior of the country, where it still looks as poor and simple as it did when I was in Mexico before. I visited a dance show, hence the photos, which hopefully convey some of the liveliness and cheerfulness of the people.

In Cabo San Lucas, I was immediately excited in the morning when I looked out the window and saw the beautiful rock formation in front of which our ship was anchored. It looks like Portugal! We then had to go ashore with the tender boats, which was quite time-consuming due to the number of people.

The port of Cabo was then very touristically developed and reminded me of Spain, the Balearic Islands, and the marina almost like Puerto Banus/Marbella in Andalusia. They hope to attract guests from L.A. and Canada. The smaller cities further inland, such as San José, on the other hand, were very quiet and also nicely renovated, but tranquil, especially around the 18th-century Jesuit mission. They exuded a beautiful atmosphere.

In the shops, you can often buy the colorfully painted skulls or skeletons that the Mexicans need for their festival with their deceased on November 1st. They decorate their homes with them, also dress up like that, and eat with their family clan, with a table set and cooked for the deceased. Each family member contributes money for the festival's equipment. So a cheerful form of a day of remembrance for the dead, which appears strange to us. Those who have seen the James Bond film "Spectre" may remember the opening scene with this festival in Mexico City and the danced processions of skeletons and masks.

In any case, Mexico is generally colorful and vibrant, with friendly people and lots of music, so the short visit was great. But for a vacation, the flight from Europe is too far for me. In that regard, we are very well served with our Western Mediterranean countries like Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

About the Pacific, I have to tell you that the sea was incredibly calm and smooth, it looked like velvet. The name of a peaceful sea is indeed true for this area. I also saw schools of dolphins with probably 50-70 animals, which almost playfully and at a good pace made their elegant jumps. There were also many turtles to see, so it was very interesting to just look at the sea and admire this natural spectacle.

Now we're heading north again, temperatures are dropping rapidly, we're already at just 15 degrees with light rain, and the next few days we'll be in the harbor in San Francisco. It's time to pull out the sweaters and comfortable walking shoes again, because starting tomorrow it's going to be "full program" again.