I was leery of visiting Cabo San Lucas, reputed to be an outpost of Orange County, but El Arco is there, the rock arch (above) that marks the bottom of the Baja California peninsula, and it seemed unthinkable to have driven most of the length of the peninsula and not visit its terminal point, where the waters of the Pacific meet with the waters of the Mar de Cortés.
We decided to make a beeline for land's end, see the cape, and head straight back to La Paz. This turned out to be easier than expected because there's a new road to Cabo San Lucas from La Paz which runs down the Pacific side of the peninsula. (Mexico 1, formerly the only paved route from La Paz to the cape, runs down the eastern shore of the peninsula and is a bit longer.)
The new road on the Pacific side is in superb shape, allowing for faster speeds than normal, and we made it to Cabo San Lucas well before noon. The town of Cabo San Lucas still has some charm, but it's ringed about by hideous condo compounds -- enclaves for people who want the views but don't want to live among Mexicans, in anything resembling Mexican culture. In forty years the whole of Baja California will probably be encrusted with these compounds, as the Pacific coast above Ensenada already is. Go see it now, before the yuppie stain grows insupportable.
The tip of the cape can only be visited by sea, unless you're an expert rock climber. We rented places in one of the glass-bottom superpangas that take tourists out for a look. Fortunately the other passengers were one large extended Mexican family, cheerful and friendly and good company.
As we motored out of the harbor we were greeted by the strange and nauseating sight of huge party boats filled with tourists drinking and listening to bad pop music from live bands blaring their sounds out over huge amplifiers. "We're having an experience -- we're having fun now!" was the message. Not. "We might as well be in Las Vegas!" was more like it.
El Arco looks as though it might have been designed for dramatic effect and beauty by some 19-Century landscape artist like Frederick Law Olmstead. It's a most appropriate and theatrical punctuation mark at the end of the great peninsula. Just beyond it you can actually see the light green water of the Mar de Cortés mix with the deeper blue of the Pacific.
The captain of our panga had his wife and kids and father on board -- his oldest son took the helm on the ride back to the docks. His father beamed at him and made sure we all saw how well he was doing.
We decided not to tarry in Cabo San Lucas but headed back towards La Paz and stopped about halfway there at Todos Santos for lunch. Todos Santos is a lovely little town that's become something of an artists' colony. We looked forward to visiting the galleries there, but they were all closed, because we came on a Sunday. You would think that Sunday would be the one day of the week most likely to bring tourists into the galleries, but there is obviously a higher law at work here -- the Lord's day, and the day of rest, trumping commercial concerns.
We did have a fine lunch at the Hotel California, a charming place that is often visited by Americans on the mistaken assumption that it has some connection with the Eagles' song. Harry had the Mexican equivalent of surf 'n' turf -- a plate of shrimp and carne asada tacos.
We got back to La Paz before dark, in time for drinks at sunset on the terrace of the Hotel Perla.
We were happy we'd visited Cabo San Lucas, and land's end -- even happier that we didn't have to spend the night there.
For previous Baja California trip reports, go here.
[Photos © 2007 Harry Rossi]