Todos Santos


Todos Santos

Todos Santos

The town is Todos los Santos, although most people shorten that to just “Todos Santos“.  While some consider this a “beach” town, it’s actually about a half mile/.8 kilometer direct line from town central to the coast.  I measured that distance using Google Maps, anchoring off the most famous feature of Todos Santos, which we’ll explore next Monday.  But here’s a hint: The Eagles.

Pretty Rustic — Dirt Streets

Pretty Rustic — Dirt Streets (they were under repair at the time)

We started our excursion into Todos Santos (link: town website)with a stop at the cultural center, more of which you’ll see this Friday and next during both Fun Photo Fridays.  For today I’ll just show you some of the mural work inside:

Todos Santos Cultural Center

Todos Santos Cultural Center

Todos Santos Cultural Center

Todos Santos Cultural Center

The main street and many of the side streets were unpaved on this trip, as repairs to those streets were underway.  That just added to the charm, however.  After our trip through the cultural center we stopped off at a little mall for some shopping and refreshment — Plaza Comercial los Faroles (Lantern Plaza Shopping).

Todos Santos shopping complex

Plaza Comercial los Faroles

Make sure you step inside the plaza to gaze upon a rather stunning mural:

Mural

Plaza Comercial los Faroles Mural

Along the streets were some very interesting buildings that were fun to photograph.  Here is a little strip mall with, ironically, a photo gallery:

Todos Santos

Todos Santos

Look up as well for some other photo opportunities:

Todos Santos

Todos Santos

Not all the color was on the buildings, of course.  Flowers abound here:

Todos Santos

Todos Santos flowers

And every town has at least one very photogenic street-side café:

Café

Café

The arts and crafts here are equally colorful, so be on the lookout for some interesting compositions during your stroll through town:

Todos Santos

Todos Santos

Comments Off on Todos Santos

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Chile-to-L.A. — Cabo San Lucas, last port before home


La Ultima Piedra de la Peninsula Baja (Last Stone of the Baja Peninsula)

Ultima piedra Peninsula Baja (“Last Stone of the Baja Peninsula)

The Golden Princess made one more port before our long journey from Chile to Los Angeles would come to an end.  That would be one of my favorite ports, Cabo San Lucas, at the very tip of the Baja Peninsula.  We arrived on March 25, 2015, four days after our departure from Nicaragua.  Cabo doesn’t have a harbor and dock suitable for a cruise ship, so once again we found ourselves anchored offshore and tendering into town after some spectacular views of Land’s End, Lovers Beach, and La Ultima Piedra de la Baja Peninsula, which translates to “The Last Stone of the Baja Peninsula”.  Land’s End is the beach and large rock on the right side of the picture below, and the last rock is on the far left.

Land's End

Land’s End

I’ve blogged on Cabo San Lucas several times in the past, so we’re not going to spend too much time on this again today.  If you’d like more information I’ve posted links to my previous blog posts at the end of today’s article.  In those articles you find information on El Arco (The Arch); seals and pelicans; a sea tour out to Land’s End, the charming town of Cabo San Lucas, and a spectacular native demonstration of “Pole Flying (Danza de los Voladores — Dance of the Flyers).

Yachting Around

Yachting Around

One catching sight out here at Land’s End is Lovers Beach on the harbor side of the peninsula.  Perhaps intuitively, Lovers Beach butts up against Divorce Beach, which is on the Pacific side of the peninsula.  If the waves are just right you’ll catch some spectacular geysers of water shooting into the air from the Divorce Beach side, as shown here:

Lovers Beach (Divorce Beach behind, where the waves are crashing)

Lovers Beach (Divorce Beach behind, where the waves are crashing)

Don’t forget to have Scoody-Doo pose for you while you’re out here.  But he is shy, so he’ll be facing away from you.

Scooby-Doo

Scooby-Doo

For the uninitiated, “tendering” is when your cruise ship has to anchor offshore and passengers are ferried into port using either the ship’s tenders or locally hired water craft.  Today we used the tenders from the Golden Princess:

Tendering out of Cabo

Tendering out of Cabo

Here is a shot of one Golden Princess tender safely docked in the Cabo San Lucas Marina:

Cabo San Lucas Marina

Cabo San Lucas Marina

So, why am I spending so little time today blogging on Cabo San Lucas?  Because we had another destination on mind this trip.  On Wednesday we’ll be heading 47 miles/76 kilometers to the north, to a charming little town on the Pacific Coast side of the peninsula — Todos Santos.  Until then, enjoy some more photos of Cabo San Lucas and links below to previous articles:

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas

Scooby and Friends

Scooby and Friends

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas

Ultima piedra Peninsula Baja

Waves crashing into Ultima piedra Peninsula Baja later that afternoon

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas

Previous blog posts on Cabo San Lucas:

Comments Off on Chile-to-L.A. — Cabo San Lucas, last port before home

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Fun Photo Friday — Favorites of Lake Nicaragua and Masaya Volcano


Volcano

Volcano

Today’s Fun Photo Friday is one last look at Nicaragua before we head up the coast to Cabo San Lucas and a nifty side trip to Todos Santos and The Hotel California, where we had no difficulties checking in for lunch, but a lot of problems leaving (that’s a joke for Eagles fans).

Comments Off on Fun Photo Friday — Favorites of Lake Nicaragua and Masaya Volcano

Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation