28 Feb 12. At the very distal end of the Baja Peninsula lies Cabo San Lucas, a charming resort area on the Mexican Riviera. Although our stay there was for just a few hours, we both fell immediately in love with it and will be making many more trips there to visit and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and people. Fishing, diving, climbing, para-sailing, and photography are just a few of the treats that await any visitor. The very tip of the peninsula is comprised only of large rocks, the very furthest grouping of which is known as the Lands End, and the most famous, if you will, is the chunk of rock known as El Arco, the arch. Here the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean, and although the water was quite calm on the day of our visit, it isn't always so. On the leeward side of the rocks (a wee bit south of where lies the city) is to be found Playa Doña Chepa, the lover's beach; only accessible by boat, it is well worth the trip. From here you can get a great view of the arch and even walk under it at low tide, at least that was my impression from viewing it three different times with differing tides. On our way down the coast I had myself positioned to get a few shots of it from a distance that would have made for some potentially nice images. As we got into position a lady simply pushed herself in front of me blocking my view and remained there for the entire opportunity. Not absolutely certain why she didn't find herself overboard and the more I've thought about it the more I think I should have made that happen! So I missed out on a nice opportunity as the water was a bit rough and the waves were breaking magnificently through the arch. On the return the water was quite calm and we saw no such action. The image you see today was taken from a tour boat that took us around both sides of El Arco as part of a sight seeing tour both above and below the water. ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 8.
29 Feb 12. Now I am admittedly not much of a fan of what has become of the motion picture industry and it members, but occasionally there comes about a series of films that I do find entertaining either due to the special effects or a particular character. The Pirates of the Caribbean falls into both categories with Captain Jack being one of the best characters I have come across in many years. I can only imagine how much fun it must be to either work in the production or be a cast member in such a series. In fact, I had become quite a fan Jack Sparrow, that is, until our cruise last January. Returning from our under water / over water tour of Land's End, we departed the yellow submarine to stroll around the wharf area of Cabo's harbor. As we were strolling along observing the sights and minding our own business, who did appear out of nowhere but Captain Jack. Before we could say ARRGH, he grabbed a wench from the group of bystanders and threatened her life if we tried to do anything about it. Naturally, being the old sailor that I am, I felt compelled to rush to her rescue only to be rebuffed by none other than the wench herself. That was just too much of an insult to the old pride and at that point I vowed to disown Jack and all his shipmates forever, or at least until the next episode is released. From now on I'll have to root for the other guys. ISO 200; 1/100 sec @ f /13.
