There is a surreal aspect to visiting Mexico. On the one hand, there is so much violence taking place throughout the country - including in places that tourists visit. On the other, there is the festival atmosphere that continues unabated in Puerta Vallarta (PV) and Cabos San Lucas (CSL), the two places where our ship stopped this week.
So, well aware that what we were seeing is not the whole story of Mexico ... I opted for a snorkeling excursion in PV and decided to just stroll the town in CSL.
The snorkeling was billed as an eco tour. In fact, it was just another version of the loud party-boat catamarans that Mark and I mocked when they cruised past us in Antigua, except with grey-haired partiers instead of the standard, drunken, 20-something crowd.
That said, it was the first time I had been in the water since I got on this ship more than three weeks ago. So I was pretty happy. And I had the chance to try out my new underwater camera (I am not very good with it yet, obviously).
The snorkelling was crowded. There were at least 40 of us splashing around in fins and flippers trying to follow our guide. And the range of fish in the silty green waters off of Marietta Island was not great.
But I made a friend named Corny who is a German woman living in the Canary Islands and she made the trip loads of fun.
After snorkeling, they served a lunch and then took us to a very small beach for some swimming. Then we had an open bar with margaritas on the way home.
The next day we arrived in CSL. It was my first time in this tourist village and I was absolutely blown away by the rugged, barren hillside.
The Windsor sisters and I strolled off the ship and paid a guy $20 to bike us to the downtown (which turned out to be just six or seven blocks away.)
The sisters convinced me to sink my feet into a tank of water and let little fish eat the dead skin - something that i understand to be a bit more common in Asian countries. It is a feeling that is repulsively weird but I have to admit my heels emerged better for the experience.
Then, after wandering the streets (which are chock a block with pharmacies selling cheap prescription drugs), we had a Margarita lunch with a sizzling bowl of chicken and vegetables that we stuffed into soft tacos - delicious.
We walked back to the ship and napped before dinner. But, by the time we sat down, I was not feeling great and I realized I had the norovirus that is competing with COVID for putting passengers in sick bay on this floating Petri dish of germs. Fortunately I am on the mend after a painful 24 hours ... and am expecting to be in full health when we land in San Diego.
Sorry to hear you're unwell again. Maybe too much sun?