November 6, 2011

This morning we woke up early and went in to Cabo San Lucas for our last breakfast. Cabo was the final port of call for the Baja Ha-Ha. By the time we finally got here, the crew was completely fed up with the rally. The services that Latitude 38 provided were minimal for the amount of money that we spent to enter. Unlike the Pacific Puddle Jump or other races, there were absolutely no perks to joining. Other rally coordinators take care of marina and port fees, clearance fees into the country, agent fees, food and drinks at certain official social gatherings, and bond clearance for countries that require that. The only thing that we could see was being paid for was the organizer’s fees and a small salary. Joining the Ha-Ha also meant that we were stuck to a certain timetable even though the weather was not favorable to leave when we did. It also dictated the ports of call that we made and the amount of time that we spent in each bay. Bahia Tortugas would have been an awesome place to stay a bit longer especially with the local culture and ambience, Bahia Santa Maria could have been bypassed or curtailed, and Cabo would have been approached in a completely different light.

Don’t get me wrong, Cabo San Lucas is a cool place to visit. The main problem is that it has been converted into a major tourist destination. According to Mike’s previous recollections and all the travel books that we have read, Cabo used to be a sleepy fishing village that was ideally located for a few cruisers to visit and enjoy a laid back ambience. Now it is a bustling city that only caters to people that are looking to recreate their college spring break years. We did not get a slip in the marina which was a good call for several reasons. First and foremost was the exorbitant fees that the marina was charging to anyone looking for a slip. It was also the middle of a 5 million dollar fishing tournament so there were a plethora of fat, pretentious, and arrogant American fishermen that made everyone wince in pain to see their antics. Finally, the marina does not seem to get quiet till 3 or 4 in the morning and then it picks up again at 8 in the morning. Hardly the laid back experience that we were looking for.

Cabo is also a very expensive port. It prides itself in being the Mexican Riviera of sorts. It takes a lot of effort to get off the beaten path and really get a local flavor. The first night we were there Mike and I went around and asked the locals where they went to eat. It took a while for them to realize that we were not asking for recommendations to any of the ritzy restaurants but were instead looking for the taco stands or food shops that they could actually afford to eat in. We finally got some directions to a hole in the wall taco and burrito shop. It was 65 pesos for a plate of food that completely filled us up. This place was completely family run and our waitress was a girl that was probably 10 or 11. They brought a platter of condiments that was literally two feet by two feet and a salsa tray that had four different types of sauces, including the local guacamole. All told, for three of us to eat to our hearts content and have a couple of cokes that came in the old school glass bottles, we ended up paying 20 USD. Needless to say we frequented that establishment the next day also. The work ethic that we witnessed was also astounding and it would put Americans to shame. The waitress at the burrito stand started work at 9am and she was still there when we had dinner at 6pm and it did not look like she was getting off anytime soon.

Some might say that what we saw was child labor at its worst but the girl really did not seem to mind working there. She greeted us with a smile and was laughing and joking with her older sisters and her mom the whole time we saw her working. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. It just seems like a completely foreign concept and we were at first taken aback. In retrospect it makes sense though. The locals would never be able to afford to live there if they did not work their tails off. Speaking of work, it seems that the economy is completely service oriented. A lot of people had their jobs thanks to the hotel and restaurant business. The other majority of jobs that I noticed were based on the water. There are all sorts of ways that people were making a living on the water. There were the requisite pangeros who provided transportation around the harbor and to people that were anchored offshore like we were. There were also pangeros that were employed in a much more grand scale. Cabo is a cruise ship destination but the ships cannot get into the tiny harbor so they have to anchor offshore and shuttles run back and forth between the ships and shore. Going hand in hand with the cruise ship crowd that wants to do stuff on the water, locals offered opportunities to parasail, sail, sunset party boats, late night disco party boats, and some eco-tourism to the famous Cabo arch.

There is also the rest of the boating economy that employed more locals. The fuel docks run a hopping business for all the international cruisers and fishermen. There are also quite a few fishermen that hired out their services to show the tourists the “local” spots and guide their fishing expeditions. They either did this with charter boats or as hired hands on the owner’s boats. Since we were there in the middle of a huge fishing tournament I witnessed this in spades all over the harbor. There were also some locals that were employed by the mega-yacht owners to keep their bright work polished, their hulls waxed, and everything sparkling. We only ever noticed a few fishermen that were self-employed and could be seen hauling their catch to the restaurants to sell to their kitchens. It is important to note that they were not doing this on a commercial scale but rather a person by person basis. Several fishermen are known by cooks in the kitchens and they just drop off their fresh catch on a daily basis before the dinner rush.

While the Baja Ha-Ha fleet was in Bahia Santa Maria we heard over the net that there was a shooting that was related to the cartels that are trying to move in to Cabo. Baja Sur has been isolated from the mainland narco violence for years but it seems that the isolation has ended. We arrived and noticed that there were armed police on every corner, outside any bank or major store, and several walking the boardwalk and tourist streets. Cabo is one of Mexico’s biggest sources of revenue and it is not willing to let it descend into the violence that is indicative of Sinaloa or Juarez. There were even undercover paramilitary police that were walking a beat and mingling. It was not too hard to pick these guys out however. The close-cropped Marine Corps haircuts kind of gave them away. I asked a couple of the locals about the shooting just to see their response to the influx of cartel influence. To a single person I was informed that everything was alright and that it was not a big deal. It was as if this were a party line that they were forced to tell tourists. I finally read some more into what actually happened and it was not a small occurrence. There was a heated running firefight for two hours with the local police. Automatic weapons and Kevlar vests were widely utilized. It is not clear what prompted that specific shooting, but it was anything but random violence.

It seems that the Mexican authorities recognize that they have a powder keg on their hands and are doing everything they can to combat it. In my opinion they are failing miserably. While walking along the boardwalk I was frequently approached by panhandlers asking if I wanted to buy their packs of Cuban cigars. I would politely say no thank you and keep on walking. Then one of the individuals boldly broached the question if I wanted to smoke anything else. I knew exactly where that question was going so I just kept walking and ignored him. About a block later I get the same approach from someone else. Not even a few paces after that I was approached by someone else and he just flat out asked me if I wanted any of the local herbs. I finished my walk down the boardwalk and met up with a couple of the younger cruisers from the Baja Ha-Ha. We went to a local cantina that was out of the tourist district and I met a couple of locals that were about my age.

First and foremost, these guys were awesome. They spoke English very well and the language barrier was not too bad. They were also genuinely friendly, ambivalent about nationality, and we sat around chatting for several hours. I decided to broach the question that was on my mind about these “cigar” guys, the violence, and the influx of the cartels. One of the guys informed me that it was not a new influx of the cartels into Baja Sur and especially Cabo. One cartel in particular has been running the drug trade in Cabo since it became a hot spot for tourism. Now there is just some competition and the police are actually enforcing some laws more than they used to. It used to be a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as long as there was no violence and everyone knew their place. There are a variety of pressures on the Mexican government to combat the growing drug trade and violence and it is now leading to clashes between the two sides. The economy is also foundering and all that really remains are variants of the service industry. Service can come in many forms as I illustrated earlier in this blog about the economy of the water.

A lot of the “cigar” peddlers used to have jobs that they have been pushed out of and they have been forced to make money any way they can. There is certain desperation where these men are just trying to eke out a living so they can support their families. We witnessed it in the burrito shop where a ten year old was working all day to help her family. The work ethic comes from the fact that there is no safety net to fall back on. All the people that approached me were clean shaven, nice, and seemingly respectable. Not an American’s first idea when they think about the drug trade. The violence that is erupting is coming from the upper echelons that control things. They did not like the fact that the police are starting to care about something they used to just turn a blind eye to. Those upper echelons are also trying to hold on to their territory for dear life because that is a cash cow for them. This is understandably creating the lit powder keg that defines all of Mexico and is starting to smolder in Cabo.

It was a very informative chat and it kind of makes sense. The problem seems to be more endemic to the Mexican political and socioeconomic system than a recent development. That was the second to last night that we spent in Cabo. The next day was incredibly laid back. We just hung around the boat, soaked in the rays, went swimming, and then went into town for dinner and I headed over to Starbucks for internet while Mike and Joe went to watch the LSU vs. Alabama game. Then this morning we picked up our hook and got on our way to San Jose del Cabo. It is a smaller town about 20 miles south of Cabo. It is much smaller, not nearly as crowded, and we could escape the swarm of cruise ships, partiers, and most importantly, Baja Ha-Ha’ers. We are not even planning on going into the city but instead hang out on our anchor and just take our time in typically slow sailing time. We are in no rush to get to La Paz because we will be there for over a month. Tomorrow we will slowly make our way over to another anchorage about 50 miles away and go diving on the only reef in the Sea of Cortez. Depending on the quality of the water and the reef, we could spend a few days there. But all in all- a very informative and fun few days. Always another learning experience it seems like.