After a few days at sea we finally made it to our first port south of the border.

We were in Mexico!!!

We had anchored down in Cabo San Lucas. This was my first visit to Mexico and I was keen to get ashore and start exploring.

In the 1970’s Cabo San Lucas was well known for being the getaway for Hollywood’s elite. This town that once had a very ‘seedy’ reputation as a  sleepy, remote fishing port started to boom as A-listers began to call the place their second home.

With a perfect combination of wonderful weather and gorgeous scenery it is no wonder celebrities wanted to set up base in Cabo San Lucas but by the end of the 70s the tourists followed and it soon became one of the most popular resort destinations in Mexico.

Since then business has boomed and the Cabo area is now considered the second fastest growing resort destination in all of Mexico. Also attracting giant cruise ships… Like the one I was currently travelling on.

Ryan scored me a ticket on tender boat #1 (AKA the first little boat taking happy cruisers ashore).

The minute I stepped outside I realised that we were definitely in Mexico… It was HOT. Super hot.

A tender boat full of cruises sweated our way ashore and soon we were stepping onto Mexican soil.

Like all cruise ports it was a complete tourist trap. As soon as I walked out of the secure cruise-passengers-only zone I was bombarded with people selling me everything my little touristy heart could desire. From boat tours to strangely dirty souvenirs they offered me everything they thought I could possibly need to have the perfect day in Cabo San Lucas… But all I really wanted was sunscreen… And a fresh coconut.

“Lady, Lady, Lady, Lady.”

“Lady, you tall.”

“Hey Lady (whistles) you need boat?”

“Lady, where are your friends?”

“Lady, you dropped something!”

I hadn’t dropped anything and I found that man particularly intolerable.

Getting hassled for being a tourist was nothing knew to me but I must admit that some of these guys were completely nasty and it was not a great first impression to what I would soon discover to be a magnificent country.

Eventually my friend Ryan finally finished his work duties and we were able to go exploring… Far, far away from the nasty port-side salespeople.

We decided to just walk… And walk… And walk… Until we started to feel like we were really in Mexico.

It didn’t actually take that long to find ourselves in a more ‘genuine-feeling’ side of town.

Old women cooked local treats in open ovens on the side of the road, broken down cars rumbled down the roads, shops were pained in floor colours and had fun names like ‘sexy shop’. It wasn’t the pristine looking beaches and seaside of the touristy entrance to town but it sure felt like I had finally made it to Mexico.

We browsed through some shops. I finally found some sunscreen. My next mission was to find a bathing suit.

We tried a couple of local clothing stores which seemed to stock many sets of one-size-fits-all bikinis… One size certainly does not fit all when it comes to bikinis and none of them fit me even slightly.

I gave up the bikini-mission and decided this would be the perfect place to find fresh juice. In such a hot climate surely there were fresh juice stands at every corner… Right?

Wrong. Apparently finding fresh juice in local Cabo San Lucas is actually a bit of a challenge. But I was up for a challenge.

We weaved through back streets and around every seedy-looking corner but not a drip of fresh juice was to be seen. But then we saw it. A bright red building covered in colourful block letters:

JUGOS

YES! FINALLY! JUGOS!!

A man was coming out of the shop with a big disposable cup of juice?

I checked with him that it was a good place (not that we had any other options).

“The best in town.” He assured me.

I think it was the only option in town but I took his words as reassurance and we entered Cabo San Lucas’ juicy haven.

The sweaty little shop had walls covered in fresh fruit and other juicy additions (including some questionable-looking honey covered in hungry-looking bees).

Believe it or not there were actually too many options. I just pointed to my favourite fruits trying to remember their Spanish names (with extra anana’s of course) and asked for the biggest size… Which turned out to be the size of me head.

Ryan and I drank our cranium-sized juices and wandered back to the touristy side of town so i could do some serious bikini hunting and he could go find a margarita.

I successfully bought the first bikini I found that fit (because I seriously dislike shopping) and headed out to the beach.

I spent the afternoon alone in the town strolling along the beach, enjoying some cheap cocktails at the many bars along the beach and watching the many tourists enjoying the Mexican seaside.

Cabo San Lucas is certainly a lively tourist destination and seems to offer every activity possible for some extra fun in the fun. Including  jet-skiing, banana-boating, parasailing, snorkeling, kitesurfing, diving and horseback-riding.

It is also the perfect place to grab a margarita and some fresh guacamole and watch a spectacular sunset.

It felt good to be back in the sun and as I strolled back along the beach and onto the port to make my way back to the ship as the sun set over the sea I realised that I was already starting to love Mexico with it’s giant juices and relaxed atmosphere.

It didn’t even bother me that many men tried to sell me shoes on my barefoot walk back. Not even the annoying salespeople could ruin the end of such a lovely first day in Mexico.