Los Cabos

Well, here I am on my second trip to Mexico. Last year I went to Playa del Carmen, so this time I opted for the other side of the country, staying in Cabo San Lucas. Any vacation to a tourist area holds a particular risk of being milked for every last peso in your wallet, but I can already see that the different resort centers have very different desires for my money.

Around Cancun, the primary industry is tourism, so you can't go 4 feet without being enthusiastically sold this tour, or that tacky souvenir. In Cabo, that exists to some extent, but ultimately, it's all about the time share.

I arrived at the Los Cabos airport this afternoon, moved quickly through passport control and customs, then found myself looking for the representative of my pre-arranged hotel shuttle. Within seconds, a concierge of sorts called me over to the desk to assist me in finding the correct Guy With a Sign. I thanked him and was starting to leave, when he asked if this was my first trip to Cabo. The sunshine and a couple of mini bottles of vodka on the plane had me feeling chatty, so I said that it was, and continued in conversation with him about the best restaurants and clubs downtown, as well as various tourist activities in the area.

The truth is, I'm really just here to sit on the beach, drink, read a lot, and generally shut down for a few days; I don't especially have a desire to leave my giant hotel complex. However, I have been known to get bored quickly when I'm trying to relax, and figured it couldn't hurt to at least know what overpriced tours were out there. He kept pushing a sunset cruise and whale watching, neither of which really appealed to me, and just when I was about to zone out, he mentioned a free brunch. In a brand new resort. Which required me to be over 28, and have a major credit card, and to sign up for a reservation right now.

Um. No. I had been warned that there were a lot of time share traps here, but really? I'd only been in the country for 15 minutes!

I told the guy I'd think about it (not so much), but I was just going to head to the hotel and make up my mind later (hint: not interested, leave me alone). That just kicked off the hard sell. He needed to make a reservation immediately or I'd lose out on all this free crap! He'd throw in free transportation to the place and a bottle of tequila. Sorry, not interested. How about TWO bottles of tequila? Some free snorkeling or kayaking?

I managed to escape without being signed up for anything, but now know that I must be extra vigilant; even many of the hotels here are part time share. Luckily I'm staying at Riu, a chain which I've enjoyed before and know is just a decadent all-inclusive resort, pure and simple.

So after being greeted with a margarita at the front desk, here I am in my room, drinking a Dos Equis and watching the Habs on Hockey Night in Canada, the sun setting on the clear, warm day. Perfect.

I only landed 2 hours ago, and I'm already much more relaxed and happy than I was yesterday. My room is right between the beach and the Party Pool (with its own 3 bars), my mini-bar and liquor dispenser are full, and dinner is being served right downstairs. Why would I need to go off and do any tourist activities?

Watch out... here comes Vacation Sarah...