Renting a Car in Cabo San Lucas

After scheduling our trip to Los Cabos, which is what everyone in Mexico calls Cabo, we debated whether or not to rent a car for the long weekend.

In the end, we decided that with a toddler, renting a car was in our best interest.

Since our hotel room had a kitchen, we knew we would be going to the grocery store...and cab rides, then dealing with a car seat at the destination is just not a fun experience.

So, we booked through National and got a small Nissan Tida. It was nice because there seemed to be a lot less rental car fees in Cabo than we normally see in the U.S.

We ended up getting the GPS for an extra $10 USD/day. Big mistake. The GPS was worthless and unnecessary, as it is very easy to find all of the hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, beaches, etc.

In the end, the rental car cost around $100 USD for the long weekend. Well worth the money, for us at least!

Especially when you consider that our hotel had a shuttle to and from the airport for $50 USD each way. Then, for another $10 USD they would take you to the grocery store. And, for another $15 each way they would take you to and from downtown Cabo San Lucas.

So, when considering renting a car or not...rent the car! The freedom it gives you while be well worth it!

Cabo Pulmo Marine Park

While in Los Cabos, we decided to drive about two hours to Cabo Pulmo Marine Park. It is a national park in Mexico that is completely undeveloped. It is one of three living reefs in North America.

The best part about Cabo Pulmo is that it is a gorgeous beach with no one around! There were a few other people sharing the beach with us last Saturday afternoon. But, the beach is so large that everyone had plenty of space to snorkel, walk, play and lounge without getting near anyone else.

In the U.S., this beach would have been PACKED. In Mexico, it is completely deserted.

Part of the reason it may be deserted is that the road to get to Cabo Pulmo is unpaved. The last 5-10 kilometers were VERY bumpy and rough. Most of the other cars we saw on the road and parked at Cabo Pulmo were SUV's. Our little Nissan Tida (probably the equivalent to a Toyota Corolla) was not meant to drive on this road! But, we made it!

Parking and admission to Cabo Pulmo was free! There was one restaurant, with bathrooms! There were a few guys renting out snorkel equipment and boat rides. Aside from that, the beach was peddler free! No one trying to sell you trinkets and other unwanted items!

We were gone a little over six hours, staying at the beach about two hours - which was Annabelle's max. She was not happy with the beach and waves to begin with, having gotten salt water and sand in her mouth the day before. So, she stayed attached to my hip (or leg) the entire time. Despite the bumpy road, she fell asleep not five minutes into the drive back to Cabo San Lucas! A successful trip to the beach!

If you ever go to Cabo, rent a car and drive to Cabo Pulmo! Make sure to take Highway 1 to get there though! Don't let your GPS try and take you down East Cape Road - it's another unpaved, sand road that takes a LOT longer to navigate than Highway 1!

Annabelle Goes to School

Yesterday was Annabelle's first day at Montessori school in Mexico City!... And, of course, we took photos!

For this first week, she is easing into her school day. Yesterday, she went for one hour. Today, she went for almost two hours!

She had a long list of school supplies that we needed to gather and purchase prior to school beginning. Being me, I waited until Sunday night to gather the non-medical form supplies. Needless to say...I still have to purchase several items.

However, the school was more than happy to take her with her partial supplies!

On Monday, Mike worked from home, so that he could go with to take and pick up Annabelle. When we picked her up, we were let in and waited while they brought her down from the upstairs classroom. We could hear her talking the whole way down, saying "I see my mommy, I see my mommy". When she did get to me, she gave me a big hug and started crying. But, when we asked her if she wanted to go back the next day, she said okay!

Today, when I picked her up, I waited outside. Once she cleared the last step, she came running to me and said "Hi mommy". No tears! She was in different clothes, wearing one of the four extra outfits that I had to send on day one, as part of her supply list! Apparently they had played with water. So, I was given a bag with her wet clothes and we went home.

Again, she says she wants to go back tomorrow!

Needless to say, Mike and I are still very excited for Annabelle's opportunity to learn, play with kids, and increase her Spanish vocabulary. And, it was nice to have a few hours this morning to run to Superama, Sam's Club and take Molly on a walk!

Villa Mascotas

While we enjoyed Cabo this past weekend, we sent Molly to Villa Mascotas.

They are located near Cuernavaca and came highly recommended by Mike's boss' wife!

The day before we left, Villa Mascotas sent their driver to pick up Molly. She was bathed and returned to us the day after we got home!

We got three emails from Gaby with multiple photos attached. As you can see from some of the photos I have posted...Molly played, socialized with another dog, and was kept VERY busy! She was quite tired when she got home!

This is by far better than sending her to Petsmart, which we did in the U.S., for approximately the same cost! We paid Villa Mascotas $1,910 pesos for five nights, which is approximately $159 USD. Well worth the cost for such excellent care and customer service at Villa Mascotas!!

We'll be sending Molly back to Villa Mascotas next month, when we travel to Riviera Maya for my brother's wedding!

Cabo San Lucas - Lover's Beach

We went into Cabo San Lucas and followed signs to the main beach, parked for about $40 pesos, then walked down to the beach. Immediately people started asking about boat tours. We ended up paying $90 pesos ($8 USD) per person (no cost for Annabelle) and took a glass bottom boat out to Lover's Beach. We got some great photos, saw a bunch of fish, about 6 seals, and the beautiful beach. Everyone on our boat, aside from us, jumped out and spent an hour walking around Lover's Beach. We elected not to, because the water was very rough and we were concerned about jumping on and off the boat with Annabelle. Regardless, we were very happy with our boat tour and thoroughly enjoyed Lover's Beach and it's backside - Divorce Beach!

Welk Resort Sirena del Mar in Cabo San Lucas

View of Sirena del Mar from the lobby.

View from Sirena del Mar's large pool.

View of the ocean from the hot tub deck.

Back of Sirena del Mar from the hot tub area.

Mike and Annabelle in the pool on 5.21.11.

View of part of the resort from the beach.

Photo from the private beach at Sirena del Mar.

While in Cabo, we stayed at Sirena del Mar, a Welks Resort. It was FANTASTIC!! The resort has only been open about a year, but it is already ranked #1 on TripAdvisor...for good reason!

It is a smaller resort with about 36 rooms, with another building of 32 rooms under construction. Since we went in their off-season, rooms were 50% off the regular $300 a night. So, we thought that was a good deal!

There were two pools, the larger one with a swim-up bar and both with infinity edges, and one hot tub. There were very few people staying at the resort, so most of the time we were alone in the pool and hot tub.

You can walk down approx. three flights of stairs to the private beach. We did that several times...and were basically alone on the beach!

Each room faces the ocean and has a balcony with a few chairs. The rooms also have a kitchen or mini kitchen, depending on the size of the room. So, we went to Walmart the first day and stocked up on food and water. The rooms also have a washer and dryer. With a toddler, that is always a nice feature!!

There is a restaurant onsite, which was nice. We went there once. It was a bit pricey, but had great views of the ocean!

Overall, we immensely enjoyed Sirena del Mar and look forward to going back later this year!!

Mexico City to Cabo via Interjet

We just got back from a long weekend in Cabo.

We flew Interjet, which is Mexico's version of Southwest.

When we arrived at the Mexico City airport to leave, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Terminal 1, where Interjet is located, is SOOOO much nicer than the terminal (3??) where American Airlines is located!!

At the American Airlines terminal, there is NOTHING. A few duty free shops, but very little food.

In terminal 1, there was a McDonalds, two Starbucks, a large 7-11, among many other places! So, that was nice!!

Also, Interjet was fully staffed, so check-in was a breeze (typically not the case with AA).

The only issue we had was that while the flight was not full, we were not allowed to keep Annabelle's car seat with us. There was plenty of room, but the Interjet attendant taking our stroller was adament that we could not keep our car seat...and he took it out of my hands.

Another couple was traveling with their 2-3 month old baby and they too were not allowed to take on their car seat.

I found this RIDICULOUS, as if the plane were to hit a rough patch of air, or even crash, the kids would be MUCH safer in their car seats. Having flown many, many times with Annabelle on Southwest and AA, if there is room, she is always better off in the car seat...and better behaved in it.

So, that was my only complaint. ...Although I could remark on how bad the descent was. Despite taking sinus medication, Mike's head started bothering him, and Annie and I kept having to pop our ears...which we never have to do on Southwest or AA.