Ek Balam Ruins and Cenote

/ Ed Armstrong
Ek Balam Ruins are very old Mayan ruins that were a series of different buildings. This is Juan and we was a superb guide telling us everything about Mayan culture and history that you would ever want to know! I really enjoyed learning from him!!

This huge iguana created us as we arrive at Ek Balam. As soon as he heard my camara click, he quickly ran under the sidewalk.

The was a gateway into a series of Ek Balam buildings.

This shows the huge size of the Mayan ruins.

This shows the number of layers as the structures were built.

These stairs were well constructed and I climbed to the top!! Climbing down is much more difficult than climbing up! No one in our group fell as they climbed down!

The Mayan craftmanship was amazing. This photo was taken from the top after I climbed the stairs.

This is a ball stadium were participants used a rubber ball made from the rubber plants that grow in the Yucatan region.

This is an enormous staircase at another Ek Balam building. It is very steep and our leader did not want our group to climb up because of the risk of falling. Most people that tried climbing needed to either use their hands when climbing down, or to sit on their bottom and slowly scoot down. It was amazing to see everything that the Mayas built here!!

This is a photo of the cenote at the Ek Balam ruins. It is basically a very deep sink hole down into the limestone. The water is a deep turquoise and there is fresh water that continually flows into it. At the surface, the water was refreshing, but it quickly became much colder the deeper you go. The catfish in the cenote are blind because they swim in the caves associated with the cenote.

Old Spanish Days Santa Barbara – Fiesta!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We had an incredibly wonderful time in Santa Barbara celebrating the Old Spanish Days Fiesta!! There was never a dull moment throughout the weekend!! It was fantastic for Charlene and I to enjoy the time together with Elizabeth, Dennis, and Rachel!!

We started out the weekend by enjoying flamenco dancers of all ages! These girls were excited to show me their festive dresses when I asked them if I could take their photo!

On the stage were all kinds of colorful dresses spinning and turning to the music!! It was so much fun to watch!

Ladies getting ready to dance were excited to showcase their dresses!

I really loved all the colors in these dresses. Flamenco dancing is serious business!!

These colorfully dressed young girls were getting ready to go onstage and dance!!

The Spanish colors were flying everywhere around Santa Barbara!!

Charlene met a good friend she wanted to bring him home!!

When you go to Santa Barbara, it is a requirement to taste their spectacular wines!! Here Rachel and I were enjoying a glass at our favorite wine tasting location!!

Charlene and Elizabeth found this great dolphin as we were tasting wine for this special photo!!

As we were enjoying our wine, this wonderful mariachi band stopped and played some great songs!! I simply love listening to their music and watching them play. There were a number of mariachi bands playing around the city!!

I especially love this photo of Charlene and Elizabeth as we were enjoying our wine!!

People celebrate Old Spanish Days by sprinkling confetti on each other!! We had such a wonderful time!!

The following day, as we were waiting for the fiesta at Loquita restaurant to begin, these horses walked by to get ready to be in the parade.

Loquita had an unbelievable fiesta!! There was unlimited sangria and all kinds of tapas plates of foods to enjoy! They gave us these festive flowers as we entered the restaurant!!

This gentleman was carving a jamon (ham) to serve on the tapas plates. It was cooked to perfection!

An especially wonderful treat for me was to see Rachel!! She is quite the impressive professional!!

It was fun to learn about mezcal and try a number of shots! This is a great product and very smooth!!

We especially enjoyed eating the paella!! It required quite a while for it to be prepared, but it was well worth the wait!! We received a ticket for the paella as we entered the fiesta and enjoying it was one of the highlights of the fiesta!!

This couple was at the table next to us and I told the woman that I especially loved her hat!!

In addition to the unlimited sangria, their bar was in operation for making various cocktails. It was such a fun fiesta!!

While we were at the bar ordering drinks, I enjoyed talking with this woman. I especially liked both the confetti and the beautiful white flower in her hair!!

These are the special negroni cocktails that Elizabeth ordered! They were a delight to drink!!

Everyone was enjoying the fiesta celebration!!

A special highlight of the fiesta at Loquita were the flamenco dancers!! It was incredibly fun to enjoy the music and watch the dancers!!

It was amazing to watch the moves and grace of these two dancers!!

Mother and daughter were impressively moving to the music too!!

Brother and sister also had a wonderful time dancing together!! The Loquita fiesta was so much fun!!

These wonderful ladies were dancing near us and it was wonderful to take their photo! Everyone had a great time Old Spanish Days!!

Cabo Sunrise!!

/ Ed Armstrong
I got up extra early today to walk down to the beach to watch the sunrise!! It was spectacularly beautiful!! I moved around and used different settings as the sun slowly rose and worked its way through the various clouds. It was a wonderful experience!!

I loved the shifting colors of orange and blue as the sun was about to peek over the horizon!!

As the sun became visible, the orange colors filled the sky and reflected off the wet sand on the beach!!

The colors intensified as the sun rose higher in the horizon!!

I love the orange and blue colors masked with the clouds in the sky. Cabo is a very beautiful place!!

Masterclass Tequila Tasting Experience with Jorge Cuervo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We had a wonderful experience attending an amazing and sophisticated tequila tasting experience with Jorge Cuervo, Jose Cuervo’s great grandson!! Charlene, John and myself had a fantastic evening completing the tasting, learning about the history of tequila, and learning how to correctly drink tequila!! Jorge is a ninth generation in the Cuervo family!!

We had the tequila tasting and we also ordered dinner afterwards. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening!!

There are so many tequilas in Mexico!! Some have very elaborate bottles and many people like to take them back to the U.S.!!

I liked tasting the tequilas, but I also enjoyed looking at all the elaborate packaging!!

These were the three tequilas we tasted. The far left was water to use between tastings. The first tequila was a blanco tequila. The second was a reposado tequila, and the third was an anejo. The blanco is the tequila right out of the distillery, the reposado was aged for at least two months in an oak barrel, and the anejo was aged in a wooden barrel for at least one year.

This was an example of a quality blanco tequila that we discussed.

Jorge taught us the three key attributes that we should check for when buying tequila: 1) the tequila bottle should say “tequila.” This describes the designated geographic tequila region (Jalisco) as regulated by Mexican law. 2) the tequila should state “100% agave” was used to make the tequila. And 3) the tequila should have the “CRT” certification by the Tequila Regulatory Council. Unfortunately, some well known tequilas, e.g., the common Jose Cuervo available in the U.S. are only 51% agave, and 49% are non-agave sugars. Jorge suggested that since the common Jose Cuervo we see in the U.S. is not 100% agave, we may prefer drinking tequilas that meet these 3 important criteria. Other higher-end Jose Cuervo products may be made with100% agave and it was suggested we may prefer drinking those. If a tequila bottle does not state the proportion of agave used, we should check the company’s website.

This is an example of tequila where it is clearly seen on the label that 100% agave was used to make it.

These are the two tequilas that Jorge has made. The front label clearly indicates the name “tequila” and this label states 100% agave was used to make the tequila. The label on the back of the bottle clearly has the “CRT” certification. The small bottle on the right is the blanco tequila that could be brought into the US in carry-on luggage. The larger bottles can be brought into the US in checked luggage. We bought the reposado bottle and Jorge signed the back label for us!!

It was very fun talking with Jorge Cuervo. He told us about his three kids. He said that in his home, it is “required” that they only speak English. He wants his kids to be fluent in English and comfortable with talking with people from many different countries. One of Jorge’s boys was at the restaurant and we enjoyed talking with him. Jorge is often flown to cities in the U.S. to provide tequila tasting demonstrations at various business conventions.

This display is in the restaurant and summarizes his family history. Jorge named his tequila “Malaco” after one of his relatives. Malaco means Malachi in Spanish.

After completing the tequila tasting upstairs, we went downstairs to the restaurant and had an amazing meal of Mexican food. It is difficult to see under all the cheese, but we had chicken enchiladas, tamales, flank steak beef, chili rellenos, tostadas, taquitos, and guacamole. There was so much food, the three of us could not finish it all!! Everything was so delicious!!

It was very difficult to decide what to drink with our dinner. We could have picked a straight tequila, a margarita, or a range of different tequila cocktails. We all picked a different flavor of margarita. This was a fantastic mango margarita that I selected. The flavors on the rim and the top were quite spicy!

After our tequila tasting and fantastic meal, we walked a few blocks to the weekly “art walk” that is held in the main plaza in San Jose del Cabo. All kinds of artists had their work on display. Here Charlene and John are looking at all the paintings one woman created. It was fun to see such a range of artistic talent!!

I am not sure about this gentleman’s costume, but I think he is dressed up as an Aztec.

Next to the plaza is a well-known church in San Jose del Cabo. I liked the silhouette of church with the setting sun!!

The art walk had many truly amazing paintings!!

All the colors and designs were amazing to see!!

A black lighted highlighted the vivid colors with these designs!!

I think my favorite aspect about all the artwork was the vivid colors that were used!! Mexican art is so beautiful!!

ATV Riding in Beautiful Cabo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Today, John and I had an incredible amount of fun!! It was like we were in 6th grade again! We rented all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and rode them with a tour group. It was so much fun!! We bought face gaiters to protect our breathing from all the dust on the trails. It was so much fun to explore the desert trails and roads around Cabo!

Before we started riding, John and I were testing our helmets. It was great to have a clear front cover so we could wear sunglasses and had extra protection from the dust. This worked far better than goggles!!

This friendly guy gave us suggestions for what gear to use while riding. Third gear usually worked best!

It was vey exciting to get on our ATVs and prepare to start riding!!

Once on the trail, we paused for a bit so John could bring up the rear of our parade of ATVs. It was so much fun!!

After riding for a while, we ended up riding along the beach. The Pacific Ocean is in the background. It was spectacularly beautiful!!

I loved the color of the water here, on the west side of the peninsula!!

As we were laughing at how much fun we were having, our tour guide took our photo. Look at those two dusty and happy men!!

Our tour company also provided camel rides. We thought that could be fun and unique, but we were much more interested in riding the ATVs!!

I have picked up a theme in completing various activities in Mexico!! Everyone seems to have a tequila tasting as part of their tour. Yes, we tasted all these different tequilas after we finished riding ATVs. Their white tequila and their reposado tequila were especially good.

Not only did our tour company provide ATV tours and camel tours, the also provided horse riding tours. My amigo here was very friendly and I enjoyed talking with him.

The tequila we ended up buying was the cappuccino flavored tequila. This was quite sweet and flavorful and we thought Charlene and Jan would especially enjoy it too!!

Beautiful Full Moon in San Jose del Cabo!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Sitting on our porch, we enjoyed a spectacular full moon!! This photo is from our room, looking over the pool and spa. It was a wonderful view!!

John and I walked down to the beach to see the reflection of the moon across the Gulf of California!! It was so beautiful!!

Looking to the south, we enjoyed all the lights from the resorts and houses!! What a gorgeous evening!!

This was the view of our resort from the beach! It was amazing!!

We Love Seeing el Archo A Second Time!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We could not stay away from having another trip to see El Archo!! This time we were on a tour using a completely clear boat!! It was great to see all the fish as well as visit the arch!! Charlene was not too excited to be leaning over the edge of a boat that was moving up and down with all the waves from nearby boats!! We had a great time!!

This is Pedro!! He basically lives in the marina in Cabo San Lucas and the boats go by and say hello to him!

Two cruise ships joined us in Cabo San Lucas this morning! They were so huge!!

Every type of boat imaginable was near the arch for scuba diving, snorkeling, or sightseeing!!

This was a very popular location for snorkeling!!

We loved being on a boat that was completely clear!! We could see so many fish!!

This is another beautiful view of lovers beach!! Divorce beach is just on the other side with the rougher Pacific Ocean waves,

This is the “Ventana a la Pacifica” It is the window view from the Gulf of California to the Pacific Ocean on the other side. Today our boat was a bit closer, for a nicer view than a few days ago.

I love this view of El Archo!! It is so beautiful!!

This lady was the first in our group to volunteer to go to the front of the boat for a photo, sit on the narrow edge of the boat, and enjoy the boat moving up and down with the waves!!

Charlene did not enjoy the movement of the boat. Her smile is a little forced! But we had so much fun!! I love my wild and crazy socks from participating in the Turkey Trot a couple of years ago!!

Hold on to the boat for dear life!!

On the way back we saw the cruise ship giving people rides in this crane that went up into the air! What an amazing experience they were having!!

There is some serious money in some of the boats in Cabo San Lucas!!

We saw this sign as we were walking around the marina. I thought it was cute!!

Cabo San Lucas has great food!!

This famous Cabo sign is everywhere!! From t-shirts, to mugs, to artwork. We had to have our photo taken with this landmark!!

These ladies knew how to have a great time with customers!! They thoroughly enjoyed trying to get customers to buy a series of tequila shots. We laughed with them, but bypassed the shots.

This is the restaurant where we ate. Their food was wonderful!!

This was my carne asada burrito!! I do not think I have every had fries with a burrito, but I enjoyed them both!

These were the carne asada tacos!! The flavors were wonderful!!

This woman was not too excited to have a live iguana sitting on her shoulder!!

This guy was much happier to hold the iguana!! However, his mother was much more skeptical about the creature!!

Cabo San Lucas is a vivid and fun place to visit!!

El Archo de Cabo San Lucas!!

/ Ed Armstrong
We have seen photos of the famous Arch of Cabo San Lucas and today we had a great tour to see it ourselves!! It is at the southern tip of the of the Baja California Peninsula! It is beautiful, and where the Pacific Ocean meets the Gulf of California (formerly Sea of Cortez).

Everyone has a great time in Cabo!! These guys had their music loud and everyone was swaying to the beat! Alcohol might be involved.

As we left the harbor, our guide showed us several caves into the rock along the coast.

At this angle, the top of the rock is in the profile of a lion’s head!!

Going farther down the coast from the marina is lovers beach. The is a popular beach for swimming that is only accessible by boat. It is beautiful and great for swimming.

From the Gulf of California is a small opening there the Pacific Ocean can be seen!! The water is much calmer in the Gulf of California than the Pacific Ocean.

This is the famous El Archo de Cabo San Lucas!! I loved looking at the ruggedness of the rock with the rich blue-green color of the water!!

As we backed away from the arch, kayakers were paddling in to see such a gorgeous site!!

Next to the arch, these sea lions were relaxing on a big rock!

This is lands end!! It is the very tip of the rock at the end of the Baja California Peninsula!! As our boat went passed this point, we moved from the Gulf of California into the Pacific Ocean!!

As we moved into the Pacific Ocean, we reached divorce beach. It has much rougher waves. It is opposite of lovers beach on the other side of the peninsula.

As we headed back down to Lands End, we could see the back side of the arch and all the boats gathered on the gulf side to view such a beautiful scene.

As we moved slightly farther south, we could see through the main arch and see the smaller opening that lead to the Gulf of California!!

Our boat driver called this cave Pirates cove!!

As we were on our way back to the marina, we passed this boat. Everyone on top was excited to have their photo taken!!

After our boat tour, we visited a glass factory in Cabo San Lucas!! It was amazing see see all the things these guys created!!

From a glob of molten glass, we watched this guy create a beautiful dolphin!!

I liked this humming bird that was for sale in their shop!!

I absolutely love the colors of Mexico!! It is such a beautiful place with so many wonderful people!!

Our next stop was a tequila shop for a tasting of a broad range of tequilas! Here, the mango flavored tequila was my favorite!!

Back in San Jose del Cabo, we ate at a wonderful restaurant. Next door was Eddies restaurant. The owner thought it was fun that my name was the same as his restaurant!! He encouraged me to take photos of several of his signs.

When traveling to other countries, I often enjoy seeing the colors of other flags. I have always loved the colors of the Mexican flag!

San Jose del Cabo, Mexico!!

/ Ed Armstrong
San Jose del Cabo is a very fun place!! Our resort is beautiful, the beaches are gorgeous, the people are wonderful, and the colors are amazing!!

John and I spent most of the afternoon with this friendly guy. Yes, we had samples of all 10 tequilas!! Most were great, but a couple were too strong for me. I bought an almond flavored tequila and John bought a chocolate flavored tequila!

I absolutely love the colors of Mexico!!

This sign highlights a common them in Mexico!! They love their tequilas!!

Mexico has so many vibrant colors on so many different items!!

This is a very wildly painted snake!!

Turtles are a common theme in Mexico!!

This guy looks quite surprised!!

These bright colors seemed to be everywhere in San Jose del Cabo!! I loved them!!

Cabo is a beautiful place to visit!! It is only a two hour plane flight from Phoenix!

The plants around our resort were carved into different animal shapes!!

Our resort had a massive pool area complete with huge spas and bridges that linked different pool sections. There was a bar where you can stay in the pool and swim up and order a drink. We loved the happy hour with their wonderful margaritas!!

The beauty of the beach next to our resort is a bit deceiving. The waves are very rough here, so swimming in the water is not allowed. Other beaches nearby allow swimming.

John, Jan, Charlene, and myself have enjoyed some great meals at this restaurant!

Last night, there was a special program of Mexican dancing!! It was very fun to watch!!

These dancers were very talented and we thoroughly enjoyed watching them!!

I never quite figured out the dancers with the large head costumes that joined the dances near the end of the program. It was fun to watch them dance!!

After the dances, local artists had some of their products available to buy!! I absolutely love the vivid colors of Mexico!!

We watched this very talented artist make this picture right before our eyes!! The arch is very famous in this part of Mexico!!

I simply love the colors used in Mexico!!

Helicopter ride to view Victoria Falls!!

/ Ed Armstrong
Because of the huge size of Victoria Falls, I took a helicopter ride to get a better view of this enormous waterfall! It was amazing to see the amount of water that was pouring down the falls and all the mist that was created. It was a tremendous ride!!

There is so much mist created that at times the falls are obscured in sections!!

The aerial view provides a bit of perspective of the massive falls compared to the bridge and road!

I was so impressed to see the power of this tremendous waterfall!!

This was one of my favorite views of the width of Victoria Falls. Truly an amazing place to visit!!