I made Leah eat substantial quantities of food at Edith's. She got her revenge. She took a boy with a fear of heights and an inability to swim parasailing.
Actually, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was awesome and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. See, I used to have a fear of heights that went away as I did more hiking and more flying. As for the fear of drowning? Well, that stems from an inability to swim. But I've been told numerous times that for someone who doesn't swim I truly do love the water and approach it with less fear than I should. Believe me, I hope to take swimming lessons by the end of this calendar year.
Leah had signed us up the day before. I joined in when I found out we could do it tandem. We went after breakfast at The Office (see end of this day's blog).
We changed and packed two cameras and a Ziploc bag full of money and room keys. We registered on the beach in front of the hotel next door. We probably signed something that waived them of responsibility should something go horribly wrong. We were picked up by a water taxi and then taken to the main boat from which we would parasail. We got excited. We each strapped on life vests and then the apparatus that would secure us to the sail. Our two guides took the sail out and unraveled it. The boat picked up speed and we saw the red and yellow sail inflate and start to soar. Leah was called up and strapped in. I was called up next and strapped in. I wrapped a camera around my wrist. We gave Leah's camera to the guys, so we could get photos from both angles. We were told to sit in a squatting position. Before we knew it, we were airborne. We turned into little kids. I heard a childlike "Wow" from Leah. To be honest, for one who has my fears, I felt perfectly safe. I've had rockier rides in cars and other modes of transportation. We were suspended in this surreal world, with beautiful views of the coast. The boat took us around like a kite, and before we knew it we were turning towards and had an unbelievable bird's-eye view of Land's End and Los Arcos. We were taking photos and videos. To those of you who have fears of doing this, if I can do it, anybody can do it. It was pretty damn amazing. (In fact, my friend Regina at work said she wanted to go parasailing when she was in Cabo but her husband also couldn't swim. I told her he didn't have an excuse.)
Landing was just as smooth as take off. We were slowly reeled into the back of the boat. They took some great pictures of us too. We unstrapped all the harnesses and gadgets. We hopped into the water taxi. We were taken back ashore. Not your usual morning before catching a flight back to reality.
The Office **** - So what about The Office? We eagerly said Yes when asked if we wanted the table closest to the water and under the sun. (Who would say No to that?) The machaca (pounded or crushed beef) omelet with chorizo and avocado, and the machaca burrito, and the flour tortillas, and even the wonderful platter of fresh fruit served in a cut open pineapple, were superb. Add to it the sea, the sun, and the view, we decided it was the second best breakfast we've ever had (the first being in Thira, Santorini). I won't be eating any Mexican food back in the states. Mexican food in Mexico is superior. For anyone who frequents Cabo San Lucas, definitely add The Office and Edith's to your list of things to do. You won't be disappointed.
As expected, the journey back home sucked. It was a pricey cab ride back to the airport. Leah passed out on the ride. Leah's luggage wheel was failing to work. We made it through security. We loaded up on pizza, candy, sodas, and the such while waiting for our flight. Leah's passport nearly blew away in the wind as we hopped outside to board the plane. I was asleep nearly the entire plane ride. We landed in Atlanta at about 8 PM, only to spend the next hour at Passport Control. Tensions grew as Leah's connecting flight was boarding at 9:05 PM. But then it got delayed by twenty minutes. Then conflicting information. We deplaned at E2. Orbitz told her to go to E19. The boards in the airport said to go to B9. We decided to go to E19 and save a trip. When we got to the gate, we went to the counter and saw one of the first officers there. He said that he was accosted about the incorrect posting of gate information. He grabbed the intercom but sadly in a soft voice, noted how E19 was in fact the right gate. Thankfully, we were in earshot to hear it. We ran to the food court and grabbed a bite and Leah was off on the second leg of her journey (she got home near 2 AM). I fought my way to my car, which I found. But for some reason everyone in the world was leaving the parking deck, and coupled with an idiot stuck in front of a gate for ten minutes because he didn't pay his parking ticket in a machine beforehand, I made it home an hour later. I admit my driving did involve some road rage. I grabbed my backlog of mail. I unpacked. I showered. I did laundry. I uploaded pictures from my camera. The usual post-trip decompression.
So what do I think of Cabo? Eh. ;)
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