After breakfast at the hotel we ventured forth to see some of the local sights. The first stop was at a viewpoint park in Guaymas, overlooking the Sea of Cortez where we had a chance to take in the great views of the coastline and the Sea of Cortez.
Not all the homes are small in this area!
The Sea of Cortez.
The views of the Sea of Cortez in Guaymas.
There were many of these decorated fish art pieces in the area, each uniquely painted.
Scenery at the viewpoint park in Guaymas.
It is now warm enough for shorts!
One of many very small beach communities on the Sea of Cortez.
Local produce for sale on the roadside.
High rise condo under construction. This area is close enough to USA that a lot of Americans own property here.
Local artwork.
Some of new modern homes being built. My guess they are for Americans who want to “winter” here.
From there we went to the saguaro and pipe organ cactus forest where a fairly large group of these two types of cactus exist. A bit of education for those who are not savvy about saguaro cactus. They only grow in certain parts of Arizona, limited California locations and here in Mexico. They resemble a tree with branches but what is fascinating about them is that they do not grow the first “arm” (as it is called) until they are 75-100 years old! They are slow growing cactus, a ten year old plant might only be 15 inches tall. However, they can grow to be over forty feet tall and live more than 150 years. End of horticulture lesson.
The cactus forest, but it is all fenced in.
The “cactus forest”.
Obviously this is a fairly old saguaro cactus as it already has many arms.
These are called organ pipe cactus.
A barrel cactus, appropriately named.
Rock formations in the area are unique.
The visit to the mabe pearl farm was interesting as although it is a private company, it works in close cooperation with a local university. What is a mabe pearl you ask? I did not know either. The pearls I am familiar with are spherical in shape. Mabe pearls are not spherical as they grow on the surface of the host shell and are cut out when harvested. As such they are more like 1/2 of a sphere. They are then mounted onto jewelry. Surprisingly there are only two places in Mexico where mabe pearls are grown- here and on the Baja peninsula. What was a bit shocking to me was the price they wanted for these pearls. Luckily Yvonne has all the pearls she every needed or wanted so we looked but did not buy. Some of our travel partners did make an investment in a trip memento.
Home of the mabe pearl facility. It is part of the local university.
Our salesman and story teller.
Whale bones on display.
Watching a video about how the mabe pearls are grown.
What a mabe pearl is.
How and where a mabe pearl grows.
Did not verify if this is really true. Sounds plausible to me.
How the oysters are grown in the waters of the complex.
Where the mabe pearls are grown. It takes 2-3 years to create a decent sized pearl.
On the way back to the hotel for lunch we stopped at the local church. After lunch we had the afternoon to ourselves. I wandered over to the beach club with Barry & JoAnn and added to my seashell collection while Yvonne relaxed back at the hotel. On the way back to the hotel we discovered an local ice cream shop which we chose to support!
The Church of Saint Charles Borromeo.
Inside the fairly modern chruch.
Statue on the grounds of the church.
View of the marina area from the hotel deck.
Another marina area view. This pool is part of the condo complex located next door.
Statue of an indigenous native in the hotel.
The restaurant at the hotel where we had our meals.
More artwork in the hotel restaurant.
This is called the “crown of thorns” plant.
Finally, a tasty salad.
The BEST gazpacho soup we have ever had! Loaded with shrimp.
Walkway from the hotel complex to the beach club, a distance of about 2 blocks.
Entrance to the hotel beach club. It was bigger and more elegant than I had expected.
Hot tub overlooking the beach at the beach club.
The beach area at the hotel beach club. It was good for beachcombers like me to find small seashells.
A big pool at the beach club. Must be off season already.
A pod of pelicans on the breakwater.
Local pelicans.
Sort of a Kodak moment.
Not sure if this is two different bougainvillea plants growing together or simply a hybrid of some sort.
Barry captured a picture of a cactus that only blooms at night. I missed seeing it.
Our last dinner in Mexico was held at the hotel but Abraham arranged for a special fajita platter served family style. It was tasty and quite good.
Had to laugh as whenever we are on vacation we seem to run into either a wedding or special event, like this one!
A marvelous fajita platter with sausage, pork, carne asada, chicken and fried vegetables. It was delightful!
Followed by a very good dessert.
Wine with dinner-no longer locally made!
We were told you had to visit the men’s bathroom. This is what you see! Not sure what the women’s restroom looks like!
