We had signed up for a Camel tour and Outback adventure with a local tour group called Cabo Adventures. They have resellers everywhere and we found a guy in San Jose the first day we were there and got it from him on a 2 for 1 price. There was a bit of confusion on the pick up location but eventually figured out it was at the marina again. We stopped at Walmart along the way because one requirement was close toed shoes and we had to pick up a pair.
The tour was about 40 minute drive out of town toward Todos Santos, on the Pacific side. We all shared photos from the day before, took a few selfies, and just watched the lush desert as we drove north. When we arrived at the location, it was a self-contained area that provided side-by-side tours, camel rides, lunch, tequila tasting, and desert hikes along side a lush resort catering to yoga and quiet beach vacations. Of course, we were there for the camel rides, a bucket list for Kathy.
The ride was about 25 minutes and we leaned a bit about the camels before and after the ride. We weren’t supposed to pet them, talk to them, or interact so as to not spook them and buck us off. It was a really cool experience, especially with Kathy giggling the whole time up in the saddle on the camel. At the finish, we dismounted and then moved over where we could pose for some pictures with a two-humped camel. It turns out they have one hump and two hump camels there with the one-hump as the riders and the two hump as the posers for the cameras. The one hump are desert camels with short mattie hair and the two hump are the northern cold desert camels, with more hair. Needless to say, Kathy loved the camel kissing session.
After the camels, we got a quick tour of the desert where we learned of some of the local plants with medicinal and sunblock characteristics. The one with the sunblock, you break off a little bit of the branch and the sap can be rubbed directly on your skin for an SPF 90 sunblock. It is white when you rub it on but quickly absorbs into the skin. They showed us barrel cacti that can be used for water in case of an emergency, and for water filtering if the water in the are is not safe to drink. And the Cardon cacti, in the same family as the saguaro cactus has psychedelic properties if you drink the sap, but it will also give you extreme diarrhea for 2-3 days after consuming. The first part is enticing, but the second is definitely a deterrent, so hence, we did not try.
The third part of the Outback experience was lunch and tequila testing. The lunch included napoli, a cactus that is cooked and then sliced and put into salads. It looked like green bean salad and tasted pretty much the same. The tortillas and salad and ribs and other foods were ok but were definitely buffet food. They have two very large dining areas and we were there on one of the days that very few folks were attending so it was quiet.
The Tequila tasting was definitely not the same caliber as the one the night before, but the we managed 5-6 shots of various tequilas and mescals and one drink that was incredibly sweet in a bottle of a pregnant woman. I think I had had enough at that point and don’t remember the story about that one. I was too busy watching the whales that were surfacing a half mile from the beach.
We headed back to the pick up spot in a Jurassic Park style truck and then headed back in to town to the marina. We wanted to do a bit more shopping for Donna and Kathy as they had tested many many shops and had to go back to one that had some shirts they enjoyed. Tim and I waited at the bar across the road and had a beer before the ladies rejoined us for some cocktails.
It was getting late and they wanted to stop by Walmart again to look for some shirts and then we had dinner at a nice little taco shop across the highway from Costco near the AirBnB. We finally tasted some fish ceviche and it was delicious.