Farm to Table Experience in Cabo San Lucas
We were able to visit Cabo San Lucas, for the second time, on our cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Majestic Princess.
It was a beautiful Monday in April, with lower humidity but plenty warm for all of our outdoor activities. Arriving via cruise ship, meant that we had to use tenders and local boats to get everyone on land, but the waters were well protected, so it was an easy trip over to the docks.
Besides gawking at the massive yachts everywhere, the first thing you will come across is sea lions everywhere!
They did not care one bit that there were boats coming and going and tourists everywhere. They wanted to sunbathe and would ‘bark’ non-stop as the dockworkers would nudge them off to make way for tourists disembarking from the tenders.
As soon as you are on land, you are in the heart of a heavy shopping, dining, and tourist area. For anyone not wanting to wander far, this is a perfect area to grab a quick bite, drink, or pickup some souvenirs. It was clean and we felt perfectly safe, and a big plus there weren’t a lot of locals harassing you about excursions or to buy things.
Local Tip! Don’t be surprised if there is no soap in the public restrooms, or a local who is providing their ‘personal’ soaps, lotions, etc. in exchange for a tip.
Since we were only visiting for the day, we decided to opt for a cruise excursion this time. We always love a good food based activity, and we were very impressed with the options Princess offered. We ended up choosing ‘Local Connections: Arts, Culture & Farm-to-Table Food Experience with Chef Enrique Silva‘ for $90 per person (here is a direct link to the Princess excursion page).
Cultural Walking Tour
Our excursion started by boarding a nice air-conditioned travel bus, with plenty of room for everyone. There were about 15 of us on this trip, which was a great size for a more relaxed adventure. Then introductions from our tour guide, who was actually from Texas (such a small world!).
We started with a visit to a local church which we find tends to be a very common tour stop, and while it doesn’t personally resonate with us, it’s always interesting to see the history.
Next was a stop at a local art shop, which once again is not what we usually look for. However, there was a fascinating demonstration from a member of a local Native tribe who uses beeswax to apply beads onto any object, and they were beautiful!
We watched him slowly apply each individual bead, smaller than a grain of rice, to a wood carved dolphin. This was a rare occasion that if I knew what I would do with it when I got home, I would have bought something. Knowing the time and effort required to create the beautiful pieces they had on display made me appreciate them much more.
Our third stop, and not even our final destination, was to a local brewery where we tried a flight of local beers. Nathan convinced me that the Blonde was good and pretty ‘mild’, so I gave it a try… and I still thought it was terrible, as all beers are. 😉
Tamarindos
Then we were off to the main event, Tamarindos, which was an organic farm with a hands-on farm-to-table experience working right alongside the chef.
When we arrived, they had freshly made hibiscus water waiting for us, which were incredible! It had a rich flavor, and had plenty of sweetness to satisfy even my taste buds!
After a few moments of enjoying the beautiful view of the farm, we were put to work making our lunch.
The entire group pitched in, making various components of lunch including guacamole, pico, salsas, grilling marinated chicken, and everything in between. I helped with the chicken marinade and Nathan ended up with one of the hardest jobs, making the salsa.
That probably sounds sarcastic, but I mean it! Using a mortar and pestle, he had to grind roasted garlic, tomatoes, peppers, and more to make red and green salsa.
We absolutely loved how involved we were, and it made for an incredible afternoon. So much so, it wasn’t until way too late that I realized the prefect weather had tricked me and my shoulders were bright red! Thankfully, it was about this time that we headed to the picnic table in the shade while the Chef finished up the grilled chicken.
They brought out another round of drinks to go with lunch, and this time it was a passion fruit water, which was somehow even better than the first. Then it was time to dig into all of our hard work, and it was so worth it!
Chips were made fresh, and the guacamole was incredible. I could have eaten that meal every day for a week and not had enough! The only downside was someone from the group voted for spicy salsa, which ended up being too spicy, even for Nathan.
Stomachs full and exhausted from the sun and hard work, we headed back to the bus and enjoyed a nice long drive back to the ship.
One of the surprising things of visiting different countries, islands, etc. is the landscape and vegetation. Cabo was no exception, as we headed back to the cruise ship we ended up on roads that felt very similar to Phoenix, which made sense once we found online that Cabo is considered high desert. Even more surprising though were the saguaros, which I have never seen outside of Arizona.
Back at the cruise port, it was another easy tender back to the ship. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and we would be happy to return to Cabo San Lucas and see what adventures await us next time!
If you would like to read more about this cruise or the other stops we made a long the way, here are some quick links for you!
