Excursion
“Nope. Not doing it.”
Wednesday was our busiest day. We would check out of the Fairfield Inn, attend the timeshare presentation (Blah!), do the desert excursion, and check into the resort in the city of San Jose del Cabo. We needed to be waiting in the lobby of the Fairfield with our luggage by 10 AM. The man who sold us the tour excursion picked us up in his personal vehicle to take us to the Hacienda del Mar Los Cabos, the site of the timeshare presentation. He dropped us off with the timeshare people who got us checked in. They needed to see our id and proof that we had a reservation at the resort where we would be dropped off after the presentation.
We were assigned a host who took us to the breakfast buffet which was only slightly better than the one we had at the Fairfield. We were driven around the property in a golf cart and shown various accommodations. I'm not going to lie; the Hacienda is gorgeous. It has great views of the sea and amazing landscapes. At times, I felt like we were traveling through a botanical garden. If you are into timeshares, this place is definitely worth a look. As for Traci and me, we have no interest in timeshare ownership. Therefore, the next part of this presentation is what I dreaded most.
Hacienda del Mar Los Cabos
Our host took us to a room, offered us drinks, and then proceeded to try to convince us that committing to a 25-year timeshare agreement would be one of the best decisions of our lives. I already knew not to waste any brain cells on trying to come up with a clever excuse for why this would not work for us. They have a counter for anything you can think of. Instead, I went my typical 'No thanks' response over and over until Traci reminded our host that he promised we only needed to give him a yes or no answer to end the presentation.
Our host led us to another room where we were supposed to have a short interview with a "quality assurance" person. She asked a few questions about our experience with our host and then pretty much picked up where he left off in trying to get us to sign the 25-year contract. We had to say no several times until Traci reminded her that we were only obligated to spend 75 minutes at the presentation. We were approaching the 2-hour mark. The lady relented and led us to another room where she introduced us to a woman who would be giving us the desert tour vouchers we were promised and then send us on our way. As you probably guessed by now, this tour voucher woman was not letting us go that easily. She threw in incentives as she tried to get us to sign the 25-year timeshare contract. Traci and I were still not giving in. This pitch went on for about ten minutes until she finally gave up and let us go. This was an exhausting and annoying experience. Now you know why I had sworn off timeshare presentations.
I can't believe I agreed to sit through this timeshare presentation.
To their credit, the timeshare people delivered on everything we were promised even though Traci and I did not buy a timeshare. We had had breakfast. We were given two woven Mexican blankets, We received our desert excursion vouchers and $40 cash for the park entrance fee. They paid for the 45-minute taxi ride to take us and our luggage to the resort we had booked in San Jose del Cabo. Things seemed to be going so smoothly that I was certain there was a catch somewhere. I thought I had figured it out when I noticed the taxi driver was heading back to Cabo San Lucas instead of taking us to San Jose del Cabo. I questioned him. It took a bit of effort because of the language barrier. He finally deciphered what we were trying to say. After a few phone calls, he was finally able to get the situation corrected. Apparently, the lady who booked our taxi gave him the wrong destination.
Luxury Resort
It took about 45 minutes to get to our accommodations in the city of San Jose del Cabo. We would be staying at (you guessed it) another Marriott property. This time we would be staying at the luxurious JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa. The good news is that this stay was the one that finally pushed us into platinum status in the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Hurray! We should be receiving some nice perks from now on any time we stay at a Marriott property.
The JW Marriott is in a remote location with a few other resorts. It was a bit of a challenge for our driver to find his way there. The JW Marriott is not much to look at from the outside. In fact, it looked like a group of brown office buildings to me. However, as we were let off at the entrance and I saw the large open-air lobby that had views of an infinity pool and the sea, I was blown away. Traci and I were politely welcomed by staff who led us to the check-in area. There was a line there. People were arriving to attend one several weddings happening at the resort that coming weekend. The resort was completely booked.
Checking into the JW Marriott was different from any check-in experience I've had in the past. Instead of standing at a reception desk, we were invited to sit in chairs and talk to a receptionist at her desk almost as if we were buying a car. The friendly lady explained some of the features of the resort, had us sign check-in documents, and put a $2,000 hold on our credit card. The JW Marriott is not an all-inclusive resort. No cash is used at the resort; therefore, everything is charged to your room. We had booked our stay using our AAA discount. It was a good thing I remembered to bring my card with me because this was one of the few times any hotel has ever asked to see it.
We followed a bellman as he rolled our luggage to our room - B201. We were awed as he let us into this amazing room that had a minty fresh smell to it. We had been upgraded to a corner ocean view room. We had a balcony, slippers, a large tub, a large shower, a mini-fridge, a king-size bed on which housekeeping left towel art and chocolates every day, and other amenities to make our stay pleasant and luxurious. It felt like such an upgrade from the Fairfield in Cabo. We did not have much time to admire our new room. We had to hurry back down to the lobby for our 2:50 PM desert excursion pick-up.
Camel and Dune Buggy Excursion
The Cactus Tours van was punctual. I was a little surprised that a JW Marriott bellman asked for our room number as we boarded the van. He recorded it on his sheet and would record our return later that evening. Our driver made stops at other hotels to pick up more passengers. They were all Spanish speakers. Traci and I became a little jealous of some of the nice hotels and resorts where these passengers were picked up because, unlike the JW Marriott, they were located in walking distance of shops and restaurants.
It was about an hour drive through desert scenery to get to the Cactus Tours location. We had a heart-stopping incident on the way when our driver had to slam on brakes and swirve to avoid hitting a goat that decided to cross the road in front of us. We were all relieved to have escaped disaster; perhaps no one more than our driver who immediately after coming to a stop touched the picture of Jesus hanging from the rear view mirror and then made the sign of the cross.
The check-in at the Cactus Tours desk was the second source of annoyance for the day. We presented our voucher for the Camel and Dune Buggy tour. That's when all of the up-selling began. The timeshare people had already given us $40 to cover the $20 per person park entrance fee they warned us about. The lady at the Cactus Tours desk told us that they offer up to $10,000 medical coverage since our activities carried injury risk. We bought it since the cost was only $10 per person. Then we were told that we would be responsible for any damage to the dune buggy regardless of whether or not we caused it. They offer vehicle insurance for either $45 or via a $1,000 hold on my credit card. I reluctantly paid the $45. It seemed the longer we stood at the desk, the more stuff they tried to sell us. Next, the lady told us that we would be driving the base level dune buggy but they offer the high-performance model for an additional $200. We were done at that point. We said 'no thanks'. She continued and told us that we were not allowed take our phones, backpacks, or any other items with us on the tour. We were required to store them in a locker. Feeling frustrated, I asked how much the lockers are. She laughed and said the lockers are free. Thank goodness!
We crossed a bouncy rope bridge and then boarded a shuttle that drove us to the camels. Traci and I were part of a group of four couples. Each couple was assigned a camel. Traci and I were nervous as we mounted our camel from the platform. This was something we had never done before. We began to sway side-to-side as our camel slowly descended the slight decline. This caused Traci to begin laughing uncontrollably. Her laugh was contagious. Other tourists began to laugh and smile. Our motion changed from side-to-side to more of a slow forward lurch as we moved across the soft sands of the beach. We traveled in a caravan of four camels tethered together. Occasionally, the camel behind ours would catch up to us. I would look down and see its huge head and long eyelashes bobbing next to my shin. Even though we were told we were not allowed to bring our phones with us, I noticed there were several tourists who brought theirs and were taking photo after photo.
after our camel ride
The highlight of this ride for me was watching the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. I had not seen an amazing sunset like that since we were in Jamaica 19 years ago. The sun seemed to sink into the horizon much faster than I remember. Has the earth's rotation sped up in recent years or something?
We were shuttled back to the Cactus Tours building after the camel ride so that we could do our dune buggy drives. Each couple was assigned to a dune buggy. Despite not paying for the high-performance vehicle, I noticed that our guide had given us one as he had done with other couples in our group. In addition to wearing a seat belt and a helmet, we had to attach a strap to our arm to keep it inside the vehicle in case of a crash or rollover.
It was already dark when we got started so we had to use the dune buggy's headlights. Traci let me do the driving. The four dune buggies of our group followed our guide who was on an ATV. We bounced along narrow, twisted paths in the desert. We sometimes rode on the beach where our vehicles zig-zagged and fishtailed in the soft sand. Traci did not have to worry too much about her fear of speed because the vehicle behind us kept lagging far behind the group. To remedy this, our guide had that couple move to the first position behind him. This helped slow the pace of the group. I was not too upset about this because I was having challenges of my own. I had left my glasses that I use for driving at the hotel. This, along with the darkness and dust, made it difficult for me to see. I had to be extra careful when going around some of the blind curves and cresting some of the hills so as not to crash into the vehicle in front of me. At one point, our guide had me stop because he noticed that the rear passenger door of our buggy had become ajar. He had a difficult time trying to get the door to close but he eventually did. He phoned in the problem. No one contacted me about vehicle repair so maybe my decision to buy the $45 vehicle insurance was the right decision.
Our dune buggy drive lasted about 45 minutes. It was fun but sometimes scary for me without my glasses. The other reason I was upset about forgetting my glasses was that being in that dark desert, I could see even without my glasses just how bright the stars and planets were shining. I believe I probably could have seen the Milky Way if I were wearing my glasses.
after our dune buggy ride
We had the opportunity to purchase pictures of our camel ride - $20 for one hard-copy or $80 for digital copies of the 20 - 30 photos taken by guides. We ended up purchasing the one print of us standing next to a camel because it looked like the camel was smiling with us.
The hour-long drive back to our hotel was quiet and uneventful. We wished our fellow passengers a 'Buenas noches' (Good night) as they were dropped off at their hotel. Traci and I were the last passengers to be dropped off that night. A JW Marriott bellman recorded our return on his sheet. Continue...
