Cabo's facts after Odile

On September 13, 2014, it appeared as if Hurricane Odile would miss Los Cabos and we would experience only some wind and rain overnight.  However, at the last minute the storm veered to the East and the night of September 14, Hurricane Odile hit a largely unprepared Cabo San Lucas directly as a powerful Category 3 Hurricane, the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the Baja Peninsula of Mexico.

Hurricane Odile hit with sustained winds of up to 125 mph, causing major damage to the city, the resorts, and the infrastructure of the entire state of Baja California Sur.  An estimated 92% of the State's population was left without power or water, and most of Los Cabos is still without.  30,000 tourists were in the Baja during the storm, and airlift is still ongoing.  All remaining tourists are reportedly well with food and water.

Recovery in a Nutshell...

According to official estimates:

Los Cabos Int'l Airport (SJD) Reopen:  October 4th
Cabo San Lucas Airport (CSL) Reopen:  October 10*
Power Restored:  45%
Water Restored:  Monday or Tuesday (Already Mostly Restored)
Phone Restored:  Completed
Internet Restored:  Completed
Garbage Pick-Up:  Resumed
Most Hotels Reopening:  October 1 through October 15
Bisbee's Fishing Tournament:  On as Scheduled for October 17

* The CSL Airport reports on their Facebook page that they have been operating normally (days only) since September 17.

"The Local Take"

"GOOD NEWS things are coming back together faster than we ever thought possible. A few neighborhoods have power, gas stations are open and without queues. Banks will open Monday. The army are doing a sensational job of cleaning up and getting food and water to people in need, though not all areas have been taken care of yet. Community kitchens have opened up in several areas". - Pisces Sportfishing 9/20/14

Evacuation Update

Within 36 hours of the storm, the Los Cabos Airport was back in operation for non-commercial flights.  The military, later joined by commercial airlines from the USA, Canada and Mexico, began evacuating the remaining tourists on Tuesday, September 16.  All tourists that want to be evacuated are now on their way home.  Some (bless their hearts) are staying behind to help and show support.

Tuesday Sept. 16:  5,000
Wednesday Sept. 17: 6,000
Thursday, Sept. 18: 8,000
Friday, Sept. 19: 8,000
Saturday, Sept. 20: The Remainder

Airport Update

The Los Cabos International Airport (SJD) did not suffer any infrastructure damage, but there was damage to the terminals and to the control tower.  The airport was open for about a week for humanitarian flights, but now closed again to focus on repair.  It is projected to open again for normal traffic by approximately October 4th, 2014.  The smaller Cabo San Lucas Airport did not suffer damage to the runways and has been operating normally since September 17, but days only at this time.

Utility Update

Nearly 1,000 workers are working feverishly to restore power and water to the Los Cabos area.  At this time, 85% of the power in Northern Baja California Sur has been restored, and about 80% of the power in La Paz.  The power in Los Cabos is more challenging as about 800 power poles need to be reset.  Early estimates of 2-3 weeks seem to have been overstated, as power has already been restored to 45% of Los Cabos.

Telmex has restored telecommunications (telephone, internet) to 100% of the area and no more lines at the gas stations.

Some water has been restored to Cabo - about 40% of normal capacity.  They are testing the desalination plant and expect full water recovery this week.  A very welcome thing indeed.

Security Update

After a couple of days of much publicized looting of stores, official sources and reports from the ground agree that things are now under control and the over 1000 military units are now keeping the peace.  The government says that rumors of a jailbreak were not true.

Business Update

Baja Cantina Marina, Mango Cantina, La Davina and Cabo Cantina are open for business with food and cold drinks available.  Reports are that Solomon's Landing, Mango Deck, Cabo Blue and Captain Tony's will be reopen again probably tomorrow.  Many other restuarants will remain closed until the tourists return since all of their clientele was tourists. Beach vendors have been being spotted again.

6 bank branches have reopened, and 3 ATMs.  Several gas stations are open, and 6 of the area's 19 grocery and department stores have reopened, including Wal-Mart.  Some Cabo San Lucas fishing charters are reporting they are ready to go fishing.

The East Cape area was largely unaffected and those businesses are running as normal.  La Paz is also largely back to normal operations.

Humanitarian Update

Hundreds of tons of food and water have arrived to the area by land and sea and are being distributed to those in need.  The Mexican Red Cross is leading the efforts together with the military and collection stations have been set up throughout Mexico for goods.  However there are thousands of homeless people in the colonies after the storm, and so many more who have lost so much that it will take much time to rebuild their lives.

The local relief organizations are badly in need of funds to assist the families they represent.  You can make a donation directly to the Mexican Red Cross through their website or by using a registered US based foundation such as the International Community Foundation who works together with the local relief agencies in Baja California Sur.

International Community Foundation - $21,295.00 in 5 Days
Sarahuaro Community - $19.635.00 in 5 Days
Bisbee's Hurricane Relief - $40,000.00 in 4 Days + $250k from Bisbees

There are many other unofficial organizations collecting funds as well, which is great.  But we recommend officially recognized organizations.

How Else You Can Help

While the tourist infrastructure may be up and going strong by October, the humanitarian needs of the local people will be high for much longer.  The needs of the local people are great, and without income it will be very difficult for them to recover.

As soon as Cabo is ready to welcome you again, there is perhaps no better way to contribute to the recovery than with your tourist dollars.  Every margarita you drink or taco you eat gives a hotel or restaurant worker a job, who then uses that money to buy things at the store, giving the store employee a job and money to spend to buy things at another store, and so on.  The impact is felt through this small community in so many ways.  Cabo needs you, especially in this already low season.  We hope to see you in October when the resorts and town are ready to host you.

Hotel Damage & Reopening Updates

Many hotels in Cabo fared pretty well during the storm, reporting only minor damage.  However, they still have some clean-up to do which will keep most resorts closed until about October 1st.  By this time many resorts predict that they will open, and many more by October 15.  A few were heavily damaged and will remain closed until October 31 or longer.  Here is a list of the official estimates we have received so far:

Bahia Hotel - Only minimal damage.  October 30 "or sooner".

Barcelo Grand Faro - Still Assessing. Tentatively September 22

Cabo Azul - December

Cabo Pulmo Resort - Minimal damage. Operational.

Cabo Villas - Minimal damage.  September 27

Capella Pedral - October 1

Casa Dorada - October 9

Club Cascadas - October 15

Club Regina - October 31

Dreams Los Cabos - Sustained cosmetic damages and substantial debris, yet no serious structural damages. October 15.

East Cape Resorts - Very minor damage, fully operational. Out fishing.

East Cape RV - Only three trees down and no major damage to trailers or palap
as, and no damage to boats.

Esperanza - October 13

Fiesta Americana Los Cabos - November 15 for a big group, then November 23 for individual reservations.

Finisterra - Tentative date of October 1.

Grand Mayan Los Cabos - Significant damage, including windows blown out. Closed for approximately 2 months.

Grand Solmar - October 22

Hacienda Beach Club - October 15

Hacienda del Mar - October 31

Hacienda Encantada - October 15

Hilton Los Cabos - Still Assessing. Significant damage.

Holiday Inn - "At Least November 1"

Hotel Los Pescadores - Closed for a week or so for personal reasons and waiting for airport to open.

Hyatt Place - October 17

Hyatt Ziva - October 17

Las Ventanas - Assessing damage. Will update on Sept 22.

Los Barrilles - Very minor damage. Fully operational.

Los Cabos Golf Resort - No serious damage, just cosmetic. Closed for 2 weeks for clean-up.

Marina Fiesta - October 15

ME Cabo - October 16

Melia Real - October 15

One & Only Palmilla - October 15

Playa Grande - October 22

Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos - No structural damage, just cleanup. October 1

Pueblo Bonito Montecristo Estates - No structural damage, just cleanup. October 1

Pueblo Bonito Rose - No structural damage, just cleanup. October 1

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica - No structural damage, just cleanup. October 1

Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach - No structural damage, just cleanup. October 1

Quinta del Sol - October 22

Rancho Leonoro - Minimal damage. Fully operational. Out fishing.

Riu Palace - Unofficially saying they expect to be open in 2 weeks. No official word yet.

Riu Santa Fe - Significant damage. No assessment yet.

Royal Decameron - October 17

Royal Solaris - October 10

Secrets Marquis - Sustained cosmetic damages and substantial debris, yet no serious structural damages. October 15.

Secrets Puerto Los Cabos - Cosmetic damage and debris, no structural damage. October 15.

Sheraton - Significant damage. Closed until "at least" October 31.

Solmar - October 22

Villa del Arco - Minimal damage. October 1

Villa del Palmar - Minimal damage. October 1

Villa La Estancia - Minimal damage. October 1

Westin - Significant damage. Windows blew out. Closed until "at least" October 31.

Worldmark Coral Baja - January 31

Wyndham - "Unaffected". Just basic clean-up to do of pools and grounds. October 1.

Zoetry - Cosmetic damage and debris, no structural damage. October 15.

Recommendations

Currently, Cabo is not ready for touristic arrivals.  There is a lot of work to do.  If you have vacation plans during this next week or so, you will want to contact your hotel and airline and change your dates to at least October and at least until after the power has been restored for several days.  In October, there will still be work going on in Cabo, but as long as your resort is open for business, there will still be plenty to enjoy.  The tourist infrastructure always comes back quicker than the local areas, and Mexico is one of the world's best at this.  You will truly be surprised to see how quickly Cabo is restored, given the severity of the hit.

The beaches, the sunshine, the pool, the food, and the margaritas will all be here.  The marina is reportedly without structural damage and most boats were unharmed.

Chiles en Nogada - VIVA MEXICO

No dish on earth screams MEXICO like this one, Chiles en Nogada is one of the most Mexican dish and it is considered a real treasure in the culinary art of our country, they are not easy to prepare, and its ingredients are most likely to be found during the month of September.

Chiles en Nogada

Chiles en Nogada is the traditional dish during the Independence party, on September the 16th. The reason why this is sooo Mexican is, first of all because the protagonist of this recipe is the Chile, of course! and second, it is the colors on our flag represented in this amazing colorful and festivity plate and third, maybe the most important one, is the historic facts about it.

This green, white and red combination of salty and sweet flavors was cooked by the Agustins Nuns to honor Agustín de Iturbide for having successfully signed the Independence of Mexico. They wanted to be creative, they knew they were witnesses of a very important moment of the History, and they became part of it by inventing this so representative, so rich and yes, a little bit complicated dish.

Chile Poblano, is a mild chili pepper originated from the State of Puebla. Nogada is after the word "Nogal" the tree of the walnuts, basically the sauce is made with walnuts, an elegant and velvety cream that is place on top of the Chile.

Before you get in action, please remember this is a very elaborate dish, this is our ancient Mexican way of cooking, and that means a very large kitchen, with several women, all cooking, many hours there, talking, bonding and enjoying the process. So if possible try to enjoy the process of cooking Chiles en Nogada with friends and family. If not, start with making the Nogada a night before, that will make things easier on the day of cooking.

This is my family recipe, as I do not like to eat meat they are meatless, but I can tell you it has been proved and approved by my friends. Try them, your guests will be delighted and your table will look as colorful as Mexico!

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 12 Big Poblano Chile. 
• 12 Toothpicks

For the Filling:

• 2 cups of previously cooked of veggie meat, such as Textured Soy or Seitan (If you go for the meat version, just use ground pork and or beef)
• 2 garlics finely chopped
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tpsp. finely chopped parsley
• 2 plum tomatoes, cored, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. raisins
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped blanched almonds
• 1 Granny Smith apple peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 Pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 Peach, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 Ripe plantain or if not, !/2 banana.
• 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon powder
• 2 leaves of bay
• 2 cloves

Peeling the Walnuts

For the Walnut sauce:

• 2 cups of milk
• 2 cup of walnuts, peeled and chopped*
• 1 cup of Queso Fresco (rich, fresh cheese)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tpsp. of sugar
• Salt and white pepper to season

Plating:

• 2 cups of Pomegranate grains
• 1 cup of chopped parsley

Instructions

Make the filling: Heat a saucepan with the oil, add the chopped onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add parsley and tomatoes, cook until tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Add the previously cooked and drained soy or seitan, also add the leaves of bay, the clove and the cinnamon powder. Keep stirring and then add the raisins, almonds, apple, pear, peach and plantain, cook stirring occasionally until fruit is cooked through and mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with salt. Set aside. 

Make the walnut sauce: Place walnuts in a saucepan, and cover with water; bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and use a kitchen brush to peel away most of the skin from walnuts. This is very important as leaving the peel will make your sauce taste sour. Cover the peeled walnuts with the milk for 6 hours or over night. Next, transfer walnuts with some of the milk to a blender, along with queso fresco, cinnamon and sugar, purée until very smooth and thick, at least 2 minutes. You can add more milk but make sure the mix is not too liquid, has to have a creamy consistence. Season with salt and transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using it.

For the Chiles: Heat broiler to high. Place poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil, turning until blackened all over, about 20 minutes. Transfer chiles to a bowl and let cool. Peel and discard skins and seeds, then make a small cut along each chile, just an inch, try to keep  the chiles form is intact. Remove the bay and clove from the filling and prepare to fill the Chiles. Place 2-3 tbsp filling inside each chile, and close. You can use a toothpick to keep it closed, just tell the guests to take it away from their plate.

For plating: place each Chile on a plate, cover with the Nogada Sauce, and top it with Pomegranate and the chopped parsley. This plate is served at room temperature, the nogada will always be kind of cool, so the Chile can be warm to serve.

Enjoy!! #CaboforLife

"I live here"

Do not ask why but lately I have enjoyed the night life of Cabo, places like Nowhere, Mandala, Cabo Wabo and even Squid Roe are seeing more of my beautiful face this summer.

And the first question a guy comes and ask me or any of my friends is:

"Where are you coming from?"

And of course I get to say "I live here" and the look of their face! is like almost saying "what a lucky girl you are!"

Well this time I am going to ask all of my kind people that have the privilege of living in Cabo to be grateful, because we are very, very lucky. Just a little reminder of what we the "Choyeros" should be thankful of:

• Beautiful 77°F beaches to swim at.
• Being able to watch both, Sunrise and sunset from the ocean, depends if you are in San José or in San Lucas. 
• Watching moon reflection on the sea.
• Amazing and fresh seafood available 360 days of the year.
• The best weather, except of course for the warmth of July, August and September.
• The greatest and finest restaurants to enjoy good wine and excellent cuisine, or just being able to make a picnic at the beach, your bottle of wine, bread and cheese, will make just the perfect date.
• Dunes of the desert to enjoy ATV'S activities, or amazing photo shooting.
• Having oasis in the desert such as Sierra de La Laguna, Todos Santos, Miraflores, and many magic places that display animal life, plants and water at its primmest.

Sierra de La Laguna, B.C.S

• Being able to witness a whale jumping in the ocean, during a Whale Wathching tour.
• Fabulous farmers market to buy the organic vegetables grown in the area, and fantastic food or treats cooked by locals hands.
• Living in one of the safest places of the world.

Just to mention a few... so if you do not live here, come! This is your moment, and if you live here, take 2 minutes to say "Gracias", and continue with the amazing life, maybe go and have a beer by the nearest beach... just because "YOU LIVE HERE!"

Love Cabo, Save Cabo #CaboforLife.

There is a real endangerment in Cabo, please be informed about the Toxic Mining wanting to invade our only source of water. For further info go here SOS CABO or Like in Facebook BAJA SUR VIVA.

Thank you,

Vanessa Castillo

SOS - WE WILL DEFEND OUR LIFE, OUR WATER

Yes, we will stand up for our water. All of us, locals and tourists are committing ourselves to make loud and clear our position: we do not want Toxic Mining in our Estate. 

Salinas Pliego, owner of Grupo Mexico and TV AZTECA is the one trying to do mining here in Baja, but is not the mining that is the problem, is the way to extract the gold, using CYANIDE, and ARSENIC, both very dangerous and devastating. And if it could get any worst is also, the place where they intent to do it, La Sierra de La Laguna.

We are talking about Sierra de La Laguna, the ONLY source of water for Cabo, La Paz and Todos Santos, not only that but is has been named a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. This is our oasis in the dessert, it is the home of many endemic species and it is the place where dessert meets the green and tall pine trees. 

S.O.S. is for Sociedad Organizada Sudcaliforniana (Organized Sudcalifornians Organization). Everyone in the Touristic Sector of Baja, stablished in the State decades ago, is getting organized to manifest the support to work towards making Cabo a World Touristic Destination. Tourism is the main source of employment and it should remain like that.

S.O.S. is showing all the risks and making sure that the Government understand why this is not at all beneficial to our area, so that this ends now and for good. No more companies trying to explode in a very toxic manner our land, leaving nothing but devastation and pollution behind. 

Be ready!! bring all your family, your friends, coworkers... this is going to be big and very important to help all the other actions taking place in order to defend our water. Bring a hat, be on time and in a GREEN dress code, and bring your water.

Please FOLLOW Baja Sur Viva in Facebook and keep your self informed. This is happening thanks to all of us. 

Thank you Baja Sur Viva for all the info provided to do this article, forgive my English, hope it has been well translated, at least the main message 

 #CaboforLife