The Baja California Sur (BCS) Health Safety Council voted to cancel Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations throughout the state this year due to the coronavirus.
Cemeteries across the state will also be closed over the Day of the Dead holiday, from October 30 through November 3.
“This decision is part of the strategy implemented to contain Covid-19 infections. Remember that we have not overcome the pandemic,” Governor Carlos Mendoza said.
BCS is at the yellow level on the coronavirus risk stoplight and citizens are urged to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.
As of Thursday, BCS had recorded 11,390 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 563 deaths.
No school for 7,000
In Los Cabos, 7,000 families do not have the necessary tools for their children to be able to participate in distance education. They are families that live without a legal supply of electricity, much less a television, computer, tablet or smartphone, said Adriana López Monje, regional president of the Los Cabos Parents’ Association.
Televised education leaves much to be desired, Diario El Independiente reported.
“It is an obsolete way of teaching. We do not think the content or presenters are good,” López said. “Many parents do not even know how to read or write, they do not know if their children are doing their homework well or badly.
There are also complaints from parents about teachers who only ask [students] to watch TV and do not give homework or assignments.
“Of course, there is also the recognition of teachers who are very concerned about the students, who know that they do not have access to a computer or the internet and leave booklets for parents to go through and do the activities,” she says.
Fish Tales
The Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore tournament kicked off Thursday with a record 128 teams participating, up from 114 last year. The event, known as the “Little Bisbee’s,” concludes October 18 and is in full compliance with coronavirus protocols.
The weigh station has been moved from in front of the Puerto Paraiso shopping mall to the cruise ship dock and only one angler is allowed to approach the scales with his catch. Typically, crowds of hundreds gather to see the enormous black and blue marlin get weighed. To qualify, marlin must weigh in excess of 300 pounds. Underweight fish result in a deduction of points.
The teams are competing for a purse of US $1.44 million, up from last year’s US $1.16 million.
The Bisbee’s Black & Blue tournament, the world’s richest fishing tournament, starts October 20.
Earlier this week, fisherman Hugo Pino aboard the Stella June pulled in a black marlin weighing a whopping 268 kilos during the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament. The monster fish was not enough to win the tournament, however, which is based on points.
Greg DiStefano of the El Suertudo caught a 179-kilo black marlin and a 158-kilo blue marlin which propelled his team into first place. The El Suertudo team took home a US $344,700 check.
Busted
A man in La Paz who allegedly stole a briefcase full of medical supplies from the Calafia volunteer paramedics last Saturday was arrested this week. The medical supplies were stolen out of Calafia’s ambulance while it was parked in the Camino Real neighborhood of the state capital.
The man was released from jail to await trial but is required to sign in with authorities weekly and is ordered to stay away from Calafia’s property.
Tourism recovering in Los Cabos as high season looms
With the beginning of high season just around the corner, tourism officials expect to see 191,000 tourists travel to San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas this December, a number representing about 70% of the number of visitors to Los Cabos in December of 2019.
Last December 165,000 international and 80,000 national tourists traveled to the resort destination. This year officials expect 126,000 foreign tourists and 65,000 Mexican visitors.
That number could grow even higher as there are now four airlines offering direct flights from New York to Los Cabos, adding 4,500 new seats.
The number of visitors who travel to Los Cabos in private planes is also enjoying an unprecedented uptick, with 70% more tourists arriving in private planes in September than during the same month in 2019, Cabo Mil Noticias reports.
The good kind of excess baggage
Not all tourists get to see what life is like for some of Los Cabos’ poorest residents, but many of those who do find ways to help people who are struggling economically.
Such is the case of Bryan Shaul from Indianapolis, Indiana, who has been coming to Cabo San Lucas for the past 10 years. Last October, Shaul traveled to Cabo with 50 suitcases in tow containing items to aid children of low-income families who are served by the non-profit Solmar Foundation.
This year he outdid himself, arriving in Los Cabos with 62 suitcases full of new or gently used clothes, shoes, hygiene items and toys to help local families, Shaul told Mexico News Daily.
As for how he got 62 suitcases on one airplane, “I always have a large group traveling with me and many other friends that are always [in Los Cabos] this time of year, so I ask them to bring a suitcase I fill, and we get donations to cover the luggage fees since sadly the airlines won’t waive,” he said.
Customs was also a breeze for the travelers bearing gifts. “I have one friend that works for a national soccer association back home, and [customs] got him with a bunch of soccer balls, jerseys and shorts that they made him pay US $50 taxes [on], but the rest got through OK,” Shaul says.
Seen
Australian actress Rebel Wilson of the Pitch Perfect series of films and her boyfriend Jacob Busch posted a number of photos to social media from their Los Cabos vacation this week, including shots of them enjoying a beach barbecue and churros before watching Jurassic Park together.
Legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather also touched down in Cabo, posting a photo of himself staring out to sea on his Instagram account where he has 23.8 million followers.
Mayweather travels to Los Cabos often and does not do so in a low-key fashion. The retired champion arrives at the Los Cabos airport in a Gulfstream G650 jet emblazoned with “MAYWEATHER” in large, black letters across the body and “a “50-0” on the wings, a reference to Mayweather’s boxing record.
Mexico News Daily
