Mexico
Cabo San Lucas Mexico – History and Attractions
Dec 25th
Cabo San Lucas is a relatively small city located on the Baja California peninsula having the population of about 40 thousand people. During the last ten years this city has become a very popular tourist attraction and a holiday destination. The city has developed an impressive number of resorts and clubs along the coast.
Short History
The city Cabo San Lucas may be a small city but it has quite an interesting history dating 14 thousand years ago when it is believed that the first people came to inhabit the peninsula. However, people living here had a very hard life for a lot of centuries and when the first Europeans reached the peninsula they were shocked to find a population that was living on a subsistence diet based only on fruits, seeds and roots and very little on hunting or fishing.
The people here lived the life of the Neolithic (without using any metals) up till the 16th century when the first Europeans reached the coast. The first European men who set foot in this area were Hernan Cortes in 1535 and Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542.
The present name of the city, Cabo San Luca, was given by the general Sebastian Vizcaino, who lead an exploration of the peninsula in 1602-1603. During this exploration the general and his crew drew the first maps of this area that can be admired even today.
Despite the fact that the peninsula and thus the Cabo San Lucas region have been inhabited for a very long period of time, only in the beginning of the last century did a small village start do develop.
This happened due to the fact that an American company was established there in order to catch tuna. This company made it possible for the people here to develop and for the village to grow.
The city has quite rapidly developed and due to the beautiful surroundings, such as its beaches and warm waters, became quite a popular vacation destination. Because of this, the Mexican government decided to build the infrastructure of the city and thus Cabo San Lucas became one of the Mexican tourist centers that attract thousands of tourists every year.
Tourist Attractions
One of the reasons why most tourists choose this place to spend their vacations is the fact that it is a great spa destination and on top of that it hosts an incredible variety of attractions. Probably the most popular thing in Cabo San Lucas is the Arch (El Arco de Cabo San Lucas). Also, this city has the largest Marlin tournament worldwide offering a one million dollar jackpot.
During the winter time, the greatest local attraction is represented by the whales that come very near the coast bearing their calves into the warm waters.
The city of Cabo San Lucas has a twin city called San Jose. Between the two small cities there is a so called Tourist Corridor that hosts exclusive hotels and residential communities. This part of the city attracts a lot of rich personalities who come here to enjoy the beauties and the party atmosphere of The Corridor.
Most of the resorts in this area are considered to be some of the top Mexican resorts and besides constantly hosting Hollywood stars they have also hosted some very important events, such as the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in 2002.
There are a lot of great things that Cabo San Lucas offers to his visitors among which we can distinguish the incredible offer of varied tours and excursions. One of the greatest places you can visit while in the city is the Cacti Mundo Botanical Garden.
Another activity that is very much enjoyed by the tourists is the sight seeing. Cabo San Lucas offers a variety of possibilities in which you can enjoy the beautiful landscapes, such as eco-tours on ATV’s, tours on modern ultra light flights and even hummer or boat adventure tours.
Fishing is also one of the top attractions in Cabo San Lucas. Most of the people who come here to relax also keep in mind the Cabo San Lucas is one of the top resorts for game fishing. It all started in the 1950′s when people all over the world realized that Cabo San Lucas is hosting the waters that are most abundant in billfish than most of any other cities in the neighborhood.
The waters around this city are extremely impressive when it comes to talking about the variety of different species of fishes that it hosts the while year around. Cabo San lucas is a place where people with experience or even novices can start fishing.
The most popular thing about Cabo San Lucas is the fact that it is known as the “Marlin Capital of the World” and this is because there are more marlin caught here than anywhere else in the world.
Time to go fishing!
History of Mexico – Spanish Invasion and Post Colonial Period
Dec 24th
Mexican History
Mexico is a country that has a very interesting and rich history. The region that is now known as the Mexican Republic was the home of many developing cultures since the 1800s BC. A considerable number of these cultures have matured into Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations like Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec and Aztec.
These civilizations had developed on this land for thousands of years before the Spanish conquistadores had come there. These peoples had come up with a lot of inventions in various areas, such as building pyramids, astronomy, medicine and they are famous for inventing the wheel. However, the use of the wheel didn’t serve them too many useful applications as they didn’t use animals for labor.
Most applications of the wheel in this area have been used for art and toys. These civilizations are also known for using metallurgy, the major metals being copper, gold and silver. Astronomy was a very important factor for these civilizations and it can be observed that most of the cities had been carefully build according to major astronomical events.
This science was a central factor in developing other manifestations of these cultures, such as religious systems, writing systems, art and even architecture. The civilizations that developed on the Mexican land had quite a consolidated power and successfully managed to co-exist by distributing their influence in matters of trade, politics and technology. Throughout the centuries there have been a lot of other civilizations that competed with these Mexican peoples and at times there was the case of alliances or of war.
The Spanish Invasion
At the beginning of the 16th century, in 1519, the Mexican civilizations were invaded by the Spaniards. The Spanish invaders managed to successively conquer the civilizations by allying themselves with their main enemies. Thus, in 1521 the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, was conquered with the help of their enemies, the Tlaxcaltecs.
The most important of the early Spanish conquistadores was Hernan Cortes, who invaded the region in 1519 from the coastal city that is today known as Vera Cruz. However, this event does not coincide with the complete conquest of Mexico. There were continuous attacks and wars between the Spanish and the natives that lasted early 2 centuries till Mexico had been entirely conquered. One of the major factors that contributed to the conquest of the Aztec Empire was due to their religious beliefs.
The Aztecs stronglt believed that the universe will fall apart if they didn’t constantly sacrifice thousands of people to their gods. The Aztecs used to get people for the sacrifices from wars with some other smaller civilizations who in at a point in time decided that they didn’t want to be a source of human sacrifice any longer and thus allied with the Spanish troops. At this point the Spanish army has become extremely powerful and succeeded to conquer not only the Aztecs but also the other civilizations.
Another factor that made it easier for the Spanish to conquer Mexico is represented by the plagues and epidemics that had been brought along by the Spaniards. Some of the most lethal diseases that decimated the indigenous populations were smallpox, influenza, bubonic plague, measles and syphilis. It is believed that these deadly diseases took the lives of about 8 million natives in only a few years.
The Post Colonial Period
After the 1521 conquest Mexico became a Spanish colony known as the New Spain. The colonization period lasted till 1810 and the subjugated territories included besides the today Mexican land also territories, such as the Spanish Caribbean islands, the southern part of Central America as far as Costa Rica, the Philippine Islands and a considerable area of what is now a part of the southwestern United States.
In 1807 the French emperor Napoleon I has invaded Spain and put his brother on the throne. This event has considerably weakened the Spanish forces, thus the people in the colonies started to catch a glimpse of the possibility of becoming an independent entity. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the man who finally declared the Mexican colony’s independence on September 16th 1810 and in the year 1821 the first Mexican Empire was created.
After this important event in Mexico’s history the government encouraged people from other regions to settle in the areas that were scarcely populated under the condition that these people would convert to Catholicism and become Mexican citizens. Another measure that was taken by the new Mexican government was to forbid the slave import.
The first Mexican Republic was formed under the presidency of Guadalupe Victoria and the constitution was very similar to the one in the US. There had been numerous rebellions through out the following decades as some regions wanted to become independent themselves.
The biggest problems appeared in the northern area where some territories had been successively possessed by either Mexico or the US. Texas had been one of the most important territories that wanted to become independent and it finally lead to the Mexican-American War (1846-48) when Mexico was defeated and forced to sell some of the northern territories to the US.
