G20 The Scoop From Cabo

Well it is finally here after months of preparation the date has arrived. There seemed to be more activity leading up to the dates than there was yesterday. Streets were temporarily crowded with soliders and police, but were strangely empty yesterday. I had to take our crews to San Jose to get accredited, that is they take your pic, check you out and give you an I.D badge. This is needed as we have the honor of hosting the first ladies in conjunction with our yacht division,  a project we have been working hard on.

TROOPS CROWD THE HOTEL ZONE OF SAN JOSE , BUT YESTERDAY WERE NOT VERY VISIBLE.

Helicopters flew overhead and battle ships began enforcing the restricted zone; basically we can do bay cruises, go to the Pacific ,or in the Sea of Cortez if we stay five miles off shore. Mario snapped the photos below of a helicopter that flew low over the marina.

Yesterday we got an invitation to the inauguration of the Convention Center, which is just by the booths where you pay on the airport toll road. It doesn't look like much from a distance but up close it is pretty impressive. The president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon officially handed it to the people of Baja California Sur, there were speeches by the mayor, governor and president, who thanked the mayor for donating the land where it now sits. It was completed in a record seven months. The most striking feature is it's living, or green wall, the LARGEST IN THE WORLD.  The president also took the opportunity to mention the cancellation of the Cabo Cortez project, which was a mega development planned for the Cabo Pulmo area.

The wall is a vertical garden with thousands of plants, that are still growing in. The wall is both outisde and inside the main walkway of the center and is not only attractive, but helps with insulation and produces oxygen.  The roof has many solar panels and in theory these should provide fifty percent of the energy needed to run this place. There are specially designed windows near the roof, that provide indirect natual lighting. The most fabulous thing about this center is the view from the common areas. We were thrilled to find Pisces featured on the touch screens throughout the common areas. These screens are information for visitors, with general information what to do and where to to.

We were able to go into the area where the summit will actually take place and see where the world leaders will sit.

 We got a chance to pose with the G20 backdrop and flags and I even gave a speech....to an empty room...

On Sunday morning at 8.00 am a bus carrying Federal Police crashed in the Costa Azul area. It was a horrible accident, closing down the road for a while. It appears at this time the accident was due to speeding. The bus was rented and flipped completely over, with its fifteen passengers. Ten policemen were injured, two seriously.

As we write this the B20 has begun, that his not a typo, B20 is the business 20 which is an event parallel to the leaders summit. Tonight President Felipe Calderon will host a dinner for the top business leaders in the world. Don't ask how but we got an invitation so will be back tomorrow with more news.