From Manzanillo, we continued south to the town of Zihuatanejo, which wins the prize for my favorite city name (I have a weird fondness for the letter Z!). We had a stressful entrance through the narrow, shallow channel into the marina, which we timed with high tide as we draft 7 feet and the channel is 15 feet at high tide. We tied up, hooked up power – goodness gracious, air conditioning has become a necessity if we are to peel ourselves off of the couches – and were immediately told NOT to swim due to the abundance of crocodiles in the water! Eek – better get that AC on; we aren’t swimming to cool off! The town itself, while not our favorite, was a cute town to visit.
It was filled with a bustling market, all mainly selling cheap trinkets (“no gracias” has become so common a phrase that I now say it in my dreams), but also boasted good food (we finally found churros again!), musical performers and fun swings on the beach.
They were holding a fishing tournament, and it was fun to see the biggest fish hauled in each day.
The kids and I decided to visit Los Gatos beach and had to take a panga (small boat/water taxi) from the town pier to get to the beach. That doesn’t mean it was a quiet beach; restaurants and shops lined the shoreline. The sun was out; the water was warm; the food was good. The next day we did an archeological and cultural tour in the Xihuacan village.
Remains indicate that the site was founded over 3,000 years ago and was inhabited by three cultures with influence from other cultures in Mexico. The guide took us to a local restaurant, where we tried a typical Guerrero (Mexican state) specialties, aporreado (steak and eggs) and braised pork (I can’t find the name…) – delicious! We returned to the boat and after shopping and a nap, mustered the energy to head to Zihuatanejo (the marina was in Ixtapa) for one last night out. We had a delicious dinner on the beach and found crepes for dessert on our walk back into the city center, which we enjoyed while watching the local basketball leagues duel it out on the colorful oceanfront court.
Being brave or stupid, we decided to leave that night, so we could have time to explore Acapulco the next day. 16 hours later, we pulled up to a mooring ball in Acapulco and a panga came out to help tie us up and take us into town. We discovered that Acapulco is no longer the dreamy destination that it was a decade ago; it has degenerated greatly with crime and the destruction brought by a hurricane a year ago. In fact, Paul did feel a hand try to slip into his pocket in the market. We walked to La Quebrada, where we watched brave cliff divers plunge from heights up to 135 feet.
The next day, I swam to shore in search of the store that held a package of boat parts that Paul had ordered. Unfortunately, we discovered that it was a Mexican holiday and the store was closed. And we didn’t have the time to wait. We are heading south on a tight schedule and cannot miss a weather window to enter a harrowing passage through the Gulf of Tehuantepec (aka, T-peckers). Extreme winds form along the isthmus separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Pacific and gain speed across the Sierra Madres and then funnel out onto the Pacific, creating huge waves that can extend out hundreds of miles. And the high winds/waves are more frequent than not, sometimes only allowing passage a couple of times a month. One of our favorite apps, Windy, showed waves would be down to 5 feet every 12 seconds Wednesday at 2pm, so onward we had to go. In the early evening, Paul was on a call and looked out of the window and shouted about jumping marlins. The jumping marlins were actually dolphins, and they were so excited to see a boat that they could come play with. The group started as a small group of four but we continued to see dolphins farther out leap and swim over, so they could join in the fun. Like the whales, it is a sight that will never get old.
