Zihuatanejo

Un adventura

Yesterday we embarked on a great adventure. We wanted to go to the shell beach that Wil had shown us on our tour with him. When we were there before Wil was driving, but this time we were going on our by bus. I knew where the “bus depot” is having been there once before, well at least I thought I did after 3 wrong turns I found it. Good thing I had scoped it out the day before and really did know how to find it. Now when I say “bus station” you enter throw a very narrow hole in the wall walkway and find yourself in a courtyard with lots of parked buses. A young man asks us Donde? and we tell him Troncones he points to a bus and starts it up, we get on 5 minutes later with 2 other passengers we are on our way.

It’s slow going, no chickens or pigs, but 2-3 blocks down the road the ice cream man loads his 5 gallon stainless steel tub and the wheelbarrow carts he transports it in on to the rear of the bus, folks get on others get off and finally we are out in the country side hoping we will recognize our stop. Almost an hour later we do recognize our stop, a sign post helps, and we get off at the cross roads to Troncones. There there is a palapa where we wait for the next bus that takes us in to our destination. This bus is a small van with benches dow the sides and across the back and the back of the driver’s seat. It’s a dusty ride as the pavement has ended.

We keep looking for where we want to get off, and don’t see it, we think we’ve gone too far so the Senor suggests we get off and have lunch at the same place we did last time we were out in Troncones. As soon as we sat down to eat, the Senor recognized the area and we knew we just hadn’t gone far enough, so after a great bowl of Poblano Soup we walked about a mile down the road and found the wonderful shell beach. and each of us had a bag and sifting tools and loaded up on great shells for my bird houses. Most of the shells are quarter size or smaller and we picked up about 5 lbs. We started walking back , knowing the little bus would soon be by and we could just hail him down. He came, we reversed the whole procedure and surprisingly enough we ended up exactly where we started. We now feel like we could go anywhere we wanted to on the bus.

After a brief siesta I plan to go to the opening festivities of “Sailfest” this is a live auction and usually lots of fun. The Senor has begged off saying he’s tired from his day

in the sun, which is probably true. But also he has a terrible time at auctions, he is “IN TO WIN” and I think he decided the best way not to spend too much money is simply not to go. I, on the other hand, can be cheap and frugal, unless it is something I really, really want. And fortunately I came home empty-handed except for 2 raffle items I won. A 200 peso off gift certificate for dinner on La Ropa Beach and tickets to the Animal Refuge Park.

The Senor is going fishing again today, so I’m going to go swimming at La Madera beach. It’s just a short walk from town and I feed my flock of chickens on the way. Madera beach is very shallow for a long way, just rolling waves none that pull the sand from under your feet. Couldn’t take a picture of it as the Senor has the camera to take pictures of his catch, but alas there were no fish to be caught today. Another siesta and we are headed out to attend the Sailfest Concert.

Interesting tree we saw on our walk, suspect it is a vine growing on tree

The concert is featuring 5 different groups that perform in the area. It should be great fun, and the location sounds interesting, an old colonial building with a court-yard garden. Signing off KO

Just Another Lazy Day In Paradise

Today is a holiday here, Constitution Day, of course every day is a holiday for us. the big excitement of the day was fixing short ribs in the crock pot. Never done it before, but recipe said onions garlic, bar b q sauce and a can of coke. Turned out pretty good. A little cooler today, about 82 and cloudy. Tomorrow we plan to take a bus to Troncones or at least to the intersection of Troncones, about 45 minute trip, and then either catch a cab or a combi into town, well just out-of-town to the shell beach to collect shells for my bird houses. We are taking a picnic lunch. Cheese and avocado for me, roasted chicken for the Senor. I never tire of going to the Mercado here, I love buying my eggs in a plastic bag. I tell my egg man exactly how many I want and he bags them up. It’s the next best thing to getting them chicken coop.

I’m always amazed at the ingenuity of people here in Mexico, I’ve seen parades where floats have been beautifully constructed from pop bottles , and in the butterfly preserve I noticed the unusual grommets or washers used on these roofs on the shacks where they sell their wares.

OSHA or WISHA would have a field day here, and I doubt there is a word in the Mexican vocabulary that means “liability”. Everything is so much more basic and simpler here. I think that is one of the charms of the area.

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday here, and a great day for most of the restaurants and drinking emporiums. The Senor has his favorite place for watching the game and I have my favorite place to have cold avocado soup where the game in’t on. I’m on my 4th book on my kindle and have down loaded a new one that looked interesting. Everyone here has a cell phone, and next year we will get them. That way we can keep in better touch with each other, especially as I love to wander around and the Senor is more content to relax with his TV.

Every Sunday there is something happening at the Zocolo and basketball court. Last night there were dancers both traditional and modern. 4 men with masks of old men and with canes did an excellant tap routine and a group of young dancers doing a jitterbug routine plus many more singers. We cn hear the singers from our balcony and maybe with binoculars see the dancers. It’s like everyon3 in town turns out. Signing off KO

Sailfest is this week, I was concerned that our trip to Morelia would cause us to miss it, but it hasn’t. We

bought our T-shirts today and will attend the auction kick off tomorrow. Lots of sail boats in the bay now.

Back Home in Zihuatanejo

The senor and I are glad to be back in Zihuatanejo after 3 days in Morelia which is quite cold compared to Zihuatanejo. The trip was good, but one of those that if it could go wrong it did, even our on bus ride home. 60 Kilometers out of Zihuatanejo the air conditioning on the bus went out, a brief stop to fix it with no luck so we finished the trip with the doors to the bus wide open. It took almost 3 hours longer on the return trip than it did on the going trip, don’t really know why as it was also a non stop trip. Upon our arrival back at our apartment we discovered we had no electricity. Now it 1030 PM on a Friday night with the Mexican Hootnany going strong down below, but the building manager contacted the owner who got the electrician out to fix the problem. And with in a couple of hours the problem was fixed. The Senor was quite amused at the electricians tester, 2 wires and a light bulb, but what the hey, this is Mexico.

Our day was a quite day, laundry day and then a stroll along the waterfront and lunch at the

: Jimi Mamou at Daniels in Zihuatanejo

Sirena Gorda, bean soup and smoked fish tacos, much later in the evening a visit to Daniels, a beach side restaurant as Jimi Mamou plays there regularly. I got to visiting with him and discovered he has a San Francisco back ground and we knew several people in common. Once again, small world.

Sailfest is this week, which is sponsored by the “cruisers” those folks who live on sail and power vessels. The harbor is full of sail boats and the proceeds of the weeks events go to helping the poorest schools here. We bought our Sailfest T-shirts today and plan to attend most of the events. Signing off KO

Mariposa Monarcha or Monarch butterflys

Our tour did pick us up on time this AM and we headed out to the sanctuary.Our driver was excellent but with very limited English. I hadn’t quite realized that it was a 3 hour drive from Morelia, but it was an interesting drive, once out of the city the country side reminded me of the area in California where I grew up. It could have been the old highway between Vallejo and Fairfield, with the brown rolling hills sand sparse tree.We went thru tiny towns, bigger towns, most built right to the road. There was the basket town with every imaginable type of canasta (basket) available, and the next town was the pan( bread) town..

We came across some interesting vehicles on the road such as the truck carrying a huge load of recycled plastic bottles, and in front of him a log truck with the logs loaded sideways. Soon we were headed up the mountain and th road got steep and then it became a partially cobble stone with brick pavers as runners. You sure knew it when you crossed into the cobblestones. At last we are at the sanctuary, we locate our guide who speaks almost no english, and locate our horses. With an altitude of 10,00 plus feet and the Senor and I both having knee issues, we knew we weren’t up for the climb. And the path is quite steep in some places. Well I provided great amusement for all hauling my self up on this horse from. Even starting by standing on a chair it still took 3 people to push, shove and pull to get me on. And to think I once was fairly graceful! The horses were led, so all we had to do was sit back and hold on for dear life. Actually it was quite fun. As we neared the pine trees were the butterflies are we dismounted and walked the rest of the way. At first it was quite disappointing as it was cloudy and the butterflies don’t fly without the sun shine, We could see them in the trees so thick the branches drooped, looked like solid gold on some trees.

But the clouds gave way, the sun came through and the butterflies began to fly, butterflies were everywhere, but like birds they rarely

hold still for pictures. We took tons of pictures, the Senor’s aim is better than mine, but my hand is steadier, between us we got enough pictures to prove we were there.When we returned to our starting point our guide took us t

o a place for lunch. We watched as this ancient lady hand make the best tortillas and fill it with cheese for my lunch while the Senor had Chicken in a pot. Very enjoyable meal. We were both ready to return to Morelia for good nights sleep. We decided just snacks in our room would suit us just fine.But then I remembered that I hadn’t attempted to photograph the beautiful cathedral at night So the Senor snuggled down to watch some TV and I headed to the cathedral.

I got several shots and decided I would go inside for one last look around. Quite a few folks were there so I took a seat and kneeled down and suddenly the whole cathedral reverberated with the priest’s booming voice beginning the mass. I was mesmerized! I hadn’t been to mass in more years than I care to remember, but it was such a beautiful place, with beautiful sounds and I even greeted and shook hands with all my Mexican neighbors. Following the communion the folks who brough their dolls and statues were asked to come forward and have them blessed as it is Candlemas Day, which of course I had completely forgotten, but of course I knew it was ground hogs day. A lovely end to a wonderful day. Signing off KO

Things Are Improving, But Not Quite Great !

We now have a window! Not only do we have a real window that opens to the outdoors it also gives us a view of a beautiful plaza.

View from our window, now that we have a window

The room is twice the size with 2 beds. I had booked this room through Priceline, and they followed through when I expressed my dismay to them and contacted reservations here. Anyway the room is good. Our tour to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary didn’t happen, our “tour desk” failed to make the reservation! But all is well, the reservation now definitely made for tomorrow and surprisingly enough the Senor has handled all these mishaps with more grace than I imagined possible.

Morelia is a beautiful city, at least the central historical area. It’s a busy city people are busy, hurrying everywhere. People walking, young and old women walk arm in arm, seeming to enjoy the closeness of their relationships, folks spend time in the parks, eating and drinking in the sidewalk cafes. Men wear business suits and have their shoes shined while enjoying their coffee, folks are dressed like it’s winter with scarves and coats, and in general the women in Mexico wear their slacks and jeans tight, but here they are extra tight . Looks uncomfortable to me. But maybe I’m just envious, although all sizes wear them like that. Except the indian women who wear skirts or dresses. I’ve seen no strollers, all the women carry their babies in thick blankets in their arms, and there are lots of babies.

We visited the Mercado de Dulce, the candy market, with booth after booth of candies of so many varieties and all of which are unknown to me. There are also other tourist items, and t-shirts, but not a sweatshirt to be found and as it is cool here today, 65, I could have used one.

Stained glass ceilingOne of the hotels has a beautiful, stained glass ceiling, and a person playing breakfast background music on a grand piano in their restaurant.I visited the cathedral, unbelievably gorgeous. It's what I call a real church, still has the kneeling benches, several naves, candles to light and church bell s that chime all through they day. We can even hereMoerelia's Cathedral

them in our room. I felt very comfortable in this cathedral in spite of its size It has a real organ with 2 stories of organ pipes. I wish we were going to be here on Sat evening as I understand the organ is played on Sat evening. To dark to get any decent pictures.

We found a great little hole in the wall place for lunch, just 5 tables, about a block and a half away, I think we will try them for breakfast in the morning. As we are off to the butterflies in the morning. Signing off KO

Morelia Hear We Come

This is our first time traveling on a first class bus, the Parhikuni Line,and like everything else the Senor is never comfortable with the unknown. I was told this bus was nicer than the plan we flew down on and that certainly was correct. So far so good. The seats are as comfortable as a Lazy Boy recliner, and just as roomy, if we spoke spanish we would have had a huge collection of movies to choose from. It says you have internet connections, I didn’t try as the netbook was in the suitcase. We brought some snacks for the 3 hr and 35 minute trip,nonstop. We brought our windbreakers with us as Morelia is about 6,000 ft elevation and the Butterfly Sanctuary is almost 10,000 ft so we knew it would be cold. And we assumed it might be cold on the bus, but the tempature was comfortable the whole trip. We traveled through desert with large cactus growing everywhere,then we got into foot hills and farm country with orchards and lots of unidentified crops, some even looked like maybe grapes, then into the pine trees and at last Morelia. Once at the station in Morelia we bought our taxi ticket at a booth, gave the ticket and our hotel information to the taxi driver headed to our hotel, the Hotel El Carmen. At first site we were pleased with the hotel, it’s in a 17th century building, but it has been a bit rocky ever since we checked in. My spanish is limited and of course they speak no English but we had reservations and were expected. We asked about tours to the Butterfly Sanctuary and I believe that we are set up for tomorrow. The Senor is a bit doubtful and as always is uncomfortable with the unknown, so I sure hope I’m right. Next we head up stairs to our room. The hallways are lined with beautiful tiles, other walls are beautiful old stone. Our room is tiny, but we expected that, the surprise is the only windows in the room are a transome over the door and a big window in the bathroom that opens on to the hall.

The Senor in our shower pic taken from the hotel hallway

I guess that is to share your morning shower experience with the rest of the guests. Well I went down to complain and was told they were full up and we would have a room with a window “manana “. Well there is one thing I have learned about Mexico is “manana” does not necessarily tomorrow, it simply means not today. If there is no window tomorrow we will probably switch hotels.But we have already paid for 3 nights so I’m not sure how that will work. The hotel has internet, and it works fine in the lobby, but not in our room.

Next we headed out to find the cathedral and the main square where the shops and restaurants are as the Senor is starving. We hit 3 cathedrals before we found the right one.So far this evening is not going great, we picked the first restraurant we found and did good. I had salmon in some kind of sauce that was exceptionally good and the Senor had speghtti. Upon leaving the restaurant we discovered it was raining, not just sprinkling, but raining and the Senor decided we didn’t bring warm enough clothes asnd would probably freeze going up the mountain tomorrow so we caught a cab to Walmart, which promptly broke down or ran out of gas. Jumped out and caught another one We bought some socks, long sleeved shirts and the Senor a pair of long pants. And back to the room for a good nights rest. Tomorrow will be a better day

Bird Watching with Blue Morpho Ecotours & music with Allen, Roberto Y Ralph

Just another great day in paradise! we got an early start with

Will of Blue Morpho Ecotours to do some bird watching and see some of the country side in Troncones. The darn birds kept flying and darting about and made my limited photography skills just about useless. Not being a great photographer to begin with I have definitely learned I need a better camera. (Dear Morgan I know now how you felt in Yellowstone.) We saw wonderful birds, grosbeak, a cardinal, a wonderful red-headed woodpecker We also saw wonderful plants and flowers. The lagoon near Troncones is a phenomenal place with abundant wildlife and lots of pigs and piglets. From the lagoon we then went to a fantastic beach for shells, a place

where no one complains if you want to collect the shells. We will go back and the shell bird houses I make will be more beautiful than ever, After that we had a great meal at Manzanillo Bay Inn, a truly gorgeous establishment. The senor had breakfast while I had my new favorite soup, cream of poblano

chile soup. Muy fantastico ! On our way back to Zihuatanejo we did some shopping for our adventure manana as we head to the butterfly sanctuary in the morning. We feasted on a crock pot dinner of chicken ,veggies and rice and then headed out to hear Allen, Roberto, & Ralph at the Flop House Bar for happy hour 2 x 1 drinks.

Dear Santa I need a new camera, the smallest possible that has a great telephoto lens. my camera sucks! It was a great day, great music, , life is good, Signing off KO

Laundry, statues and dinner out & Jimmi Mamou

Zihuatanejo is very beautiful with some very old buildings and lots of statues. After getting some photography tips from my sister I set out to photo graph some of the statues they have around the city. My favorite is El Pescador, the fisherman and I’ve been trying for years to get a decent photo of him, one that shows some of the details and workmanship, at last I have one that’s ok. This morning was to be laundry day, but due to some hot water issues in this building we are no longer able to use the roof top laundria. So I filled our rolling cart and a carry bag and took it to the laundria a couple of blocks away. It is either do it your self or they do it. Naturally we let them do it. A full weeks worth including towels and beach towels cost about $11 US money. Taking it was no problem as I split into two bags, picking it up was a different story. One large bundle sealed in plastic, by the time I go back to the apartment I was sweating so profusely that the bag was slipping out of my arms. I told the Senor that either he picks it up next time or we launder twice a week. And of course his reply was, “no problem we can launder twice a week!”

It’s Sat nite and we are going out to dinner, I put on a dress for the big occasion, and we went down to Porto de Mare, sat right on the “Paseo de Pescadores” walk of the fishermen , had a great dinner I had my cold avocado soup and a little of the Senor’s fillet done Vera Cruz style. While we were there Gabino came by doing the woven bracelets and we had him do a couple for us to bring home for grandchildren. It amazes me how fast he can weave them and still carry on a conversation you. He told us how he learned to do them from his Mama, and as a small child he started weaving hammocks. He said it takes about 2 days to weave a hammock. Then on to see Jimmi Mamou, it was a short performance as someone hit his car, fortunately there were witnesses but he had to find an interpreter and take care of that business. So we went on to the “Beachcomber Bar” just at the end of our block for a nite cap before going home. It’s a cute little bar, right on the corner with out 6-8 chairs right on the side-walk and about 6 inside. Some day I’ll get a picture of it. We find that consuming a bit of liquor on Saturday nights is helpful, as one of the bars in our neighborhood doesn’t start music until 11 PM and was just closing

at 6:30 AM when I got up this morning. The other bar that caused us a sleepless night seems to have quieted down, anyway a bit of booze and earplugs and we sleep good. This morning the Senor fixed a marvelous breakfast of watermelon, mangos and papaya’s. I can’t think of any better breakfast. Signing off KO

Foot loose in Zihuatanejo

Our plans to visit the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary are set for Tuesday – Friday, the hotel reservations are made. That was easy as I did it on-line. Next we need to buy our bus tickets, can’t do it on-line as we can’t print them and mail is out of the question. So we think we know where the bus station is and we figured it was a nice day to walk. It’s only about a mile and time for Doyle to get some exercise. Well we missed our turn and went to far so we had to stop and ask and of course in this part of town rarely does any one speak english, but my few words of spanish sufficed and actually I had composed a complete sentence and got my answer. The part I understood of the answer was the hand wave and the word Commercial. Then we knew we should have turned at the Commercial. We had bought tickets here once before and got to our destination, but didn’t get the type of bus we wanted, so we scoped out the whole station this time and discovered there are about 10 bus lines that operate out of the one station. We knew which line we wanted, I had everything written down so if they couldn’t understand my spanish they could read it and lo and behold the ticket agent spoke pretty good english. So now we have 1st class bus tickets, and head. Since we had worked up an appetite we decided to stop at Fru Taco, I had heard that while it was just a little Mexican neighborhood eatery, the food was good. I got a mushroom and pepper quesedia and the Senor got a spicy chicken taco. One of the gals there spoke english and visited with us as they love to practice their english skills. A most enjoyable lunch! On our walk back I managed to trip twice on hidden obstacles in the weeds that grow thru the cracks in the pavement and really did a number on my knee. Left me

limping the rest of the day. But now it’s siesta time!

We regularly wait until after dark and dine by candle light on our balcony. But tonight there was a music show at the Zocolo so we had not only candle light, but a musical serenade as well. After dinner I left the Senor to his TV as I wanted to watch the rest of the performance art the Zocolo. I got as far as down stairs where in front of our establishment was what I call a Mexican Hootenany! Impromptu music! There is one mexican fellow who is frequently there playing his guitar and singing. Strictly Mexican music, he speaks no english, and has a wonderful, powerful voice, that fills the entire street. One of the Canadian guests in our building was also there playing his guitar and singing pretty much what I call folk music and about 10 of us just sitting and listening. Javier is busy selling Tequila or beer from his liquor store. Both Mexican and Gringos come and go, visiting, drinking and mostly enjoying the music. I hung around for about 45 minutes and then headed to my original destination at the Zocolo and caught the last couple of songs by what appeared to be a

Mexican gentleman with a powerfull voice

Mariachi band, They were elegantly dressed, but only 2-3 horns, half a dozen violins and a full size harp playing the “Orange Blossom Special” they were very, very good. Then on to “Daniels” where I joined up with friends who had just finished their dinner and were staying to watch Jimmi Mamou play good classic rock. So in the course of 3 blocks I listened to 3 completely different venues of music, all were great and all very typical of what happens in this town on any Friday or Saturday evening. What is not to love about Zihuatanejo. Signing off KO

Another day in Paradise

Had breakfast with carol this morning, a local lady who really knows the area. We had asked her to meet with us as she recently took the trip to Morelia to see the Monarch Butterflies and we needed to pick her brain so we would know how to accomplish this. We learned a lot and really appreciate the help. We’ve made our hotel reservations and will reserve our bus tickets tomorrow. We are going on a first class bus, no chickens and pigs! Will be going on Jan 31 for 3 days. Next was a trip to the Mercado for fresh fruits, veggies and eggs. I’m loving the papayas and mangos. On the way back picked up bread, soft drinks, and wine.

Sure love my rolling shopping cart. Then a short siesta and on to Ixtapa for dinner and a movie and not in that order. Got there way before movie time so we decided that ice cream would be in order. I ordered a coffee ice cream and the senor ordered orange ice cream. Mine came already frozen in a tall sunday glass and his was frozen in an actual orange. He said it tasted like a creamcicle. They had many interesting flavor including corn. So I had to ask for a taste as never in my life have I ever heard or thought of corn flavored ice cream. It tasted good, I couldn’t pick up the corn taste, but the senor said he could, but then I never eat corn and the Senor does quite frequently.

We saw “The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo”, it was good, and true enough to the book. While at the movies I saw a lady with a pair of pants that I liked, asked her where she got them and following the movie and dinner went and got the pants. Lucky me they were even on sale. We had dinner at Debra’s and Mama Norma’s, or maybe it’s the other way around. The Senor had been wanting spaghetti, me I just want fish and or avocados or both Just another easy living day in paradise, where you never need a sweater or coat or mittens. Signing off KO

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