Beach life in Mexico

SAILFEST and ANOTHER MILESTONE

Sailfest is the annual fun, fundraising activity in Zihuatanejo that raises money for schools, school supplies, lunch programs, scholarships, etc benefitting Zihuatanejo’s poorest children.

It began this year with a walk/run that was joined in by several of Zihuatanejo’s running clubs. Next was a meet and greet on the pier with music and dancing. Other events were the sailboat races around the rock, the band M-Dock’s concert had everyone dancing on the pier again. A gala dinner was held on the pier, which has turned out to be a great location for events. The nightly music cruises were again a very popular event with many talented local and visiting musicians performing for small groups while sailing in the bay. This year the auction was limited to just the live auction and the “Chili Cook Off” was held with out the silent auction. Most events were held with only limited numbers of participants allowed at each event, held out doors and well spaced to keep in line with current “covid” protocols. And of course the concluding sail parade where all the participating cruisers take passengers for a day long sail out past Ixtapa and some on to Ixtapa Island other choose to fish or swim.

My tiny contribution to Sailfest this year was to man the t-shirt and souvenirs sales desk and to help with the walk run event. Right smack in the middle of this fun filled week I had to make a quick, 3 day trip back to Washington state to do some legal work all in preparation for my making Zihuatanejo my real home. I wish the timing had been better as Sailfest is such a fun event.

My February birthday was the original impetus for staying in Zihuatanejo longer than just the month of January. Then it was “we don’t do anything special on Christmas anymore, why not come for December too”. And pretty soon you find yourself enjoying the entire winter in lovely, warm, friendly Zihuatanejo.

This birthday started with an early morning swim with Suzanne, my always willing swim partner, and iced coffee. We moved on to lovely beach mimosas. Just before leaving to take a siesta the staff at Madera’s brought out a slice of birthday cheese cake. I wasn’t sure the day could get any better.

I had selected Agave for dinner as I hadn’t been there yet this year. And they didn’t disappoint. Good meals, good prices and service. And great friends.

We adjourned to Eloina’s where Linda presented me with my handsome date for after dinner drinks. A fun day with great friends including phone calls from most of my kids. Couldn’t ask for anything more, only many more just like this.

Signing off KO

Another Busy Week

Zihuatanjo is such a fun,vibrant place full of fun things to do, new, interesting people to meet. I have come to love it so much that come this fall I will make it my permanent place of residence.

So I have much to do during this time period and number one is applying for my temporary residency card. Hopefully this goes smoothly, most of it must be done on line, but some will have to wait until I return to Washington to access my records

Attended the Birthday and Retirement Bash for Jimi Mamou, a Zihuatanejo legend. He is retiring after 60 years of being the music man. He is not only a musician and singer, but a true entertainer, bringing, joy, laughter and dancing feet to the folks in Zihuatanejo for the past 17 years

Can’t sit still when Jimi plays.

Pool parties and friends gathering

Spending time at the animal shelter in Bara de Potosi cuddling and socializing with the cats

Sailing, snorkeling and sunset watching.

What is not to love about this magical place, can’t think of a single reason not to make it my home.

signing off KO

My “Dance Card” is Full

One of the great things about Zihuatanejo is you can be a busy as possible or not. Busy one week relax and refresh the next. The opportunities are there. This has been one of my busiest weeks.

My Sunday begins as it often does with a day at Escollera enjoying friends and the lovely infinity pool.

Monday was a lovely at home day on my balcony where I can read, watch the busy Mexican street life or enjoy the company of a couple of the roof cats who visit with me frequently.

Tuesdays are usually spent with lunching with an ebb and flow of ladies who are here full time or full season at one of our favorite beach front restaurants. For me it is frequently followed by a swim in the lovely salt water of the ocean where you float effortlessly.

Wednesday was spent with my friends Bonny and Cheryle at Cheryle’s lovely abode and enjoying the best swimming pool I have ever had the privilege of swimming in.

Thursday was a day on the bay sailing swimming and snorkeling and enjoying Zihuatanejo’s exquisite sunset.

Snorkeling off Playa Las Gatas saw more colorful fish this day than I have ever seen before

Even a small school of dolphins joined us

And it’s only Friday, but I have plans to go dancing tonight with friends and Saturday is dinner with other friends.

And folks wonder why I am so happy here! Everyday here is an adventure where you can choose to participate or not. Go out and do or stay home, relax, curl up with a good book, walk the beach. For me it’s as close to paradise as it can be.

Signing off KO

PLAYA BLANCA TO PLAYA LA ROPA

Spent a lovely afternoon at Escondite Resort and Beach Club on Playa Blanca for lunch and a dip in the pool at the suggestion of my friend Faye, who is alway up for something or someplace new and interesting. A beautiful location, a lovely pool, although a bit awkward to get in and out for those of us who are no longer graceful and prefer something to hold on to until safely ensconced in the water. Had a nice lunch, relaxing and watching the waves roll in.

Walking the beach at La Ropa I enjoyed watching the “sand architects” and following a baby turtles trek in the sand towards the towards the sea. I was happy to see the turtle rescue efforts on La Ropa. I can’t help but think with so many people wanting to help the turtles their numbers will increase.

When I arrived from a very raining northwest in October I happily hung my sunshine flag off my balcony to celebrate the change in weather but now it is getting on to Thanksgiving Time so again the flag is changed. Signing off KO (tip: tap the small pictures to enlarge)

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I’ve been both busy and lazy. Doing quite a bit of reading, with American Dirt being the stand out book of the season. Currently reading Mitchner’s Poland, almost took much history and war to wade through but interesting all the same as I have never known much about Poland and I have a very special Polish friend.

I’ve been doing the majority of my beach time at Playa La Madera. I’m always amazed when people think it is OK to place their towels on the only available beach lounges at 9 am but not come to sit on them still 1:00 or maybe not at all. Further more it amazes me that the restaurant owners allow it. Watched several days where all lounges were occupied by towels only and possible patrons by passed the restaurant as no place to sit.

Pet peeve, towels reserving chairs for people who come very much later if at all

The music scene in Zihuatanejo still exists, Jimi Mamou at Daniels, Steve’s Friendz at Rossy’s, Solo Tres on Wednesday afternoons, weekend dancing at Baracruda for those who don’t mind waiting until 9:30 to start, Jose Louis Cabo at La Canta de Las Sirenas on Mondays, early for the gringos and others here and there that I haven’t quite caught up with.

My Christmas poinsettias are thriving, but I found it necessary to give them a bath last week. As they live on my balcony which over looks a busy street I discovered their leaves were covered in dust and dirt, coming from rain country I’m not used to dirty plants.

Have had the Poinsettias since November 30, that’s my friend “Pidge” who I have lovely morning conversations with. This is what happens when you live alone.

Signing off KO

Time is Starting to Get Short

Mexican friends, makes me think of the story of “The Owl and the Pussy Cat

Dinner with long time friends Dwight and Lynn at El Perla Negra

We have about 3 and a half weeks left of our season in Zihuatanejo. Now I know for some folks that is their whole time here, but for those of us that spend the winter here it is the time to start making our reservations for next year, lists of what we will store here and what we are taking home. Folks that we want to see at least one more time before leaving, places that we might want to go, using up all our Sailfest Certificate for dinners and such. March is the month that most of the snowbirds begin to head back north, so it is saying goodbye to friends that we won’t see again until next year. Some folks are ready to head back home, me not so much, I love the casual laid back life style we live here, but I’m not sure I would like the heat and humidity of summer here. Winter time is perfect for us so I’ll be satisfied with 4 months next year, in November to Mid March.

We have time to finish our agenda for this year, 2 more dinners out, a

Fish Therapy for my scaly feet, they tingle a bit

Kayaking trip tomorrow for me while the Senior gets a massage, followed by a beach lunch, a couple of lazy days in Troncones with friends, a couple of beach days, and a Santa Prissa Pazole lunch and maybe a movie in Ixtapa and it will be time to go home.

I hope the snow has quit by then. In the Pacific Northwest it’s a big deal to get snow once or twice during the winter. But this year it has snowed on and off almost continuously all winter and is still doing so. It has been a very good winter to be here, I do feel blessed. The Senor is rapidly gaining strength, all is good and right in my world! Signing off KO

SAILING ON THE PATRICIA BELLE

One of the most fun parts of Sailfest is the Sail Parade where for 300 pesos (less than $15) you can spend a day on a sailing on a sail boat. The the best thing is all that money goes to build and improve schools for the poorest children in Mexico, and there are no paid administrators to siphon off the funds.

Faye holding the sign to assemble our group

This morning around 300 people lined the pier waiting for the pangas to take them out to the various boats they has signed up to spend the day on. My companion Faye and I decided we wanted to do the Patricia Belle again because she is such a FUN boat. The Patricia Belle is very large, some 60 feet of deck space and 30 of us enjoyed the captain and the crew’s hospitality. This boat was built some 20 years ago about 10 miles from where I live. Built of timber logged off the captains property behind the Bear Creek Store on the old Belfair Highway in Washington state.

Not all were sail boats, this yacht followed behind us

We led the sail parade around Zihuatanejo bay and then out past Ixtapa, paid our respects to the Port Captain then sailed off to do some middle of the ocean swimming. About two thirds of the passengers and all of the crew jumped or dove overboard and swam along side the boat as she gentled sailed on, and I do mean gently as there was almost no wind at all. There are lines over the side that you can hold on to if you aren’t comfortable swimming away from the boat.

Faye and me on the pier after a day of sailing and swimming

We had packed picnic lunches complete with salmon, cheese, capers, olives, crackers, jicama and of course wine It’s just a fantastic way to spend and afternoon sailing, eating, drinking and swimming in the ocean where the water temperature is about 82 degrees and meeting so many new friends. Signing off KO

Things I will miss and things I won’t

Our time in sunny Mexico is drawing to a close, sadly we are on our last day. I love Mexico and Zihuatanejo with all it’s quirks and interesting culture. There is so much I will miss, but there are somethings that you just have to say “Ah it’s mexico” and overlook. I will miss all the friendly faces that speak to you on the streets and greet you with a quick Hola! or Buen Dia even when they don’t know you at all. I will miss warm days at the beach with

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the breeze blowing, I will miss nights without ever needing a sweater, I will miss 25 peso cab rides, and riding water taxis, I will miss the pigeon who lives in our balcony planter and the iguanas that entertain us during dinner on the balcony at night. Let’s face it I will miss my balcony!

I will not miss toilets with no seats in public facilities. Where do they all disappear to? I won’t miss needing to discard TP in the waste basket instead of the bowl. I will miss daily fresh fruit. I will miss fresh fish cooked to perfection. I will not miss Mexican bars that play music until 6 am, but I will miss yummy drinks expertly prepared. I will miss mercado shopping, but not barking roof dogs, but I will miss the sweet, gentle street dogs.I will miss swimming long course at 8 am at the “Alberca Olympica.” I will miss walking all over town and taking 10 peso bus trips for longer distances. I will miss our Zihuatanejo friends new and old.

I will miss always seeing folks I know where ever I go in town. I will miss taking my camera every where as there is always something interesting to see. I will miss the time I have here to read book after book with out guilt. I will miss having time to blog about simple daily events. I won’t miss washing dishes by hand.I will miss coconut palms, flowers and greenery all winter long.

I will miss my trips with Sylvia to the the little Saturday morning market, where everything is home grown, or made or recycled and hand made or organic. I will miss lovely sunny mornings as we return to gray rainy weather, but all good things must come to a close. So this is my final blog of the season Signing off until December 30 2016. KO

Street Art, Ixtapa Island and Chula Vida

One of the pleasures of being a pedestrian in Zihuatanejo and varying your route from time to time is running into unexpected visual treasures. They may be in the form of architecture, flora and fauna, or wall art. One of the problems of being a pedestrian is that at times you feel like a visual target for the Mexican motorists,or maybe just open season on gringos. Anyway to avoid a particularly problematic street crossing I decided to adjust my route back from the swimming pool and that’s when I discovered this lovely street art. The long wall is actually the far side of El Pueblito, the others are located at the front side of El Pueblito just past their big wood door.

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With the Senor not feeling up to par it has been a great pleasure to have friends to go

places with. Bonny and I did Ixtapa Island. It is one of my most favorite beaches as I can swim out and around where the sail boats moor and then go snorkeling on the other side of the island where the fish are beautiful and plentiful. On our return we watch as a generous fisherman was feeding the pelicans.

We visited ChulaVida yesterday with our friends and neighbors Will and Sylvia. We had been looking forward to this trip as it always is a bit of an adventure. We bused to the airport and planned to wait their for the pasajera for the trip along Playa Blanca. The Senor

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Fish

Waves that would suddenly shoot horizontally

was up for this trip,but struggling with sciatica pain so we choose to wait in the little restaurant for the truck.Several taxi drivers tried to get our business but we choose to wait for the far less expensive pasajera. Well I think we got “Tom Sawyer-ed” as we were quite sure we could see from where we were when it would turn around but we also thought either the man at the fruit wagon or the taxis might signal us.Secretly I think they told the driver to turn around and then told us it came and went. No harm ! We took the taxi and got there just the same. After some mango daquris which were so thick they were almost a meal in itself we had a delicious fish pronounced “wahoo”, don’t know how to spell it correctly but it was very good with a side of ratatouille. The Senor seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get back so we didn’t stay for the sunset, disappointing, but I try to understand his discomfort. Every day is a good day, every day is an adventure here in Zihuatanejo. Signing off, KO

La Playa, Street Market and Sailfest

Friday morning arrived and we decided, it’s beach time! We headed out to Playa Las Gatas with our friends Will and Sylvia even though the day was overcast. None of us were worried about “working on our tans”, just wanted a relaxing day, eating, drinking and people watching and enjoying the friendship.

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Our favorites pot is Gloria Del Mar, the tide was way up so the Senor and I hit the water right away as it is easier to get in to swim. The Senor likes to bob in the water and I went out for a swim. A few drinks, some good seafood and suddenly the day is gone. We always come back from the beach tired and worn out, like we had really done something. Somehow a day in the sun does that to you even when it is hid behind the clouds. It’s a good kind of tired.

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I love Saturday mornings at the street market in front of the school. It was pleasantly cool yesterday morning by Zihuatanejo standards which made the market extra enjoyable. As usual I bought the Senor his mushroom tamales for his breakfast some tofu taquitos, more of the delicious pasta salad for lunch later and a grapefruit for tomorrow. Visited with the folks from the turtle preserve and other friends and headed back to the apartment as I will have a busy day as I’m working the t-shirt table for Sailfest today.

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Did a brisk business in T-shirt sales, koozies and a few caps. And I get to do it again Sunday afternoon. Signing off KO