Blogs from Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, North America

Buenos dias! Estamos aqui!! Que Magnifico!!! Yesterday, March 1st, we made it to MSP ontime, 430 in the morning. Our plane left on time, 630 in the morning. And, you guessed it, we made it to Zihuatanejo on time, 11am. We made it through immigration and customs without having to be searched, yay! We got our rental car, it was a manual transmission, Leila did a happy dance - love driving manuals. Chuck thought, oh boy. Chuck was right. Zihuatanejo is like Duluth on steroids! The foothills from the Sierra Madre come right to the water. The town is filled with steep, steep , steep, steep hilly roads that are vey, very, very narrow - Leila thought about crying, but perservered with Chucks support instead. Looking back, we made it to our hotel, probably, in record ... read more

Valentines Day, Today, marks the midway point in our winter vacation. It was a relatively short drive from Playa Azul to Zihuatanejo on Sunday. There was only one spot available at El Mangler RV Park where we had spent three or four glorious days three years ago - but what to do with Ed and Michelle. While we were down here negotiating with this campground’s proprietors, they found a lovely campsite behind a home owned by Dave and Nancy from Sand Point, Idaho. This arrangement worked out well. Dave and Nancy have lived a very interesting life, too much to go into here but the RV space behind their beautiful home was perfect for Ed and Michelle’s dog Red to run and play so it was an easy decision – they stay up there – we ... read more

David here... We got up early and both had showers and a quick breakfast of cereal and juice before jumping into a collectivo and making it to the bus station for our 09:00 bus to the coastal town of Zihuatanejo (pronounced see-what-a-nay-ho, yes the place mentioned in The Shawshank Redemption). The bus journey took 5 hours, so it gave us time to enjoy the films Reign of Fire, Sister Act and Jump In (a made for TV Disney film about skipping), all in Spanish of course, though we could follow what was happening. We arrived at 14:00 and immediately booked our tickets to Mexico City before leaving the bus station, crossing over the main road and jumping into a collectivo right into the centre of town. Our first choice hostel, Angelas Hotel, had a room free ... read more

Isla Ixtapa....Mexico After a long day at the pool, sunset is the way to wind down....the warm night air and a Margarita .... We had fun swimming with dolphins and tomorrow we are headed down the beach, past the Crocodiles to ride horses in the sand!... read more

And so after a few weeks of some hard work, what better way to enjoy yourself than with a trip to the beach. So off to Zihua we went for a 5 hour bus ride. Just about all of the bus rides offer some form of entertainment in the form of movies or tv shows. We were treated to the gem known as 'Blond and Blonder', starring Pamela Anderson & Denise Richards. Easily one of the worst things I've ever watched (tried to sleep through most), ranking right up there with 'Dirty Dancing' and 'The Notebook'. I won't go into the details but if you're interested, you can look it up on IMDB (don't think I'll be looking for 'Blond and Blonder 2' upon my return). So we finally get to the Zihua and meet up ... read more

Pacific Dreams So, once again I find myself including a few too many photos... Sorry everyone - I tend to think they tell a story of their own, as I’m not actually expecting anyone to struggle through my longwinded stories :) I’ll try to keep it short this time... Maruata I guess I should’ve learned by now that anywhere described in the Lonely Planet isn’t actually going to be anything like what I imagine. This also turned out to be true for the first stop on our search for the Pacific Dream: Long white-sanded beaches with palm trees and cabanas with ocean views. Maruata is described just like that; a secluded little Oceanside village (with potentially no electricity, we read online) known only for the sea turtles that come here and lay their eggs at night ... read more

I’m slowly starting to fall into the routine of this latest ship. Though it always takes time to feel completely settled and at ease. All of the sea days on our current itinerary are really draining, so when we finally get the break of a port day it’s tempting to just stay in bed all day! But I’ve been making myself get up and out. Yesterday we were in Acapulco and a group of us headed to the movies for an afternoon matinee. But this was no ordinary movie theatre, this was a VIP theatre and it was spectacular! We had leather reclining seats (footrests and everything) to lie back in, or in my case, curl up in. Then there are servers who come around to your seats to take orders for snacks, drinks, food. I ... read more