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Published: August 27th 2007
View from our rooftop
Judy admires the rooftop view. We were going to do a panorama shot with the tripod but now it´s raining so we can´t.Thursday 23rd August
An early wake up enabled us to call our mothers before arriving at the main bus station an hour before our 10am departure. Another relaxing day sitting in a slow bus that stopped at almost every small village collecting passengers. We thought it was supposed to be an express but we think since there were so few passengers they combined the local bus and the express.
We arrived in Acapulco about 6pm. The taxi driver insisted on taking us to his recommended hotel, so Judy stayed in the taxi while Rags checked it out. Needless to say we continued on until we arrived at the place we had selected the Etel Suites which turned out to be cleaner, bigger, cheaper and were high atop the hill overlooking old Acapulco.
Once we depositied our bags in our room we left to find something to eat but were distracted when we realised it was almost time for the fearless La Quebrada Clavadistas. These divers have been diving off the 25-35m cliff into a narrow cove since 1934.
After the diving the large crowd quickly diappeared, mainly in buses, leaving the local street and cafes empty. We chose
Convention Centre
Lonely Planet guide book told us there were things to see here but apparently they are no longer on display. one on the first intersection where we saw a couple of policemen eating. It amused us to see how casually they parked right on the apex of the corner, as did another of their colleagues who joined them. They took no notice of similarly parked vehicles across the road, or of double parking. In fact what looked like the daughter of one policeman double parked next to the police car whilst a young passenger was taken over one of the police vehicles. Great atmosphere!
On returning to our room we took the drinks we purchased at the local shop onto the rooftop area and toasted the wonderful panorama of lights on the harbour and hills of Acapulco.
Friday 24th August
This morning after breakfast we walked down to the main street La Costera that runs around the bay. As it's a huge bay we saw the sense in jumping on a bus to ride along this road. The buses, like the taxis will stop anywhere if it means they can pick up a paying passenger. We think that each bus driver must own his own bus as they are so keen to pick up passengers they will wait
Wal-Mart
We aren´t taking any chances with big bottles of booze but we´d like to buy some as it´s so cheap. (9 pesos to our dollar) for you if you give even a slight indication of wishing to hop on. Some buses are old and rusty while others are painted and decorated and their names such as Bugs Bunny, Senor Frog and Adrenaline are written on the windscreen.
We enjoyed our ride along La Costera, getting off only when the bus turned around to return. We saw Wal-Mart and went in to buy some bandaids as Rags elbow has taken to bleeding all over the sheets. We wandered around, amazed at the variety and cheapness of items, before walking on. We saw many new hotel buildings and saw that the upmarket shops such as Hard Rock Cafe, Starbucks and others were in this area.
After a buffet lunch we found the Aero Mexican office and booked a couple of tickets to Guadalajara. We have looked at the distance to go up the coast to Puerto Vallarta and the mountainous landsape and many small villages would make it a long slow bus trip. Rags didn't enjoy the last all day trip, his ankle still giving him some problems, so we have decided to fly to Gudalajara, spend a couple of days there and then make
Bronze statue of diver
This bronze is in the square near where the diving takes place. the 5 hour bus trip to Puerto Vallarta where we can make ourselves at home for a few weeks.
As we were unable to get a seat on a flight before Monday we no longer need to see everything in a day so decided to spend the afternoon relaxing and start out in the cool again tomorrow. We spent the afternoon in and out of the pool and relaxing with our books in the shade.
Saturday 25th August
It seemed a little cooler as we made our way to the Zocalo which was walking distance from our hotel. The cathedral was painted blue and white as you can see in the photo.
A bus from nearby dropped us at the central Mercado (Markets). We enjoy the sight and sounds of these and are looking forward to Puerto Vallarta where we can purchase our own food from a mercado and do some of our own cooking. We are starting to grow a little tired of the local tacos etc.
Another bus ride took us from here to the Caletta Beach. This was very touristy but once again the people all seemed to be Mexican tourists. The only
Quebrada cliffs
Quite a crowd comes to see the young divers as they dive from these 35 metre cliffs. other tourists we see are the airconditioned bus types. The beach here was lined with restaurants and we walked along before selecting where to eat. We both tried the local fish today, Moharra. This was preceded by a tasty bowl of soup. We relaxed on the beach under the thatched roofs of the shelters while we ate and partook of some refreshments.
After an hour spent at an Internet Cafe on the way back to the hotel we spent another afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Sunday 25th August
Had a reasonably early start (nothing seems to happen here before 10am) and caught the local bus to Caleta where we caught a ferry ride to the Isla De La Roqueta, an island about 1km offshore. After landing and seeing the few shops/restuarants there we set off following a well marked but seemingly little used track which went around the island. We trekked through beautiful rainforest, coming to lookouts overlooking steep cliffs with the ocean a long way below.
From the signs and the remains of fencing we deduced that this was once a zoo some time ago. We were hoping to find a nice sandy beach
Acapulco Bus
The buses are quite an experience here and each is unique. to go snorkelling from but we almost returned to where we had started before we found one. The 2 hour trek was worth it though with the scenery giving us some good photographic opportunities.
Although the water was a little murky we were able to see many fish, most similar to what we have in our northen waters. It was good to see that the locals hadn't plundered the reefs, unlike what we have come across in SE Asia.
Lunch was a leisurely affair, right on the beach, under palm trees overlooking Acapulco where we could watch the jetskis and ferries running up and down.
On returning to our hotel we found that it wasn't as cool and pleasant as the island, but after a cold shower we settled in reading and having a “nanny nap”.
Dinner was near the zocalo, which was packed with families out for Sunday evening. We wandered down the street and found a Woolworth. (note the missing s) Checked it out and it did seem a little like ours. Just as we left the heavens opened and it just poured heavily for about 20 mins. After, it wasn't any cooler but we
Interior of a bus
We had quite a hair-raising ride on this bus! had to jump the streams in the roads as we made our way back. Another cold shower needed!
We both feel that the 4 nights we have stayed here wasn't too long, We have seen most of what is around without us having to race from one place to the next as we are apt to.
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Thelma
non-member comment
Sounds Great
This is one place that sounds really good and the views are lovely.Seeing the "Divers"must have been interesting. I think we've seen them on TV and think they must be mad! Let Judy choose the pics of herself next time Rags !! Must away, I'm in the computer room typing this and Students are beginning to come in. No Privacy and a lot of talk !