Phil & Wendy's Trip to Zihuatanejo, Mexico 12/19-31, 2005

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This was our first trip to Mexico by air,
all of our others we have driven our camper pulling our boat.
Zihua (as the locals say) is about 3/4 of the way down the West coast of Mexico.
We stayed there about 3 days on our long trip down the coast in 2000.

Zihua is a little, old fishing village, grown some. It has been spared direct development as a tourist Mecca. Instead, the Mexican Government developed Ixtapa, on the next bay about 5 miles to the north. So Zihua retains much of its small town charm.
And Ixtapa has the high-rise hotels.

We stayed at the "Suites El Mango" about a mile from the center of Zihua,
a half mile from the beach (Playa Madera), so we walked a lot, 5 to 8 miles per day.

Phil helping Jessica (the maid) pick very green mangoes for salsa

Our roof level patio gave us a neighborhood view and a breeze.

Wendy is tuckered out from a hard day on the water fishing.

Any's (aah-knees) is near the top of the list of all the travel books,
excellent Pozole and Tamales for dinner.

View of Zihua Bay from the footbridge. We had great hot weather,
95 in the daytime, down to 75 at by morning.

Jessica and daughter Carlita.
Wendy brought boxes of crayons and colored paper,
which were greatly appreciated by the local kids.

Claudia and Arturo, our hosts. Claudia teaches English at a school north of Mexico City.
Arturo is a retired architect.

View of the Playa Municipal from the Municipal Pier, were we met our panga in the morning.
All the pangas on the beach are used for night fishing.

We fished on a panga, the Isamar, with Captain Martin Cortez, for 3 days.
The first day was a bust, but on the second and third,
we did some good catching too.

Wendy will only put a fish in her lap if she catches it and the captain helps.

It is hard to catch the sailfish jumping with a still camera.

Captain Martin "leadering" a sailfish.

Placing the tag.

Resuscitation prior to release

Phil's really big sailfish, estimated at 135+ pounds.
Note how it is as big around its shoulders as Phil's torso.

This marlin posed on the end of Phil's line

Phil's medium striped marlin, about 160 pounds.
On the third day, Martin's 8 year old son Ulysses came out with us,
beginning his first mate training. He was good luck.

This remora (on Martin's arm) came in on Phil's marlin.

Wendy's nice 30 pound dorado.

Martin and Ulysses, on the 'Isamar'

Employment opportunities seemed abundant,
We saw signs like this all over town, calling to us
"Solicito Secretaria" = 'Solliciting a Secretary, Female, computer experience...'

We bought some of the local grown coffee, being ground in this pic.
Get the "Obscuro" which is double roasted.

Aztec Feather dancers at the central square, entertaining a
shore party from the cruise ship in the bay.

Enjoying Xmas Eve on Las Gatas beach, a short panga ride across the bay.
Gatas, which means 'cats' also means nurse shark.
Yes, that is a Santa Pinata hanging from our palapa.
Buy a few (overpriced) drinks and lunch, and you get the table, lounge chairs,
shade, and someone to watch over your stuff while you snorkel, for the day,
plus a fresh water shower out back.

Walking around the point from Las Gatas

We always enjoy the markets in Mexico

Lots of good stuff, fresh and dried chilis of all kinds.
And the local fruit is Sooo good. We ate fresh papaya every day.

Piñatas were being constructed of papier mache in several tiendas

Start with a red clay pot to hold the goodies, and add appendages.
The first time I noticed a pot of 'mashed potatoes'
I almost asked what they served with it,
then I realized it was the glue for the papier mache.

Unlimited shapes, sizes, and colors.

Queso Oaxaca (Oaxaca Cheese) at the market.
Kind of like string cheese, but much more/better flavor.
Really brought back our memories of Christmas in Oaxaca.