Zihuatanejo! Part 1!

Zihuatanejo, here we come!

You can also glimpse the "Tequila Sunrise!" photo image LOL! Good morning! Tidbitzing about tantalizing sunrises, we are back in our home city; and back to the rain! This am, we have dark clouds, threatening cloud and rain bursts any minute. It is neat, in a stark, refreshing sort of a way.

And yet, when we were in "Zihua" (that is the term of endearment by the locals); I was marvelling with amazement, at how majestic "Zihua's" early sunrises were / are! Absolutely gorgeous! I would be up early; with a tid of coffee in hand (we had a small bit of a kitchenette); and just gaze at all the magnificent colours of the dawn! Very peaceful!

And NO, we did not imbibe in tequila too often! LOL! For those that have the cast iron stomachs for tequila, great; however, we appreciated it in gentle tids and bits. The Mexican beer is very good; you can buy 6 beer for 35 pesos; which is the equivalent of $3.50. You are lucky if you can enjoy one beer in our country, for $3.50! However, the best buy, was a 40 pounder of rum, for 110 pesos; which is the equivalent of $11.10 versus a cost here of approx. $45.00! Also, at the Duty Free Shop, a 26 pounder bottle of rum cost approx. $19.00; so go figure!
At the resort, the beer cost 30 pesos each. Also, the bottled water was at a premium.

Tidbit - It is MUCH cheaper to purchase items at the local store, than at the resort! I know that is a 'no brainer' to you all; however, we appreciated that invaluable piece of bitz tidz from the guests.

So we ended up buying our bottled water, beer, rum, soft drinks, snacks, at a local convenience store; eventhough it was wee bit of a walk! What we sometimes did, was to walk down to the store, through windy, colourful, oleander / bouganvelia flower vined lined streets; and then take a taxi back up. Or if we had gone into to town, we would have the taxi stop, while we "ran" LOL! into the store to pick up supplies, upon our return to the resort. The temperatures there were some 36 degrees celsius; so we did not always have the tids of energy to walk back up the steep hills. Whew! Also, where we stayed, we would have 190 steps to go up and down, to and fro, from our high up, terraced, ocean view room. We did that "trek" 6 to 10 times per day! We just got used to it when, it was time to go home. I actually miss the steps! LOL! Great way of being stretched and limbered into shape!

$$$ Tidbit - It is 10 pesos to a $US dollar approx; 9 pesos approx to a $Cdn dollar.

We left on our vacation in the bitty tiddy hours of the am on the 21st of March. First day of Spring! - how appropriate; as we "sprung" into the taxi to take us to the airport!

We had a wake up call at 3:15 am. May as well include the bit tidzy details! The pre arranged cab picked us up at 4:15 am; and off we went, in the darkness to our destination. Once we had our bags literally checked over by dogs and all, we made it through customs, we were "on vacation" - eventhough we had a 2 hr wait in the airport! At least we knew we had made our flight! LOL!

It all seems so long ago! Our 2.5 hr flight (Alaskan airlines) went to Los Angeles; and then via another Alaskan 737 Boeing 900 jet, we landed in Ixtapa at approx 3:30 pm; Mexican time. It was about a 6.5 hr flying time, in total. Zihua is about a 10 to 15 min drive away from the Ixtapa airport (quite a "modern" airport).

As a bit of a tid, you can appreciate our relief to finally be there! The airports have really cracked down on all travellers; how, what, where you pack your luggage. Like, they will not allow you to pack "liquid" items in your carry on bag. On our return home flight, oops, I forgot I had a hotel bubble bath bottle; that I threw in at the last minute. Fortunately, the L.A. Customs officer, just "happened to have" a plastic baggie; and he believed me; and I was permitted to take that on board. No kdding aside, L.A. (and other airports) are very very strict! I guess that is a tid of bit info, for you, travellers!

When we were departing homeward bound, from the Ixtapa airport, there was a little old man, more round, than he was tall; and he was being "checked over" very thoroughly. He did not look like a "criminal"; and I felt so sorry for him, because it was clearly uncomfortable being scrutinized so; almost debasing to one's level of self esteem. He was being twirled and spun about; reminded me of one of those topsy turvy roller / spinner tops. At the end of it, he was quite red faced; probably the most exercise he had gone through in a long time. Stressful, to bittidz in the least! So, travelling has become a most serious business. However, if that is what it takes to make our travels and skies a little safer; well, I guess that is the way of it. The security is that much more stepped up in L.A.

The next time we return to Ixtapa, we are going to see if there is a more direct flight to Zihua; even if we have to go by Calgary; thus avoid the regime of the United States. The Los Angeles Airport, with their armed guards, police and dogs, are "right into it!" And the airport is undergoing massive construction changes; so it was even more of a military "maze" upon our return flight to Canada.

Back to arrival in Zihua! Bear with me, as I tid back forth in bits! Now that I have got the airport security / housekeeping business out of the way, I will blogtid a bit about Zihau, in the next few upcoming blogs. Zihuatanejo, a small fishing village,is located on the southern tip of Mexico; on the Pacific Ocean side. We loved Zihua; and we plan to return there each year!

The Intrawest taxi / shuttle service picked us up (a very nice and WELCOME touch!)and when we arrived to the resort, our room was not quite ready; so we were given a couple of "free" margarita drink tickets. We did not need to be persuaded to go and enjoy the Mexican hospitality! LOL!

Alas, I have to go for now; however, will blogbit in a tid! Will launch into the Mexican hospitality etc later!