Here we are! When I was sad about leaving the Bahamas I consoled myself knowing that we would be going to Zihuatanejo, for shopping and eating. Eric, Teak and I were here 17 years ago and spent many happy days enjoying this bay and town.
Topaz has been dry for weeks and weeks, anchored here off of La Ropa beach she gets to swim all day.
This beach is popular with tourists for walking, swimming, playing in the waves, taking parasail rides, renting Hobie Cats, paddle boards, kayaks, and rides on the inflatable banana through the anchorage.
We’re also half way between town and Las Gatas beach so the Coca Cola delivery boat stopped by to see if they could sell us a few bottles.
The other side of the bay is the town of Zihuatanejo. The beach is lined with the panga fishing fleet and the fish market, a few restaurants and shops.
The first order of business is shopping. The map located the market. We expected the central municipal market but instead we ended up at Commercial Mexicana, similar to a Walmart and not what we expected, but we did fill up our carts with groceries and had a good tour of town. Mango trees are found in many yards.
This cool clock tower is near the traffic circle. I haven’t had much luck finding the name of the church or it’s history. I did find that this tower overlooks the Juan Pablo II school.
Apparently the locals believe it’s good luck to stroke blonde hair. The girls were targeted with their goldie locks. This nice man worked directing traffic near the central market as well as answering questions and giving directions to tourists.
Most, many, not quite all the buildings look like they are ready to build a top floor, but abandoned the project. We’ve been told the real reason is that taxes are paid upon completion of the building, but if they never finish the project, they don’t have to pay the taxes. This area has all types of uses. We saw that some houses use it as a patio or a place to hang the laundry.
The police are everywhere, not one or two, but a whole bunch of them with combat uniforms and major artillery. It’s hard to get used to their presence, but these guys were friendly enough to wave and smile.
Flowers grow everywhere especially bougainvillea which thrives like a weed.
The artisan market stretches several blocks. The booths are loaded with trinkets, blankets, t-shirts, jewelry, carvings, and anything that might catch a tourist’s eye. We supported the local economy and everyone walked away with something shiny. We got jewelry, a magnet, a mirror, a fish mobile, stone chess board, and a plaque with for Makai made out of license plates. Can’t live without any of it!
Like my necklace?
Now that we know where the Municipal Mercado is we’re off seeking lunch.
Oh yes, just as I remember. The produce is much more beautiful at this market than the supermarket. I couldn’t believe how wilted, over ripe, and bruised the produce was at the supermarket, this is more like it.
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Everything was clean and iced in the fish market.
How about lunch. The waterfront offers several open air restaurants, but nothing is like street tacos. The first place we sampled was on an empty lot on a busy street corner. They had a little shade, a cooler of cold drinks, a lady pressing tortillas, and a guy grilling and chopping steak for tacos. The choices were bistek or al pastor. Bistek is simply chopped steak, but the girls were sold on the al pastor. This is marinated pork on a vertical spit with pineapple. Oh, yea! We’re eating in Mexico now!
The plates are covered in plastic for easy dish washing. We each ordered two tacos and then they were so tasty, everyone wanted uno mas por favor. We ate something like 15 tacos and 5 cokes, plus a side of rice and beans, everyone was full and happy. The bill made us even happier. $12 how can you beat that.
The next day’s lunch was at the municipal mercardo. I was looking for Carnitas and we found it. This yummy roast pork is served on a fresh tortilla with a tray of fixings. You know, cheese is not typically a taco condiment. Marie refused to eat, she just couldn’t handle walking past the chicken heads draped over the counter or big piles of fish and then eat lunch. The rest of us enjoyed everything and once again, the bill was $12.
Today’s lunch was at Tamale Any, a place Eric remembered from the t-shirt he bought here many years ago. This time we had a huge spread at this beautiful restaurant.
Everyone had tacos or tamales but I was torn between tortilla soup and pozole. Pozole is a stew of meat and hominy served with a tray of condiments like onions, cheese, avocado, radish, etc. Today I went for the Tortilla soup which is a pepper broth over chicken and cheese, tortilla chips and served with a tray of condiments as well. This place is much fancier, more food, two drinks for each of us, left overs for snacks later and the bill was $40.
After lunch each day we would get heated up on the walk back to the beach. Better cool off in the shade with some ice cream. Even though we’re full, we’re not done eating Mexican food. Comida de Mexico es muy bien!
Critters are everywhere. Walking along the canal we saw a large iguana scurry by. There are plenty of dogs laying around. I was pleased that they all looked healthy and well fed. This is surely a dog’s life. No collar, no neutering, plenty of snacks around the restaurants and shade to sleep the day away.
Cats must hide, because we don’t see too many. This one smelled our left overs and followed us around for awhile
How about the Chihuahua. This one looks a bit nervous, but then I guess they all do.
Now everyone wants a bird. I keep saying we already have a pet, but the kids think another one is in order.
To relax and cool off after town we go to the beach. This is the very beach our pal Mike rented a hobie wave, maybe this one, when he visited us all those years ago. After we all had such a good time, he went home and found one for us to share. All that Hobie sailing prompted us to find the Hobie wave the Makai carries around. We sailed our Hobie around the bay to blend in with the tourists.
A nice swell rolls in the bay creating waves on the soft beach. The girls played in the waves with and without boogie boards. We managed to get sand in our hair, bathing suit, and anywhere else it could find to hide. My favorite way to get rid of this sand is to swim back out to Makai. Yesterday on my swim back a school of small fish came jumping by and one hit me in the chin. It was nuts, I got hit by a fish and had a very tiny but very bloody wound that wouldn’t stop. Marie put a band aid on it and then everyone chuckled at me.
It’s nice to be on the beach again, but we haven’t found one that compares to the Bahamas beaches. There we could go for miles on white sand and clear water and never see another person. Here the sand is darker, the water is cloudy and we have to share with tourists. I guess we’re ruined.
