We Adore Ecuador

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Mary

You may ask, where do people who live on their boat go on vacation? Why, another boat of course. Before heading through the Canal we thought about sailing to the Galapagos, but since we were not continuing on to the South Pacific and due to the red tape of taking your own boat, we decided it would be easier to let someone else do all the work. So we left Neko safely in a marina and Lucy safely at VIP Kennels (that’s Very Important Paws) and we were off to Ecuador.We book-ended the Galapagos adventure with a few days on mainland Ecuador, first in Guayaquil (click here for Guayaquil photos) and then in the capital city of Quito (click here for Quito photos). These are the two cities where you can fly out to the islands so try both, but if you can only do one, we vote for Quito. Not only is it perched 9,000 feet above sea level providing us with much-desired cool weather, but it boasts charming Spanish colonial architecture,

Jesus loves a little bling

more over-the-top churches than you could possible imagine and friendly folks that look like they just stepped out of the “Ecuador” volume of the Time/Life encyclopedias we had when I was a kid.

Streets of Quito

The Galapagos portion of our trip consisted of an 8-day cruise aboard “The Evolution”.

Enjoying the view from the foredeck (thanks Lance for the photo)

Peter and I enjoying the view from the foredeck

Now I have zero interest in cruise ship travel, but it is the name of the game in the Galapagos. You can stay in a hotel and take day trips by boat, but you can see more traveling by ship. Boats range from private yachts for small parties to 100-passenger cruise ships. We picked a smaller boat (25 people) allowing us to get to know all the passengers and the perfect amount of space to have alone time.

Now these our my kind of passengers, Mark and Michelle take over the bar

We met some delightfully diverse and fun loving folks and amazingly there wasn’t a dud in the bunch. Our crew was friendly, attentive and spoiled us so much that now I’m thinking we need full time crew on Neko (just kidding, but a girl can dream).

Capt Pete with Evolution’s Captain Victor and first mate David

Each day consisted of 2 land trips, 1 snorkel trip, 1 short history lecture and preview of the following day’s itinerary and of course, food, drinks and napping.

Peter and his new pal snorkel the day away

Every stop, whether on land or in the chilly waters, provided us with a distinct landscape, a treasure trove of native and endemic species and an unbelievable experience I thought was all brochure hype.

Sometimes the remains were just as interesting as the live animals. (orca skeleton)

Sally Lightfoot Crab

What a face

Pile up on the 101

Oh yes, we swam with sharks.

You know I’m all about the animals, so I was in heaven swimming with sharks, sea turtles and nose to nose with playful sea lions.

Peter swimming with sea lion

We encountered land and marine iguanas,

Land Iguana enjoying a cactus snack

Marine iguana shoot water from their nose

Marine iguana shooting sea water from his nose

more sea lions, penguins, sea lions, Darwin’s famous giant tortoises, pink flamencos and birds of all sorts and did I mention sea lions.

Hungry sea lion

Pink Flamingos

Hello new friend

Galapagos is the Spanish word for tortoise

Penguins, yes penguins

Since we started cruising we have met lots of “birders” and though I can drum up an “ooh and ahh” at a wild Scarlet Macaw or the elusive Quetzal, birds don’t do much for me, but I’ll admit while literally stepping over nesting birds and standing inches from down covered newborn frigates I still felt – nothing. NO, I’m joking, by the end of this trip my feathered friends melted my heart.

Baby Frigate

Red-footed bobby

So along with our fellow passengers, we took about a billion photos of sea lions, sea turtles, birds of all sorts, tortoises, red crabs, penguins, iguanas and on and on. By the end we were ready to work for National Geographic. So enjoy the photos, book your trip there and be thankful this isn’t the 1970s and I’m making you sit in my living room looking at a billion slides of sea lions, sea turtles, etc. If you want click here for more photos.

Our naturalist Freddy, who was born and raised in the Galapagos always knew just where to take us.

Fellow passengers

Thanks to fellow passengers Sue, Faith, Michelle, Lance and Johan for sharing many of your photos.

Bright Lights, Big City

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Mary

Panama City meant one thing to us: the Canal. Transiting it was our major goal for this year, so I did not give the city itself much thought. We ended up staying there much longer than we anticipated (see rock post) and decided to embrace the opportunity to explore this historic city.

So cue the skyline, public transportation and museums because we were back in a real honest to goodness big city! And just like every metropolitan area you get the good with the bad, so we dusted off those NYC street smarts, threw our Panama hats in the air and enjoyed every second of city living.

Frank Gehry-designed Biodiversity Museum adds a pop of color to the skyline of Panama City

Open just two months, Panama's new Metro was terrific way to get around town.

Open just two months, Panama’s new Metro was a terrific way to get around town.

Metro, 35¢ a ride, what a bargain.

Lights of Panama City

The city wears many hats, part Miami with its nightlife and high rises dotting the shoreline, part Old San Juan with its charming historic districts, part ghost town of abandoned American housing in the old Canal zone

Old “Canal Zone” housing now stands empty.

and part bustling port city that, of course, centers around their main cash cow, the Canal. Oh and lest I forget malls.

Wall to wall malls

Shopping seems a national sport here. Panama City hosts 4 ENORMOUS malls both high and low end.

Casa del Whopper

I’m not a shopper, but did enjoy the air conditioning and cheap swimsuits, otherwise they just seemed like a labyrinth of the usual suspects, ubiquitous food courts and multiplex cinemas. But the main transit center is at one of the malls, so you always had to pass through on your way to everything else.

My friend Robin & I mastered the buses!

Casco Viejo (Old Quarter) is the historic district of Panama City. It was established circa 1673 by the Spanish colonialists. Majestic homes, cathedrals, government buildings all went neglected around the 1950s – when we all should have invested in the area. Because now there is a renovation boom. It is fascinating to see the renaissance in action. Street by street it changes before your eyes, turn to the left you see a private residence being lovingly restored, to the right are the shells of buildings ripe for repair, look behind you see a rather dodgy area with squatters occupying buildings in ruins and straight ahead are impeccably restored buildings which house restaurants, shops, hotels, embassies, etc. It has a similar look to the French Quarter in New Orleans without the drunken revelers. (Click on the photos in the gallery to enlarge and read descriptions)

Hats for sale

Casco Viejo restored homes

Golden Altar at Iglesia de San José

Kuna lady – indigenous people of Panama

Lots of stray cats, cared for by locals.

Squatters

The famous Panama Hats are actually made in Equcador

Casco Viejo

Iglesia de San José

Ready for a remodel

Peter and Mike love shopping, but look at that gorgeous tile floor

Rainy afternoon on the streets of Casco Viejo

Peter’s new bud we met in Casco Viejo. He was born in the Canal zone and had LOTS of stories.

No, I didn’t bring this one home, just gave her some love.

Love the wall art in Panama City, Panama

Private home

Older you say, you want to see older than 1673. Alright, Panama Viejo is for you. This was the original Panama City founded in 1519 before it was shifted to Casco Viejo. Now they are just ruins which are incorporated into a museum and park.

old and new panama city

Ruins of Panama Viejo

Panama Viejo juxtaposed to the city today

And of course we ate and drank and watched more soccer during the World Cup than we had in our entire lives.

Granclement-best ice cream in Panama

Fish Market

Fantastic ceviche for lunch at the fish market

Sancocho, Panamanian Chicken Soup

Lucy has had enough soccer to last a lifetime.

Havana Panama, Cuban bar

Belly dancing after a delicious middle eastern dinner

Oldest cafe in Panama City (Est. 1875) Classic rice and beans and excellent coffee. That cat slipped in the door right after I took this photo.

Patrons in Coca Cola cafe, they were right out of central casting. We had a great lunch here.

Vendor selling spicy quail eggs. They were good, tasted like mini hard boiled eggs with a kick.

Lung Fung Chinese restaurant. Delicious.

Quail egg down the hatch

Las Bóvedas restaurant in the vaults of the old customs building.

We hiked off all that food and booze in rain forests and parks throughout the city.

This is a good example of the 18′ tides they have on the Pacific side of Panama. This will all be underwater at high tide.

Hanging birdsnest in Parque Natural Metropolitano, rainforest inside the city

Mango trees are messy

Giant ants love mangos

View of the city from the top of Parque Natural Metropolitano

And of course we went to the Panama Canal Museum and Miraflores locks to get an education on what was in store for us!!!!

Panama Canal, here we come!!!!

“Hello, is There Anybody Out There?”

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Mary

“Hello, is there anybody out there?” No, I’m not messing up the lyrics to Comfortably Numb, it is how we are feeling as we move into the off-season. Suddenly the normal flood of familiar names heard over the radio or anchored nearby has become nothing more than a trickle. For our land-based friends, the off-season (June-Nov or hurricane season) sees many cruisers leaving their boats and heading back home. Many Pacific Ocean cruisers set sail for the South Pacific (think soft white beaches, palms and friendly Polynesians – but only after sailing 3 weeks across an ocean) or head back north into Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. We have chosen to move south and east where we are safely out of the hurricane zone, but well within the rainy season. Not only are there very few cruisers out there, Western Panama has very few people, period. It is tranquil to say the least.

Islas Las Secas

Crab coconut condo

Lucy loves this place and did not want to leave

It is a rugged, very tropical, wet, jungly and sparsely inhabited land. There are indigenous peoples mixed in all about and everyone lives a subsistence lifestyle, as there are virtually no cities for miles around.

Fishing cabin

Some of the little villages we saw didn’t even have roads going to them. The locals move about by boat or when necessary over unforgiving trails through the thick forests.

Neko anchored in Bahia Honda

We dropped anchored in the beautiful bay of Bahia Honda and were promptly greeted by life-long island resident and friend to cruisers, Domingo. Although my Spanish is still that of a 3-year-old, Domingo’s constant chatting somehow sunk in and we were trading goods for fruits and herbs, visiting his home and being his guests to visit Salmonete a tiny village up a river to buy lobsters from the fishermen, undoubtedly his buddies.

Domingo’s house

Red bananas, yellow bananas and pineapples from Domingo. Problem with this many bananas is they all ripen at the same time. So even freezing some for smoothies, left us with A LOT of bananas

Domingo’s pig, who lived with a terrified cat in this pen. Never got a straight answer why the cat was in there. Maybe we don’t want to know.

Domingo taking us up the river

Young villager welcoming us

Larry, Peter and Domingo and Lucy

Lobster dinner

Larry and Debbie from “Tropical Blend”

Kayaking in Bahia Honda

sssssssnake

On our second day there we were joined by Larry and Debbie from “Tropical Blend” (whom we met back in El Salvador) and it was nice to have friends join us on the lobster adventure and kayaking through the estuaries.

Spiders and monkeys and birds, oh my!

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Mary

Our first stop in Costa Rica was in the tranquil bay of Santa Elena. We were exhausted and ready for a break from the high winds. Once the anchor was down, we relaxed with a sunset cocktail and to enjoy the deserted scenery surrounding us.

Santa Elena, Costa Rica

The tranquility soon was broken by this sound

Had we entered Jurassic Park? Are there gorillas in the mist? No, just the local howler monkey troop welcoming us to Costa Rica. We were certain they were going to be giant, gorillas even, but when we finally saw them they were basic-monkey sized. This country had me at first grunt.

Howler monkeys all over the place

What’s cuter than a baby monkey?!!

Eager to see more of Costa Rica, we left the boat safely at Marina Papagayo and rented a car with pals, Robin and Mike from Mermaid and spent a few days up in the very wet inland mountains and the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

Of course we didn’t forget Lucy.

Driving in Costa Rica is a combination of well paved roads and pot hole filled dirt trails where interesting obstacles are par for the course.

Modern day cowboy.

We spent a fascinating day touring the Monteverde Cloud Forest, which was made even better by our knowledgeable guide, Javier. Its protective reach extends over 35,000 acres atop the Continental Divide. There are over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, and 1,200 species of amphibians and reptiles living within its bounds.

Javier leading us through the Cloud Forest. And yes we are styling in those rain jackets

It is well worth having a guide to help you spot the local flora and fauna and explain the fascinating ecosystem found in this lush forest. We had just started the tour when a spider monkey quietly swung overhead. Unlike the Howlers, they don’t make a peep because as Javier explained: in this wild preserve full of predators (mainly wild cats, who actually prefer to hunt in the trees), “monkey cry, monkey die”. Sorry to say I didn’t have the camera out in time for the spider monkey, but we did for the resplendent Quetzal. What is this you ask? I did too after the 100th person in Central America talked about this colorful, yet elusive bird. It is the official bird of Guatemala, even their money is named after it, but they are rare, almost non-existent in Guatemala. However, good ol’ Javier (aka the Quetzal whisperer) with his bird calls and years of experience spotted this majestic creature for us. And wow was it a treat, this bird’s colors are so brilliant he looks like a cartoon. Javier was ingenious enough to help us take this picture through his scope with our phone.

We took this photo through a scope, which doesn’t do it justice, but proof we saw the resplendent Quetzal!

Later in the tour, Javier calls us over to a small crack in the hillside, shines his flashlight and with a devilish smile tells us to look inside. Eeek, I believe is the word you are looking for…

tarantula

This Millipede smelled like almonds. And no he didn’t smack Pete in the face.

Cloud Forest

Stylish hanging bird’s nest built from moss. This bird must work for Dwell magazine.

Cloud Forest living up to its name.

Feed me, Seymour! Plants that look like they want to reach out and grab you

Jack ass on the canopy bridge

After a few days of R&R in Monteverde, which included delicious meals, cool weather and an earthquake. Yes, 5 years in San Francisco without an earthquake and 5 days in CR and we were rockin and rollin’, we headed back to our marina along the coast.

Great meal at Trio restaurant. Moments after this photo was my first earthquake!

We had a lovely stop in Playa Avellanas and enjoyed lunch at Lola’s watching an international crowd of surfers in this remote spot. (Good lord all we do is eat.)

Lunch at Lola’s

Lola (yes, this is Lola and no we didn’t order the spare ribs)

We came to Costa Rica 20 years ago and it is amazing how much it has changed. A LOT more expensive, but still as beautiful. We’ll tell you more of our adventure in Part II of the CR post.

Let’s Rally

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Mary

When we first started this trip, I envisioned sipping cold beers on the beaches of Mexico, then sailing to Costa Rica for eco-everything, anchoring off a remote island or two, going through the Panama Canal and finally to the holy grail of clear waters – the Caribbean. But there are four, yes, four other countries between Mexico and Costa Rica. The “forgotten middle” as some call it.

Neko heading to El Salvador

And I’ll admit it, El Salvador was not at the top or even on my list of must-see countries. There are a lot of reasons boaters don’t stop places; too much crime, too expensive, too big a headache to check in, too few places to stop and on and on. El Salvador’s main strike against it with boaters is that its entry is too “scary”. (See crossing sand bar post) But after hearing others (that’s you Torben and Judy) say it was no big deal and that the El Salvador Rally was worth checking out, we decided to take the chance, put on our big boy pants, cross the bar and see what “the savior” had to offer. And indeed, unlikely as it sounds, Neko was “saved” with fixes to our hydraulic steering and generator by helpful craftsmen in El Salvador. And we were saved from missing out on a fascinating country. Outdoor fun, indoor fun, city life, country life and sea life, what a mix.

Boquerón, one of El Salvador’s 22 volcanoes

Joya de Cerén, is an archaeological site of a Maya farming village preserved remarkably intact under layers of volcanic ash. The “Pompeii of the Americas”

The El Salvadorian ladies love their frilly aprons and can balance anything on their heads.

Fish market in Libertad

Iglesia el Rosario, looks like a cement airplane hanger on the outside, but inside…

Iglesia el Rosario interior. The sunlight coming through the windows changes throughout the day creating a stunning natural light show. It has been a zillion years since Peter’s last confession, but he broke into this church so we could see the inside. It was well worth it and I’ll have him say 5 Hail Marys.

We spent a month meeting fantastic new friends,

Sweet Jan. Lucy’s best new pal!

learning that El Salvador is a proud country that is moving beyond their civil war (that was 20 years ago folks)

Crazy night at Che bar. The bartender and his friend are both children of Guerrilla fighters during the civil war. Their mom and dad.

Crazy night at Che bar. The bartender and his friend are both children of Guerrilla fighters, both their dads and moms.

and enjoyed exploring both El Salvador and neighboring Guatemala (see Guatemala post). Because of their close proximity to each other and the fact you get a four country visa, land travel between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua is relatively easy.

Indigenous ladies of Guatemala

To all you fellow boaters out there thinking of doing the El Salvador Rally – give it a shot. It is VERY informal and chill. No need for morning nets, just wander up to the bar or pool and see what’s what. I liked the fact there were only about 20 boats at any given time, allowing you to actually know everyone.

With Mike and Holly in the colonial town of Suchitoto

El Salvadorian artist, Fernando Llort’s gallery.

I jumped in a fountain to save a dog!

Learning about indigo tie dying from women’s artist coop

Indigo tie dying with Rose

Cooling off the pool with ice blocks. You’d think we were kids in a candy store.

dork

Dinghy raft up

Rally crew in Suchitoto

Peter getting neck message. Wait! What???

Peter getting neck massage. Wait! What???

Funky tree house room we stayed in during trip to Juaya

Funky tree house room we stayed in during trip to Juayua. It was a great place and especially enjoyed the cool weather up in the mountains.

Juayua food festival

Zip lining through the jungle. See zip line post

The laid back attitude of Bill and Jean (rally organizers) created a no pressure atmosphere for participating as much or as little as you desire. We did both planned activities and explored on our own. For god sake, if anything go for the $1 beer 😉

Bye to all our Rally pals

Costa Rica, here we come.

Flying Chicken

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Mary

Hello, my name is Mary and I am a chicken. I’m afraid of a lot of things; first and foremost moving fast and being out of control. Skiing, motorcycles, boat racing, you name it. Peter wants to do and does all these high adrenaline activities and my response 99% of the time is “no way”. Then the next thing I know, I’m snapping skis on my feet, zipping down the highway on the back of a Ducati or racing JY15’s on a frozen Hudson River – bitchin’ and cryin’ the whole way. So when Peter and a group of boating friends said, “let’s go zip lining through the El Salvadorian jungle”, I gave my pat answer. I’ll let you guess what happened next…

At least we will fall to our deaths looking stylish. Peter and his chick(en), Julie and Ken (Kia Ora) and Janet and Paul (Talos IV)

Why oh why

Flying chicken

Here we go

We survived

Don’t tell Peter that I loved ever second 😉

Animal House

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Mary

One of the greatest aspects of travel is the people you meet. You become fast friends with fellow boaters because you are experiencing this strange new lifestyle together and can completely relate to one another. You become friendly with locals at each stop and benefit from their knowledge and eagerness for you to experience their hometown. You meet folks on their vacations who are perplexed by your strange way of boat life. These interactions are the brightest part of our travels, but our stay at Casa Raab was somehow different. It didn’t seem like we were meeting new friends; it was more like coming home to old ones.

Casa Raab courtyard

Casa Raab is a B&B 20 miles outside of Oaxaca in San Pablo Etlan and we went there for a few days simply to balance out our time in the city and see what the countryside had to offer.

Rebecca, the owner, lives on this 40-acre ranch that her husband’s family built in the 1960s. Now she, her husband Tony and her mother Coralie run the inn/boutique mezcal farm/animal rescue center.

Crushed and roasted maguey awaiting distillation

Mezcal bottles waiting to be filled

Rebecca with her rescues

Yes, you heard me right, animal rescue. When we pulled into the gravel driveway we had to slow down to avoid hitting any of the dozen or so dogs that were running to greet us. Lucy was happy to see the other dogs and even happier when she learned that the humans carry treats in their pockets. Rebecca is a true inspiration to me as she has rescued hundreds of local dogs over the years. In fact, just the day before we arrived she had taken in 8 puppies. And no, dad, I did not take one home.

New arrivals

Tom, his wife Judy and his other wife Jane (LOL, just kidding), long-stay guests at the inn but really honorary assistant managers, made the introductions to all the dogs and gave us a tour of the grounds.

Judy & Tom

Mud puppy

Jane and her rescue Tallulah

The stunning scenery and charming home includes horses, cats, turtles, donkeys and of course the dogs, as well as acres of agave plants they grow and use to brew their own mezcal.

Lucy, don’t make an ass of yourself

We met with a varied cast of ex-pat characters staying in the main house and casitas on the property as well as neighbors, all of whom welcomed us into their little family and turned a sightseeing trip into a special treat. We quickly learned that Casa Raab is a place where people come to stay for months at a time and come back year after year. Yikes, I’m making it sound like a cult, but seriously it is a group of wonderfully interesting, funny and kind people who know how to enjoy themselves. We all sat around gabbing and drinking and within a few hours, as we sat down to a marvelous homemade Mexican dinner, we weren’t sure if we’d checked into an inn or arrived at the home of long time friends.

Melanie, Deb, Tom, Judy, Jane and Rebecca

Tom and his wife Judy from Richmond have been coming here for years and stay for several months at a time. You think we are crazy to travel with Lucy by boat – they drove to Mexico from Virginia, so their two dogs, whom they adopted from Rebecca’s rescue, could be with them. Their friend Jane who also is from Richmond was there and we immediately bonded, as she became by fashion consultant. And Rebecca’s friend Debbie was using the house as a home base for her buying trip for her store in Texas. She really knows her Mexican folk art and crafts and taught us a lot and even was kind enough to let me have the pick of the litter from her collection of hand woven bags. We met Melanie and Norman from Brooklyn, and they gave us a much-needed dose of NY. And, of course, Coralie, Rebecca’s mom, was a delight. Every morning at 7am, everyone is welcomed to join in on a hike with other visitors, neighbors and the dogs through the 40+ acres of Casa Raab grounds. It is a beautiful setting, feeling much like the hills of Tuscany, only with agave fields instead of olive trees and in the distance Mayan ruins instead of old forts. Tom kindly offered for Lucy to stay under his watchful eye one day so we could more easily explore Monte Albán and head back into Oaxaca to explore museums and have dinner. We love Lucy to death but this is a rare treat as visiting museums, nice restaurants and shopping can be difficult with Lucy in tow. Monte Albán lives up to its reputation as a fascinating archaeological site.

The next day we were treated by Jane serving as our first tour guide of the day and she took us to a small organic market and helped me pick out an embroidered blouse made by man from Mixes (MEHAYS), an area so remote it isn’t even mapped yet.

Jane buying flowers

man from Mixes

She also took us to a local artist’s studio, which had a beautiful home and workshop where we saw the most impressive alebrije (colorful wooden folk art sculptures) we’d seen in Oaxaca. It was fascinating to see the precision of their artistry and skills, far surpassing the brightly colored traditional figures we’d seen throughout the area. This is one of those places we’d have never discovered on our own and were so grateful to Jane for the insider’s tour. But, the fun didn’t stop here, in the afternoon Judy took the lead and drove us to an incredible artist space known as El Centro de las Artes San Agustín Etla, or simply CASA.

CASA

Interior of former weaver factory

CASA is located at an old weaving factory that now has been restored into Mexico’s first eco-arts center founded by famous Mexican artist Francisco Toledo. The building itself seems like a work of art and amazed us that a factory would be placed in such a grand edifice.

Hand made paper kites

Paper jewelry

Artist working in felt and alpaca

Artists making paper and print making

Love the bathroom signs

Old water pipes from a former hydroelectric plant were utilized to bring water in for Arte Papel a handmade paper facility. The grounds alone would have been worth the visit, but we were also treated to a Toledo exhibit and the opportunity to watch artists in residence working on intricate fabric creations, printmaking and papermaking.

Francisco Toledo wild creature

We returned to a farewell dinner of the most interesting dish I’ve tasted since we came to Mexico. Judy and Jane made Huitlacoche (weet-lah-KOH-chay) served over pasta. What is Huitlacoche you ask. Don’t worry, I asked too. Well, simply put it is corn smut or fungus. Oh yes, nothing but the best for us, LOL. Seriously, it was so delicious and is considered a delicacy to many, now including us. You may see it in the states marketed as Mexican truffles, but really there is no need to spin it, it’s fungus and it’s fabulous.

Huitlacoche

Finally on the morning of our departure, we said our teary goodbyes as if we had known this group for decades. Loaded down with gifts (beautiful bread from Tom and Judy, mezcal gourds from Rebecca, a belt from Jane and the bag from Debbie) we aimed the car back to Huatulco and those windy roads.

Morning hike

Our stay was way too short, but this was definitely a quality trip and truly called for a hasta luego and not an adios to our new amigos. If you are reading this, guys, we want to thank you SO MUCH for a wonderful time!

A Fabulous Trip to Sunny Acapulco

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Mary

I first learned of Acapulco, in the 1970s, home sick from school, the overzealous Price is Right announcer declared the final showcase prize as “A Fabulous Trip to Sunny Acapulco!”. The Love Boat pulled into port more times than I could count and I’m pretty sure the Flintstones took a trip to Rocapulco. Sadly, in recent years the media’s main focus has been on the city’s episodes of drug gang violence, thus the demise of Acapulco’s tourist industry. Because of the latter, many boaters don’t stop here, but damn it, I’ve been waiting to see cliff divers since the 2nd grade. So cliff divers we saw.

We decided to go to the night show, which is great for the drama, but not great for our camera, so sorry for the grainy photos.

FYI, there are many ways to watch the clavadistas (divers); free from the road, pay $4 for the viewing platform or pay a $15 cover fee for a table (fee includes two drinks) at La Perla bar at the El Mirador hotel. Guess which option we picked?

Peter and I had the place to ourselves and watched the divers from the best seat in the house. From our vantage point you could see the whole spectacle; the divers parading down the stairs, jumping into the narrow cove and swimming across to scale the steep jagged cliff wall (which in hindsight seemed like the most dangerous part), praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe, to the big dives from as high as 130 feet. Pretty spectacular, but there were only 4 divers and 2 of them dove in tandem. Don’t get me wrong, it was impressive, but for some reason I thought the show would last longer. Luckily there was another dive at 9:30pm, so we decided to move down to the viewing platform for round two. Here you are right where the divers hop over the wall to enter the water, making you feel part of the action. The one thing we noticed was that after 80+ years of this tradition, how simple and old school of an event it is. The divers walk down by themselves, no handlers, no cheesy music, no corporate sponsors, no “senor y señoras please direct your attention” kind of announcement. It is just the divers and their bravado.

This time there were six divers and with each one the height of the dive and difficulty increased, culminating in the final diver landing into a ring of fire in the waters below. “ooohhh, awwww” We loved it.

VW Bugs, official Acapulco taxi

Since it was late we jumped in a cab back to the boat. No yellow cabs here, another charming part of Acapulco is that almost all the cabs are VW Bugs. No, not the brand new, plenty of leg room Beetles, but the old ones that they thankfully refuse to let die. Since our family had a 1964 Bug in my youth, they are near and dear to my heart and it was great to ride in one again. The city is much like San Francisco with its many hilly, curvy streets, so the driver’s stick shift ability was almost as impressive as the cliff divers.

With over 1.5 million people Acapulco is a real city and a much needed contrast from the many small beach towns we’ve experienced. We need that balance or it all starts to seem the same and god forbid we become jaded 😉 On the approach to the harbor you have a great view of how large of a place it is, sprawling up the hillsides and around the enormous bay. This is a house divided as the mega rich live and vacation on the North side in areas like Diamante. We stayed in a rather nice newly

Pool at Acapulco Marina

renovated marina on the South side and decided to stick to this area and explore the older historic part of town. As we walked around you could definitely feel the character of a city that once was and glimpses of it trying to come back.

Zócalo

The traditional main square, the Zócalo, is lined with banyan trees, cafés and pedestrian only streets.

Nuestra Señora de la Soledad cathedral

At one end of the square is the Nuestra Señora de la Soledad cathedral, with a surprisingly non-Mexican architectural style of blue onion-shaped domes and Byzantine towers.

We stopped for a bite to eat and people watch in the square. Although I have never been somehow I feel like this is what parts of Cuba look like.

A little lunch and people watching

Shoe shine stations all over the Zócalo

Then with map in hand we set out on a walking tour of the city and to hunt for the “La Casa de los Vientos” (House of the Winds). So up and down and around the streets we went seeing one beautiful view of the city after next. The hilly streets really reminded us and our leg muscles of San Francisco.

We couldn’t get over the stunning grand old stone homes that have been abandoned, but our itch to buy up investment property was left unscratched. I’m sure we will be kicking ourselves in a few years when this place is booming again.

Exterior of empty house

Interior, shot through the broken stain glass window

Empty house

For sale

Another abandoned grand home

65′ snake tile mosaic depicts the Aztec god of rain Tlaloc

Dog detail in mural

Frog detail. The frog was Diego’s nickname

42′ feathered Aztec god Quetzalcoatl

Finally, we arrived at the “La Casa de los Vientos”, where the famed artist Diego Rivera lived out his final years and although the home is now a private residence, you can see his tile mosaic mural depicting Aztec gods on the wall outside.

This was a terrific payoff to a strenuous, hot hike up and down this residential neighborhood.

click here for more photos

About a 6 ½

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Mary

We anchored in Manzanillo in front of the “Las Hadas” resort where they filmed portions of the movie 10.

Las Hadas anchorage

Nice enough place, but it is getting a little long in the tooth and far from our perfect stop. It was a combination of things; being stuck for a week in a place in which we would rather have spent only a few days, lots of loud BAD music playing until the wee hours of the night and the only real way to shore and into town was to go through the resort. Although they do have a marina at the resort, they were not overwhelmingly welcoming to the riff raff coming from the anchorage.

Las Hadas poolside

They charge 200 pesos a day to park at the dinghy dock – about $18US a day. Most dinghy docks are free or only a few bucks, so this seemed a tad pricey. However, that fee did allow us to use the resort’s decaying pool and a dip in fresh water is always a plus, so who were we not to take advantage? And, no, I didn’t get Bo Derek cornrows 😉

Lucy was perra non grata here. Now, I completely understand her not being allowed in the resort proper, but you’d think you could take her up the service road. One time after we walked out the guard would not let Peter back in with Lucy, even though it was the only way back to the boat. Unfortunately, this service road was the only way to get the local bus, which was the only way to town, so we cajoled and demanded and played dumb to get her in and out.

Another one rides the bus

Once outside Las Hadas, we were back in action and Lucy boarded buses and walk the streets without anyone batting an eye.

The reason we were “stuck” in Manzanillo was we were waiting for our infamous package of boat parts to arrive from the US. Shipping anything to Mexico has the distinct possibility of being hung up in customs, misplaced by incompetent shipping companies and a whole host of other issues too ridiculous to bore you with, but the frustration definitely hung over us like a black cloud.

Manzanillo ship yards

We had been trying to get this package shipped to us in several different cities, but with each new and devious snag, we moved on and had it shipped to the next city.

After many days of this craziness, we were hoping to celebrate Peter’s birthday with the arrival of our new watermaker pump (yay! He says), but it was not meant to be.

Bar Social

Apparently Peter’s day of birth is cause for rejoicing not only in our family but also in the shipping company’s office, as they decided to take the day off for no apparent reason, except of course to fiesta por Pedro. So we turned our attention to historic downtown Manzanillo to try and salvage this blessed day.

Manzanillo is Mexico’s largest cargo port city so it is a real working town. It was interesting to see a place where tourism isn’t #1. The city is a little rough around the edges, but that is what actually gave it some charm. We met some real characters and had a ball at Bar Social, a famous cantina in downtown Manzanillo.

Bar Social regular

It has been there since the 1950s and hasn’t changed much, including some of the clientele and tradition of free botaneras (appetizers) with your drinks. The bartender brought plate after plate of delicious nibbles from guacamole to ceviche to my favorite -fresh jicama with lime and chili powder. Let’s just say we sat there drinking long enough not to need dinner 😉

A few days later, the package finally arrived, the black cloud lifted and we sailed off to Zihuatanejo. Since we didn’t find our perfect 10 in Manzanillo we hope Zihuatanejo delivers all that Andy Dufresne dreamed it would be behind the bars of Shawshank. (click here for more photos)

Cave dwellers

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Mary

We stopped for a few days in the isolated anchorage of Ensenda Carrizal, just a few miles north of Manzanillo where we heard the snorkeling was good. A lot of the guide books proclaim places as “a snorkeler’s paradise” but often are far from it.

San Luciano ship wreck poking out of the water.

Carrizal coral reef

If the water is murky and you can’t see 2 feet in front of your face, who cares how many fish are there. Sadly this was our experience at a site close by in Bahía Santiago where the cargo ship “San Luciano” sank during a hurricane in 1958 and is now an artificial reef. Although it was interesting to see the top of the 300ft. ship sticking up out of the water, under the hazy waters, we saw nada . But Carrizal certainly made up for that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much live coral in one place and it was reassuring to know that there are still thriving coral reefs in this world.

I found Nemo

A whole lotta fish

“Kia Ora” was the only other boat in the anchorage and one morning Ken and Julie came by to introduce themselves and told us to jump in our dinghy and follow them to some rock caves they had discovered on a previous visit.

Rock Cave

So off we went around the bend thinking we’d see a cool rock arch (which we did) we could zip through, but to our delight (ok and yes, my hesitation) they lead us to a real cave about a 100 yards long. It was absolutely beautiful and our own little Pirates of the Caribbean ride sans mechanical pirates and the “yo ho ho” song. The first time through was a little unnerving as you weren’t sure if the surge was going to push you against the wall, or we’d hit a precarious little rock or my shrill screams would deafen Peter, but alas, we survived and round and round we went back through again and again, no E-ticket needed. click here see video (ok, I’ll admit after watching the video it doesn’t look that scarey -LOL)

Also in Carrizal is a little fishing shack floating on a raft like contraption. All a quaint little scene until I heard the bark of a dog.

Floating fish camp

So of course I grab the binoculars and sure enough their are two young dogs on the platform portion of the raft and no fisherman in sight. The next day still no fisherman. I know they are there to do a job and guard this area, but it was hot and god knows when they were fed last. So, not being able to stand it any more, we take a big bowl of water with ice cubes and a few scoops of Lucy’s food and head off to the raft.

Hungry hounds

Initially, the dogs go bananas barking at us as we get closer, but as soon as we pull up next to their raft they slink behind a barrel (some guard dogs). We leave the food and water and as we drift away, slowly we see them inch forward and gobble it up. We made another trip over there the next day to do the same, this time leaving a lot more water for the poor pups. Fellow boaters/animal lovers, if you are in this anchorage and see them and no sign of the fisherman, please drop off at least a bowl of water for them.

To see the photos larger, just click on them!!!

Sailing on Neko

Enjoy Yourself, It's Later Than You Think

Author Archives: Mary