Day 5 in Zihua - Touring with Roberto ..... and beautiful time with folks on the water!

My dads blog entry was the best intro to our day today, which started with us being picked up from the apartment by Roberto.  Roberto is a local tour guide who chatted my mom up a few days ago in line at a grocery store.  She said 'he charmed her', and it wasn't long before he charmed the rest of us too.  He was so open and transparent about so many local things that we would never be privy to, being white and not from Mexico.  

He was the best tour guide and we saw the most interesting things today.

First stop was to see the Parthenon of El Negro.

He was the most corrupt Police Chief of Mexico City from 1970 until 1976.

He was paid about $1000. per month while he had this job but acquired

over one billion dollars while he held this position thru drugs and arms dealing.

He was arrested in 1976 when his brother in law , The president of Mexico finally got removed from office.The prison sentence was 30 years for all his crimes but he got out in 8.

Here is a youtube video of the place. Cut and paste.

It's only 12 minutes long and pretty interesting.

https://youtu.be/OR2Z4k2j2zs

It was quite a steep driveway up to his house.  Roberto actually brought along one of those pre-school ropes that everyone holds onto when out in public ... we asked what that was for, and he said that he often has to pull people up the driveway, especially when they are old or drunk. lol ... we, thankfully, were neither, and did find hoofing it up the driveway.

Marble floors were all imported from Italy.  In the 1970's, it cost $400,000 to build this place.

He built a tunnel to go from his home to the water, all underground, so that he could escape if bad guys came for him.... super corrupt.

Stunning gates to the entry of his home ... he stole them from somewhere in Mexico City (I think), to have them relocated here for his private use.  Also, this is a tiger cage to the left where he would tell prisoners brought up from Mexico City that if they could survive the tigers, they would win their freedom.  Nobody ever survived the tigers ...... 

Next it was off to a family run roof tile making company .... they live and work on the same property.  What my dad is standing in front of is the mans progress for the day ... he started early that morning and they will dry in the sun for 24 hours before being moved and ultimately fired in their ovens on the property beside them.

He was quick, and seemed very kind .... some older family members (dad?  grandpa?) were relaxing under the shade just a few feet from him.  They seem to enjoy alot of togetherness .... love the importance of family I saw everywhere on this trip.

24,000 tiles at a time bake in this oven.....Here is a shot from the top.

And this is a side shot .... they burn coconut shells and husks....

Next was a trip to a coconut plantation.... dad and I were both super impressed by this door ... Chris would have loved this stop with all the wood projects.

The bigger coconuts are sweeter ....

These are finds from the property .... displayed very proudly as artifacts of their ancestors....

Our tour was over after lunch, so we spent the rest of the day on the beach in La Ropa .... I never get tired of this view ... and now that I am home, I am glad I took so many beach shots.  Totally my happy place.

Mom, again the ultimate organizer, set up a sweet sail home on this catamaran ....

Happy passengers ....

My beautiful mama ....

Here is dad ... just before he realizes he left his brand new sandals back at the beach! He had waited a year for these shoes!  so, our lovely captain turned the boat around and dad retrieved them!

Happy Place .... I can't get over how nice it was to have it just be me and my parents ... just cruising through our days ... waiting to get hungry again ... swimming and relaxing on the beach .... it really was just such a great week.

Love her ....

Mom had to go get her stitches out at the dentist, so dad and I walked to the Italian restaurant where he remembers the best lasagna he had ever tasted ....

We had a nice view of the town below ... we were treated to a few parades going through ...

So fun spending some 1-1 time with this guy ... we never have really had that ... so it was a kick.

Ah, yet another flattering pic of me with my mouth open ... thanks dad.

She ended up getting the lasagna ... and true to dads comment, it really was the best lasagna I had ever tasted ... love moms smile here .....

Day 4 in Zihua - Ixtapa Island and Zihua lightup!

Today mom went down to the pier early to find a fisherman, or someone with a boat to take us to Ixtapa Island.  She is a determined soul and left dad and I to go seek one out.  

So, here we are ... on a boat! On our way to Ixtapa Island .... it was a lovely boat ride ..... favorite place is on the ocean.

The boat driver and the discussion about the deal and what we received was pretty off .... but it was a safe ride, on our very own charter, so we couldn't ask for much more ....



We found a great spot (after moving once a little further down the beach with no kids and more space_.... and we got right to work!

Mom and I went snorkeling on the other side of the beach ... the Island has 2 sides .... with a few different sections -- one section is for snorkeling, the other has restaurants and good swimming and the 3rd is a clothing optional section.  We started at the restaurant side and walked to the other side to snorkel .... it was alot of fun, except mom got a bad snorkel so i gave her mine .... I didn't really mind snorkeling without a mouth piece .... but mom was like "this is WAY nicer" lol  We saw alot of beautiful fish ... it was alot of fun.

After a ferry back to the mainland, we walked across the parking lot to see the crocodiles in order to get our taxi ...

Zihau knows how to do a lightup - those are sparklers on the roof!  We had street food for dinner !  Tacos, churros, street drinks (that were too sweet for us, but we still drank them!) ....

Hard to convey how cool it was to spend some solid time with these two, on my own ... it had pretty much been 25 years since I left home, and since then I have always had my own family with me ... I think I want to make solo time with them more of a priority moving forward ... it was alot of fun....plus they took such good care of me!  Which was such a treat!!!

His face says it all "What is this?  Do I have to eat this?"  He wasn't the biggest fan of the churro ... and I guess honestly I wasn't either, but churros have great memories of Disneyland and my kids love of churros, so I had one to celebrate them!  But he won't order one again lol....don't get me wrong though ... he ate it.....he's not a quitter.

Ah the lovely lightup with this lady!!!  We were wearing our matching jumpers!!

ZIHUA ... you snagged a piece of my heart this week ....

Once back to the apartment, mom went to bed and dad and I headed for roof where he re-counted many stories for me .... this time we sat on the more uncomfortable metal chairs to ensure the legs don't give out like they did on night 1 ... now that was a bit hard on my confidence lol

Day 3 in Zihuatanejo!

We took a combi to a beautiful resort in a very remote part of Zihua .....mom and I got to sit up front with the bus driver because the back was full .... I like traveling with the locals ... the bus drove for quite a while down a really deserted road and stopped at a gate.  Once we got out of the bus, the gate opened and we walked into the most beautiful landscaped resort!  First stop was down to the beach.

Second stop was a swim in the pool!  I did about 20 laps when I first got there because I was still so sore.  My body was sore from the bed, and my neck was really sore ... so the swim loosened a lot up.

We all settled in and got right to work on relaxing .... Ferrari was our server for the day ... lovely man, he is expecting us back on wednesday before my afternoon flight out .... I hope to see him then too .. that would be an awesome ending to this trip ... to spend the lat few hours here.

Our 2 loungers were set  up here ... it was just us for most of our time here.

Dad fell asleep ...

so mom and I went for a walk on the beach ....

Spending some solid time with this lady has been a highlight .... we have laughed a lot ...



Mom and dad taking in the view ... it was incredible to be the only ones here!!

Not sure what dad is doing ...

We were waiting for the combi when the one other couple who was at the pool with us today pulled out of the gate .... the woman driver rolls her window down and says 'Ride?' to which mom thought she asked "Right?" and mom was deciding to tell her whether she should go right or left lol.

Well, we all shrugged, looked at this sweet couple who were asking if we wanted a ride .... after doing a quick look to the heavens that we wouldn't wake up without our kidneys somewhere, we all got in!!  lol .... we used some google translate, we used some broken spanish and some charades ... and they drove us right to our apartment in Zihua .... a little ways out of their way on their ride to Ixtapa.  After some warm hugs and kisses .... we all waved goodbye to these sweet people who seem to be a consistent reflection of the experience we have all been getting from the Mexican people.  Warm and loving .... its been a great experience.

Dad read a review on this restaurant that had the best view of the bay and we had a nice dinner ....

With another award winning view .....

Day 2 in Zihuatanejo!

We caught a ferry over to Las Gatas beach today ....

These two beach bums make this look pretty tough hey?

Mom and I sat there ... for awhile ... laughing at many things .... we had fish tacos, guacamole, mojitos ....

The day went by too quickly but as everyone was lining up for the ferry to take them back across the bay, the three of us set off on foot and had a sweet little hike back ....

Dad and I seem to always be in the back ...mom walks way too fast .... not sure where she needs to get to, but it is kind of nice to turn off ones brain and just follow .... I am normally the one with my brain firing with all the next steps needed, so this is a bit of a kick.

Sunset time!!



Then Jungle Pizza time!  We changed into dry clothes and had a great dinner ......

Yummy ...

It was a really nice day ....