March 2005
Mexico Trip:Ixtapa
Okay. We got caught by the Time share people
At the Ixtapa, Mexico airport, just out side of customs,
we were met by a line of nicely dressed men. They were
there to assist us in getting a taxi to our hotel. And
by the way, it included breakfast, the next day, at the best
resort in Ixtapa! High on a hill overlooking the Bay.
This morning, on the way over, I half-jokingly asked Juan
if he was a Scientologist or a member of religious cult.
He denied it.
Now we've had breakfast, toured the deluxe unit with
'infinity' jacuzzi pool and are working out the numbers.
I'm writing this and not listening as I'm afraid of being
captured and whisked off to a commune to do farm work.
They think I'm taking notes. I scream silently "Get me
out of here!" Now they are giving TomO a special offer
if he pays cash! A third man comes with a deal that's
valid for today only. Wait, now it sounds interesting
and maybe we can afford it! Wow a 4 week-a-year
time-share, for 5 years for only US$2,400. Hey, that
doesn't sound to bad. Can we go to the ATMs and get
enough for the down payment. After all this is the
best resort in all of Ixtapa!
-
- - - - - - - -
Carl, TomO and I flew in to Ixtapa within about 90
minutes of each other on United, Alaska and America West,
respectively. It is a modern airport with a huge glass
wall where you can watch people pick up their baggage and go
through customs. In Mexico you push a button at
Customs and if a red light goes on, you get your bags
inspected. We all got green lights.
Last night we ate at a resort on the beach. It had
cooled down from the 80-90's to the 70's and was very
pleasant, except we couldn't see to read the menus and eat.
Attached is a picture of Carl eating with the aid of his
miner's lamp.
Zihautanejo
Yesterday evening we took the local bus
from Ixtapa to Zihautanejo (a couple of miles South). It
was a rickity old bus which the driver moved slowly,
honking, trying to scrounge up more passengers. We got off
in the city center which was about 1/2 mile from the beach.
When we walked to the beach we realized we wanted to be at
the next beach (La Ropa) so we took a taxi over there. This
is where Joe and I stayed in April 1974. Needless to say
it's really changed. At that time there were about 4 hotels
on this beach ... now there are many.
We ate at Patty's cafe near the north
end of the beach. This had been recommended to us by a
couple we met at the Airport ("El Oso") when we arrived on
Saturday. We sat at a table on the sand and ate enchiladas
and nachos.
Today we went to the Ixtapa Artesians
Market. The main thing we bought were tattoos. Much
later we realized they are high on our arms and will be
rarely visable! Maybe
we'll have to go back for some lower
tattoos.
We've rented a car and will take some
short trips north and south to quaint fishingvillages.
- - - -
Yesterday we rented a car and first
drove south to a little village called Petallan. There we
walked through the church (clean and bright) before checking
out all of the gold merchants. The square was also
surrounded by stalls selling all kinds of things (purses,
hammocks, shirts, belts, silver, etc.)
On our way North we drove over a dirt
road to the coast to Barra de Potosi for lunch. Great Sopes,
quesadillas and abalone.
North of Ixtapa we visited another
small fishing village and ate ice cream at Burro Borracho
(drunken donkey) at Trontones.
On Friday we taxied to the Ixtapa
airport and flew to Puerto Vallarga via "Mexico" (as Mexico
City is called). We were classified as standby and weren't
sure we were going to get on the second leg. But we did and
landed in sunny PV at about 3 PM.
At the airport, we adroitly avoided the
Time Share man and took a taxi to our Time Share hotel, the
deluxe Mayan Palace. We are so far north of PV on Banderas
Bay that we are in another state of Mexico! This state (Nayarit)
is also in another time zone, but here they keep it the same
as PV (in Jalisco).
At the end of the hotel check-in
process, we were invited to a free buffet breakfast the next
morning. Where we'd hear about the ammenities of the hotel,
the tourist attractions (and a little promotion). "Fool me
once, shame on you, etc. blah blah". On man, did we ever
fall into this trap! We were so confident that
we knew all about this timeshare
stuff. Four hours into the hard sell, I rudely bowed out.
TomO and Carl stuck it out for another hour before they were
abruptly shown the door.
Now we are a little gun shy. When a
little girl approaches us to sell us chicklets we shout "No
Time Share" and run the other way.
The Mayan Palace is a very grand resort
with oceans of swimming pools and lagoons right next to the
ocean. We have a 1 bedroom suite on the 4th (top) floor
facing the golf course. Luckily our building has a red
tower in the center or we would not be able to find our
room.
You can see some PV pictures at
Yesterday we went on the best
adventure. We signed up for a canopy tour. There are 3
canopy places in the PV area and we chose one that was
recommended by our hotel because it's the newest, has the
most cables (15) and highest up. Those were are
characteristics we thought good ... until the strap was
snapped onto the cable!
About 30 of us met downtown at the tour
office and all climbed onto a jungle truck for the 45 minute
drive to a location up in the mountains above Mismaloya
Beach.
We put our things into a locker and
used the restroom facilities. The wanted us to "canopy" and
not "cano-pee-pee", they said. We got fitted with a
harness and were given a demonstration about how we would be
attached to the cable and how we would "sit" to ride.
People over 250 pounds may not ride and
one or two people were asked to step on the scales ... I
don't think anyone was excluded.
We hiked up a steep trail to the first
cable. Rounds of tree trunks were used for steps. The
first cable run was short and it gave us a chance to
practice before we got to the scary cables. The main strap
is clamped onto a pulley with handles along with a safety
backup strap. A crew member did this then gave us a shove
off and we wnen zinging to the end of the cable where
another crew member "caught" us.
Between most cables we had to climb up
a trail to the next cable. About 5 or so of them criss
crossed a very deep gorge. Each time I imagined myself
falling, fainting, being smashed on the granite boulders
below. It was very scary but I enjoyed it.
When we were done we walked to the
restaurant and ate lunch. This was in such a lush, peaceful
setting, we wanted to stay there and let it sink in.
You can see pictures of us on the
canopy tour here
And
