Andale!: December 11th, 2002

Yeesh, Ixtapa was over 2 weeks ago and I haven't finished my entries about it. Well, here goes. It'll probably be more brief since I'm a lil less gushy about it now.

Wednesday, our final day in Ixtapa. Lesson of the day was all about "Mexican time" Bus was half an hour late for our tour of Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. Bus was again half an hour late for our transfer to the airport. Hell, even the plane was late taking off, and the pilot's not even Mexican! It's amazing how laid back you become after less than 72 hours. (Note: Somehow we ended up in a time warp, though we departed late, we still arrived on time.)

Alright, so tour of Ixtapa and Zihua. Unfortunately they didn't stop as much as I would've liked, but that's alright since we were all anticipating the shopping excursion that followed after the tour. The quicker we finished the tour, the more time we would have to shop before heading back to check out of the hotel.

Didn't get to see much of the marina seeing as we just drove past it. Such a shame. We did stop at a crocodile pen where we saw a couple crocodiles sunning themselves and an iguana.

What I like about this destination is that it isn't all sun and sand and food. You do get an experience beyond your basic lax resort-style thing. I learned quickly that the all-inclusive resorts are not the type of thing for me. You miss out on a lot of the culture and local life if you hole yourself up in your resort. And although the idea of having your food taken care of automatically is really appealing, it makes it hard to justify spending money to try the food elsewhere in town. Yeah, all I need from my hotel is a bed to sleep in, a shower, a sink, tv would be nice...and a pool would be bonus. My hotel, the Posada Real (a Best Western property) was perfect for what I wanted. And the breakfast buffet that's included for all their guests is really yummy. Their lunches and dinners are affordable, too, from the looks of their menu...so it's not a real hassle to eat if you don't feel like going out. Since all hotels in Ixtapa are beachfront, there's no sense in paying extra for the view 'cuz it doesn't matter if you're staying at the Barcelo or the Posada, you all get the same view. What I did find interesting is that all the properties we inspected, no matter how posh they were, all their bathrooms were shower only. I'm not one to lounge in a hotel tub anyway, but seeing just a basic shower seemed to cheapen the whole room. So yeah, in my opinion the only thing that makes the price difference between all these resorts is their level of food service and activities. And since I don't need to be babied on my vacation, I'm perfectly happy with basic accommodations so I can explore the local scene at my leisure and expense. Of course, if I'm selling to a rich couple, I'd be singing a different tune :) But generally speaking, those rich people want to be pampered on the beach their whole vacation anyway. Anyway, I digress. Too much shop-talk.

Other than the crocodile reserve they also showed us around the bay in Zihuatanejo, including the Casa Que Canta ("The house that sings") It doesn't actually sing, but part of its claim to fame is as the backdrop for a scene in Shawshank Redemption when Morgan Freeman's character is freed and moves to Zihuatanejo. I haven't seen the movie so I'm not really sure what I'm talking about, but that's what the tour guide told us and those in the know didn't seem to question it so I assume it's correct. There were a lot of nice photo ops for viewing the entire bay from up high.

Though they did show us a lot of wonderful things, I was more enthralled with all the locals going about their day to day dealings. I saw some Mexican boys playing basketball in a courtyard, a mother strolling with a little one on either side, and a burro! THAT is Mexico! *lol*

We had about an hour to shop in the marketplace after the tour. A convo with my mom previous to my trip made a hammock purchase my no. 1 priority which I quickly acquired for 120 pesos (20 CDN, 12 USD) After that the shopping trip kind of fell apart, I felt pressured to barter quickly and "quickly" is not done amongst the hullabaloo in the market. If, after bouncing a price back and forth 4 times, I still wasn't satisfied I swiftly moved along to another vendor. I didn't purchase enough to give out as presents due to time constraints. Finished up with 3 shot glasses and 2 leather handbags. But at least now I'll be ready for my next trip there. And there WILL be a next time if I have anything to do about it.

Back to our hotel for some lunch and checkout. We were a fairly sombre group, it was too soon to leave. Had beef fajitas for lunch again. I realize I should've been more adventurous but they were absolutely divine the day before and I simply had to have them again.

I love their tiny airport, it feels so exclusive. Although they have one arrival gate, they have 4 departure gates. But it's still really intimate, I don't think the departure lounge could hold any more than 200 people tops at one time.

We flew away, and unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the plane to see the shoreline one last time. Pleasingly enough, Calgary wasn't totally freezing when I arrived back home so it didn't matter that I was wearing sandals and a skirt and that my brother had neglected to bring a coat for me. It's hard to believe it's been over 2 weeks since my lil jaunt to Mexico, I miss it lots