We arrived about 14:30 December 1st as planned after a pleasant drive. The weather was cloudy so cooler and as we approached Zihuatanejo we ran into a few spots of rain. We filled up with diesel just north of town and 20 minutes later we pulled into El Manglar RV Park.
We were met and greeted by the regulars already here and by Edmundo, the park owner; parked the rig and headed into the restaurant for lunch then back to park the rig properly, jacks down, slides out. Edmundo had to trim a few palm branches to make enough room at the back.
One thing that we soon realised was that the house batteries were not fully charged when we arrived--they had been charged somewhat by the solar panels but were not completely charged as they should have been. They charge fine (though slowly of course) with the solar panels, with the generator and when plugged into "shorepower", just not by the alternator when driving. The chassis/starting battery was fine. Oh well--something to occupy the lazy day times ahead!
We didn't put too much stuff out right away as we had decided to get the rig a wash and paste wax to remove all the dirt and muck accumulated on our 5800 kilometre journey and we would have to move the rig out and over several feet , away from the neighbour at least 6 or 8 feet so their awning, mats and chairs wouldn't get too wet.
The crew arrived at 8:30. One man stayed working throughout, at various times there were one or two others for an hour or two. They finished about 2:00 pm. Cost? roughly $100.00 Canadian.
Once the rig was done we moved it back into place and began setting up; Carpet down, chairs and tables out, barbecue connected to the main tank and of course, the fan.
We had to ask Mundi (Edmundo) to trim a few more branches to make room for the hammock, but eventually all was done.
A few days later the croc made an appearance on the sand under the foot bridge.
(You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it, then use the Back button to return to the blog page)
December 6th we received some terrible and shocking news; a very dear long time friend had died due to an accident at home. We were both sick at heart, feeling his loss deeply. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Art would fly home for the service, leaving Gillian and the dogs in Zihuatanejo as there was just no where we felt comfortable leaving the dogs for that length of time.
His flight was due out of here at 11:45 Monday morning, but surprise, surprise, it was 40 minutes late leaving. Art was a little nervous as he had only one hour for the scheduled connection in Mexico City for Puerto Vallarta! When the aircraft finally stopped at the arrivals gate he had 15 minutes! Fortunately he was traveling light, had only one small carry on and he made the connection with a couple of minutes to spare!
Not looking forward to airline food, which cost extra anyway on Alaska Air, Art had purchased a couple of ham, cheese, avocado and chili pepper sandwiches (80 cents each!) from the little corner store near our RV Park. After clearing security in PV he bought a bottle of water at one of the shops. 600ml at 27 pesos (2.25 Canadian)!--we pay 17 pesos for 20 litres in the RV Park! That wasn't bad enough—at the boarding gate, security was there again, re-checking the carry on bags and confiscated his almost untouched water!!!!!
After takeoff, when the Alaska Airlines drinks and food cart finally showed up, Art was able to talk the flight attendant out of a bottle of water and 2 cans of Canada Dry ginger ale! It was now well into the late afternoon and he had already eaten one of the by now somewhat dry sandwiches. The water went down really fast and the first can of ginger ale soon followed, saving the second can for the second sandwich!
The Alaska flight dropped into San Francisco for customs and immigration, at least half an hour late due to headwinds but made up most of the time on the turnaround, landing on time in Seattle where he had to change to Horizon Air for the flight to Victoria. Here, (Victoria) the aircraft taxied up to the gate, the door opening exactly at the scheduled arrival time, 23:45 – 14 hours after the scheduled departure from Zihuat.
He was the first through customs and immigration, the officer pointing to his tiny carry on case, asking “Is that all you have?” at Art's affirmative response, he replied “Good for you!” and that was that.
Except for the temperature. He had left temperatures in the high 20's, arrived to sub zero. He was met by a neighbour who was putting him up (putting up with him?) for the few days he would be in Victoria and was soon back at Willis Point, showered and fast asleep.
Tuesday was taken up with getting the old BMW going and digging through the mail—one of which was very important. It appears that there had been an error in our tax returns, and we were being re-assessed. A quick call to the accountant got things moving.
Wednesday was the memorial service and Art was very glad that he had returned for it. He was able to spend a bit of time with our friend's wife and daughter, as well as his brother who had flown in from Europe. We had met Rudy before and had spoken on the phone and it was good to renew that friendship.
Thursday, a bit of running around, picking up a few things to take back—some of which were things we had forgotten in October! Art had also set up appointments to touch base with our broker and banker and of course the accountant, who had by this time contacted Revenue Canada and all was well. A pittance to pay, which we could do on line and if done before the end of December there would be no penalty. This has made us realise that we really will have to set up some way of dealing with the mail for our 10 or 11 month long trip that we have planned for next year.
His long term shoulder problem hadn't done well on the flight, so he managed to book an appointment with a physiotherapist who confirmed that yes, his rotator cuff injury was quite likely now a frozen shoulder. Half an hour later, with a list of do's and don'ts, he was on his way feeling much better.
Thursday evening Art's flight departed Victoria at 8:00 PM. Again, 14 hours in total time, but this trip there were only two stops—one in Vancouver (dinner) and one in Mexico City (breakfast). A total of 7 hours flying and 7 hours in airports! This time all flight were on time, which is just as well—in Mexico City it took Art almost 2 hours to clear customs/immigration, then find and get to the right gate—by bus to a different terminal but he still had time for a leisurely breakfast before boarding the last leg.
The YVR-MEX leg of the flight had not done Art's shoulder any good-- the seat tops were contoured, forcing him to sit round-shouldered; it was impossible to get comfortable. Sleep was not going to be an option here. Fortunately, while rummaging in the BMW for lost keys, he found an SF novel by Todd McCaffery, which he had purchased back in early October and not yet read—due to its having fallen under the passenger seat.
As the plane taxied up to the ramp at ZIH he completed the last page! He stepped off the the plane into beautiful warm (28 C) weather and by the time he had walked the few hundred feet to the terminal was properly warmed up again and had shed all but one layer of clothing!
Gillian and the dogs were there to greet him and carry him home, where he had a much needed shower and fell into bed for the next 5 hours.
That evening we attended a reception at a hotel in Ixtapa in honour of the immigrants to Mexico, mostly American and Canadian. There were speeches, mostly in Spanish, of which we understood maybe half; music, from pathetic to very good; and food, which spanned the same range as the music. After a small plate from the buffet (which he enjoyed very much) and listing to the music of Josie Kuhn (same) Art decided that he had had enough fun and leaving Gillian in the care of our good friend Julia, caught a taxi home and fell into bed. His next awareness was the recognition of daylight and by 7:30 AM he was up and making breakfast.
While Art was away, Gillian and our neighbour Julia took the dogs to beach near the airport, Barra de Potosi. This is a beautiful long sandy beach where Gillian let Trekker run to his hearts content while Julia walked Tia on her leash. This is a beautiful area with a very large lagoon behind it, full of wildlife. Unfortunately, Gillian had neglected to take the camera.
Later Gillian decided to join Trekker for a swim in the bath-water warm ocean. With the noise of the surf she didn't hear Juilia yelling at her until the third time and by then it was too late. Julia was trying to warn her of a mounted cowboy galloping his herd of 20 or so cows along the beach.
Yes, galloping cows. As Julia had feared, Trekker found this irresistible and immediately gave chase. No amount of shouting or calling had any effect, but eventually Trekker had had enough fun and returned, tongue panting and tail wagging. Fortunately the horseman found it funny and was laughing, as was the staff in the nearby restaurant. Gillian however did not find it so --until later as she told Art the story.
On Wednesday (December 16th) when Gillian was taking the dogs on their morning walk, she decided to return via the bridge and through the restaurant. As she got to the restaurant gate she noticed this fellow relaxing on the sand. The table in the foreground is where we usually sit with the dogs.
The croc lay here most of the day; fortunately the restaurant was closed, it being Wednesday, its usual closing day.
We realised later that the summer storms had built up the sand dune in front of the estuary as well as slightly changing the shape of the mouth of the estuary. This has resulted in high water levels in the estuary as it is not draining as often, so there are no longer any sandbanks behind the fence for the crocodiles to rest or sun. (See pics at top of blog)
This morning, Friday, the croc was back. When Martin the waiter (think Manuel from "Faulty Towers") arrived for work, he proceeded to rake the sand and lay the tables with tablecloth and napkin dispenser as normal, ignoring the croc, who ignored him as well!
The cocodrilo (Mexican name for crocodile) lay quietly all morning, until about 1:00 PM when Memo, the owner, thought that perhaps the croc was scaring away customers so decided to see him off. Shouting and waving his arms had absolutely no effect, nor did waving a plastic chair. Finally Memo poked the croc's tail with the chair and jumped back and the crock slowly slid back into the water. Unfortunately I was a half second slow with my shutter finger but you can get the idea: (click the pic)
Today when we came in for lunch Art decided that we would forgo our usual table and sit at the other end of the restaurant at one of the beautiful new tables, the tops made of a slice of tree trunk. The wood is Parota, a very beautiful local hardwood, that came from the owners' family ranch.
Eventually we got the Christmas decorations up.
Saturday the 19th was our day for going out and also tidying the rig inside and finishing up the decorating. (To tell the truth Gillian did that part!)
We went to the next neighbourhood over, Playa Madera, for breakfast at La Casa Cafe and were pleasantly surprised to find live Latin American music--Guitar, charango, flute and panpipes. Beautifully played and sung. The food too was very good and the coffee excellent. Gillian ordered the breakfast burrito, Art huevos mexicana, (scrambled with tomato, onion and chili peppers) served with refritos and fresh tortillas. We shared a large plate of cut fruit--melon, papaya, pineapple and banana. Cost: 155 pesos. (The exchange rate varies from 11.75 to 12 pesos to the Canadian dollar, so $13.00)
We had set off soon after Gillian got up; Gillian and the dogs walking and Art following about half an hour later with the car. There was very little parking, but eventually he found a space not too far away just as Gillian and the dogs arrived. The dogs went into the car and we walked down to the restaurant.
Just past the Cafe the road was closed, a stage being built in the middle of this dead end street, thus all the parked cars; everyone that lived on the other side of the stage had move d their cars out. This was in preparation for La Posada that would be held in the street later that evening for which we returned. Dancing, singing, music, and of course food. The show ends with a nativity pageant acted and narrated by the children, the narration this year in Spanish and English by a young Mexican girl.
We left before the pageant was over as we had arranged to meet friends at Daniel's, a restaurant in centro, where Jimi Mamou was playing and singing at 8:00 PM. So at 8:30 we headed over--no taxis in sight bu t it was only a pleasant 15 minute walk. It would have been a 10 minute walk if we had thought to walk the other direction and over the foot bridge!
We joined our friends who were sitting with Judy, Jimi's wife, and were later joined by Jimi on his break, and later by friends if his from Toronto a dad, mom and 2 teenage boys. We stayed a couple of hours then took a taxi home to the patiently waiting dogs.
Tuesday we were invited over for drinks and appies by Jorge and Lulu, a Mexican couple from Morelia that we had first met a here in the RV Park couple of years ago. They were accompanied by their friends Sergio and Leonor whom we had also met previously. Also joining us were a few neighbours from the park and we had a great bilingual visit. We had a chance to pra ctice our Spanish and they their English.
Then next day (the 23rd) Lulu dropped by to show us an article in the Michoacan newspaper featuring our friend Leonor and her accomplishments in Latin American swim meet. This year she has won a total of 17 medals and in her latest meet set 3 Latin American records in the masters class!
Christmas Eve we hosted a happy hour at our site for the park and other friends, after which the two of us returned to Daniels for more of Jimi Mamou, arriving home before Santa was due.
Christmas day we just took things easy then in the afternoon Gillian and the dogs set off on the half hour walk over the hill to Playa Madera and the house of our friends Cal and Linda. Art followed a bit later with the car loaded with food and chairs.
We had a great evening, Trekker and Tia given free run of the house and fenced yard, getting re-acquainted with Rojo, a very large golden retriever and meeting for the first time Ebony, a black street dog recently adopted by Cal and Linda and a tiny Chihuahua puppy. Trekker was highly excited so needed reining in a bit for a while but eventually settled down. We sat in their courtyard enjoying snacks and drinks and catching up on the year and meeting and conversing with new friends as well.
There were about 16 for dinner! Salads, Roast Pork with apple sauce, pork curry, potatoes, yams, etc etc etc.
Then the cake!
Sometime during the dinner, Linda promised Cal that she would bake his favourite chocolate chip cookies the next day.
Boxing day was another quiet day, during the afternoon we returned again to Cal and Linda's for lunch. This time Gillian and the dogs rode in the car going to the house but elected to walk home.
The rest of Christmas week passed lazily, just enjoying the weather and visiting with friends. Trekker hasn't had his walk on the beach as it is just too busy. This two week period over Christmas and New Year the time when many Mexicans from the interior hit the beach. The other day there were 12 tour buses parked on the road, most of them arriving in the morning after a 4, 6, or 8 hour drive, stay until dusk then load up and head back. Many drivers sleep the day away in the luggage compartments, both sides open for the breeze! The Para Sail gang had their hands full trying to keep the landing zone clear!
Sunday night or Monday morning the estuary broke through the sand bar, it's level dropping a couple of feet. One of the crocodiles also decided to push through the fence and head out into the bay during the night. Unfortunately, there were too many people on the beach later when it wanted to return and being nervous of all the activity it lay in the shallow water in the ocean and up on the sand waiting for everyone to go away. The authorities arrived and after a while captured it and took it to a larger and quieter refuge. This happens here once a year or so; you can see pictures of a similar operation on our blog pages of last year. We hadn't gone the the beach that day so missed all the excitement. Lot's of tourists, both Mexican and foreign, will have stories to tell this year.
DUH! I have JUST figured out the easy (correct?) way to place photos where I want them! Up until just this minute, when the downloaded photos appeared at the top of the page I have been dragging them through all the text and pics until I get them to where I want them. This frequently disrupts line spacing etc. so then I have to go back and correct that. For the last two photos, when they appeared at the top of the page, I tried placing the cursor on the photo, right click, cut, move the cursor to the appropriate line, click paste. . . And there they were!!!!!
Wednesday evening Dieter and Anna, friends and neighbours in the RV Park, had a group of us over to graze the evening away, some from the park and some from town. Again a Gringo and Mexican gathering, so there was lots of language practice and lots of fractured Spanish! The Mexicans spoke far better English than the rest of us did Spanish. But we are all learning and progressing.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
We had decided that New Years Eve would be very low key and providentially our next door neighbours Bill and Jean (from Oyama BC) invited us to join them for an evening of appies and drinks and, if we were all still awake at the magic hour, walk to the beach to watch the fireworks welcome in the New Year. We actually got together at our site, though Bill and Jean provided the drinks and food. The reason for this was twofold; there was more space by our rig, and Marlow, their dog (an American Staffordshire Terrier), was better behaved off leash than our two!
Bill arrived first with a round of Mararitas in pint jars, followed by the food and Pina Coladas--also not short measure! Time passed, we were fading fast and about 11:15 we decided to call it quits. Somehow, 15 minutes later we all realised independently that there wasn't that much longer to wait and the fireworks would keep us awake anyway, so down to the beach we went!
2010 arrived as expected and well within the hour we were all asleep!
Fuel on the last leg, just north of Zihuatanejo; 144.8 litres. We'll sit 3 months with a full tank, ready to roll in March!
5822 kilometres from the last fill before starting out on this trip, 5522 kilometres from home.
Average fuel "economy" over the trip:
26.88L/100Km
10.53 mpg (imperial)
8.79 mpg (US measure)
Approximately $1130.00 Canadian fuel costs.
(Please feel free to check my figures!)
Art used the hydraulic stablisers to lift the left rear tires an inch off the ground so they wouldn't have to struggle with a jack and they were soon at work with hand tools, including a 6” pipe as an extension handle. They seemed to make short work of it but it's not something we would want to do ourselves!
This too was the day our friends would arrive-- two couples that we met and become friends with years ago; Keith and Yvonne and their cat Jake, and Brian and Arlene, who would be parked beside us. These guys all have a great sense of humor, Keith getting into a series of practical jokes back and forth with Memo and Mundi. It started last year with the boys putting a For Sale sign on Keiths pickup truck. When Keith retaliated by removing several cases of pop and beer from Memo's van – and hiding them under Brian and Arlene's trailer, the war was on! After this, Keith became “Bandido” to Memo and Mundi—note the sign reserving his space.
Art's frozen shoulder isn't doing any better so we haven't done a lot. He did take quite a few pictures around the beach, estuary and restaurant, here are a few samples:
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