Huatulco

After Zihuatanejo, we headed to Panapoa for one night. We left at dawn for Acupulco and actually stayed one beach down at Puerto Marques. I forgot to mention that Ken is now taking pictures as I dropped the camera into Manzanillo Bay....It was in a pack that fell and I retrieved it right away but just a drop or two of salt water does not mix the electronics, evidently! Anyway, this is a daybreak shot while underway.

Aculpulco is big and trying hard to regain its allure as "the place to be". There are all kinds of upscale projects in Aculpulco and neighboring bays. Some of the newer condos in Puerto Marques are the most expensive ones in the area. And there are bays after Marques that are being developed. The little town of Marques has a Costco! We went to see the famous cliff divers of La Quebrada in Acupulco. You should Google this for the history and to see if there are more pictures of the divers. It was a great show and hard to do it justice from our viewing area. Pretty thrilling, though.

Fuerte de San Diego - started in the 1500's by the Spanish. You can see some of Aculpulco's many highrises in the background. This older part of town by the Malecon and Zocolo is pretty charming.

On 2/17, we headed for the Bays of Huatulco. This was an overnight trip and while out on the ocean we saw many turtles, and birds sitting on turtles, dolphins and a whale or two. We never get tired of seeing these sights out at sea.

We docked at Huatulco Marina. This is an area with several pretty bays. It is being developed by the Mexican Government (Fonatur) and there is much activity all around. However, several large developments have signs on them indicating the government shut them down. Evidently, these developers did not get their environmental impact statements in on time and so the government suspended work on these projects. Maybe the economy is keeping them from starting right back up, who knows? Anyway, there is a lovely town, La Crucecita, where the folks who work in the resorts live. They have great markets like all the other places we have visited in Mexico. And all the water is potable they say....

Oaxaca is only a 6 1/2 hour van ride on mountainly, twisty, sometimes dirt roads. There is also a highway, but the bus ride takes 8 hours. We wanted to get off the beaten track, so took the van. This picture does not do the road justice in spite of Ken's valiant efforts. It was too bumpy to get shots when the road was at its most interesting. We passed by signs advertising barbecued goat. We saw burros transporting crops, log trucks with loads tied down in a way that would be against the law in the U.S., and lots of great people in their small towns.