Saturday was my birthday -- and a wonderful one at that! It doesn't hurt to wake up at the beach! We stayed in Zihuatanejo -- described as a Mexican beach village -- but also visited Ixtapa -- a preplanned resort town (both in the state of Guerrero).
Karen made me a birthday breakfast and we enjoyed a quick view of Playa Madera from our hotel before heading out to Isla Ixtapa.
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| birthday breakfast |
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| hotel |
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| view of Playa Madera from our hotel |
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| on our way to Isla Ixtapa |
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| on Isla Ixtapa |
Once we got to the island, we settled in at one of the restaurants, which lets customers use the beach chairs, tables, palapas, etc all day.
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| our view for most of the day on Isla Ixtapa |
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story of my life right now: between
the US and Mexico |
I went snorkeling at the coral beach on the other side of the island. The coral wasn't very pretty, but I did see lots of fish.
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| going snorkeling |
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| Coral beach on Isla Ixtapa |
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Coral beach on Isla Ixtapa. It's so strange to see the
juxtaposition of cacti and beach! |
Back on "our side" of the island, we enjoyed piña coladas and a delicious lunch. Karen had the traveling musicians plays "Las mañanitas" for me -- a traditional song played on birthdays in Mexico.
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| piña coladas in pineapples |
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| lunch on the beach |
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| playing/singing "Las mañanitas" for my birthday |
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| being serenaded |
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| Isla Ixtapa |
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| Isla Ixtapa |
After spending most of the day on Isla Ixtapa, we headed back to our hotel in Zihuatanejo.
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| Playa Madera |
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| Playa Madera |
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| Playa Madera |
Karen treated me to a delicious dinner at Villa de la Selva. Not only was the food great, but it had a fantastic view: we dined on a deck on a cliff overlooking the water, lit up with flood lights so we could see it crashing against the rocks.
Later in the night, we were at first deterred from dancing when the live band at the salsa place was playing
banda and not
salsa, but we had lots of fun at our second place we tried.
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| birthday dessert |
Sunday we stopped to see Playa Municipal, where the fishing boats dock.
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| Playa Municipal |
We spent most of Sunday at Playa Larga in Zihuatanejo -- once again enjoying the beach chairs and umbrella offered by one of the restaurants.
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| Karen parasailing |
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| Karen parasailing |
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| amigas |
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| washed up on the beach |
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| Playa Larga |
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| Playa Larga |
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| cheers! |
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| Playa Larga |
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| Playa Larga |
In the evening we went back to downtown Zihuatanejo and Playa Municipal. I enjoyed some fish tacos at
La Sirena Gorda (the fat mermaid) before we headed out to catch our bus.
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| Playa municipal |
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| La Sirena Gorda |
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| fish tacos at La Sirena Gorda |
