Hello,
This is my Feb. and March update of 2006!
We have
spent 2 months in Zihuatanejo thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
The cruisers had a huge fund raising event here in Zihuatanejo
on Feb. 1st -5th, 2006. This event started 5 years ago raising
money for the indigenous children. The children are very bright
but because they did not speak Spanish they were not able to
attend school. The cruisers had started fundraising and now
5 years later they actually have their own school and learn
both in their native tongue and Spanish. The school has been
so successful that they get more funding from the cruisers than
all the Spanish speaking schools combined for the entire state.
At the inception of the fundraising 5 years ago, the cruisers
raised $1500.00 and now after finishing this year, the total
matching funds raised were $56,000.00 US Dollars! The events
consisted of silent auctions, chili cook-offs, bake sales, sailboat
races (we crewed on a 72’ boat and won 1st place), sailboat
parades offering rides to the visiting tourists, and other fun
things. Gary and I played music at Rick’s bar one night
and we donated all our tips to the children. We also bought
many things at the auction like dinners, and swimming with dolphins
which has been a highlight of the trip for me! We have had so
much fun and we are glad that we hung around to meet many cruisers
heading to Central America and the South Pacific. There were
over 100 vessels registered and anchored in the bay.
We left Zihuatanejo on
Feb. 23rd and headed down the coast and stopped in Acapulco
for a week. Acapulco was very alive, busy and exciting. The
lights at night were spectacular and sparkled like diamonds
on the water. We saw the cliff divers, rode the crazy painted
buses, went to the movies, ate at McDonald’s, and enjoyed
the town. We took a side trip to a picturesque hillside town
called Taxco, known for silver jewelry and where many minerals
are mined. The old colonial town is just beautiful, just like
some of the towns in Spain and Italy. Cobbled stoned streets,
cafes, and lots of churches! One of the churches was built in
the 1400’s, and was just amazing. We explored some of
the worlds’ larges cave grottos (Las Grutas) discovered
nearby. We walked for almost 2 miles deep into these huge caves.
Some of the cave rooms were 80’ feet high and 250’
feet wide. It was cool and refreshing to be inside since it
was boiling hot outside. I thought of the indigenous people
who must have dwelled in the caves and thought that I could
definitely live here!
We left Acapulco and
heading south stopping at the world class surf spot at Punta
Galero and also Puerto Escondido. The waves were very powerful
and closing out on the shore. We rode one wave just to say we
did it but that was enough, I am not interested in separating
my shoulder again!
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