Tent camping in Acapulco!

We left Taxco just after 8:30am. Tried to say goodbye to our couchsurfing host Efrain, but couldn't find him. Managed to say goodbye to his father though, and he'll pass on the message. Don't normally like to use couchsurfing for only one night, but we had expressed this in advance and Efrain was still very gracious to accept us. We had about a four hour drive ahead of us to get to Acapulco, so we wanted an early start.

Taxco, Guererro

We drove to the city of Taxco yesterday. It was a cloudy day and not great for picture taking. In fact, it was spitting with rain for the section from Valle de Bravo to Toluca. Our friend Paco met us in Toluca and guided us through the city to the highway heading south. Thanks Paco!

Acapulco tomorrow!

We're up early and hitting the road this morning. Overnighting in Taxco, and then Acapulco tomorrow. We've been in Mexico for two and a half months and haven't seen the ocean yet! I have to admit, I'm ready for some sun and sand.

A flooded town?

We had been told about a village near here that was flooded due to a hydroelectric dam that was built in the 1950's. Apparently the steeple of the church from the flooded town was still visible above the water line and it sounded like an interesting thing to see. But apparently there is more to the story...

Hike with a view

We started out yesterday with a plan to drive around the lake, and then hike up to the place where some of the hang gliders take off from. The map looked like you could drive around, but it turned out the road was more suitable for horses!

In the middle of nowhere with no gasoline!

Yesterday, we decided to take the little blue car out for a tour. We wanted to go to the town of Donato Guerra, about 23 kms (15 miles) away. Well what started out as a tour, soon became a mystery tour!

Kayaking is fun!

We took one of Chago's kayaks out for a spin on the lake yesterday morning. Almost a two hour spin! We made sure we left fairly early while the lake was still calm. The winds tend to pick up by 11:00am or so, and then there's a steady breeze most of the afternoon.

The beach is nice, but...

We've been in Mexico for almost two and a half months now and haven't seen the ocean yet. That's okay, we're heading there next week. A lot of people come to Mexico strictly to spend their winter on the beach. I guess that's what they want, but we think that they are missing the best of what Mexico has to offer.

Grocery Shopping in Mexico

Yesterday was a day of rest. Well, until we had to go into town to do some grocery shopping. We relaxed most of the morning, and then had a snack before deciding to go into town and do some grocery shopping. We headed out around 12:30pm.

Thermal Baths and Gorditas!

You might want to check out yesterday's post first because we were so busy that it actually didn't get posted until late afternoon. Why? We wanted to get an early start because we had another busy day planned. in fact, we were in the car by 7:30am, heading south to the spa town of Ixtapan de le Sal.

Toluca, a birthday party, and a wedding reception!

You'll notice that we're a little late posting the blog today. That's because we simply haven't had time until now! Non stop fun since we arrived here at Paco and Oti's and the fun carried through until today with a short break for some sleep last night. So, what were we up to yesterday...?

Hike up the 15,300 foot Toluca Volcano

It's not as bad as it sounds, because you are able to drive to the 13,600 foot level!

And we never made it to the top of the highest peak, but we did make it to 14,700 feet, so we weren't far off. Still, it was a great day and we enjoyed the hike and we got some fantastic photos.

Nice day to do nothing.

We needed to rest up yesterday to prepare for a big day today...we're headed to the top of the Toluca Volcano. Never been at an altitude of 15,300 feet and still been on the ground! There's supposed to be a road that goes part of the way up, but we will have to hike the last 2 kms or so. Hopefully the skies will be clear and we'll get some great views.

The Monarch Butterflies at Piedras Herrado

Yesterday, we drove about 35 kms (22 miles) through the town of Valle de Bravo, and then uphill all the way, into the mountains south of the city of Toluca. Our destination? The Piedras Herrado Butterfly Sanctuary.

Mexico City is sucking up all the water!

As soon as we arrived here last Saturday, the first thing we noticed was the water level of the lake. This is the third time we've been here at Valle de Bravo and Lago Avandaro, and each time the water level of the lake has been lower than the time before.