It's always an adventure in Mexico!

Driving days are always interesting because you just never know what's going to come up! Yesterday was definitely one of the more interesting ones.

We were only doing 170 kms (105 miles), but as I've mentioned before, coastal highway 200 is pretty slow going. You'd be lucky to average 60 km/h (36 mph). So we planned to set off at 7:30am, with intentions of arriving at our destination by 11:00am or so. But we were a few minutes late leaving!

Boat tour and birds

Yesterday, we took 10 members of the group and booked a boat tour of the lagoon on the opposite side of Pie de la Cuesta.

The price was 150 pesos ($7.90 USD, $10.50 CAD) per person for what was billed as a three hour tour. We arranged it for a 10am start.

Acapulco

Yesterday, nine of our group took the local bus into Acapulco. Ruth and I have not been to Acapulco since 2013, but not much has changed. Although Acapulco doesn't receive as many international tourists as it once did, the city is still an ocean playground for many people from Mexico, especially since Mexico City is only three and a half hours away by car.

There are two things you have to do as a visitor to Acapulco... one is to see the famous cliff divers at La Quebrada... and the other is to take the local bus!

We walked out the gate to the road, and a bus was coming!

Saying goodbye to Tioga George

Sad news out this morning that long time vagabonder supreme Tioga George has passed away. I guess his family was finally able to post on his blog...

https://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/2019/02/dear-readers.html

We first met George here in Mexico in 2013.

Playa Ventura to Acapulco

We weren't sure when we were going to be able to leave Playa Ventura. The problem was that they were holding their annual half marathon, and we were parked right near the finish line!

So at 7:00am, there was all kind of activity going on. Originally, we had been told it should be all over around 9:00am, but it did not look promising.

Puerto Escondido to Playa Ventura

We hit the road at 7:00am on Saturday morning, so did not have time to do a blog post that morning. So... a quick update about our activities on Thursday and Friday...

Thursday night, we went to see the bio-luminescence in the Manialtepec Lagoon west of Puerto Escondido.

January Expenses

Well, nice to see our expense report is finally back to normal for January! In fact, it's the cheapest month for us in almost a year.

Normally, we do not spend very much money while touring Mexico. Last year's trip was an anomaly because we were still responsible for our fuel and toll road costs and there was a lot more driving involved than usual. This year, our route is a lot less distance and we try to stay off toll roads when it makes sense to do so.

Bought some more flight tickets!

Our regular readers will remember that we cancelled our plan to go to Newfoundland with the motorhome this summer when I bought us some cheap tickets to Australia. The Australia flights are from Calgary to Melbourne on May 16th.

Then, I bought us a couple of tickets from Ottawa to Calgary on May 8th. We will rent a car in Calgary and go back to Cabri, SK for a couple of days to visit. These tickets were on sale for $220 CAD each and I had enough Visa Travel Points to pay for them both.

Beach time

Went to a few different beaches yesterday. We were actually trying to check out some tour prices for the group. We were thinking of doing either a dolphin/whale watching tour, or a trip out to see the bio-luminescence effect in the lagoon near here.

There aren't many places in the world where you can see the bio-luminescence... Ruth and I saw a similar effect in South Africa.

Happy to be back with our Mexican family!

Yesterday, we brought the group from Playa Tangolunda in Huatulco to Playa Carrizalillo in Puerto Escondido. Not a long drive, so we didn't set out until 9:00am.

We haven't been in Puerto Escondido since 2014! Despite the fact that it is our favorite coastal town in Mexico, it just didn't happen the past couple of years. And after doing last year's route that didn't include any of our three favorite places, we weren't about to miss it this year.

A face only a mother could love...

Ruth and I went for a stroll on the beach here at Tangolunda Bay yesterday morning. While it's too hot to do any actually exercise as such, going for a "stroll" is okay.

Lots of people out enjoying their one and two week all inclusive resort time.

Bike ride and chicken lunch

The roads around Huatulco area are really good for bike riding. Well, except for the fact that there are a lot of hills! But, it's the hills that give you some good exercise... so Ruth and I finally got the bikes off the back of the motorhome and went for a ride.

This is the first time since we crossed the border eight weeks ago today that we have used the bicycles. There is not really a lot of opportunity in the first half of the trip... but there will be more in the second half.

Snorkeling day at Playa la Entrega

Yesterday morning, eight of us hopped in two taxis to head to the other side of La Crucecita to one of the best snorkeling beaches in Mexico... Playa la Entrega.

It's located on a very calm bay with a reef so there is always lots of sea life. Strangely, it's a very "Mexican" beach and not that many gringos go there. Quite a change from Playa Tangolunda where it is mostly white people due to the three all inclusive resorts.

Beach time and birdwatching

Nothing planned with the group yesterday. Good thing though, because after the long drive on Wednesday everybody needed some relax time. Four of us did go into the town of La Crucecita to the big Chedraui grocery store there to do some stocking up.

At 9:30am though, Ruth and I went for a walk on the beach before it got too hot. Here on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico, the temperature is a very consistent 30C (86F) every day.

Long drive to the coast

We've been in Mexico for just over 7 weeks and we finally made it to the Pacific Ocean. We're going to spend the next three weeks or so having some beach time as we make our way up to Zihuatanejo before heading inland again.

But it was a bit of a drive to get here!