Week 2 (cont.): Acapulco

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After a short stay in Lazaro Cardenas we head to Acapulco via a 6 hour bus ride.  Acapulco was not a place we were crazy about visiting but we stayed here for two nights so that we could check out some of the sites the city has to offer. Although it is a popular destination for vacationers, it was not the most appealing to us.  The water in the bay is not very clean and your nose can tell you that pretty quickly and it is not the safest city either (kinda like LA or NYC).  However, we did have a good time there and surprisingly it was very kid friendly.  The first night we stayed there we went to the  zocalo (a kind of town center) near our hotel  where there were lots of vendors, food, a dance contest (Mexican folklorico) and clowns. There was also a bounce house and our kid loves bounce houses!  After dinner I think he spent about an hour total in the bounce house. 

Hotel courtyard where we stayed

The next morning we rode one of Acapulco's crazy buses into town.  They have great paint jobs and a bumping stereo system with music videos playing inside. We went to Parque Papygayo which is a huge public park in Acapulco.  Talking to another parent I got the impression (with my limited Spanish) that it was the only park in Acapulco.  Well what they lack in quantity they make up in quality.  This place is huge and most of it is free!  There was an incredible playground, a zoo, and a swimming pool (which cost less than a dollar).  There was a lot of other stuff there but it was closed during the time we were there.  But we got to see lions, monkeys, a gorgeous jaguar and several kinds of tropical birds.

Inside the city bus

The biggest slide tower I've ever seen in a park

Kiddie Pool

One of the places we wanted to see was the Casa de mascara, which was a museum of masks mostly from Mexico but also from other places in the world.  Micah and I have both been collecting masks from places we visit for a few years now so we were really excited about this place.  Unfortunately we learned that it closed a few years ago.  Bummer!  We did get to checkout a 16^th century pentagon shaped fort now turned museum.  Its exhibits were from pre-colonial time to the Mexican revolution.  It was hard to take it all in since most things were in Spanish and we had a 2 year old in tow.  But non-the-less it was cool to check out.

The view of the city from the top of the fort was pretty incredible

Our last night in Acapulco we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a restaurant that had an excellent view of the cliff divers. The dinner was OK but the view was awesome!

Our view during dinner

Divers getting in the water

Two divers jump at the same time

The next day we set off on another bus trip to Puerto Escondido.  Our longest bus trip yet, 8 hours!  Luckily we were on a first class bus with A/C and movies.  It was not too bad but I think 8 hours may be our limit.

Week 2 Playa La Ticla

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From Manzanillo we decided to head to the little village and surf and surf camp of La Ticla.  We hopped on a second class bus for this trip.  The second class buses do not have bathrooms or A/C.  It was not too bad as long as the bus was moving but when it stopped the heat was pretty intense.  The bus dropped us off on the side of the highway and we had to catch a ride in a truck to take us down to the beach where we camped under a thatched roof on the beach.

Second Class Air Conditioning

The view from the bus.  You can see all the smoke in the air.

We stayed in La Ticla for 5 days.  It was really cheap for us to stay there since camping cost us about $6 a night and we cooked most of our meals.  Micah got to surf every day and Nev made some friends, 3 brothers Manuel, Giovanni and Orbert.  They were the grandsons of the man who owned the place we camped at. 

Two of the boys Nev made friends with

 It was an interesting place to stay.  Probably one of the most primitive places we will be in Mexico.  Michoacán is a pretty rural state for Mexico and the people there are don’t have a whole lot.  The town and the people there are pretty simple and have little in the way of services. No cell phones, rarely Internet.  I think they have gotten electricity where we stayed only within the last 10 years.  The surfing tourist that visit there probably contribute substantially to their economy.  It was really smokey there and I had noticed a lot of smoke in the air on the trip down there. I am not sure why they were burning so much.  Maybe it was to keep mosquitoes away, to burn their garbage and/or cooking. The smoke was a little difficult to handle at first but it did make for some amazing sunsets! 

Nev playing on the beach

Fishing at sunset

It was real hot here which made it difficult to sleep at night and for Nev's naps.  We bought him a little hammock and hung it under the palapa.  He really enjoyed it and his first nap in it was over 3 hours.  Something he had not done for a while. There was also a lagoon near camp where Nev was able to play.  The water was extremely warm but it was still some relief from the heat.

I think one of the highlights to our stay there was the football (soccer) game we attended. They definitely take their football very seriously.  It was a pretty good team for such a small village of about 600 people. It was a minor league team playing a team from a town south of there. We met some people there and Nev found a friend.  Chappo spoke really good English and befriended us when we sat down next to him.  We learned that he had lived in Eureka, CA for some time and he still has family there.  Small world!  At half time he toke Nev on the field and began kicking the soccer ball with him.  Then a young boy, Antonio, came over and started playing ball with Nev.  Nev had a blast kicking the ball with him. Antonio showed Nev how to hit the ball with his head.  When the game started back up the two played on the side line the rest of the game.  Even though Antonio was quite older then Nev he was very sweet with him.   Of course Nev did not want to stop playing and was sad when we had to leave the game.

Getting football lessons from Chappo

Already working on his pose

Learning how to bounce it off his head with Antonio

Part of the team

Having a good time with Antonio

Unfortunately on the way back to camp after the game Nev’s arm got hurt when we were swinging him for his arms down.  It is an injury that has happened before but it seemed to last longer then before and we all had a sleepless night.  The next day we had decided to head out and go south so we were packing up camp.  We met a man named Paul and he asked me what was wrong with Nev's arm. He is a retired chiropractic doctor and he said he thought it could be a pinched nerve from a misalignment in his spine. He checked it and did a quick adjustment on him.  I was a bit sceptical and it was hard to watch this man take my son by the head and crack his neck but it worked!  Amazingly he went from crying anytime he moved his arm to being completely fine and fully using his arm after a few minutes!  We hired someone to give us a ride up to the highway where we waited for the bus.  It was not much of a bus stop but there were a few burros hanging out that were fun to watch.  We didn't have to wait long and we hopped a bus to Lazaro to spend the night in a hotel, get a good dinner and sleep in real beds.

Waiting for the bus

A baby burro

Week 1 in Mexico: Puerto Vallarta to Melaque

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We left Hawaii a week ago today (I wrote this on the 20th, took awhile to get uploaded).  It was a busy week before we left,  getting rid of all our stuff in a 2 bedroom apartment and our car.  Now all of our things fit into a few backpacks and a surfboard bag.

It was a long flight from Hawaii to San Diego.  Nev did good even though he did not sleep which was a good thing since we had to spend the night in the airport.  We found a little spot to lay down and spend the night.  We made Nev a little bed and I think he actually got a pretty good night sleep.  We woke early as the airport got busy again.  We had to go back through security then we had some breakfast while we waited for our flight.  By the time we got on the plane Nev was pretty tired so he fell asleep right after the plane took off and slept the entire flight.  We had to wake him to get off the plane.

Nev at the airport (HNL) waiting for our plane

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on the afternoon of July 13^th.  We needed a taxi to our hotel and we got wrangled  in to going to a “time share” presentation the following day (they don’t call them timeshares anymore they have a new name for them).  Anyway we got a free ride to our hotel, then they picked us up the next day and took us to their “resort”.  They fed us, gave us a tour of the place and the best part was Micah and I got free massages.  It took all day it seemed.  The 90 mins we were supposed to spend with them took 3 hours!  Then they tried to get us to do another one the next day……. It was just too much! But, I think one could make a whole vacation out of visiting these places with all the things they want to give you just to check out there places.

We stayed in PV for 3 nights at the Hotel Posada Roger.  It was a pretty nice little place in Old Town PV.  It had a swimming pool which Nev loved!  And lots of Mexicans were staying there so we got to practice our Spanish and play with the kids.  Nev is definitely starting to really enjoy playing in the water. 

Hotel Pool.  We were the only white people there.

Looking down at the hotel courtyard

Puerto Vallarta Sunset

Dinner at a taco stand.  Mmmm!

Walking across the suspension bridge in PV

Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream

The Taco vender right outside our hotel.  Great for midnight snacks ;)

PV was nice but we were ready to get outtof the city.  We took a first class bus to Melaque which is a smaller town.  We stayed there for 3 nights at Posados Patos.   Micah took an adventure to go surfing.  I don’t think there was much surf but he got in the water at least.  Nev made a friend, Oswaldo, so we spent a lot of time playing with him.  I felt sad to have to say goodbye to him.  He is a really good little kid (6 anos). 

Oswaldo

Not too bad of a place to have your morning cafe

Nev's first Mexican Playdate

Dinner on the beach in Melaque

Happy Boy!

We are definitely behind schedule.  We spent more time in PV then we had anticipated.  It has been hard to adjust to the time change, 5 hours earlier than Hawaii.  I think we are pretty close to being adjusted but it is still pretty hard for Nev to get to sleep.

First class buses are a pretty nice way to travel

Now we are back on the bus heading south to Manzanillo where we will try to figure out the second class buses in order to get to a small beach town that has surf.

1 Week! The countdown begins............

In one week from today our family (Mama, Papa and Guapo who is currently 2.5 years old) are setting off on our 5 month adventure that will take us from Hawaii to Mexico to Ecuador and all that is in between.  When we arrive in Puerto Vallarta we will have just shy of 2 months to make our way to Mindo, Ecuador where we will spend 3 months managing the Las Tangaras Nature Reserve.  Other than these few dates and locations there is no set itenerary.  We plan to travel pretty cheaply and travel by bus the whole way, except for the likely flight from somewhere in Central America to South America.   I am sure the pace of our travel will depend a lot on the surfing conditions in Mexico (Papa) and the mood of our 2.5 year old.  Preferably we will get to someplace cool and spend a few days there before we move on, limiting the number of times we have to spend long days on the bus which I can only imagine will make for a cranky kiddo.
So this is the begining to a new adventure for us.  I  by to be able to access the internet often to update the blog about our adventures as we go.  Follow along suscribing to this blog and get updated as we go!


This map shows where we are starting from and where we will be flying to and where we need to be in September.  I will add our destinations as we go.


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The Bishop Museum and Sesame Street

The Bishop museum is a wonderful museum on O'ahu that includes exhibits on polynesian culture and also has science exhibits that the kids enjoy.  We purchased a family membership because it was such a great deal and we have been to the museum several times now.  Nev really enjoys the science discovery center where they have a "active" volcano and lava tubes to crawl in. Unfortunately I do not have to many pictures of the museum.

Sliding down a lavval tube with Grandma

They also have rotating exhibits and currently the Sesame Street Body Exhibit is there.  I think we have been there 3 or 4 times now! It is pretty cool and teaches about your body and health, excercise, and eating well.  The interactive exhibits are really fun for the kids.  Nev loves the "Grocery Store!"