Week 2 (cont.): Acapulco

View Acapulco in a larger map
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.