Zihuatanejo: Hard to Say~ Easy to Love

When we first arrived in Zihua we thought we'd stay a couple of days and push on to Acapulco for Christmas. The more we read about Acapulco in December, the less likely we felt that we would enjoy ourselves there. On the other hand, it was easy to anchor and go ashore in Zihua. Alice was able to attend church services on Christmas Sunday. We made one BIG provisioning trip to Mega Commercial, a huge supermarket/ variety store not unlike a Super Walmart, but affiliated with Costco! We walked the old downtown streets over and over and had a couple of delightful lunches at beach cafes. Bill's brother Barry warned us that the food would change the farther south we go, and we have experienced that already. What we think we're ordering from the menu and what is served has been two different things... We met nice people on two different sailboats and shared our HOMEMADE vanilla ice cream (Bill did that) and brownies (Alice did those) with Chris and Tamara from Camarillo one day and on Christmas Day with the McConnells- mom, dad and two children who just returned from Ecuador- we picked their brains. The days went by and we actually pulled out on our eleventh day there! Above photos: Grey Wolf all by herself at Caleta de Campos, just prior to Zihua, and the lovely buildings that line the east shore of the harbor in Zihua.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Merry Christmas from Bill and Alice Johnson on the motor vessel "Grey Wolf"

At the time of this writing we are anchored in the harbor at Zihuatanejo. Some call it Z-what and others call it Z-town. When you look at the spelling you understand why I just call it Z-town.

Every day we are so thankful that we are able to travel south and see the beauty of God's creation. As I looked out the window this morning I saw banana trees and coconut trees with a variety of shades that surround this bay. We are taking some pictures but they will not do this place justice as there is always a bit of haze. (The common way to get rid of trash in Mexico is just BURN it.)

But even with these great gifts that God has given we are now coming to the time when we celebrate the greatest gift of all: the birth of Christ and His coming into the world to provide our Salvation.

When you have time, read Phillipians 2- the whole chapter, but concentrate on verses 6 through 8. This gives us insight into the great love that God has for us. We think of the wise men who came and brought gifts to the Savior, and it is still the wise man or woman that sees Christmas as a time to bring our thanks to Him.

We truly hope that you will take time and Praise Him and Thank Him that we have Christmas! And, remember that as we share our gifts, we have received the greatest gift ever. BNJ

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scarier than a Disneyland Ride!

The idyllic scene above, complete with an egret in flight, in NO WAY shows you the beginning or the end of our Jungle River Trip in Tenacatita! Alice had read about this little adventure in our Mexico Travel Guide, and did note that the 'best time' to enter the mouth of this little river is when the tide is coming in and the river is rising. However, by the time we got up, had breakfast, took the dinghy down, and drove to the Boca del Rio Iguana the tide had turned and was going out... We thought we might have to pull the dinghy over the entrance bar, but did not count on: 1) getting drenched by a rogue wave that filled the dinghy with several inches of sea water and got both camera cases wet, 2) that the entrance was so shallow that the motor was useless, 3) that Bill could NOT pull the dinghy past the mouth because of the tide going against him, 4) that Alice would have to relinquish the already wet camera cases and get out and help push and pull until we finally found the channel!
Once we succeeded in getting into the channel the ride became enjoyable, in spite of our both being soaking wet and hoping the cameras were okay (which they were as wintessed by the accompanying photos). We saw/heard numerous water fowl, spotted one lazy iguana sunning on a mangrove branch, and were amazed at the overgrowth of the huge mangrove trees which shot new roots downward above our heads! Eventually we arrived at the lagoon which marks the source of the 2 mile river where we rested, enjoyed drinks we'd packed, and actually succeeded in bailing out most of the water using... Alice's Croc shoes, even though they are very holey! The trip back out was quicker, except for the point when Alice decided to shift side on her perch in the bow of the dinghy, blocking Bill's view and sending us sliding into a snarl of mangrove roots. We both worried about what would greet us at the mouth of the little river, and it surely looked shallow. Bill raised the motor when it hit sand and we sat in the surf for a minute or two and then a pretty good wave just carried us out into the edge of the bay where we could again employ our trusty motor. Needless to say, a hot shower and a load of laundry were our first two items of business once back on Grey Wolf! Should we still be doing this stuff? Of course!

Our day trip to La Noria

Before we left Mazatlan we made a day tour with a group of ten to the small town of La Noria, an hour into the foothills east of the city. There were several interesting points of note for the day, not to mention a pleasant ride, a delicious lunch and a well-mannered young guide who was very fluent in English. Our first stop was at the blue agave plantation and distillery of Los Osuna, which has been in business for over 100 years. In the above photo you can see Alice standing by a blue agave that is still not ready for harvest. When ready for harvest, the plant is at least seven years old and the core, called the pineapple, weighs about 300 lbs. That is chopped up and then cooked and pressed to begin the fermentation process. You will see the vat of agave juice with yeast in it in the photo column to the right of this article. Between the sweet juice of the agave and the bountiful bouganvillas, the plantation was alive with butterflies. We both took tons of photos! Then we drove on to La Noria itself where we toured a leather factory where men were making everything from belts and purses to shoes and saddles, the old fashioned way! We also saw the barn where they were tanning cowhide, the old-fashioned way... the stench was almost more than one could handle! The above photos show one of the huge old sewing machines and also a table covered with white-tailed deer legs, waiting to be made into whip handles! Hopefully, we can do more shore excursions as interesting as this one.

We Came, We Saw, We Left~

Last year there were too many boats on anchor for us to tuck in and go ashore at Isla Isabela, the frigate bird observatory and rookery. After traveling all night, we arrived to find only two sailboats anchored, but in the very best spots... Bill cogitated a while and then decided to chance anchoring outside of them in 40+ feet of water. We ate breakfast and watched the waves break on a rock outcropping some 200 feet away, then decided to make a quick run to the island! There is a small fishing village there, but we did not see families- only men and boys, so it is probably a seasonal camp. We anchored the dinghy and walked over to the area where a grove of trees stood and hundreds of birds were either courting, resting, nesting, or flying about. These are NOT small birds: their wingspan is 6-7 feet! They seemed amazingly oblivious to us as we nosed around and took photos. The males have a bright red 'waddle' they can inflate, apparently to impress the females! Some were building nests, fighting over available material, while others sat on nests already formed at 5-6 feet above ground in the lush green trees. Frigate birds are often seen flying high above the water, but they rarely come down to rest on the water or on the boat, so this was a real treat, looking eyeball to eyeball with these gorgeous creatures!! AFTER the battery died we saw two small iguanas. Unfortunately, we were unaware that the blue-footed booby lives on the other side of the island... in too much of a hurry.