Day 19 - Villa del Pescador, Zihuatanejo

We were up at a reasonable hour as we knew we had a relatively big ride in front of us to get to Acapulco. We took the road along the main drag through town to get back on to Highway 200 to head east. The route we planned to take was about 150 miles and whilst the road was nowhere near as scenic and was mainly just highway for most of the day, we made pretty good time. The bikes were going well, and we were keen to see what the situation with Acapulco would be like. We had heard that a hurricane had pretty much ripped it apart in October last year and that almost 80% of the hotels and local business had been destroyed. But as it had been at least 6 months, we were expecting that there would have been some progress made with the clear up and to get the tourism industry back up and running. We would have to see. We pulled in at a couple of great viewing areas to get some drone footage and take a break from the heat. It was ridiculously hot, in fact my temp gauge on the bike was saying that it was 45 degrees centigrade, which might be a bit distorted, but it was frigging hot. At one of these little pull in arrangements, we had just passed a vespa scooter fully loaded and as we overtook the chap, he was not travelling very fast, and pulled into the viewing area, we waved him in for a chat so we could meet him. His name is Gregorio, and he explained that he is from Spain. He started out his trip in Maimi, travelled north to Canda and then all the way north to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska on his scooter. He is now headed south, all the way south through Central America and South America to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. He would then like to ship the scooter across to Cape Town, South Africa and ride north through Africa back to his home in Spain. I was able to tell him a bit about my previous trip, although I was quick to clarify that it had been nearly 20 years since I did the Africa motorbike trip. we managed to get some drone footage of him and his bike whilst we were at the viewing point. We haven’t managed to figure out how the drone can “follow me” at a reasonable speed. We have tried a couple of times, but it just doesn’t have the speed to keep up whilst riding sensibly. However, we probably could have sorted the “follow me” function for the scooter guy. He was going to take at least another year to reach the tip of South America, or maybe even just Acapulco. We waved goodbye to Gregorio and pressed on for Acapulco. About 45 minutes outside of Acapulco, we were crossing a bridge into a town called Coyuca de Benitez, where loads of people were down on the riverbanks enjoying the sunshine and having what looked like a massive BBQ. In addition, the town on the opposite riverbank from us, had a load of very colourful houses that climbed up the hill. We both immediately acknowledged that we needed to stop and get some pictures of this, it was too good to miss. We rode back across the bridge and found our way down to the river side. It was absolutely heaving with people, probably because it was a Sunday. I have completely lost track of the date and what day it is, but I think we got lucky on this occasion as it was quite the spectacle. As Jorik had kindly paid for 2 nights’ accommodation in Cabo San Lucas, I offered to pick up the tab for the 2 nights that we would stay in Acapulco, which seemed fair and reasonable. We had looked online and found a place called the Romano Palace, which was only a 3-star hotel, but close to the main beach and the pictures of the rooms looked like it would be pretty good. We pulled into Acapulco around 3pm, very hot and bothered, but knowing that we had a nice hotel to chill out in, complete with a pool and right next to the beach, the last hard slog had been bearable. The damage to many of the buildings, including hotels, restaurants, and houses, is clearly evident. We rode down the main beachfront road and some of the restaurants are just piles of rubble with smashed up wood and palm fronds that are used for the roofing. It was pretty surprising to see just how much damage had been done. Some of the hotels were in various stages of repair, but you could see whole sides of buildings had been damaged and with the building standards in Mexico being pretty bloody sketchy anyway, I was glad to see that the Romana Palace looked like it was still standing firm. We eventually got the room sorted, there is no need for rushing in Mexico, particularly if it is a hotel receptionist, and we got the bikes secured in the private car park, before heading up to the 10th floor where our room was situated. Not ideal as it appeared only 1 elevator was working, and we had to do a number of trips to get all of our stuff sorted out. Once settled, we donned our swimmers and headed out to catch the evening sun and grab a swim in the sea. We walked straight down to the beach just opposite the hotel, which looked very nice from our balcony, and we were immediately invited to sit at a table under an umbrella and we ordered 2 cervezas. We know that sitting under an umbrella will come with a charge, but it was so bloody hot that we needed the shade. I shot straight down to the water for a swim, but very quickly saw just how filthy the water was. There were all kinds of crap in the sea, from plastic bags and bits of rubbish, to just having a generally brown and dirty look about it. I did take a dip, but it was a very quick dip and didn’t put my head in the water. I then headed back to the table in the shade and my ice cold cerveza. It didn’t take Jorik long to notice that this was definitely the gay section of the beach. There were a few pride flags up, but once we took the time to actually have a look at the people around us, it was evident that this was the gay section of the beach. We finished up our beers and decided to head to another, smaller beach where we hoped the water might be clearer. It required that we climb over some rocks to get round to the beach, and rather than walk back up the steps to the main road and then back down again, we fancied the challenge of scrambling over the rocks. When we got closer and had a look, it looked a bit too much for us and we turned around to walk back, when a chap came over and in pretty broken English explained that he knew the route and would take us across the rocks. So, we followed him and sure enough, he lead us through the rocks and round to the next beach, all whilst giving a non-stop commentary of who knows what! He did not stop talking once. He then wanted paying when we got to the other side, which we suggested was not going to happen and we wondered off, leaving him talking to himself. The next, smaller beach was clearly a private beach for the hotel that fronted it. Everyone on the beach had a wrist band and we felt that this was not where we wanted to be. So, we got off the beach and went back up the steps to the main road and carried on down the beach a bit further. We grabbed a couple of beers from the local OXXO and then climbed back down the steps, there are a lot of steps in Acapulco, and found a great beach with barley anyone on it. The water was a little clearer, but still not great. We swam, drank our beers and then headed back to the hotel for a swim to wash the salt off before a shower and then out on the town from some dinner. The theme of the Romana Palace is for some bizarre reason, Italy. There were loads of tacky sculptures and mosaics of Italian scenes, one of the main mosaics in the lobby, which was massive with marble floors and columns, had a date of 1974 on it, so at some point back in the 70’s, this was probably a very nice hotel. Now, not so much. The pool expressed this lack of upkeep and maintenance. The tiles were cracked and the whole area was pretty shabby. I appreciate that they may have had a storm come through there not long before us, but make an effort! The pool was on level 3 of the hotel so the balcony around the pool overlooks the main beachfront road along the beach. Whilst drying off with a beer, we saw Gregorio ride past on his scooter. We tried calling to him, but he wouldn’t have heard us, but to think that we had already been at the hotel for about 3, maybe even 4 hours, and here he came bumbling along, he must really be travelling slowly.

Once refreshed, we headed out to find some food and a couple of evening drinks. We passed a bunch of restaurants along the beachfront, and whilst some were open, there is still a lot of work going on to restore them. We did find a great little spot and the barman, who has worked in Acapulco as a barman for over 30 years – Paco – enticed us in for a drink at his bar. The menu looked nice, but maybe a little expensive, and we didn’t want to simply eat at the first place that we stopped at. So, we had a beer and then moved down the road to see what else we could find. As it happened, nothing of note, so we turned around and went back to Paco. We had a great evening chatting with him and the owner of the restaurant, had a great meal, and then headed back for a good night’s sleep. The next day was a rest day as we wanted to take in the sights of Acapulco.