Cruise Day 13
We've visited two more ports-of-call plus a day at sea, so time to catch you up on our travels.
Monday, October 9 (Canadian Thanksgiving) we were in Acapulco. We arrived before sunrise, and because we had an early tour departure, had ordered a room service breakfast, which we ate on our veranda. Thus we got the full benefit of sailing into this beautiful harbour by moonlight. After sunrise we could see the northern half of the bay, including the older part of the city (now about 1 million people), which harks back to the small fishing village out of which this major tourist destination developed. Originally it was Mexicans from Mexico City who came here, when it was about an 8 hour drive from the capital to get to the ocean
Then of course came international tourism, and major development, and all the ills that come with that. Now it is only 4 hours by road from Mexico City, but we are told that smart Mexicans no longer come to Acapulco, because it is too crowded, and for that matter, too expensive, and there are other, more congenial destinations (which unfortunately are being "discovered" by foreign tourists, and developed, and so the cycle continues).
Once off the ship, we could see that the entire southern half of the bay is ringed by high-rise hotels and condominiums, with construction continuing beyond Acapulco Bay, intro other bays further south. It seems that as the very wealthy build their retreats in secluded places, others eventually follow, and build their more modest hotels. Eventually, a Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Burger King get build just across the road from the very posh hotel, and the wealthy move on, further south, to more secluded places, etc. etc. etc. Thus, later that afternoon, as we sailed south, we could see many miles of shoreline with hotels, punctuated by empty spaces, then more hotels.
We took a bus tour south along the bay, and then beyond a mountain ridge into the next two bays along the coast, and it is one large city. One can tell that this is no longer a Mexican resort, and instead is an international destination, by the number of signs that are in Spanish and English, and sometimes other languages, and often signs that don't even bother with Spanish. Certainly, the beaches are still very beautiful, and the views from the hills are spectacular, but I don't think I'd want to spend a holiday here, because except for the odd palm tree, one might as well be in Atlantic City.
Later we went to see the famous cliff divers. The history of these is interesting, starting with the youth of 8 local fishing families competing to see who could dive from the highest cliffs (up to about 135 feet) into a shallow channel, about 9 to 18 feet deep. Then the owner of the near-by hotel began to advertise the divers, and pay them to put on shows - mostly in the evening during dinner - when they would dive off the cliff carrying torches. Today, there are 5 public shows each day, four of them at night, and the hotel still has the monopoly for the prime viewing area.
However, the divers have organized, and are doing quite well. They will put on "private" shows for cruise ship tours, at, we were told, US$500 per show, plus tips. They might put on 5 private shows a day, when a big ship is in harbour. There is a divers' union, and diving is restricted to members of the original 8 families. They have a medical doctor, with regular check-ups, and each diver is only permitted two dives a month for health reasons, because they hit the water with their heads at about 200 km/hour. They are trained from age 16 by retired divers, are fully qualified at about 20, and most retire from active diving at about 40. They then live on a full pension equal to their diving income, with full medical coverage, etc. By Mexican measures, and even by American measures, they do very well.
But others don't. After the organised tour, we left the ship to simply walk around the town. To do that, we had to run a gauntlet of people wanting to give us private tours, others offering to take us to the best silver shops, or the flea market, or to their relative's shop who would give us the best prices in town on anything we wanted, fully guaranteed (if you could ever find them again!). Once clear of that, we walked south along the Malecon (sea front promenade) for perhaps 3 km, and while it is very beautiful on the sea side, on the land side there are four lanes of traffic, and a constant stream of "private" taxis, often very decrepit cars, offering drives to anywhere. On the sea side are people pushing boat rides, and huckstering for restaurants, and there peddlers of chewing gum, and "genuine" silver, straight from the manufacturer in Taxco - right! It seems as if everyone in town is trying to live off tourists - and maybe that is indeed the only way to live in Acapulco, since there seems to be no other industry.We finally turned around, and walked back past the ship, and a few block to where we could turn inland at the Zocalo (town square). That was lovely, with far fewer huckster, probably because there seemed to be far fewer tourists, Here there were mostly Mexicans, in small cafes and outdoor bars, having coffee or a beer. Lot's of trees for shade, which was very welcome, since the temperature was again in the high 30s, and with humidity next to the ocean, felt like the 40s. The cathedral is just off the Zocalo, and although quite modern, is a Mexican-Byzantine combination of building style, and very attractive. Some of the side streets off the Zocalo too were populated by Mexicans who were simply out to do their own shopping, in small shops with a covered sidewalk in front of them, so no harassment of us Gringo tourists. We even shopped in the nearby Woolworth, the closes source for some drugstore product we needed, and here again people were friendly and helpful, even if we could hardly communicate over the loud, and I mean LOUD, mariachi music being piped into the store.Then back to the ship, through the gauntlet of offers to take us to places we had obviously missed, since we were not carrying silver and other souvenir goods. One can't help but think that much of Acapulco exists only to sell goods to tourists, either off cruise ships, or staying in the hundreds of hotels. We arrived absolutely sweat drenched from the heat and humidity, to be met by ship personnel at the gangplank with cold lemonade and frozen wet towels - talk about heaven!
We chilled out for the rest of the afternoon, and then joined much of the ship on the aft deck for the sail away party, this one fueled by unlimited pina coladas in hollowed out pineapples. (Watching them mix the drinks, there was no danger of anyone getting too much rum into them, no matter how much they tried, since their liquid capacity would prevent that, but the cold pineapple and coconut juice was very welcome to replenish our electrolytes - at least that was my reasoning.)
We sailed out of Acapulco Bay at 6 p.m. into the sunset, and continued south to our next stop the next morning, at the small resort village of Huatulco.
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Just a note on the on-board entertainment. Besides a plethora of daily diversions, from bingo, cooking demonstrations, various contests, etc., each evening there is a main show after dinner. None of the acts are what you would call "names" - at least we had never heard of any of them before, but they have all been first rate. Mostly they are entertainers from the resort circuit, or places like Vegas and Atlantic City, also the club circuit, and the cruise ship circuit. Our entertainment after we left Acapulco was a jazz pianist by the name of Judy Carmichael, who was very good. The next night we had a young British magician by the name of Paul Dabek, who again is relatively unknown, but was the 2003 Young Magician of the Year. He put on an absolutely dazzling show; not the big spectacular tricks, but sleight of hand and card tricks that left you breathless wondering just how he did that .
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Santa Cruz de Huatulco is a stretch of coastline in Oxaca state with nine beautiful bays that form natural harbours, that became the destination for Mexicans for whom Acapulco had become too crowded and/or too foreign. About 12 hours by road from Mexico City, it now has an airport that is serviced by domestic flights from Mexico City and Oxaca, and has some international charters from Europe and, apparently, Canada, although we have never seen anything offered in Canada. The small town of Santa Cruz (La Crucecita) is the original settlement, and was a sleepy fishing village for centuries before being discovered in the 1990's., Most of the stores, marinas, guided tours, etc. are operated and staffed by local people. Very friendly and hospitable local people; here there is none of the commercialism of Acapulco, just warm welcome, and, if you want to buy something, that is a bonus.
The whole area is being developed by Fornatur, the Mexican tourism development corporation, who are keeping the look and feel of a seaside Mexican village, but developing to green standards. Thus, there are a number of water and sewage treatment plants that were built ahead of hotels, and the hotels themselves are low-rise buidlings that blend into the hillsides, rather than towering above them. However, as more people from abroad discover the beauty of this area, one can only hope that they continue this policy. The locals are quite proud that their resort area is the first in North America to be designated a "green" destination, and intend to keep it that way.
There is a Mexican naval base here, almost invisibly nestled into the hillside, which the locals are glad to have, since it adds stability to the local economy, which otherwise would be too seasonal, and also provides assistance in the case of disasters like hurricanes, which can and have hit this coast. Cynically, having a naval base here probably has nothing to do with this location being just north of Chiapas, and Oxaca itself, both of which had some local resistance movements that are a thorn in the side of the national government. Just as we were there, a months-long strike by teachers, who had totally occupied much of the centre of the city of Oxaca was settled in favour of the teachers, although the fate of the governor, whom the teachers want removed, is still up in the air. Thus, a military presence may not be entirely benign.
The very modern cruise ship pier here is only three years old; previously, ships had to anchor in the bay, and tender their passengers ashore. This limited the ships that could come here to those carrying their own tenders. Now, they can handle two large ships a day, although again bringing upwards of 4000 tourists into the area for a day would probably impact the character of the district quite negatively. Right now, few enough ships come into harbour, mostly during the spring and fall repositioning time that they are not a huge disturbance.
All of the organised shore activities are geared to an "eco" nature. We chose a bird-watching walk of about 3 miles through rainforest to an undeveloped seashore. Our guides were locals, an older woman who was very knowledgeable on local history, traditions, and flora and fauna, assisted by several young people, all of whom were quite serious birders. Our guide happened to spot a bird he had not previously seen, and you'd think he had won the lottery, from his excitement.
We saw several species of birds that are endemic to this part of the world, some quite spectacular, plus a lot of migratory species that are passing through southern Mexico on their annual trek south. Lots of ruby-throated humming birds, for example, also Baltimore orioles. Several species of sea birds that we don't get in Canada, including two kinds of herons. We also met some of the extended family of our guides. These eco trips are a family affair; the younger ones do the guiding, the older folks work on keeping the trails clear and from overgrowing, an ongoing task in the tropics.
After the birdwatching tour, we spent the rest of the afternoon on the ship, cooling off, We then went to an afternoon folklorico show, featuring a local high school band playing Mexican folk music, and a group of very competent folk dancers, showing us the dances of the region. They were so professional, that it was unbelievable when we were told that all the dancers were between 16 and 20 years old.
We left Huatulco at 6 p.m. with another demonstration of the capabilities of this ship, backing out of our dock and then backing out through the harbour entrance, a distance of perhaps two miles, through some very pointed looking rocks not far to either side, before turning and again sailing south towards out next port of call, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. In between, we had a day at sea, which gave us a chance to sleep in, relax, and generally take a break from what has been a remarkably busy voyage, with the shore excurisons and other diversions.
Since Mexico keeps daylight saving time, along with the rest of North America, and Nicaragua and the rest of Central America do not, we also got to turn our clocks back an hour and sleep an hour more. Nicaragua is two hours behind Ontario, even though at this moment we are roughly directly south of Winnipeg. Of course, we will lose that hour again, plus another one as we get back onto Eastern Daylight Time before reaching Ft. Lauderdale.
Because of the time change, we woke up at 5:45 a.m. to bright sunlight, just as we sailed into the harbour at San Juan del Sur. There are no docks to handle this size ship here; San Juan is really only a smallish fishing port, and even the larger fishing vessels are moored off shore. Thus we anchored in the bay, and were taken ashore by tender in time for our tour of "Glimpses of Nicaragua's History and Culture" to depart. We drove about 45 minutes to the town of Rivas, where we had a chance to walk around and visit the local cathedral, then on to a lakeside hotel on Lake Nicaragua, where we had a great view of two of the 50 active volcanoes in the country. Then back by bus to San Juan, where we did a walk-around, then walked back along the beach in the water, finishing the final half mile or so in a bicycle cab.
Then back to ship, for a late lunch and beer, to re-hydrate after losing a lot of water in the still very hot climate, not helped by a light rain that just evaporated and raised the humidity.
Later in the afternoon we had a local folkloric show. The dancers again were local young people, all between 16 and 21. However, they are sponsored by the Tourism Ministry, and put on a magnificent show of dances from all across this country. High energy, skillful execution, and all obviously enthusiastic for their task of showing off their country. These shows of local dancers have been a real highlight of this cruise - not that the professional shows have been shabby, but these young people who are doing their best to show off their country and culture have an energy and enthusiasm that one just does not get from the paid talent.
Some impressions. This part of Nicaragua is trying very hard to attract tourists. A new port facility, which will allow cruise ships to dock, is being built. Rivas was an interesting mixture of old and new. Horse drawns wagons, modern trucks, pedi-cabs, scooters, bicycles, motorcycles, all combine to make traffic somewhat chaotic, probably not helped by the always present cops' habit of seemingly randomly whistling at someone in the traffic, pulling them over, and checking their papers. Not too much signage in English, yet, except for the ever present Coca Cola, followed closely by Pepsi, and push carts peddling icecream under the brand Eskimo! But a large banner in the Zocalo announces that English is not the future, but the present, and offering English classes, for a fee, to adults and children. The local craft market vendors in San Juan are not very aggressive, but a number of youth also work the market and the beach, and given a bit more practice, will soon be just as obnoxious as their counterparts in Acapulco. There are obvious mansions on the hillside overlooking the town, and large pleasure craft in the harbour, both probably belonging to foreigners, who are actively encouraged to buy land and build. No large hotels, yet! A Century 21 real estate business in the town doesn't even bother with Spanish on their signs, making it obvious who their customers are. Right now, this is still a relatively unspoiled part of the world to visit, we'd certainly like to spend some time here, but that may not be true in a few more years.
And that catches you up with us in the present. We are still anchored in San Juan harbour, Departure will be at 6 p.m. for Puntarena, Costa Rica, only a short sail away to the south. I will e-mail this later tonight, and am also hoping to post pictures on our website, http://longworth_mueller.fototime.com
The nest missive will follow in a few days.
Greetings to all! In harbour at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua P.S.
Just a bit more ship trivia. Earlier I wrote that we have been at anchor here in the harbour at San Juan del Sur. Just a little while ago I learned that the sea bottom here is such that this ship cannot get in close enough to anchor, and remains in deep water. Thus all day we have been keeping station, with a GPS system working the bow and stern thrusters to keep the ship positioned to within a foot or two. Just one more example of the amazing technology of these modern vessels.
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