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 Travel & Outdoors | February 2008 
Life is Beautiful on the Mexican Riviera
 Jeanne Sparks - Santa Maria Times
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| | A view of the beach at Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero state, Mexico. (Jeanne Sparks) | | |
Zihuatanejo gets its name from the indigenous Nahuatl's word for “the place of women,” tour guide Juan explains to the busload of American tourists who'd just disembarked from the Norwegian Star. In pre-Columbian times, it had been ruled by women who practiced sacrifices, more often sacrificing boys than girls.
“The ladies in this town, they're going to sacrifice us,” Juan jests, adding, “In my home, I have the last word: ‘Yes, dear.'”
The stop in this historic city is the second of four during the “Mexican Riviera” cruise Jan. 19 to 27 on Norwegian Cruise Lines. The first was in Acapulco, where tourists enjoyed the warm sun, beaches and cliff divers. The next two stops would be Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. The cruise is offered many times during the year.
The people in the bus are on their way to see several sites, including one where coconuts are processed for export.
“You can remember my name,” Juan says. “Juan, two, three Š”
He asks who knows what state in Mexico they are in. One or two raise their hands. He explains we are in Guerrero, where the official language is Spanish, 27 indigenous dialects are spoken and English is taught in high school. Tourism is the primary industry in the state, followed by farming, fishing and mining.
Juan explains sights and curiosities along the way, including the white bands around the trunks of trees, which was an organic pesticide consisting of castor oil, lime and seawater to keep bugs and ants away.
We arrive at an open parcel of land with thousands of coconuts piled in heaps. Men bash the massive coconuts onto a sharp metal piece that looks somewhat like a sword held erect by an old car rim. A false move would be very painful.
Juan's assistant, Paco, explains that the coconut is the largest seed in the world. They grow four manually-harvested crops a year. Each tree yields about 200 coconuts annually.
Some coconuts are peeled for export, and the peels are used for things such as souvenirs or saddle blankets (and formerly for VW Beetle car seats). Milk and meat are collected from others. The milk is used for things such as pina coladas, while oil is extracted from the meat. In the countryside, the shell is used for cooking, because it burns like charcoal.
Different excursions are offered at each port. One rigorous trip takes tourists up into the canopies of trees and sends them on zip lines from tree to tree. Others take people shopping, on boat rides, snorkeling, scuba diving or any number of other activities.
From Puerto Vallarta in the state of Jalisco, the “Tropical Jungle Tour” takes visitors on a bus ride past a dolphin statue next to the beach. The statue was given to the city by its sister city, Santa Barbara; and the dolphins were made by the same sculptor that made the similar, but not identical ones in Santa Barbara. Several statues adorn the sidewalk.
A short distance away is a stop to look at “The Arches,” not terribly impressive rocks just offshore. Some members of the group think the stop is more about the vendors waiting for them along the street than the rocks in the water.
Several films had been shot in the area, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor once had adjoining homes there connected by a bridge.
We arrive at our destination, a jungle, not a rainforest, our guide explains. It gets 65 inches of rain a year, all of it within four months. Tourists walk down a path lined with goods and friendly vendors before setting their eyes on the idyllic multi-level outdoor restaurant carved into a hill along the side of a river. The water is clear, clean and refreshing. The group takes a break in the restaurant before going on a 45-minute hike to learn about the native plants and uses of the land.
After lunch, it's back to town and to the boat.
While the onshore destinations would seem to be the primary reasons to take a cruise, the onboard activities are quite entertaining. Singers and dancers put on a wonderful 1970s revue. Chinese acrobats contort their bodies and move with strength, grace and agility. The audience is in awe of the talent onstage.
Comedians entertain and staff put on game shows to get the guests involved. The “Almost Newlywed Game” is hilarious. The “Sexy Legs” contest draws howls as men lap dance for the women judges. The “Who Wants to Be a Bazillionaire” contest gets trivia buffs yelling out answers.
Those who can't do without exercise have a gym and outdoor track to run. The outdoor pools, slides and hot tubs provide hours of entertainment. Freestyle dining allows passengers to choose where to eat and when. Restaurants offer a variety of cuisine from buffet style to formal four-course meals.
The fee ranges from $549 per person for two people in an inside stateroom, to $6,999 for the fanciest suite. An additional $10 a day is tacked on as a tip. Crew members come from around the globe, and work 10-hour days seven days a week without a day off for months at a time.
Germs were a big problem on this cruise, as they have been on many cruises. Many people caught the Norwalk virus, a form of gastroenteritis that causes diarrhea and vomiting. Crew members tried to squelch the outbreak by standing guard with squirt bottles filled with alcohol, and hand-washing stations near the high-traffic areas. The captain periodically encouraged everyone to wash their hands often and take every precaution. Those who caught the bug were given free treatment and were quarantined - asked to remain in their cabin until the symptoms had been gone for 24 hours. The worst part of the sickness often lasted one day. At the end of the cruise, they were given a credit on their account they could use to pay for certain items aboard the ship.
At the beginning of the cruise, some guests were surprised to learn that we would not arrive at our first port until the fourth day. We had boarded on a Saturday afternoon and didn't arrive in Acapulco until Tuesday. That was followed by Zihuatanejo on Wednesday, Puerto Vallarta on Thursday and Cabo San Lucas on Friday. Saturday was a day at sea and Sunday was disembarkation at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.
Even with the maladies and minor misunderstandings, many guests were genuinely enthusiastic about the cruise and glad they went. The food was topnotch, the crew was friendly and helpful, the activities were fun and the excursions offered a variety of ways to experience Mexico.
Jeanne Sparks is a writer, photographer and graphic artist. For information email Jeanne(at)JeanneSparks.com; visit www.JeanneSparks.com. |
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