Holiday in Ixtapa: Our First Mexican Experience

Time for a change...

I am now dedicating my blog to our travels abroad, primarily in Mexico though we have travelled to several European countries and had wonderful holidays. However, now that we are living in Canada, short distance travel means going to another part of Canada, the United States or Mexico. Can't just pop over to France any more!!

Map of England and Europe

Our first trip to Mexico was a few years ago now. We headed to Ixtapa on the Pacific side of the country. It was a beautiful place and we had a wonderful holiday. We stayed at an all inclusive resort, which although was nice, really wasn't our thing. Yes, it was nice to have all the beer and alcohol, food and snacks readily available at almost any time of day or night. Yes, it was nice to not have to carry around cash and worry about where the next meal was coming from and how much it was going to cost. Yes, it was nice to have the maid service with made beds, fresh towels daily and no kitchen to have to tidy.



But......

I am pretty sure the beer and alcohol were watered down... we drank and drank and drank but still didn't get drunk. All the food for the main meals were served from those bain marie's keeping things warm until you got to them. After even a short time being kept warm, it is difficult to keep food looking appealing!

 
We like self service - being able to make a cup of tea in the morning and drink it on the balcony, enjoying sea breezes, perhaps munching on some toast. Breakfast can be served any time we want it to be so we can have our lie in. The choice of many restaurants all preparing food to our order and bringing it to us piping hot and freshly prepared. You know what I am talking about?

 
However, we did fall in love with Mexico! Such a wonderful country, interesting and full of life and sounds. We agreed that we would come back and explore further.....


Ixtapa and the neighbouring city, Zihuatanejo - affectionately referred to as Zihua - were beautiful. Zihua was full of traditional Mexican charm, with numerous street merchants, fishing boats and the greatest bus service! We hopped on a bus from the hotel and went into the shopping area and had a blast. The driver was crazy and the conductor was even more so! On both journeys, vendors would jump on board selling fruit, cactus juice and other edibles out of plastic bags then jump off before the bus would pull away from the stop. It was very hot when we went, to these snacks were so refreshing!



We also took a tour to Ixtapa Island which was really fun. We snorkled at the coral reef and swam in the much calmer ocean, had a delightful lunch and enjoyed the beautiful warm weather. We later discovered that we could have taken a bus to where the ferry departs and then 'walked on' the ferry across to the island for a lot less money than the tour, but when you are new to a country, perhaps it is best to stick with the tours.


All in all, we had a wonderful holiday!