A Tour of Acapulco

Since we planned to stay in Acapulco just a short time and had some concerns due to the recent events in the city, we decided to hire a guide to take us around. From another cruising blog, we got the name of Sebastian. On Sunday we exchanged emails and Monday morning he picked us up in his white Suburban, with air conditioning, in front of the marina.

Our first stop was the port captain to check in. Fill out some paperwork, make a few copies, have the port captain sign with a flourish and we were back on the road.

The first stop was the Diego Rivera mosaic mural. Diego created the mural on the wall outside the home of his final lover, Dolores Olmedo, as a wedding proposal.  The mural features Quetzalcoatl, the feathered Serpent of the Aztec religion and the Mayan version of this snake and in the center is his proposal. Exekatkalli was the name of her home, which means “House of the Winds”. The frog symbolizes Diego, the pet name his lover called him. In the frog’s hand is his heart, burning with desire for her. The dog represents her pet, a hairless Aztec dog.

 

The Proposal of Marriage

 

Mother of Pearl detail

 

The view from the home. In the center you can see where they do the cliff diving

 

We were able to have a tour of their art studio and the home. It has been bought by the government with some assistance from Carlos Slim and the plan it to turn it into a museum.

Our next stop was the original cathedral in traditional Acapulco

 

Sebastian took us to one of the many mercados or markets in Acapulco. It Is many times bigger than the market we visited often in Zihuatanejo. Sebastian explained to us that the name Zihuatanejo’s Axtec origin is Zihuat meaning girl and nejo meaning dirty or dirty girl. In case you wanted to know. He also explained that Mexico means “tummy of the moon”.

Making Pinatas

Our next stop was the cliff divers and lunch. From the restaurant we had a great view of the cliffs were the divers free climb and then jump up to 140 feet to the water below. They start training when they are 10 years old and when they are 16 they will start performing, 5 shows a day, jumping from different levels each show. It was amazing.

 

After the show we drove along the golden section of Acapulco where most of the hotels are located on the beach. We entered Las Brisas, or The Breezes, a gated community, in the diamond section of town, where the homes of the rich and famous are located, including the home of Julio Iglesias and his son Enrique who lives next door. This development crowns the highest hill in Acapulco and on the very top is a 140 ft tall white cross and a chapel that was built by a French family that bought the property in the 1940s. The chapel is non-denominational and open to the public. In either end are triangles made of onyx which is translucent.

 

Note the onyx

 

Sebastian took at to Costco so we could pick up a few items before we head farther south. Our last stop was at a silver store run by some friends of Sebastian’s. Part of their service includes free drinks. Pina Colada or Margarita anyone? Rich bought me a gorgeous silver necklace with matching earrings. We also got a few charms for the boat necklace and some hand blown wine glasses from Guadalajara.

We had a great time and we think we saw the best of Acapulco. Sebastian speaks fluent English and helped us with our Spanish. He is a native of Acapulco and has many stories and interesting information about the city and the sights. We would highly recommend him. You may reach Sebastián Hernández Ricardo at acapulcofor_all ‘at’ yahoo.com. His website is www.acapulcoforall.com.

Today we did some chores. Across the street from the marina is a Superama grocery store. It is like a Larry's in Seattle. We found some great items. Tomorrow we will fill our forward fuel tank and head south for Hualtuco. We hope to arrive late in the afternoon on Thursday.

Adios