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Escrito por nancy in vancouver desde 24.81.26.234 (S0106000d936a5568.vc.shawcable.net) el día domingo, 06 de febrero, 2005 a las 20:05:51 horas :
Got in early Wednesday night after the long haul from Vancouver/LA/Zih. At the airport we followed the man with the sign that said "Going Troppo?". It was our first stay at La Quinta Troppo on la Ropa beach but it won't be our last. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. Our room was open to the elements (bed draped in mosquito netting) and we dropped our jaws and our bags, sat on the big sofa and watched the sun go down. After downing the excellent margaritas, chips and guacamole they bring to your room upon checking in, we walked a few minutes down the road to the beach and Elviras. Aah yes, torch and candlelight, garlic snapper. Vancouver visitors, have you ever noticed that from a table on the beach there are lights on the hills above the town that look just like Cypress Bowl?
The next day, breakfast on the terrace at La Quinta Troppo. Fresh fruit and lots of it with gooood coffee. The terrace is used for breakfast in the morning, lounging during the day and for supper in the evening. The terrace looks out over the ocean and the view is framed by dozens of gorgeous terracotta pots planted with colourful flowering plants. Lizards often came along the eat the bougainvilla flowers, which ranged in hue from pink to purple to orange. Spent the day on La Ropa, then supper at La Gula, which was Dorado cooked in lots of spices and then sauteed bananas. MMM.
The next day, at La Quinta Troppo, I had the best meal of my life. Fresh tuna, caught that very day. My husband likes his tuna cooked to pork chop consistency and I like mine still flopping around on the plate, and both came exactly the way we like it. Came with tortilla soup, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake and ice cream, and the most wonderful candlelit atmosphere with soft music playing in the background. Memories are made of this!
The next day found us walking in the heat of the day to find Rebeca Payne. We'd read on this website that for 18 years Rebeca and her husband have taken in animals in distress. Rebeca's husband is ill and they have been promised government help in the form of some land but there have been problems with that so they have been looking after 300 animals on a small residential lot. We had a hard time finding the place - after a few little disagreements (we've been down this street, no we haven't, yes we have - y'all know how it is) my husband said let's listen for animals and follow the sound. Sure enough we heard birds and we followed the singing and there was Rebeca, in her yard, feeding a coatimundi. She has racoons, squirrels, military macaws, green headed and blue headed parrots, ducks, an eagle, hawks and a crocodile. And twenty dogs, all looking happy and well-fed. There was a tiny owl with big yellow-rimmed eyes that had just laid an egg. There was a young porcupine, half new quills, half baby fur.
Some of the animals have been hit by cars. Young are taken from their mothers to be raised as pets and become too much to care for. Their owners bring them to Rebeca and as she says, "How can I say no?" Some of the animals have to be put down by a vet. The next day she was going to be interviewed on national tv with the hope of some movement by the government bureaucracy which promised them some land with a creek and trees which the city has promised to fence in. But the land is being occupied illegally. The government promised to do something about it over a year ago. "Tomorrow," Rebeca sighed, "They keep promising they will do something to help us tomorrow." We gave Rebeca a donation to help with her work and walked back into town to check out the incredible market, have a beer at Rick's Bar where I was able to watch an episode of "The Daily Show" and load up on coffee at Cafe Zihua.
That night we had supper at Kau Kan which was a real disappointment. I had the tomato salad to start. The tomatoes were pale and hard and seedless which I couldn't understand after seeing mounds and mounds of mouth-wateringly ripe tomatoes that very day in the market. We both had mahi-mahi which was dry and overdone.
The rest of the time in Zihua is a blur of fabulous breakfasts at La Quinta Troppo, a really great meal at El Mediterrano, seeing Jimi Mamou at the Barracuda Bar in town and long days at La Ropa beach. Sunday was the best day at the beach as there were lots of local people as well as tourists - families with picnics, kids playing with buckets and spades or an old plastic javex bottle cut into a scoop. By 4 pm the beach is really lively. Groups of mariachis in matching outfits - red shirt, black pants, light blue shirt, white pants. You can hear them strumming as they move through the people on the beach. The shadows are longer. You hear the mariachis, kids laughing and playing, the soft sound the pottery makes as a heavily-laden vendor passes by and always the sound of the ocean. There are big guys in little bathing suits and little guys in big bathing suits. There's a man in a white cowboy hat wheeling an old cart, selling something and a younger guy with a newer cart selling ice cream. On the sand at the shoreline are the running, flitting shorebirds and a little blonde girl in a purple bathingsuit using a yellow spade to fill two red plastic buckets that glow in the sun.
Geez, I am going on a bit, but I miss the place already.
Week 2 we spent in Troncones. It was great too. Don't get me started! ZIHUATANEJO
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