Zihuatanejo & Ixtapa, Mexico
February 16, 2006

Zihuatanejo (pronounced Zee-wah-tah-nay-ho) and Ixtapa are small port towns in west-central Mexico.  For our side trip we chose the "Customs and Traditions" tour which took us to Playa Larga, a coconut farm, the Cristo de Petatlan Church, an adobe factory, and lastly to an overlook for a scenic view of Ixtapa.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Cruising into port.
There was no dock with deep water, so the ship tied up in the bay and passengers took these "tenders" to shore.	Our ship as seen from shore.	We're about to take our tour.	Jose, our guide for the tour.
	Long Beach ~ ecologically protected.	Weather was beautiful yet the beach was empty.  We were told this was because there were crocodiles!	Scenes from the movie "Shawshank Redemption" were photographed here.
Coconut palm tree.	This fellow is shaving coconut out of the shell.	This is the only tool they use to husk coconuts ~ an automobile wheel with a sharpened automobile spring welded in a vertical position.	The Cristo de Petatlan Church ~ recently rebuilt after a fire.
	Clay roof tiles being dried.	Adobe bricks drying in the sun.	Adobe bricks ready for delivery.
We saw more than 20 iguana's of all sizes in this tree ~ they were eating the berries!		On our way to Ixtapa.	This is as close as we could get to Ixtapa ~ the ship wasn't in port long enough for us to tour any longer!  L