Nearly Abducted?
08 May 2012 | Acapulco
still hot
The next day we were off to explore again. Leiann wanted to ride one of the local buses which in Acapulco are something in themselves. Here the first class buses are with air conditioning but they are not for local travel. Then there are the second class buses which are privately owned. These buses in Acapulco compete with each other for customers. Many are painted in loud colors with accessories like flourescent lights, chrome wheels, spoilers and what ever they can come up with to look cooler than the other busses. So Leiann saw one of these all lit up the other night and wanted to ride but we rode in one that was plain on the outside and ugly. I tried telling her they were the same on the inside, she did not believe me.(Later we rode one of the fancy ones and it was pretty much plain on the inside except for some handpainted ceilings and walls). We got off at the square, walked around, had something to eat then walked to the beach. After finding a palapa (grass roofed building) we relaxed with a cold beverage in the shade. While at any beach in Mexico one is constantly bombarded with peddlers of one kind or another. You simple can't keep buying from every cute little kid with chicklets or trinkets, but it's really hard not to. We gave in and gave a little girl (10) ten peso's but told her we did not want a hat she was selling. It was nice to see her go over a get an ice cream as the money we gave her was hers not the person's whom she was selling for. Anyhow that brings us to being nearly abducted. Sitting at the same table along comes a fellow selling tee-shirts. This guy spoke English and looked like he needed the money. We told him that we did not need another tee-shirt but would be happy to buy him a beer. He did not drink but accepted a pop. We talked about his family, five boys and no mom. We told him one of the things we like to do after arriving in port is to rent a taxi for an hour to just drive around and see some of the town that cannot be seen by just walking the beach areas. This tee-shirt salesman says hey I have a friend with a taxi he will take your anywhere and not charge much. We were apprehensive but felt like this guy would probably get a little kick back out of the deal so we agreed to go to his house and meet his friend. We had to take a taxi which took us up the hill, further and further up the hill until the homes got poorer and poorer. We (me) are always wanting to see "real urban Mexico" and by God here we were. We walked with him down a street, then down a concrete stairway that got narrower and narrower as we went. Finally we were on a dirt path that ended at a large ravine filled with garbage and smelled of sewer. He says heres my place and compells us to squeeze around a locked gate into a dirt (and I hesitate to say) yard, where a home of sorts stood. The "house" was made of odd lumber nailed together with a corragated (rusted steel) roof. He asked us inside where he offered us a seat on an uncovered mattress. The floor was dirt, dirty clothes everywhere and the room had two mattresses but was only 10 x 14. This included the "kitchen"and "TV room" and he did have another room walled off that was for the older brother, as the story went. Our guy told us to sit and watch TV while he went to get his friend. We must have looked worried because as he was headed out the door he looked back and said "don't worry". This did worry us, as we sat in filth looking at each other, wondering how the hell did we get here! After we waited for a few minutes images of gun's, knives, stories of abductions and muders ran thruogh my head. I told Leiann I think we better get the hell out of here. She did not need much convincing. We hurriedly headed back up the "trail", constantly looking over our shoulders. We got back to the main road spotted a taxi jumped and said go! Looking at each other we said we'll laugh about this later, but both feeling pretty stupid. The taxi driver was nice and we propositioned him to drive us around for two hundred pesos ($18). We drove all over and went by Sylvester Stallone's home on our way to look at the next bay south which we were planning to visit. Another highlight of the Acapulco vist was getting our FM-3. This is temperory citizenship (renewable every year).We had been told horror story's from fellow cruisers regarding getting this done. We found it only took us two days and a little fibbing. We are now offically Mexicans (and I would appreciate it if you stopped telling jokes about stupid Mexicans!). We have not given up US citizenship, but have dual citizenship now. We did some walking on the beach, shopping for food, got ice and headed out for the next bay south, Puerto Marques. We spent two nights there. After getting the hook down we headed for the beach to explore. On a chart a back water lagoon is shown with access to the ocean. On the chart it say's African Queen. I assumed this meant the location that the famous film was made. Predator had been flimed in Puerto Vallarta and also Night of the Iquana. So why not African Queen. We walked on a dirt road along this bayou looking for something (not sure what). As we went along it became more and more desolate. Leiann was not wanting to go further and I said it's daylight what can happen, you stay here and I'll come back. She then agreed to come along (not much for staying by hereself, I would not have really left her, really!) We walked about four miles then came to a little village out of nowhere? We walked through the village that looked I a tourist trap and said how strange to be here. As we walked futher we came to a foot bridge crossing where we found many tour buses and much tourist activity. We had come out at the North each of the Hotel district! We walked along the beach as now we were back out along the ocean. Walking by huge new hotels, Mayan Pricess, etc. This is the new part of Acapulco. Hotels have sprung up further south of Acapulco along the ocean and are continuing to be built further and further south. We grabbed a taxi back to the beach near the boat, had dinner, relaxed by a little pool and watched the sun set. The next day we headed out for our final destination for the year Huatulco ,250 miles from Guatemala.