We arrived here a few days ago via Manzanillo. (See previous entry). Zihuatanejo (or Zihua for short ) has a long and interesting history. The original inhabitants were minding their own business fishing, sailing, etc when they were rolled by the Aztecs in 1480 who named the place Cihuatlan (which sort of means "Goddess" Women who had died in childbirth. Cihuatlan was the western paradise of the goddess women. When the Spanish came along a few years later, wiping out the Aztecs, they added "nejo" to the name (sort of refers to the smallness of the bay). So you then had Cihuatlannejo which was a bit of a mouthfull, so it was eventually changed to Zihuatanejo. This is still a mouthfull and a hell of a word to type when the boat is rocking so most people just call it Zihua. Back in 1526 Zihua served as the departure point for the first expeditionary voyage by the Spanish to the Philipinnes. They built three ships but only one made it to the Philippines (they obviously left on a Friday).

The bay also served as the home of pirates who used the bay as a hiding point to sneek out and rape and pillage passing yachties (or Spanish galleons as they were known in those days).

Anyway, fast forward to today and you have the most beautiful little harbour and town that we have seen anywhere during our travels down the Mexican coast. All the streets are cobblestones and everything is very clean and the natives are very friendly. A few years ago the authorities recognised the tourist potential of the area and built a resort a few miles up the coast called Ixtapa and that now has every international hotel known to mankind and a world renown marina together with two championship 36-hole golf courses and an international airport. The whole are is now referred to in the tourist literature as Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. The town of Zihua has kept its original character but on either side unbelievably beautiful condos and private homes have been built into the hills resembling the Italian Riviera except the architecture is uniquely Mexican. If we find internet access I'll upload a photo taken from where we are anchored.

We will be here now until we set out on the trip to the Marquessas in a few weeks. There are a few other puddle jumpers anchored here so we'll get to know them over the next few weeks at various get-togethers ashore.