Well, we've arrived at our southern-most point in our 'journey' (ha!!)...we are in Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo. We debated about making this final jaunt as it was another 30+ hour sail and we weren't sure we wanted to undertake another one when really...we have seen a lot of beaches, towns, snorkeling areas...but we had heard so much about Z-Town that we thought we might as well go....otherwise we'd regret it. We are all thankful that we made the trek down here as it is definitely a wonderful spot!!

Ixtapa is a breath-taking place, full of very spendy hotels and restaurants and beaches lined with white sand. The vegetation is still quite tropical (versus the desert-like beauty of the Sea of Cortez) and the water temperature even warmer than anything we've experienced. The gauge on the boat says the water temperature is 91.6 degrees...but then that isn't all that surprising given that our latitude is at 17 degrees. We are almost three times closer to the equator than we are to Seattle!!

We spent two days in Ixtapa and it felt LUXURIOUS to be in a marina for a few days. The comfort of having a REAL shower and being able to consume water without being concerned about how full/empty our tanks are was a treat!!

The marina in Ixtapa is at the mouth of an estuary, so the brackish water means that crocs are possible visitors. There were signs everywhere indicating no swimming...boaters are advised not to let their dogs run on the dock and children must be supervised. The very day we arrived, around dusk, I noticed something lingering in the water near the gate of the dock we were on. We rushed over and gasped at the sight of a 6 foot croc being fed fish scraps by the security guards (about two feet away from the 'no feeding the crocs sign'). I guess it is not such a surprise, since the crocs' visit is pretty much a daily event. In addition, the security guard said that there is another one that comes by that is 4 meters (13 feet) long!!

Luckily, we didn't see him. We snapped a bunch of pictures so check out the photo gallery...including the one where the security guard is actually lifting the croc's tail!

We mostly did boat projects in Ixtapa so we really didn't see much of the town...however, after two days we moved on to Zihuatenejo and it is living up to its reputation of being a fun and great hang out for Cruisers. It is a town of about 100,000 people and there just always seems to be stuff going on...whether it is viewing the works of local artists or watching the local volleyball teams play...it is just alive with people. It is also a stop for the Cruise ships so I can imagine that it will get very busy when the next one arrives tomorrow.

Today, we had a good day taking care of a few things...the 3 boys got their hair cut and then all four of us went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned and Jordan got a tooth pulled. We thought he had a cavity as he said his teeth hurt, but it turns out that he was feeling the pressure of an adult tooth wanting to come out but couldn't as there wasn't enough room for it. Anyway, the dentist was wonderful and did a great job.

We plan to stay here for about 2 weeks before we head back up towards Manzanillo. We are going to explore the possibility of going to a place called Morelia to see the wintering grounds of the Monarch butterflies.

We'll see if that works out...that would be a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity....stay tuned...