Living the Dream on Xenia

Well several weeks have gone by and we are still in Manzanillo. We have stayed with Pat’s brother and sister-in-law Brian and Donna in Club Santiago, and with our friends Andy and Tina in their condo at Villas Del Palma. We have enjoyed beach time on Happy Tuesdays (all day happy hour at Oasis) and pool time at the condo. We have been out for meals and had some great food both Mexican and American style. Really enjoying the seafood.

We went on a 6 mile hike up to an abandoned house which overlooks both Santiago Bay and Cenicero Bay. It wasn’t an easy hike due to the heat but we made it with lots of water and a few stops along the way. We also took a day tour with Dani which started with a drive through the port area. Manzanillo has the largest port in Mexico and is a mass of containers and trucks. At any given time, you can see at least a half dozen freighters waiting to get permission to enter the port. We then went to the 5 de Mayo Market in Centro Manzanillo where we had Pozole which is the traditional white corn soup of Mexico. The place we went to won the 2019 contest for the best Pozole in Mexico and I have to say it was pretty tasty and very filling. We then walked through the market and were amazed by the quality of the meat, seafood and produce offered and the lack of smell considering the amount of fish and meat being sold. Even got a picture of Pat with a cow’s head. We then headed off to Comala City with a stop at a banana plantation, a salt farm and a brick making operation. Not something any one of us would want to do - hard labour in the hot sun every day. We had lunch in one of the local restaurants on the town square and you only pay for your drinks and they keep bringing appetizers until you say no more. They are mostly small taco’s and tostadas but good nonetheless. We then went to taste some tequila and local fruit booze before getting on the road again. The Rodeo was in town so we went to see what was happening. Unfortunately, their was a concert happening that night so no animals or cowboys to be seen. However, we got to see the stadium which was an experience in itself. Not somewhere I would want to be full of people. It was built with timbers and boards and no nails or screws but everything is lashed together instead. You could feel it shaking with just us walking on it and can only imagine what it would feel like full of people. The boys went window shopping for cowboy hats and gear and we then loaded back on the bus to head back to Manzanillo. We stopped at a waterfall on our way back but only our tour guide’s wife went swimming as we were all too tired but the water did feel great. You can’t swim under the falls though as you will get sucked under and could drown. Apparently, there are many deaths a year here. It was a great day and we learned a lot about the area. Our tour guide spoke excellent English so it made the trip very informative.

We finished off our time here with more pool and beach days, dinners out and dinners in having found the best BBQ’d ribs, chicken and arrachera and walks on the beach.

It is now time to begin the next leg of our adventure by getting on the bus and heading to Guadalajara. Stay tuned…..