We awoke to the sound of the crew lowering boats into the water from our ship. We had arrived at our second port Zihuatanejo (Zee-wha-te-nay-ho) on schedule at 7:00.
Only this time, we didn't pull right up to the pier. We anchored out in the bay. So the ship launched boats they call "tenders" to shuttle folks to the pier.
We hadn't signed up for shore excursions here either. But we did want to go ashore and see what we could get into.
We opted for the sit down breakfast in the Versailles restaurant this morning. Good choice. You have to wait just a little longer to eat, but your breakfast is made to order. Nice.
Linda & I got off the ship around 9:00 am. We approached the awaiting throngs of people ready to show us a good time. :)
We carefully selected a cab driver that spoke English fairly well and had a map to show us the area. He agreed to drive us out away from town through mango and coconut plantations to a lagoon.
I've heard a few horror stories of tourists being taken advantage of, so we were cautious. I took a picture of our driver, his I.D., and his cab just in case.
But Eduardo was great! He had lived in the U.S. in the northeast for 12 years as an undocumented alien. He learned English on his own and both of his children were born in the states.
But he and his family were deported after 9/11 before he could get his paperwork completed. So he was back in his home town trying to do the best he can for his family.
He was such a nice guy and we enjoyed riding with him and talking to him as much as we enjoyed the sights.
He drove us out to a lagoon where a couple of the ship's tours had brought folks for lunch. Eduardo was going to stay with us as long as we needed and take us back to the ship when we were ready.
We talked to some of the local fishermen as we watched them empty their nets. I took a few pics of them ....
and the beach as I waded in the warm water.
Then we rented a kayak and paddled around the large lagoon ...
through the mangroves ...
taking pictures of the birds ...
and watching all kinds of fish in the clear waters. I was wishing we had brought our snorkeling gear. Oh well.
As we turned in the kayak, a local swimmer with a string of fish popped up with a speargun. He offered to take us spearfishing for $30. Unfortunately, our stay in Zihuatanejo was short and we didn't have time. Otherwise, I would have been all over that chance to do something new. :)
Eduardo was waiting for us. The fishermen had offered him some fish for his family if he took them out of the net, so he took advantage of the offer while we were gone. He said his kids love the fish.
Before we left, Linda took the opportunity to plop down in a hammock for a photo.
On the way back, we made a stop. Eduardo wanted to show us the Iguana Tree.
We followed him over to this large tree. It was full of huge iguanas climbing and lounging in the branches. Pretty cool.
Notice the chicken behind this one for a size comparison.
Eduardo took us back to the pier. We paid him our agreed price. It was probably a little steep, but much less than if we had booked the same thing through the ship. We were all very satisfied. :)
Back on board, we relaxed and then went to the buffet for lunch. We found Jonny & Christian there and joined them. They are doing shore excursions at every port and seem to be enjoying them.
Later, Linda went to the big bingo game and I decided to enter another Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament. But first I played a little blackjack to try to earn my entry fee. Well, that backfired. :)
But I got in the tournament and made the final table. A few minutes later, I found myself in the final five and they were paying five places.
Then it was suggested that we all split the prize pool five ways rather than playing it out. We all agreed and I ended up with $550!
Coulda been more, coulda been less if I would have played it out. But I knew splitting the winnings would cover all my entry fees in the various tournaments plus Linda's bingo plus any other casino losses and still put us up a little bit. So that was a nice deal.
Linda got to witness the last few hands, so she was wanting me to take the money and run as well. :) Plus we needed to get going for our 6:00 dinner reservations at Cagney's Steakhouse.
We were just a little late for dinner. Now Cagney's is a "specialty" restaurant with a cover charge. In fact it has the highest cover charge of any of the specialty places at $20 per person.
So our expectations were pretty high. And we were disappointed. The steaks were not as good as we expected and neither was the rest of the meal. The service was okay, but there were lots of mistakes. The experience was just not nearly as good as our first night at Le Bistro or even as good as our second night at Versailles which had no cover.
After dinner, we met at the Carousel Bar.
We watched the end of the karaoke, but it was more of just a meeting place to figure out what was next.
Dan & John went to bed, and the rest of us went to the show in the Stardust Theater.
Here is the lavish entrance to the theater.
And here is a shot of the theater I took on a different day.
Tonight it was decorated a little differently. :)
It was a disco/rock 'n' roll show of 70s music and dance. I have to say it was pretty entertaining.
After that we found ourselves in another bar we had not yet been in.
Yeah, I know it sounds like we are always in a bar or eating. :)
I headed off to bed and left the rest of the group. Linda was not far behind.
Tonight we had an elephant on our bed. :)
Another full day and we are back at sea. We will be stopping at Puerto Vallarta tomorrow.
See ya! :)
Did you ever think you would be having so much fun, back when you were working??????
Posted by: A Howeth | Thursday, October 04, 2007 at 11:00 PM