Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board

I had the pleasure to first visit Zihuatanejo in 1972. We were in route to Acapulco from Los Angeles that summer and had to take a detour and find a place to stay for 4 days as a bridge on the then highway washed out and would take some time to repair.

My parents had a 1968 Chevrolet Travelall (modern day Suburban) and a tiny trailer filled to the gills. We were a family of five and my Father literally interpreted 4 on the floor to be one of us lucky to be in a bed during our 2.5 month journey - the other 4 on the floor.

We set camp at the old Trailer Park which is current day Las Salinas. It was a pre-teens heaven with beautiful beaches and lagoons. My parents were fluent Spanish speaking which coupled with the sight of the Travelall drew a lot of attention and my introduction to the beauty of estilo Zanka. I somewhat recall these two Americans who had a plane and camped next to us, fished all day and provided us fish for Mom's incredible meals. Tomatoes, chiles and onions resulted in great sauces. My brothers and I joked about eating red fish (huachinango) and coconuts 3 X's a day. Ice was a problem when our trailer had little energy and no cooling system. But nothing mattered to the 5 of us as we saw the moon's light shine across the bay and the many, many stars that filled each night.

Then word spread that the bridge was repaired and we could continue to Acapulco which was the goal of my parents.

Fast forward, you grow up, go to college and fortunate to meet and marry the love of your life.

Returned 1993 and quickly recalled the moon dancing across the bay, the stars and estilo Zanka.

We are both fluent in Spanish which quickly opened endless possibilities of great off the beaten path beaches, incredible meals and friendships.

Spent the next 29 years returning and slowly increased the duration and frequency of our stays.

My sweetie and I always joked about that one day. Well, that day is atras. We took ownership of a place in January, and agreed to let the long term renters stay through mid May. Last May we started our journey to slowly transition to spending a greater proportion of our lives living here.

May 2022 was a trip! Learned many many things about living in Mexico, our casita and ourselves. But always laughed and never regretted our decision. Left here the end of May 2022 with a greater appreciation and a strategy to move forward - estilo Zanka.

Our kitchen was the typical cement with ugly brown cabinets. Our familia Zanka hooked us up with Rufino Magana who transformed our kitchen to a thing of wonder. Rufino can be reached at 755 104 3979. Rufino nor his crew speak no English.

Rufino also made us some beautiful sofas. We used Orlando (755 102 6132) for the cushions to finalize the sofas. A search on this board shows that many others have previously used Orlando.

Customs
We arrived two weeks ago with a new puppy (Maximus Aurelius) and boxes of household items. Con el surte Zanka we pushed green and moved along.

Comida (soy comelon) and heavy critic given my Mexican Abuela y Ama.

Aside from a good ol fillete of Dorado mojo de ajo, the following our "my" go to:

Margaritas
Their chilaquiles verde have the perfect tang of tomatillo and serrano to make your taste buds pop! End of story. Their enmoladas are a masterpiece; the subtle chocolate, herb and nut sauce is followed with a welcome of acceptable heat. Their topping of buttery avocado seals the deal. The chicharon guisado is a pillow taste bud explosion. Their lengua is quality, quality and quality. We eat here 3Xs a week and I proudly shed a tear to my abuelas' and moms' home cooked meals 1X per week.

La Terracita
Wow and wow!
Enchiladas rojas and the baguette asadero are crazy good.

Asaderos Julio
This place is comelon heaven!!
I am from South LA and fortunate to spend years on the taco trail in Baja CA (shout out to Padrino) decades before anyone even called something a street taco.

Their tacos arrachera are the FING Bomb!! Their quesadilla de queso OAX coupled with arrachera is incredible. Our running joke with la duena is that we visit a fishing village to eat beef. Sunday pancita and borrego are killer.

Work from Home
Internet is great and able to WFH

TV
Yes, but, I don't smoke cigarettes.
Javier on Rob's site is the absolute deal

Down time
La Ropa is the place. Been hanging out a lot at La Perla

Friendships
Thank God and appreciative for the many, many Zankas who embraced us and genuinely consider us familia.

I also want to give shout out to Guy (Benito), Roy (soy Roy) and the Cowboy hat wearing kid from Wyoming (?Trevor?) for their genuine expression of estilo Zanka last Sunday watching NFL at La Perla.

Also had a Zihua Rob and Luipita sighting!

Tell your friends to visit and enjoy our community!!

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¡Felicitaciones, Amigos Suertudos! ¡Disfruten la Vida!

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I had the pleasure to first visit Zihuatanejo in 1972. We were in route to Acapulco from Los Angeles that summer and had to take a detour and find a place to stay for 4 days as a bridge on the then highway washed out and would take some time to repair.

My parents had a 1968 Chevrolet Travelall (modern day Suburban) and a tiny trailer filled to the gills. We were a family of five and my Father literally interpreted 4 on the floor to be one of us lucky to be in a bed during our 2.5 month journey - the other 4 on the floor.

We set camp at the old Trailer Park which is current day Las Salinas. It was a pre-teens heaven with beautiful beaches and lagoons. My parents were fluent Spanish speaking which coupled with the sight of the Travelall drew a lot of attention and my introduction to the beauty of estilo Zanka. I somewhat recall these two Americans who had a plane and camped next to us, fished all day and provided us fish for Mom's incredible meals. Tomatoes, chiles and onions resulted in great sauces. My brothers and I joked about eating red fish (huachinango) and coconuts 3 X's a day. Ice was a problem when our trailer had little energy and no cooling system. But nothing mattered to the 5 of us as we saw the moon's light shine across the bay and the many, many stars that filled each night.

Then word spread that the bridge was repaired and we could continue to Acapulco which was the goal of my parents.

Fast forward, you grow up, go to college and fortunate to meet and marry the love of your life.

Returned 1993 and quickly recalled the moon dancing across the bay, the stars and estilo Zanka.

We are both fluent in Spanish which quickly opened endless possibilities of great off the beaten path beaches, incredible meals and friendships.

Spent the next 29 years returning and slowly increased the duration and frequency of our stays.

My sweetie and I always joked about that one day. Well, that day is atras. We took ownership of a place in January, and agreed to let the long term renters stay through mid May. Last May we started our journey to slowly transition to spending a greater proportion of our lives living here.

May 2022 was a trip! Learned many many things about living in Mexico, our casita and ourselves. But always laughed and never regretted our decision. Left here the end of May 2022 with a greater appreciation and a strategy to move forward - estilo Zanka.

Our kitchen was the typical cement with ugly brown cabinets. Our familia Zanka hooked us up with Rufino Magana who transformed our kitchen to a thing of wonder. Rufino can be reached at 755 104 3979. Rufino nor his crew speak no English.

Rufino also made us some beautiful sofas. We used Orlando (755 102 6132) for the cushions to finalize the sofas. A search on this board shows that many others have previously used Orlando.

Customs
We arrived two weeks ago with a new puppy (Maximus Aurelius) and boxes of household items. Con el surte Zanka we pushed green and moved along.

Comida (soy comelon) and heavy critic given my Mexican Abuela y Ama.

Aside from a good ol fillete of Dorado mojo de ajo, the following our "my" go to:

Margaritas
Their chilaquiles verde have the perfect tang of tomatillo and serrano to make your taste buds pop! End of story. Their enmoladas are a masterpiece; the subtle chocolate, herb and nut sauce is followed with a welcome of acceptable heat. Their topping of buttery avocado seals the deal. The chicharon guisado is a pillow taste bud explosion. Their lengua is quality, quality and quality. We eat here 3Xs a week and I proudly shed a tear to my abuelas' and moms' home cooked meals 1X per week.

La Terracita
Wow and wow!
Enchiladas rojas and the baguette asadero are crazy good.

Asaderos Julio
This place is comelon heaven!!
I am from South LA and fortunate to spend years on the taco trail in Baja CA (shout out to Padrino) decades before anyone even called something a street taco.

Their tacos arrachera are the FING Bomb!! Their quesadilla de queso OAX coupled with arrachera is incredible. Our running joke with la duena is that we visit a fishing village to eat beef. Sunday pancita and borrego are killer.

Work from Home
Internet is great and able to WFH

TV
Yes, but, I don't smoke cigarettes.
Javier on Rob's site is the absolute deal

Down time
La Ropa is the place. Been hanging out a lot at La Perla

Friendships
Thank God and appreciative for the many, many Zankas who embraced us and genuinely consider us familia.

I also want to give shout out to Guy (Benito), Roy (soy Roy) and the Cowboy hat wearing kid from Wyoming (?Trevor?) for their genuine expression of estilo Zanka last Sunday watching NFL at La Perla.

Also had a Zihua Rob and Luipita sighting!

Tell your friends to visit and enjoy our community!!

Wow! I think you should have a novela made from your story! ¡Muchas gracias por compartir tu historia! ¡Bienvenidos a la comunidad zihuatanejense!

Trip/Move Report

Trip/Move Report

Trip/Move Report

Trip/Move Report