Trip Report Jan 10 to Jan 25

Wonderful, as usual. Must be why we are already booked for next year!
My diary got shorter and shorter each day as I got more & more relaxed, read lazy, so some of this is from memory.
Uneventful flight down, walked across the parking lot with our carryon only bags and hopped the local bus to el Centro. Transferred there, with the assistance of friendly passersby, to the La Ropa bus and we were at our condo, Bungalows Arena Dorada, within a half hour of leaving the airport, for the grand sum of 35 pesos and priceless interaction with the locals.
Met the grounds staff and some fellow renters, dropped our bags and headed to the beach. A short & quick half block down the main road, hit the beach between el Marlin & Gaviota. Enjoyed a walk, swimming, drinking, eating & sunset at Rossy's. Early night to bed.
As soon as we hit the beach the next morning we were greeted by Rays, (will not attempt to identify them, as everyone called them something different, Sting, Manta, Eagle) body surfing in the waves. Beautiful! We swam many times a day all up & down the beach and were never bothered by the Rays, they avoided us. Hadn't gone far when Ed hollered "Did you see the size of that fish?" All I caught was the splash and then a dolphin jumped right out of the wave, back in again and surfaced with a fish in its mouth. Awesome! The Rays continued to play the length of the beach but seemed more concentrated at the south end. Didn't go far before seeing two spotted eels in the shallows. Twice on our morning walks we watched turtles hatching and making their way to the sea. These moments are what makes Zihua so special to me, besides the weather, beach, food & friendly people.
Most days were much like the one before, left the condo by 8:30 at the latest, walked, swam, ate, drank, visited, massaged etc. etc. Only returning to the condo in late afternoon for a quick pool swim, showered and caught the bus to town usually.
We were meeting friends staying at Villa Mexicana so we enjoyed lots of time there visiting with them and others we had met last year. Great staff!
We walked to Las Gatas Sunday morning, easy peasy, not a stroll in the park, but easily doable. We were there before most of the staff but enjoyed watching the set up. Decided upon where to sit by the character of 'the catcher' and the look of the loungers. We choose la Cabana and Juan took real good care of us starting with breakfast and hours later a stuffed pineapple. Sooo good. We really enjoyed watching the antics of a wedding party and guests who came right from the service to the beach. That gorgeous dress & long flowing train was pretty grey by the end of the day but did they ever have fun. I doubt I will ever see a fully decked out bride & groom riding a banana boat with her bridal party again any time soon. We loved Las Gatas on a Sunday with all the locals. Left early enough to hear a little salsa music at la Pirata before heading to the ball court. Man we can get busy down there.
We also saw Jimmy Mammou, M-Dock, Steve & Friends, Michelle LaValle, many buskers, enjoyed them all and look forward to hearing the ones we missed next year. Thanks to this board for keeping us aware of what is offered. Fantastic!
Our friends from VM accompanied us on a 2nd fishing trip with Ernesto Vargas, Ed had a fish on within 45 minutes, saw lots of turtles and had dolphins swimming along the bow. My fish got away after a lot of work, enough said. Dona Prudence at VM cooked it up to perfection upon our return. I can't imagine it any fresher or better prepared in a more perfect setting shared with dear new friends.
Tried stand up paddle boarding and really enjoyed it. Fell once and did not position myself correctly on the board getting back on so spent half the time trying to figure out why I was always going left or right but never straight. Once I was told to move up a foot on the board I was away. I will definitely be spending more time on that next year.
Spent a nice afternoon at Restaurnt Lindas, on Playa Linda with some of her family and our friends. Cold beer, good food, delightful company. Love seeing the crocodiles and iquanas. Did not go to Ixtapa Is. but have it on the list for next year.
We ate at the usual spots, Rossy, Patys, la Pirata, Trattoriado Gianni, Salvadores, Marina Café, Daniels, Nardos, Carmalitas, Dona Licha, el Marlin, Dona Prudence, Economical Susy, Bacco, street burgers. la Terracita, Alviras. All meals were good, some excellent and the only disappointment was from plate envy. Patys has the best shrimp stuffed avocado salad. I tried it wherever offered and had it three times at Patys. Terracitas squid & mushroom appy was memorable and our all round favorite was Salvadores stuffed dorado and chiles relano. That will be a first night next year!
Flophouse Bar was a regular stop when ever we were downtown. Miss the music, but Carlos is the real draw. Best sangria! No soda or tonic or whatever the others use. I must remember to specify 'no fizz' next year.
Also went out on the hobie cat, no wind that day but we were out of time so went anyway and had a real good visit with ..... I must get better with the names. I love hearing about a day in the life of these hardworking locals.
Plans for next year are stay closer to town, stay longer (4 weeks), take two Spanish lessons and one cooking lesson per week and on and on....
I hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip, we sure enjoyed living it!