First full day is over!

Well, days always go so fast when in Zihua, even when you try to do as little as possible. I got here in Zihua late afternon yesterday and even though I was surprised to see we had 2 arrivals at the same time at the airport(WestJet and CanJet), things went rather smoothly and within about 30 minutes I was out and waiting for a shared cab after paying my 120 pesos.
As usual, there was a bit of a wait as they try to fill the cab so it gave me time to get a beer at the stand outside the doors. Beer is 40 pesos and someone was complaining we were getting ripped off. Considering it's about $7-8 for a mexican beer at home, I didn't feel too bad for this pricing at an airport and it sure tasted good!

10 minutes later and off we go. Another 10 minutes ride or so and I was at my hotel on La Madera. Ended up meeting some super nice guests there and having a good chat and then time to have a shower and head out for dinner. I ended up at Nardo but was not up for a full meal as I had been up 26 hours already and although I needed food I wanted something easy and tasty. So a campechana with a margarita sounded like perfect and it sure was. Great seafood cocktail with shrimp, octopus, a couple of other sea shells type and fish in a tomato based cold broth with some chps and I was done. Back to hotel and I crashed by 8:30 which is very unusual for me.

Got up around 9:30 this morning after waking up a few times due to a hard mattress even after some pads were put on last night by the staff but the issue was fixed today as the mattress was replaced by a good one. Another good chat this morning with somne guests and off I went for breakfast at Margaritas, my favorite breakfast place in town. I like it as I like the decor and setting of the restaurant, enjoy the good service and the food is always good and even which is tricky in Mexico. I had huevos rancheros with red sauce served with white refried beans and a basket of fresh bread and a large freshly squeezed grapefruit juice for 69 pesos and was ready for the day after.

Decided to take a stroll on the new paved path to the Commercial and as much as some complaints were posted here about the high cost of this, there were lots of folks using it today around 14:00-15:00 and really it does look good. I also see that some work was done around some trees to preserve them which is good to see. I bought a couple items I had left home and la Commercial seems the best place to find such items and just stroll through the place to check what they were carrying and pricing. I thought even more diversity was available and some pricing were down quite a bit from last year. But I still prefer to buy most of my needs at the small mom and pop stores...

Came back to the hotel and has some business to take care off for the afternoon but as I was getting ready to go for my afternoon/sunset bite at La Rena Rene, some guests at the hotel were talking about the sighting of the day on La Madera. Not even 100' from where the waves end, a 10' crocodile was seen swiming and people were swimming close by. I'm familiar with them at the far end of la Ropa but never seen or heard of one at La Madera and this was in the middle of that beach at 16:00 so not your normal time either. Perhaps some locals/more informed folks can shed light on this but I thought this was unusual. It sure put a scare in some folks but then again crocs are not known to go after locals or spicy tourists either here!

I had a tasty guacamole with chips and a beer for 60 pesos on La Madera and sat watching the sunset and then went back to the hotel for some internet work and some chatting and then shower and change and time to go for dinner and decided to try a new place for me after reading some of the comments about the place on here. I went to El Mirador, across from the Pier and as I was a bit late, there was only 4 clients left upstairs and just a few downstairs. I ordered the huachinango entero(whole red snapper) grilled with garlic and served with rice, brocoli and carrot. When I received my order, which was quick and I have to say the service is pretty good from Frank(the owner) and it's server, I noticed right away a couple issues. The fish had to be the smallest red snapper I had seen served to me and it was overcooked. I have been in enough restaurants in my life and reviewed my share of places to know mistakes happen so when Frank came over to see how was my meal, I was honest with him and told him abou the size and the cooking issue. By that point I had finished eating the fish and half my rice and veggies. Frank apologized on the spot and offered to replace the fish and get me a new one right away. Originaly I was just going to finish my plate and my beer and call it a night but Frank was genuinely offering so I took him up on his offer and just a few minutes later I had a perfectly cooked and delicius red snapper served. In he meanwhile got chating with Carlos that was playing guitar there and what a nice guy and talented musician he is. He was done for the night but ended up staying and playing a few songs basically just for me as I was the last client. Well folks, I can tell you I have no problem recommnding that restaurant as even hough a mistake was made they went out of their way to fix it and actually Frank even gave me an extra beer while I was aiting for the second fish on the house too. That turned a mediocre meal into a nice experience and a restaurant I will likely go back to!The meal was 180 peso with a beer which is quite reasonable too,especially with nice music!

Ended up stopping at the basketball court on my way back and taking a stroll through downtown and tonight was pretty quiet everywhere and noise definitively seems down which is great for locals and tourists alike staying in the area. A couple bars across from the basketball court are still playing loud but hopefully this wil get resolved soon as overall it is a big improvement. Stopped for a pastry on my way to the hotel as my sweet tooth had a craving and called it a day. Off to bed after relaxing listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and stil 12 days in this litle paradise!