Acapulco & Mexico City - The Adventures of Curandera

4 min read

24 Feb

24Feb

ACAPULCO

Arriving in Acapulco was truly a beautiful site. We arrived in the middle of the night, put the anchor down in the bay and woke up to this huge city on the ocean, surrounded by mountains. The bay is large, with downtown on one side and Punta Diamonte, the nicer part of town, on the other side of the bay, in a large cove. Our marina was in an historic part of Acapulco. It's unfortunate that the city has lost most of its luster due to drug trafficking, land rights, and cartels, because it still seems to have so much to offer.

Acapulco is known as the “Riviera of Mexico". It was very popular back in the 1950's - 70's. Because of the beaches and mountains, robust nightlife, and international clientele it once attracted movie stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, and Judy Garland. The Elvis movie "Fun in Acapulco" was filmed here in 1963. It is much different now. There aren't many tourists, a lack of American businesses, no recognizable hotel chains....it is a big city now that caters to locals and Mexican tourists. The palapa restaurants on the beaches are plentiful, as the beaches are still quite nice. It is VERY humid and hot in this city, even in February (high of 30 Celsius in February is common). The cliff divers are still a main attraction after all of these years. They dive from a very high cliff (125 ft.) into the water in a small cove. Their bodies are just missing the rock ledge on the descent down into the rushing water. It is an amazing site!

A view of Acapulco from our boat

The marina, pangas(fishing boats) and locals at the beach

The famous Acapulco cliff divers!

Mexico City

At the last minute we decided to take a 4 night, 5 day trip to Mexico City. It is a little over an hour flight to get there from Acapulco. We are so glad we did! What a wonderful city! It is the largest city in North America and is truly a cosmopolitan and international destination. The weather was perfect (high 25-27 celsius in February with no humidity). The architecture, parks, museums, cafes, and history were exceptional. We stayed in the Polanco neighborhood. It was an easy walk to numerous cafes, parks and museums. We also visited Roma, a trendy neighborhood about a 20 minute cab ride from Polanco, for a few dinners. We had some truly awesome meals, did some great shopping, and went to the Natural History Museum, Diego Mural Museum, and did a lot of walking to admire the statues that seemed to be on every corner. The city is very clean, with city workers constantly cleaning the parks at all hours. Who knew this city was so wonderful!