Your Travels: Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo a destination with warm memories
By Medicine Hat News on February 10, 2018.
Ernest Fode I arrived at the recently expanded and modernized Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo International Airport during one of our frigid Alberta winter coldspells. My Sunwing flight departed Edmonton for a seven-day all-inclusive vacation at one of Ixtapa’s El Palmar beachfront resorts. Ixtapa grew into a tourist resort back in the late 1970s. It’s situated halfway between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco along the Mexican Pacific coast. Neighbouring Zihuatenejo is an old-fashioned town which has evolved from a quiet fishing village to a charming vacation destination with a magnificent bay and marina. My hotel tour desk offered tours such as deep sea fishing, eco-combo, zip lines, horseback riding, ATV, sunset cruises and bird-watching. Wishing to see the countryside, the mountains and the flora and fauna of the region, I chose the Eco-combo tour. This six hour tour started by visiting Ixtap’s marina full of luxury yachts, a drive through Ixtapa’s hotel zone, exploring the Fishermen Village of Zihuatenejo and admiring its breathtaking scenic bay. Making our way southward into the countryside, we stopped at a brick and tile factory where a rustic oven and ancient handmade tools give shape and colour to art-craft products such as rooftop tiles. Next, our tour bus stopped at the National Reserve Area of Barrade de Potosi for lunch which consisted of tortilla soup, a huge burrito, Mexican beans and mole sauce on fries. The traditional tequila tasting followed. Our tour ended with a visit at a tropical plantation to learn about the tropical fruits that grow natural in this region. Delicious fruit samples were given out. Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo with its exceptional warm weather year round, 330 sunny days a year and where the smile of its people makes you never want to leave, impressed me enough wanting to return. 12-11
