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IXTAPA and ZIHUATANEJOTwin Destinations on Mexico’s RivieraBy Chris Millikan
Elaborate lobster beach-lunches start when a waiter
staggers past us presenting gigantic trays stacked with fresh seafood.
Cortez had written about secluded Isla Ixtapa to the King of Spain, commenting that “only women and children live there.” Scholars now speculate that the island had been a refuge from foreign fleets and Aztec invaders. Today a nature-reserve, it protects wild deer, multi-coloured reef-life and turtles. Returning to the main beach, we stretch out to sun ourselves on lounges fronting a row of palm-roofed open-air cafés. Hugging icy Coronas draped in fresh lime, we watch swimmers play in gentle waves; kids build castles in soft golden sand. Wading out to the bobbing, canopied fishing-pangas, we reluctantly leave this island paradise. Once boarded, we zip back to Playa Linda through swooping flocks of curious pelicans, gulls, terns and boobies.
Along the groomed floral boulevard we roll past the picturesque marina, through the upscale beachfront hotel-zone and past a lush18-hole golf course. Embracing the 3-mile strip of beach on Palmar Bay, small world-class resorts offer palm gardens, turquoise-blue pools, classy restaurants, and air-conditioned rooms with sea-views, balconies and satellite TV. Village-style shopping malls stretch just behind. “ In native Nahuatl, Ixtapa means the white place, named for that long white-sand beach …” our guide Alejandro chuckled, “…or maybe for those guano-covered seabird-islands offshore.” Originally mangrove swamps and coconut plantations, Ixtapa materialized in the early 1970’s when neibouring Zihuatanejo refused any drastic alterations to its appearance. We travel back seven kilometers to Zihuatanejo, where our elegant cruise-ship waits offshore in cobalt-blue waters. A different ship, television’s Love Boat, once featured this small port. And in “The Shaw Shank Redemption,”’ Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins daydreamed of the good life in Zihuatanejo, an old-world Mexican fishing village. Today perky sailboats and sleek mega-yachts from all-over-the-world anchor in Zihuatanejo’s sweeping bay, once shelter to marauding pirates. Francis Drake (1500’s) and George Anson (1700’s) and many others lurked along the Pacific coast plundering treasure-laden Spanish galleons. A pretty crescent of pale yellow-white sand at La Ropa (clothes) beach was named centuries ago for luscious oriental silks and clothing washed ashore from a wrecked merchant-ship. We pass a sculpture-park celebrating early history. For centuries a matriarchal society had thrived in this area. Alejandro tells us, “ Exploring the area, Captain Chico witnessed women washing clothes in freshwater springs on the edge of the bay. His Aztec guide explained that this was Cihuatlan, land of women. Cortez altered the name, adding ‘nejo’ meaning little, which evolved into Zihuatanejo.”
Locals and visitors linger in sun-drenched patio-cafes or look through family-owned handicraft stalls along Paseo del Pescador. We happily soak up traditional small-town-charm and centuries-old traditions as we bargain for silver trinkets, souvenir T-shirts and hand-painted ceramics; young girls sit patiently for elaborate hair-braids.
Our excursion to Isla Ixtapa had introduced a twin holiday-paradise with an enthralling past. At sunset our ship glides from the bay; beguiling lights twinkle ashore. Slightly off the beaten track, our discoveries at Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo ensure a return to Mexico’s Riviera. If you planning to go: |
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Isla Ixtapa proves a perfect day-trip. Playa Coral embraces
a large reef and pristine waters in a protected narrow bay on its south side.
Returning from lingering marine encounters, my hubby Rick enthusiastically
reports.“ There’s surprising amounts of bright-white coral here, sometimes
crusted with green or brown algae… spectacular swirls of blue-fish with flashy
iridescent dots, lots of yellow ones striped with gray and white, tiny
electric-blue-fish flitting everywhere and mottled lizard-fish clinging along
the rocky bottom.” Rick saunters over a nearby wooded knoll to investigate
another out-of-the-way cove; from my thatch-shaded lounge, I watch languidly as
children splash and paddle in the shallows, several teens in tiny swimsuits
stroll shell-littered sands.
Several
families make careful selections; he soon returns, carrying painted-ceramic
platters heaped with succulent snacks and enormous frosty Margaritas.
Sandpipers skitter and cry along the gentle surf at Playa
Linda. We dawdle from the small jetty toward the mangrove lagoons, searching out
crocodiles … and the bus. At the croc pit a new 8-kilometer cycle-path begins,
meandering down the coast through an ecological park to Ixtapa’s marina.
Waving adios, we exit our bus at the still-popular Central
Market spreading along Avenida Benito Juarez. We check out small lively stalls
selling thick golden honey, crimson chilis and fragrant spices before wandering
the narrow cobblestone street past the town’s only church. Low-rise fan-only
hotels, quaint shops and casual cafes line shady lanes and dusty side streets.
Doubling as a traditional town square, a basketball court fronts Playa
Municipal. There, fishermen beach their pangas for night fishing, selling
plentiful catches to locals and restaurants early each morning.
The brick-paved malecon ends at the museum where murals,
maps and relics depict native cultures. A footpath cut into nearby rocks leads
to Playa Madera (wood), a loading point in the 1920’s for exotic lumber from the
Sierra Madres, now a terrific gray-sand- swimming-beach for kids.
At the pier we board a late-afternoon tender crammed with
other day-trippers and speed across sparkling waters to our cruise-ship. Boats
regularly shuttle beach-goers over to Playa Las Gatas (cats) across from town.
According to legend, an ancient Tarascan ruler built a seaside retreat at the
bay’s far end about1400 AD, enclosing a swimming pool to keep dozens of royal
wives and daughters safe from the whiskered nurse-sharks that gave the beach its
name. Zihua may have been Mexico’s first tourist resort!