Acapulco, May 19, 2008

Acapulco – May 19th, 2008

OK so here’s the deal, Steve and I did the Ancient Petroglyphs of Palma Sola. Be warned folks, this is not an easy excursion. IT IS DIFFICULT!!! Please rethink this if you have any health problems such as asthma, heart condition and or difficulty walking on uneven paths. We were told that there is approximately 500 steps, not sure on that but it is extremely difficult. In fact, we had several people that could not complete it. It is all uphill – the down part is fine but steep steps on rock steps. This was May and the heat was almost unbearable. The DCL guide that came on the excursion ended up having to go down at least twice. SO, not that that has been stated, here’s my description of the excursion.

We left the ship about 8:40 only to wait on the ground for a few instructions. In that time, I sweated in my shorts to the point that I thought I’d pee’d myself. It is hot now – I can’t imagine what it will be like in August. We get to Palma Sola about 25 minutes later, after shutting my eyes in the van several times against the traffic. The driver was not bad, just everyone else was horrible. Taxis are volkswagons here – blue and white. And, they are ruthless and quick. So we get to the entrance of the “park”. It is a nationally registered geographical site under preservation – INAH to be exact. I forgot what it stands for but we were instructed not to touch the carvings. These carvings date back to 2500 BC. If we touch anything, the oils on our hands can destroy the carvings.

These carvings were carved on granite and we were told that it is believed that the Indians carved them with a type of sandpaper which they prepared. He told us how they may have done it but the details slip my mind. This portion took up the majority of the climb and be warned, while there are bathrooms here – bring toilet seat covers if you want to sit. They were clean but only 2 stalls were available and as usual – woman flock all at once. About 50 steps in, I already knew that one person was in trouble. He ended up having to drop out about 50 steps in. Then about 10 minutes later, another lady ended up having to wait for us under a mango tree about 1/3 of the way up. We get to the top and the best petroglyph was in a “cave”. It is more of a three-sided cave so no flash is necessary. Then right on top of the cave is a very good panoramic scene. The climb alone was worth it. As I said, going down was easy. What made it worse was the poor Steve was carrying my camera backpack with my two lenses. We reapplied sunscreen many times and thus avoided further sunburn.

After this portion, we were driven to a typical “marketplace” which really was just a serious of 4-5 stores. It shouldn’t have been worth a stop but I’m thinking they were behind on time. We had about 10 minutes there. While there – I waited behind one DVC member trying to order some sodas. This was fine but apparently they accused the people behind the counter as cheating them out of money. Yeah – maybe but all of $0.10 per soda. Finally after waiting for 8 minutes to get a soda, I got mad and left. We climbed back into the van and went to our last stop – a snack. We were provided with a drink and some appetizers. These were cheese quesadillas, taquitos, cheese nachos and a bowl of quacamole. This was fine but the same people that were fighting for $0.50 had two kids, which while I know they were hungry – we all were – the kids proceeded to eat the majority of the quacamole. What shocked me more was that they didn’t just do it once – they did four times. They went and picked up the quacamole bowl off the plate and put it in front of them. Once they had their fill, they then put the bowls back. I was a bit shocked that the parents didn’t say anything, they just ended up talking to another couple and let them do as they pleased.

After they dropped us off, the driver ended up offering to take Steve and I out for the rest of the evening. As all aboard time was 10 pm, we agreed. We paid $50 for a private tour and the guy turned out to be extremely helpful. I was in dire need of contact lens drops as the ship does not carry eye drops for contacts. He took us first to the artisian market where I picked up some candy, then we went looking for another type which I could not find. We then went to see the cliff divers. That was interesting as they were preparing for a major diving competition that is to be televised. So they TV cameras were being prepared. We ended up being there for over 3/4 hr as opposed to the usual 15 minutes since the divers were jumping for the cameras. I managed to get some awesome close-ups and some bad ones but at least I got some good ones.
Later, we went to see the Los Flamingoes Hotel which was the Hollywood Gang Hotel of John Wayne, Johnny Weismueller and other stars. We also saw a house which had some art of Diego Rivera. We went to a hotel which is the most “authentic” architecture from the 50’s. I believe it was called something like the Hotel del Pueblo Mirada – something like this. Anyway, it was getting dark and when we got off and looked – the most awesome view of the Magic was before our eyes. We saw the whole of the city and the Magic in port.
We got back to the ship after dropping into the “grocery” store for some items where I ended up getting some Mexican Sweet bread and Steve picked up a bottle of Don Julio Tequila Reposado for $28. We order 2 shots onboard and they were $13 each. So in essence, we got the entire bottle for the price of 2 shots on board. LOL

We got on the ship by 9:05 and I got the driver’s name and cell phone number and e-mail address in case anyone would be interested in hiring him privately. He said that he could possibly do a private tour for about $70 per van. His English was heavily accented but as I mentioned, he was extremely helpful and went out of his way to find what I needed. I felt very comfortable with him and would consider hiring him again. He told me that of the $50 he charged us, he would only end up getting about $15 for the day. AND………he hadn’t eaten all day. Apparently he was at work by 8 and they are not allowed to eat around us. The gas in Acapulco is about $100 pesos per liter and said they would gladly pay $4 dollars a gallon. Don’t know if this was the truth about him getting only $15 for the day, but it doesn’t surprise me. He apparent love of his history – he loves Mexico’s history and will gladly relay it to anyone interested. Anyway, it’s getting long and I have to finish.

So we get back to the ship at 9:05 and we walk through Lumiere’s which was our designated eating spot. The Menu was the Mexican Rivera cruise menu which is exclusive to the WB and EB. The menu featured their version of beef burritos, borracho bean soup – and a generally meager version of Mexican food. I ended up eating a specially made lasagna which was better than the menu. I felt bad as we only intended to say hi to our tablemates who it turned out were late themselves. They ended up eating outside and came by to eat dessert with us. Big surprise – we were later than them. LOL

After dinner, we went up to catch the tail end of Minnie’s Mexican Fiesta. Got there in time to see the “piñata” broke and the Minnie and Mickey and Pluto come dancing steps in front of me. So while I missed all the party, I got my picture! J
Went to bed and when I woke up Tuesday morning, my waist and stomach hurt from all the step climbing. So be warned folks, if the climb doesn’t get you at the time, wait until the next morning.

Gotta go and update Tuesday’s. Bye!