Day 78 28th March 2011

Aurora in Acapulco

Acapulco in the background

Cliff Divers

Yesterday’s word was zestful.

Last night as we approach Acapulco we saw several turtles, some sharks and a few flying fish. This morning in the bay we saw a group of dolphins behind the tour catamaran so an exciting 24 hours for sea life. There was apparently a whale in the bay as well but we did not see him. The ship arrived about 9am and from our balcony we could see the city which was not the most attractive although on the other side of the ship the views of the bay where outstanding and beautiful. The city looked a bit run down and the sight of troops along the quayside did not give the impression of a peaceful place. The drug wars raging in Mexico have spread to Acapulco.

To go ashore we had to navigate a very steep gangway which was only made possible by the mobility assistance team of young men. Two at the front and two at the back, they guided Chris down the gangway and later they hauled her up. Without their help in many ports we would not be able to leave the ship. We noticed that the local taxis are blue and white Volkswagen Beetles. The road outside the dock has dozens racing along every few minutes.

We went on a boat trip around the bay to see the sights and the cliff divers. In order to get on board we had to be ferried across on a small raft like vessel. The crew were very helpful and we got Chris on board with her wheelchair without any problem. The best viewing area was on deck 2 and with help Chris got a seat up there. The catamaran sailed around the bay with a guide pointing out the homes of famous people, mostly movie stars who own or use to own houses here. The bay is divided into three areas: the old where the famous once bought homes in the 1940s to 1960’s, diamond where the rich now buy homes (e.g. Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates) and the new which is a beach lined with five star hotels. On our way round we anchored to watch the cliff divers. This had been arranged for us and five young men dived off the cliffs. It looks incredibly dangerous but the men swam out to the boat to collect tips and get their photographs taken. The swim is a couple of hundred yards and the current looks fierce but they made it seemingly without effort. The dive itself needs to be timed with the waves so that they have the maximum depth of water beneath them. They dive out from the cliff and did some acrobatics as well as a swan dive. 

The temperature is over 32c and it saps you of all energy. Around the ship all you see are people asleep in the shade. The city is surrounded by hills and a large part of it along the bay is built into the cliffs and steep sided hills. In several places are long staircases to allow people to descend the cliffs. The beach curves around the bay and you can see why people began to come here in the 1940’s it must have been magnificent.

We sailed at 6.30 pm to continue our journey south along the Mexican coast.