This was our fourth year going to Mexico and we have continued to return to the Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo area (yes, THAT Zihuatenejo). The previous three years we have stayed at all-inclusives through Sunwing vacation packages, and absolutely loved the Azul Grand at Playa Linda just outside of Ixtapa. During our first visit, we went on a countryside tour that stopped in the extremely charming fishing village of Barra de Potosi. Last year, we went on a walking tour of Zihuatenejo. Both tours made me want to spend more time in these areas, so we booked half a week in each this year and had the most wonderful time.
Barra de Potosi is part of the Playa Blanca area, on the opposite side of the airport as Ixtapa and Zihuatenejo. We stayed at a small resort about 15 minutes down the beach from the village, which meant before we sat at a seaside enramada to ingest copious amounts of camarones al coco and guacamole, we had to get a bit of exercise. Playa Blanca is without a doubt the most wonderful beach I've ever been to. We truly did not want to leave! The whole area was extremely quiet, a mix of Canadian, American, and Mexican tourists and locals, and had an insanely relaxing vibe.
A highlight was renting kayaks to go wildlife viewing in the saltwater lagoon, something I'd been dreaming about since we took a short boat tour of the lagoon during our visit four years ago.
We spent the second half of the week in Zihuatenejo, which was a totally different vibe - a little more interesting and lively, not super relaxing, but not overactive either. The Mercado Municipal was a lot of fun, a great place to buy consumable souvenirs like coffee and vanilla, and also to find a very cheap and delicious lunch. Our favourite activity in Zihua though was probably just wandering around, finding people to sell us snacks and agua fresca on the street (which just seems an impossible idea, not even two months later - we had a feeling this could be a last hurrah of the sort, and admit that we ate the street churros with a little extra gusto).
As you know if you've read this blog for a while, I've been working my way through the Duolingo Spanish tree, and when taking this vacation a bit more "off the beaten path" it was highly beneficial to know a bit of Spanish, especially in tiny Barra de Potosi. I did notice that most Canadian/American tourists in these areas appeared to know at least a small amount of Spanish. I have no idea when (if?? :*( ) we'll ever get to go back again, but I'm still working away at it so I can be ready.
The last day of our vacation wasn't exactly "ruined" but was definitely stressful as we were getting news of the COVID-19 shutdowns starting at home. We feel extremely lucky, and a little bit reckless, that we traveled during the last week it was somewhat acceptable to do so. Likely we never would have gone had we realized what was to come, which makes me a bit uneasy, but nonetheless we made it home safe and I sure hope that we'll be able to return to this beautiful area of the world again sometime, though I know it'll never quite be the same.
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