‘Going Loco Down In Acapulco’ after Mexico City Zoo
August 27, 2008 2:39 pm
Click here for more images (W4 and W5 are the new albums)
http://www.lazyblueskies.com/wp/wpg2-2?g2_itemId=9542
But do read on for some fun, yes indeed ladies and gentlemen we are are back again for another round of stories and adventures. Where on earth do we start with all that we have seen and done over the last days and weeks? Well Mexico City was as described, an incredible place to kick off our round the world adventure. We did suffer from(mountain sickness) which is daft really but they say it’s because it’s at 2500m above sea level and we tend to dwell about 100 foot away from the beach in the UK. True to say, headaches, dizziness, joint pain, confusion and vomming the likes of which are quite surreal (like a 2 bottle red wine hangover), and yes I did go down for 3 days with it and Blondie for 2 days. So you don’t have much of a choice apart from to hold up in the hotel for a few days and watch TV with your head in the toilet, ewww.
But I am glad to inform you all that normal service has been resumed and we are both on track again. Mexico City Zoo was an eye opener. Now if you’ve seen the John Cleese film ‘Fierce Creatures’ where McDonalds sponsors a Zoo, well in Mexico City, yup you’ve guessed it, Ronnie MacDonnie has done just that. Now as you can imagine it’s a bit tacky but, they are actually doing some good. They are a Rescue Zoo and a big one at that. Essentially, it seems that they will take anything, and I mean anything. It is heart breakingly sad to see some of the animals and yes it moves you to tears to see the damage that humans can and do do to these impressive creatures (yes I know I said do do). To see a wild black bear driven mad that all it now knows to do is walk in a circle and then dance like a Ballerina, or the Jaguar who paces around its cage circuit after circuit, very very sad. BUT there is purpose and a good one at that.
People come and see the Zoo, they eat Maccy Dee’s, they see what man can do, then they leave declaring to do better, so I guess the poor few have a safe home for the rest of their lives rather than being dispatched, and in doing so, educate the masses. One funny thing though is McDonalds has obviously thrown a lot of money at this, because you don’t just get Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh no. You get Pandas and Eagles and Silver Back Gorillas and Black Leopards and White Rhino. It’s like the dude said, ‘Hey Amigo, what you want? You want Panda? I get you two Panda for price of one and throw in Red Panda for free!’ Seriously, we didn’t even know there were Red Pandas for goodness sake and it doesn’t stop there as the images in W4 of the album will show.
Next stop was Mexico City Museum of Anthropology. How can we say that you stand there looking at a piece of wood that was carved into a figure head circa 1500 BC….as in Before Christ (that still amazes me), like 3500 years ago but they also have stuff from, get this, 35,000BC. When you see the images from W5 you will hopefully appreciate the intense feeling of, humility I guess is a good word, when you suddenly realise that in the UK we don’t really have a history like this, apart from Stonehenge which is like Canary Wharf and Oxford Street in comparison to this history. Think back even as long as cave paintings and flints and arrowheads. Incredible.
But the road was calling so we caught a bus from Mexico City to Acapulco which was about 5 hours (think posh National Express with reclining seats). The countryside is just so green. Greener in fact than the greenest part of Green Park in Green On The Wold, very green. As the km’s disappeared under our wheels Mexico really started to unfold in front of our eyes and what a beautiful place it is. (more later)
Acapulco was a shock though, hotter than we imagined. 32c in the shade and pushing 40’s in the direct heat. Too hot for even me, and I’m like a lizard. A bit of luck befell us here. A taxi driver named Leo was kind enough to take pity on the stupid English bloke who did not book a hotel before he arrived, so he took us to ‘a friend’ who made us a special rate of 3 nights for 2, et voila…….Acapulco’s very own…..The Hotel Copacobana! Wahoooooo. Cue Barry Manilow, ‘Oooh at the Copa, Copacobana, music and passion were always the fashion, at the Copa, they fell in love’. Yes, Yes, Yes all well and done, but after 3 days of hearing the sodding song in the lobby, the lift, the stairs, the pool, the Jacuzzi, and even the damn toilet enough was enough. But to be honest, sitting there in the Jacuzzi serenity pool with the lights of Acapulco twinkling away in the distance, it was okay. It’s the sort of place you tick off on the list but never go back to. Think Mexico’s answer to Marbella and Estapona in Spain.
Then another bus and 9 hours took us to Puerto Escondido about 300km along the coast east. Think Newquay but 40 years ago and with a very impressive fast right hand beach break that on a quiet day was offering tubes and impressive faces of 7-8 foot. Very unspoiled and very very hot. Cue the mother of all thunderstorms with lightening that was like daylight for 12 seconds at a time and then rain that actually hurt when it bounced off your head. And finally, another 6 hour bus ride through the mountains to a stunning little city called Oaxaca (Wa-hah-ka) and a lovely hotel www.hotelazucenas.com to give you a clue of the sort of places we try to stay in (it is as lovely as it looks).
So to close for this latest edition, our observations are so far of a hugely friendly and yet very deep nationality with an even deeper history. Mexicans appear as very hard working people who have a solid work ethic no matter what the age(hey Mauricio that’s you isn’t it). The standard was of life seems so much simpler, roof over head, food, water, family. The one thing that really does come over very strong is the whole, use it, repair it, recycle it, weld two together, sell it, buy another one, grow one, sell one, plant one, eat one, go to church, prey, smile, eat, care for your friend, play funny small guitar and wear cowboy hat, drive big 4×4, sit under tree, hose dog with water, buy a donkey, wave sympathetically at stupid English bloke with camera shoved in face. A truly deep and thoughtful race of people who just go about their business without fuss or flourish, smiling as they do so.
More next time about 400 angry naked Mexican/Indian dancers, electrocuting myself whilst naked (ooh yeah that hurt)and terrifying taxi rides.
Saludos from Mexico…… Chris and Karen
