For three weeks, March 28th to April 18th, we were in Acapulco.  We spent our time getting provisions and doing last-minute maintenance and repairs for the long passage to Costa Rica.  Our fridge was producing ice—fantastic—and allowing us to have ice cream—ecstacy!!
 
Meeting the crews on boats traveling south to Costa Rica was also a reason to stop in Acapulco.  Another was to enjoy this iconic international city with boating friends we knew from our two years of cruising in Mexico. 
 
We took a day and watched the famous cliff divers of Acapulco. Never in a million years would I try that.  Another day, we went to the Aquatic Park not far from the marina and played tourist.  We went with good friends, Val and Greg off Grimsby and Lori and Bob off Endless Weekend.  What a day we had. 

April 1991.  Another day we toured a small village that boasted authentic Petroglyphs.  It also was a great experience.  The Petroglyphs were awesome, but the lunch prepared for us by a woman in the “Petroglyph” village was even better.  There were twenty of us, and that didn’t seem to phase her. 
 
Once Bijou was fully stocked and all repairs completed.  Once we were toured out, we departed Acapulco for Costa Rica.  ​

March 1991.  We spent all of March 1991 anchored in Zihuatanejo harbor.  In between potlucks, cocktail hours, and touring, we did projects and maintenance work.  The month went very fast!

January to March 1991.  Back on the mainland, we spent from January 1991 to March 1991 hopping down the west coast revisiting places we had visited almost a year ago until we were back in Zihuatenajo.  Our entry into the harbor was not nearly as dramatic and our entry last year.  We were glad about that.  Several changes had taken place in the last year.  The street vendors and the women and the young children who walked the streets selling Chicklets gum, little money banks, and painted wooden fish last year were gone.  

A large market area had opened and we heard that the street vendors had been relegated to that area.  From the look of it, rent was probably involved.  Marinas were also scheduled to be built.  One in Zihuatenajo harbor and one in Ixtapa.  They were built and are successful businesses today. We spent nearly the whole month of March 1991 in Zihuatenajo.  We spent the time on boat projects, socializing with friends, exchanging sailing information with others, going over charts and cruising guides, and just enjoying Zijuatenajo.  This small coastal fishing village of last year is growing and even then we could see that it would change dramatically as time passed and as people discovered its charm and beauty.  We both know that we would not recognize any of it if we were to return today.  

​We spent the first two weeks of January 1991 exploring Socorro Island.  Six boats had found their way there, and we were sharing the anchorages with them.  After being on the island for a week, we anchored in the bay near the military base.  Our good friends Terry and Dick off Genesis were in the same anchorage, and they went ashore with us to meet the commandant.   This visit was part of the protocol and was expected when anchoring on the island.  The best part, he offered to provide us with a guided tour to the top of the volcano that sits in the middle of the island.  We jumped at the chance.

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​We met our guide Nedske at 6 AM at the dock onshore.  Since he and our driver did not speak English and we spoke very broken Spanish, most of the day was hand gestures and guessing.  We had a very rough one-hour trip with plenty of pot-holes and washed-out areas on the road.  While en route, Nedske jumped off the truck and grabbed what looked like a recently born lamb.  Both Terry and I feared the reason for the pick-up was to feed the guys on the base.  Terry took charge of the lamb because it seemed Nedske's only job was to snag it. The end of that bumpy hour was also the end of the road.  When we started to climb the volcano, we thought that the lamb was too small and fragile to come with us, so we secured it to a bush and left water for it.  We thought about letting it free, but it was so small, we thought it would wander off and get lost, so this seemed the best solution.

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​The climb up the volcano was a challenge for Lori.  The guide was too fast, and since she was always bringing up the rear, all other climbers would get a rest.  As soon as she caught up, off they would go again.  She got fed up at one point and said something.  After that, she determined when everyone would set out.  Although still a stiff climb, at least she had a fighting chance.
 
The vistas were magnificent, and the view at the top was worth the torture of the climb.  It had taken an hour-and-forty-five-minutes to get to the top.  The monument there turned out to be a good place to take pictures.  Eventually, one of them made it into the Seven Seas Cruising Association publication.

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​We didn't go down the way we came up, which confused us for a while, but we eventually figured it out.  We passed vents, steam, and bubbling clay all over the ground.  Terry and Lori speculated that this gray, volcanic clay might be worth a lot of money if put in a jar and sold as a beauty product.
 
When we got back to where the truck would pick us up, there was the lamb.  He was doing just fine.  We packed up and bounced all the way home.  Once back at the base, the reality sunk in as the truck brought was back to the dock at about noon.  We got out and gathered our things and our guide Nedske, handed the lamb to Terry,  "For you," he motioned.  Terry looked at me and said, "I'm worried now."  We had no choice, we took Boris, the lamb, to Genesis and spent the evening strategizing over drinks.  There was no way a lamb could stay on a boat, so although Boris spent the night on Genesis, the next morning we were at the base handing the lamb back.  There is a farm there, and we met the lady in charge, Guadelupe, and she was glad to take Boris.  Or so we thought.  We left the farm and the base that day all smiles and feeling great about Boris' fate.  But that all changed the next day.  I guess this incident caused a major issue on the base.  Nedske got in a lot of trouble for nabbing the lamb and of course, Guadeupe made a lot of noise about that.  They tried again to get us to take the lamb, probably to calm the tension on the base.  "He could be your mascot," we were told.  Yeah, right.  Don't think so.
 
We spent a few more days on the island, but not in front of the base.  Next stop.  Puerto Vallarta.