Zihuatanejo "Place of Women"

"The Fat Mermaid"

 The name Zihuatanejo stems from the Nahuatl Cihuatlan, meaning “the place of women”. In pre-Colombian times, the Tarascan leader Calzonzin settled in the area and he had many wives and daughters. There was probably many more women than men.
The Spaniards usually wrote the name as Ciguatan (because that is how the word "Cihuatlan" sounded to them.)  Later they added the diminutive ending of "ejo" to refer it as a "small place" or "place without major importance".  About two hundred years ago, the name was changed to Zihuatanejo.
Zihuatanejo, today, has a lot of public art on the streets, near the bay, in the parks and on the highway.  There is a series of statues of women.

Life is a Beach

A pleasant way to spend a Sunday is to take a small boat from the town pier across the bay to Playa Las Gatas.  The beach is thought to be named after the harmless whiskered cat sharks found here.

Mexican Navy Ship in Zihuatanejo Bay

Playa Las Gatas is a small beach that can only be reached by boat or walking paths. The small, beautiful, calm beach is protected by a breakwater of large stones.  In pre-Colombian times, the Tarascan leader Calzonzin settled in the area and constructed the rock barrier to provide a sheltered swimming area and harbor for the women and children, and that barrier continues to protect the beach to this day.

The rivers that flow to the coast through the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountains create large valleys and often beaches.  Where the mountains meet the Pacific Ocean is spectacular.
 

The beaches can be small bays or long wide beaches that continue for miles and are almost deserted.  We have been exploring the coast and we have found some wonderful beaches.  There is something very peaceful about walking along a beach and listening to the ocean.

Nothing to loose your head over!

More heads on the beach

Mexican film crew on deserted beach

Life in Zihuatanejo - The Market

The rainy season is coming to an end.  It rains hard for a few hours every other day, usually at sunset.  Everything is very green,

and a lot of the trees are in bloom.

We are still living in a construction zone as they try to finish the condo above ours.  Work begins at 8 am  and goes to 6 pm, 6 days a week.  The air conditioner has finally been fixed, just as the days are becoming less hot and humid. The poor possum is not happy that we are here as Joanne torments him with her camera.

We are settling into life in Zihuatanejo.  Breakfast always includes the most tasty fruit. In Canada the fruit and vegetables loose so much flavour when they are shipped or mass farmed.  The grapefruits are so sweet it is hard to compare them to the ones we get at home.  Mangoes, papaya, oranges, bananas, pineapples, limes, are all so flavourful.

After so many restaurant  meals on our journey here, we have been enjoying preparing and eating dinner at the condo.  We always have fresh salsa and avocados in the refridgerator.
We love to go to the market, it is fun.  There are so many kinds of fruits, vegetables, spices, chilies, and fish.  We take 2 large bags and usually fill about one and a half for about $8.00 Canadian.

Our butcher

We feel like we are the worst tourists as we hardly speak or understand anything.  The people are happy, helpful and honest.  There does not seem to be a Gringo price and a local price.