Zihautanejo – August 26, 2006
We arrived at Zihau, a city that we now have a great affinity for since it took in our homeless puppy with open arms. Remember at the end of Shawshank Redemption when Andy escapes to a tiny fishing village in Mexico – Zihautanejo? Well it isn’t a small village anymore – the picturesque bay, great fishing, diving and friendly people have attracted hordes of tourists – but fortunately it still has the feel of a small town and most of the charm. The town also serves as the cultural base for the nearby resort town of Ixtapa, which is set up more like Disney World.
Zihua is set between the mountains and the bay, which holds charter fishing boats, pangas (smaller boats of the local fishermen) and sailboats. The streets are lined with markets, vendors, hotels, restaurants, shops and artists, but somehow it doesn’t have a resort-touristy feel. Despite having a population of around 50,000, it’s also fairly clean and feels very safe. You can tell that the locals all take great pride in its Mexican charm and beauty. The streets are swept religiously and the people all say hi and smile as you walk by. As you wind your way through the cobblestone streets that encompass the bay, you see soccer games being played and a busy, bustling city full of heritage and tradition. It’s the first large town we have really enjoyed and wanted to settle in for a while.
We tried a couple of places and found a great hotel in the middle of everything. We negotiated a lower rate by offering to stay for at least 2 nights – about $28 a night.
On our first night we tried a local, traditional dish called “Tritas”, which is raw fish thinly sliced, marinated in lime juice, with slivers of onion and pepper – a snack that the fishermen began eating over 15 years ago because it required no cooking. The acid in the limejuice cooks the fish, much like ceviche or tuna tartar. It was served with crackers and was delicious. Chris went the well-done route of another fish filet doused in garlic and butter (not quite sure what kind of fish it was). We headed back down the cobblestone streets and prepared for the long day of Internet uploading that lied ahead.
After getting some much-needed photo uploading done the next day, we went out to try another traditional local fare we had read about – Pozole. This is a soup-like dish made with hominy – corn seeds “popped” in the broth, as well as pork, onions, oregano, chili powder and several other toppings. It is a very filling dish and rather cheap – around $2. We ate the hot soup in the hot weather and Chris topped his off with 2 chicken tamales, in our opinion they are much better than the beef or pork. We topped off the night with a homemade fruit Popsicle. They are sold in practically every town and made from the best tropical fruits….pureed mangos, coconut and at least 10 other flavors.
The last morning, we decided to drive around the bay. We were surprised to see many small resorts hidden up in the hills, nestled on the cliffs overlooking the bay. We met a local who told us that Zihau is a “Mexican town”, whereas Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are one step away from the US. He was proud that we loved the city and told us all of the good things that we had already begun to find. We spent the day exploring and then packing our belongings to get back on the road and back to the beach. We love Zihau and will certainly return one day.
Tags: Travel
pcschroeder
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