Huatulco, Mexico!

Day 11 – 13 October 2026 – Huatulco, Mexico

 

This was our first non-touristy town in Mexico, and I was looking forward to a slow wander through town.  Richard and I had our usual slow morning, with breakfast room service in our room.  I’m slow in the morning, and this helps me get going and saves time.

 

This morning, there were several announcements that there would be a safety drill for the crew, since most of the guests were already in town to avoid the heat of the day.  Each announcement would begin with “this is just a drill, guests do not need to do anything.”  We continued with our breakfast, then shower, then dressing for a hot day ashore. 

 

However, my favorite was the announcement to passengers that this was a crew drill only, and to ignore any announcements. This was repeated twice.  And then after a pause, the same voice announced suddenly in a slightly hysterical voice “Abandon ship!!  Abandon ship!”  Just too funny!  That was when I took a photo of the “evacuated” sign on our cabin door.

 

Huatulco turned out to be a very pretty town, despite the fact that no one on the ship ever heard of the place!  We could see the lovely beach from our balcony, across clear aqua waters.  Definitely tropical!  Large fancy houses up on the hills, though we had no idea if these are for touristas to rent, or if there are wealthy Mexicans who own these mansions.  But definitely not the homes of we the working class types.

 

Once I wandered into town along the pier, I found all sorts of colorful market stalls with weavings, clothing, gorgeous ceramics, beautiful jewelry – all the usual items we find for sale in Mexico.  I noticed, though, that the embroidery and lace designs here were more geometric and less floral than most of the items we see sold as “Made in Mexico.”  I don’t know if this is a regional stylistic difference, or perhaps artists who have changed their personal style.  (I suspect it’s regional – we found regional differences in textiles in Guatemala, just a bit to the south, so it seemed these might be traditional styles that differ by area of the country.)

 

I loved all the colorful store displays: clothing and weavings fluttering in the breeze, or tables of ceramics, jewelry, leather items – on and on, beckoning tourists to come and browse.  Come and shop.  SO hard to not buy half the items available, because everything really was so enticing!

 

The town had a lot of murals.  I really liked the one about Huatulco being the heart of Mexico, the children with the plants and birds were just gorgeous.  However, the center was a way too realistic painting of a heart, as in biologically correct, looking like it had been surgically removed.  Yes, I avoided photos of it, that was just way too creepy for me.  Stuff of nightmares!

 

I wandered around one section of town – there were also quite a variety of marine animal-based murals, some with a large statue of a particular animal in its painted environment in the background like a giant diorama.  And the random sculpture of a marlin near the beach!

 

As always, I walked down the beach to dip my toes – very warm water!  There were lovely cafés and restaurants along the beach just opening at 11 AM, but it was too early for lunch for me. 

 

More wandering, and I got a bit turned around trying to find a postcard somewhere – but in my wandering I somehow found the larger tourist market all under one roof!  Also a very green and shady park in the center of town, with elaborate cast metal benches.  By this point, I was getting tired after a few hours of wandering; one can only browse through shops and souvenirs for a limited time before it just becomes overwhelming.

 

But I did find a man who was weaving in front of his shop.  He comes from a family of weavers that goes way back, and both the men and women weave.  We chatted a bit, and I looked around his shop.  Beautiful wall hangings, pillows, table runners, coasters – wonderful colors and interesting designs both modern and traditional.  I explained that we don’t have a permanent home, we travel – but that everything was just beautiful.  Sometimes not having our own permanent home is the only way I can convince myself NOT to buy all these gorgeous things!

 

And I finally found a postcard!

 

 

 

 

No Postcards in Acapulco

Day 10 – 12 October 2026 – Acapulco, Mexico 

 

It was really hot and humid in Acapulco, though my cold has been abating and was mostly a lingering cough.  I thought sure, I’ll spend some time in Acapulco.  We’ve all seen film or photos of the cliff divers, which I thought I would skip – I’m always convinced someone will be injured, it just looks too dangerous and scary!  That would be a definite no.

 

Instead, I went on a quest to find a postcard.  That seemed simple enough, since I couldn't find one in the cruise terminal.  I asked one of the guards, in Spanish – un carte de postales.  He asked (in Spanish) if I wanted the post office – un correo (or something like that).  I had to mime a rectangle, and said in my minimal Spanish “a picture, for to write.”  (“Una pintura, por escribe.”) 

 

Aha!  That helped him understand what I wanted.  He told me to go out, turn left, walk to the light, and there is the store, Sambara, opposito.  Ten minutes.

 

Of course, once I was out of the terminal, there were packs of taxi drivers each with their own spiel:  “I’ve been waiting for you!” or “Oh, I remember you!” or “You will be my first sale of the day!.”  No no no, I’m walking, thank you, no market for me, just Sambara.  Everyone agreed they would have “un carte de postales.”

 

I passed a few people taking a break in the shade by this gorgeous mural, and I asked if there was a name for the man in the mural – “Como es el llama de el hombre en la murale?”  Likely not perfect, but close enough for them to understand.  They said he was “Guerrero” – and that he was a soldier.  At this point, I’m not sure if Guerrero is the name of the man, or if Guerrero means “soldier” – given that guerro is “war.”  Anyway, it really was a gorgeous mural, so I took a few photos from the left so I didn’t get the sun shining into the camera.

 

I eventually found Sambara – a kind taxi driver walked me across the street, because while the traffic lights changed, the walk signal never switched from the don’t walk symbol to the safe-to-walk symbol!

 

It turns out Sambara was all out of postcards.  The kiosks outside had newspapers but no postcards.  So I bought a Peanuts birthday card, in Spanish – and of course I have NO idea what it says!  Way too complicated Spanish for me!  But a nephew has a birthday coming up, so instead of a postcard, he’ll get a Mexican birthday card featuring Snoopy!  It just made me laugh!

 

I walked back to the ship, and that was about it for my day.  (All of this took a few hours!)  I would have liked to visit the gorgeous fort, but it was closed to the public – I’m not sure if that’s because it was Monday, or if It’s permanently closed to the public.  But it’s an interesting fort, with five pointy corners, and can be seen in the mural.  It’s similar to the design of the fort we saw in St. Kitts – very different from the usual square corners we see, these are sort of arrowhead shaped corners!  (If you’ve seen The Pirates of the Caribbean movie, they used that fort as their model.)  I guess maybe it gives a better view of any approaching enemy or marauders.

Storm at Sea

Days 7 to 9 – 9 to 11 October 2026 – Sea Days

 

We were supposed to have a sea day, then a day in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, followed by another sea day.  However, there has been a tropical weather system growing off the west coast of Baja California, Mexico.  It appears to be building rapidly, and is expected to become a Category 4 hurricane in a day or two.

 

On Thursday, while we were in San Diego, our captain and navigation team, in communication with Holland America, looked at all the weather forecasts and decided it would be safer for all the passengers as well as the ship if we sailed out to sea and stayed west of what is currently Tropical Storm Simon, which is in the process of becoming Hurricane Simon.  The upshot is we are skipping our port stop in Cabo, and will have three sea days.  (Very glad to not be on a sailing vessel like Hendrick Hudson's "Half Moon!")

 

This is at the same time at the southern Gulf of Mexico coastal USA is expecting Hurricane Isiaias, and eastern Mexico is likely going to have bad weather – so it seems as if the storm season has suddenly become way too busy after a rather slow start.  And poor Mexico is getting a one-two punch

 

The crew is putting together extra activities to keep the passengers occupied.  Richard and I, however, are pretty good at keeping ourselves busy.  On top of all this, I’ve caught a cold, so I’d be spending the day in the cabin anyway.  I wore a mask last night and ate dinner solo in the dining room, trying to contain my germs.  Cruise ships are definitely somewhat like petri dishes, a small enclosed environment where germs can spread and multiply easily.  (I’m blaming the tender trips to and from Santa Barbara, there were quite a few people sneezing and coughing as we bounced along the waves between ship and shore.)

 

Eh, I have books to read, photos to edit, blogs to write.  I manage to find plenty to do, even with an unexpected extra day at sea.  I also have an extra box of tissues from our room stewards.  And lots of movies on the TV.  I’m set.

 

9 October 2026 – After dinner, I stopped by the casino to play on the dragon machine I like.  There was some promotion going on, and the person at machine number 1234 won free play.  It turned out that person was across an aisle from me, so she jumped up and the people came over to give her the free play money in her account.  Then they announced the persons immediately to her right and left also won!  Her husband was to her left, and he was given $$ in free play.  Then they came over to me, since I was the person to her right – and voila, I had $50 in free play!  Wow, how crazy!  And exciting!

 

10 October 2026 – We began the day with bright blue skies and seas, plenty of sunshine.  By midafternoon, the sky was overcast, and the ocean a steely blue grey.  I’m not sure if the current or wave direction changed, but the splashing sounds changed dramatically.  Simon has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm, and predicted to become a Cat 4 before landfall.  It looked like he may be dragging some clouds and rain behind him!

 

11 October 2026 – We changed time ahead one hour as we’re beginning to turn east along the coast of Mexico – not that we can see land, we’re still too far out to sea to even spy a faint outline of land.  Our weather has changed and the ocean is rougher, with swells and deep troughs, and the water is a steely grey.  Skies are overcast with dense clouds, and the air is increasingly humid.  No rain, but it does look ominous.  My cold seems worse in the mornings, so at this point I’m staying in our room both to baby my cough and stuffy nose, as well as to not spread this thing throughout the ship.

 

 

Old Friends' Day

Day 6 – 8 October 2026 – San Diego, CA, USA

 

I was especially looking forward to our stop in San Diego.  Not that I had a particular destination in mind. Rather, I was meeting up with an old and dear friend from my Peace Corps days in Liberia in the early 1980s.  Three of us lived up-country in the small village of Fissebu, and taught at the Zorzor Rural Teacher Training Institute – or ZTI, as if was known across the country.

 

RP from California and RW from Michigan shared a mud-brick house, and taught math and science (respectively) to in-service and pre-service teachers.  They were both second year volunteers, while I was a brand new baby volunteer assigned to the curriculum center at ZTI.  My job was to teach how to design and create educational materials to those same teachers in training.  I eventually added teaching Development Psychology to my job, and the two men also taught at the elementary/junior high school on our college campus.

 

As the only three Peace Corps Volunteers in our town and campus, we sort of became our own little family, often having meals together, playing cards together, even dealing with a student demonstration and riot on our campus.  (Really.  R and R stood in front of the director to protect him; I tried to do so but the women students pulled me away, afraid I’d be injured.  Instead, I went to the larger town four miles away to alert the Superintendent of Education what was going on at our school; he called in the military, which was definitely not what I had anticipated!)

 

At any rate, we became close friends, and have stayed in touch.  Haven’t seen each other in thirty-something years, though I did attend RW’s wedding.  But RP and I scheduled meeting up during our time in San Diego.

 

It was wonderful.  Some people just stay friends without having to re-acquaint themselves after decades, and we just sort of continued our conversations.  Or maybe different conversations but the same connection.  Whatever, there was still the same closeness and bond as always.

 

RP picked me up – our ship was docked right in town, and it was just a short walk up through the terminal and pier to arrive on one of the main streets in downtown San Diego!   He decided we should spend our time in La Jolla, a smaller town a bit northwest of San Diego itself, but more picturesque.

 

We walked, we talked, we had a delightful seafood lunch at a rooftop café overlooking the Pacific waves breaking on rocky cliffs and sea walls.  We talked about updates in our lives, our families, relationships, retirement and changes in our lives while being retired.  All those things people talk about when they only see each other every few decades, or talk on the phone a couple of times a year.  

 

We also walked around Sea Port so I could buy a postcard – and more talking.  Actually, some of our talking was also about having spent two years in a developing nation such as Liberia, and how eye-opening that was for young people from the US to experience such a different place and culture.  How out of context we were there, and how much we didn’t understand, how much was going on that we really had no clue about, all the subtext that is inherent in any culture.  And how strange it was to return to the US, still ourselves but also so completely changed inside and thus not the same people we had been prior to those two years in a very different country.

 

There are some people who just seem to understand each other without having to explain everything, and R and I always fit together that way, just understanding each other in an intuitive kind of way.

 

So it was a wonderful day.  Some friends we don’t need to see often to know that we care about each other.  But when we finally do spend time together, it somehow is extra special.  And this was just that kind of day.