Acapulco!

Day 25:

Another sunny and quite warm (85 degrees) day for our last port of call on the trip, Acapulco. The ship arrived in the harbor just before dawn. We tendered in from the ship since the docks are not large enough (or the draft deep enough) for the QM2, which allowed for some good shots of the ship in the harbor. Since the shore excursions were relatively short, we had signed up for both a morning and an afternoon tour to spend the maximum time ashore sightseeing. Both included a show by the cliff divers, so we got to see them coming down at the water level in the morning, and from above in a restaurant patio (popular over the years with Hollywood – several of the walls were covered with autographs) in the afternoon. This resort area is booming (or has been), with condos, sea-view homes, and hotels. One interesting fact was that the tourists have switched from 90% Americans a couple decades ago, to 90% Mexicans today (Mexico City has a population of 25 million and is a 3.5 hour drive away). As we cruised along the shoreline, the guide pointed out the homes owned currently, or previously, by famous Americans – mostly Hollywood types – John Wayne, Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Hara, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Anthony Quinn, Richard Widmark, Bill Gates, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Earnest Hemingway, etc. Some of the homes he pointed out ranged from $200,000 to $400,000 and seemed good buys compared to our NC Outer Banks homes. However, on the other side of the bay, condos were priced at $500,000 to a $1 million, which didn’t seem to make much sense in comparison. The cliff divers were pretty spectacular, dropping up to 130 feet and hitting the water at speeds of around 50mph. They have to time their jump with the incoming waves to have the maximum water depth when they hit. After jumping in the morning, they swam out to our boat and climbed aboard for pictures (and tips). The harbor is full of sea life, and we watched fishermen dragging nets into shore where they sold the fish in an open-air market (closely watched by pelicans and seagulls walking around the stands). The guide laughed that the fisherman’s trick is to get tourists helping pull in the net to the point they can sit down with a beer and watch the tourists do the work! So, all in all, a nice day that ended up with some shopping by the gals – note that Eileen bought a blanket in 85 degree weather!