South of Zihuatanejo, accross the coast of Guerrero I drove towards Acapulco. Unlike in Michoacan, Highway 200 follows a more inland route across the milder topography of Guerrero. This allowed for fast travel and I made it from Zihuatanejo to Acapulco in less than four hours. That doesn’t include my stop at the first real Chinese restaurant that I have seen in Mexico. The Pollo de salsa general (General Tso’s chicken) was well well worth any delay. Another first sighting were the many homemade kites flying above the small towns that I passed through. These became a common site a few hundred kilometers north of Acapulco and I have continued to see them to my current location in Oaxaca. There are sometimes more than a dozen kite flyers in a village and there are usually many more kites to be seen tangled in the power lines around the neighborhoods. These 6 sided kites are much smaller than the 4 sided homemade kites that I have seen in the U.S. and seem to be made with 3 equal length sticks covered with plastic bags or similar thin sheeting. Some have long tails and I have even seen a double decker being flown by an older boy.

After many villages, kite sightings and topes I reached Acapulco. Before this first visit the name Acapulco brought visions of a tourist filled, Florida like beach city to my mind. An area of Acapulco is indeed just what I expected but much of the city is unlike the touristy beach strips that I have visited in the U.S.

Driving into the city required that my senses wake from rural driving relaxation. Mostly free of signs and full of erratically piloted busses and beetle taxis the roads are a torrent that quickly swept me deep into the city. Perched on the front of my seat I discovered myself a very agressive driver whose primary goal was to stay out of trouble. Stops at red lights offered me time to orient myself before the gush of traffic swept me on again. Entering Acapulco with only a vague idea of my destination fortunately allowed me to focus on driving instead of worrying over a planned route. Eventually it became evident that I should head towards the beach and I did so with hopes that my surroundings might become less gloomy. The scenery did improve as I dropped onto the main strip but after the extended visits to small fishing villages such a large city was a shock. Many of the negative differences that I detected in Acapulco were visible in faces within the crowds. There were uncheerful kids, scowling women and homeless people frequently catching my eye.

Instead of the normal slow cruise down a dusty road looking for a camping spot amongst the palapa restaurants I raced down the beach surrounded by the crowds, tall buildings and traffic looking for a hotel with safe parking and as little noise as possible. Fortunately I found such a place near the Zocalo and made the most of my few days in Acapulco. I spent most of my time in the internet cafes and walking around the zocalo though I avoided spending much time out at night.

Although I could see the high-rise hotels accross the bay it wasn’t until I departed Acapulco and drove through the southern part of the city that I discovered the Hard Rock Cafe, Mcdonalds, Wal-Mart and Crowne Plaza side of Acapulco. This was what I had expected to find in Acapulco and though I might not have enjoyed staying there much more than near the zocalo I am sure that I would have felt more welcome and safe.

Such a large city surely offers a great variety of experiences for it’s visitors and Acapulco probably has some of the largest, cleanest and best equipped accomodations in Mexico. Even with that in mind I don’t plan to return.

Jonathan Poole
Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca Mexico

Acapulco

 

 

Driving

It is fall here for most plants and they are going dormant in the deepening dry season. The tree in the following two photos was said to be around one hundred years old by the farmer that I discussed it with. It’s leaves are falling and it’s seeds ripening.

Posted on February 21st, 2008 by Poolio
Filed under: Jonathan Poole