Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Mexico

Sun setting on the horizon

Yesterday was a sea day and we passed by one of Holland America's other cruise ships - MS Zaandam. No doubt the officers were communicating with each other on the navigation deck, saying 'howzit?'

Towards sunset officers on the bridge noticed some birds starting to settle on the forward mast and called Paul and he came fetched me, knowing that it would be nice to see them. The birds were either boobies or gannets. They had webbed feet and found it difficult to settle initially on the horizontal bars of the mast, but some of them somehow managed and there they stayed, hitching a lift, until sunrise.

As the sun sank closer to the horizon it became a beautiful red ball - it was an amazing sight. As usual it reminds me how grateful that I should be able to see it, and how grateful I am to be alive on this beautiful earth.

Huatulco is set in a beautiful bay and I was glad to get off the ship on a tour today. Once the tour group was down on the pier we walked to outside the harbour to meet up with our bus. The bus part of the tour was to give us an overall view of Huatulco and La Crucesita with two viewpoint stops along the way for photographs.

In La Crucesita we had a bit of free time to wander around the town. Some people went shopping, others went sightseeing; visiting the church and beautiful central plaza or recommended places as per our guide. I needed to get out of the heat badly and ended up going into a shop and browsed for a bit, enjoying the cool temperatures from the air conditioner.

José taking us around the coastline and bays

Throughout the bus tour José, our guide, was very knowledgeable and pointed out areas of interest. He gave a bit of a history about the town and its future. He spotted some iguanas and got the bus driver to stop briefly for guests to see them on the banks of the hill next to the road. He also pointed out the ‘tequila’ plant (blue Agave plant) and pistachio trees; and a few other plants. José was a likeable chap with a good sense of humour. (Guides can 'make or break' a tour!)

This blowhole gave a fantastic display for us

After the bus tour we got dropped off at an entrance at the harbour, the closest to the motorised catamaran that we boarded for the second part of our trip. The catamaran's name? "Tequila"! Very apt indeed. Is was it the motion of the ocean that rocked us or was it the complimentary drinks that flowed freely - tequila and margaritas. There was also beer and water on board too for those that didn't fancy the other drinks.

During the boat trip around the harbour and various bays in the area the catamaran staff were lovely. José Cruz, the captain of "Tequila" allowed a guest or two to pilot the boat under his watchful eye. Everyone on the catamaran seemed to enjoy themselves but one particular couple even more so. They were a bit drunk by the time they got off the catamaran. They ended up needing an electric mobility cart to fetch them and take them back to the ship! (Oh happy daze!!!)

Before dinner time Paul and I walked down to the ship's infirmary so that the crew doctor could have a look at my right hand's middle finger (don't even think along other lines!!).

To give you a bit of background: towards the end of last year when the Maasdam was in New Zealand I on a rocket boat tour in Akaroa. After the a scenic high speed boat ride around the bay the boat's pilot did a couple of G-force turns - which were fantastic because of the adrenaline rush. Unfortunately as we did the spins water spray made the forward bar I was holding onto wet; my hands started slipping. During the last spin my fingers lost their grip and I wrenched the middle finger of my hand. It was painful at the time but that was it. It didn't seem to be broken so I put my finger in ice for a good few hours. Over time, though, the finger has become more painful to use. Eventually when I got back to England I had it x-ray'd I was fed up with the pain and swelling around the joint. The x-ray was fine. Anyway I ended up strapping the finger straight in case I had damaged any surrounding ligaments.

Fast track until today, back on board and about 5 to 6 weeks of strapping my finger to a split, I have still been in pain so hence going to see the crew doctor to have a look at it/get advice. Dan decided to get Linda to x-ray it for me in case something didn't show up on the first x-ray, but there was nothing seen. So, he decided to see how much I could bend my finger - under local anaesthetic. Usually, for me, local anaesthetics have never been painful (I've had the same finger injected with a local anaesthetic when I needed stitches over the joint after cutting my skin open on a the lid of a tin of cat food by mistake) but bloody hell, the 3 injections he gave me near my knuckle hurt like blazes. The whole middle finger swelled up and eventually the local anaesthetic started to work. Dan then took my hand and gently started to bend the finger at the middle joint. It was a bit stiff but he kept on going until I could feel the joint hurting. I hope I didn't swear because the anaesthetic didn't help after a certain point in bending it. There was a bit more stretching and bending my finger to get the tendons a bit more mobile. The upshot is that I shouldn't splint the finger any more and to start exercising it, gently, even if it hurts. I need to get it moving again so that I can start using my hand properly. It might take a while to get full mobility back again but anything is a good start.

After visiting the infirmary Paul and I went and sat in one of the ship's Jacuzzi's and there in the warm water I started my 'rehab', clenching and releasing my fingers.

Time to head to bed - we will be arriving in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, tomorrow.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Birds settling on the bow's mast

A guest being allowed to take the wheel under José's
guidance

The motorised catamaran, "Tequila" that we sailed on.

San Miguel Archangel Church

As usual it was good to see land again. Once the ship was cleared by port authorities guests were soon heading out to explore the surrounding areas or going on tours.

The tour group I was assigned to day was a lovely group of happy people which set the scene for the day. Our tour guide, Victor, had a great sense of humour and throughout the tour was a good historian.

Our first stop was at San Miguel Archangel Church and the neighbouring marketplace. The road outside the church was quite busy so our bus driver dropped us off and drove around town for a bit until Victor called him to let him know we were ready to be picked up. The church was beautiful inside and there was a huge impressive wood carving of Jesus hanging behind the alter table.

Back on the bus we were taken toward Vallarta's town centre where we got dropped off once again so that we could have a stroll along the Malecón (waterfront promenade), over to Cuala Island Market; a brief stop at the town hall and then visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Church which was also quite nice inside.

Statue on the promenade

We met up with our bus again and were taken to the Old Town with its cobbled narrow streets. We were taken to Aviles Jewellery, a silver jewellery shop but it also had other items made of silver by craftsmen. Whilst there, if guests wanted to buy anything but it needed altering - they would re-size or do make the alteration there and then; their craftsmen being on site to do so.

Not far away was Taxco Exporta which we visited and guests could pick up Mexican gifts or souvenirs, tequila and silver products.

Back on the bus we headed out of the Old Town and made our way along the coastline to El Set Restaurant for lunch. Victor made a few suggestions as to what to have from the menu - if guests wanted a traditional Mexican meal. Whatever it was that I had - it was a traditional dish, simple but very tasty. The views from the restaurant over the bay were lovely.

Tequila Mamá - note the blue agave plants

We re-boarded the bus and continued along the narrow winding road to Mezcales to Tequila Mamá - a family run tequila distillery. This was the place that everyone on the tour bus had been waiting for! A gentleman who had married into the family of those that own the distillery explained the process of making tequila from the Agave Leica plant, also known at the blue agave or tequila agave. The plant is grey/blue with long leaves with spikes on either side. Other agave plants are greener, depending on the species of plant. The process of crushing the plant leaves to distilling is all done by hand rather than machinery as they do in factories. The result is a better quality tequila with good flavour. The worst quality is almost like paint stripper or vinegar. How many times the distilling process takes place for a batch will determine the quality as well.

After the talk it was time to taste some tequilas, starting with the best. From there we were able to taste blended tequilas, flavoured tequilas (with vanilla or almond added), a cream liquor and a fruity liquor. I don't like tequila (I've tried!) but I didn't say no to the tasting - I've got to give it another go! Well, my face screwed up.... the almond flavoured tequila was actually quite nice as was the cream liquor and another one that was blended with coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Yum.

Route to Huatulco.

When it was time to head to back to the ship guests were smiling even more and in a fantastic mood 😉.

Time for the Maasdam to head to Huatulco, further down the Mexican coastline; arriving there the day after tomorrow.

PHOTOGRAPHS

San Miguel Archangel Church