Note: all pictures are hot linked to a larger version. Click on the picture to get more detail…
The week after Thanksgiving, I had to go to Acapulco for a conference/exhibition.
In case you don’t know, Acapulco is on the Pacific side.
The following screenshot from Google Earth shows the layout of Acapulco. Acapulco Tradicional (Old Acapulco) is on the far left. The thin strip between the beach and mountain in the middle is Acapulco Nuevo (New Acapulco). Then they ran out of space for newer, fancier hotels, so they expanded into the adjacent bay and then the flatlands to the east. Acapulco Diamante (Diamond Acapulco) is between the airport and Acapulco. With a lot of space, these hotels are sprawling. The conference was held at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.
Here’s the sunset, as seen from my balcony…
(This, like several pictures in this post, are at a bit of a drunken angle. Not because I was drunk, but because the camera is small enough that it’s tough to tell if it is level. I could rotate the pictures slightly with photo editing software, but that really kills the resolution. Maybe I should tape a bubble level to the bottom and side…)
I arrived Monday, late afternoon. By the time I checked in, checked email, delivered the exhibition material to the exhibition area, it was time for the pre-conference reception. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was fully occupied with manning the exhibition during the day, and "networking" at the evening receptions.
I did step out of the exhibition room during a slow period to snap a couple of shots on Wednesday. Nothing like walking in the sand while wearing a suit…
The blackbirds bathing in/drinking from the fountain were everywhere around the hotel. And they were LOUD…
One of the other exhibitors offered me a beer. He claimed it was Mexican. Umm, nope. This is a Dutch beer…
A few of beers served at the reception on Wednesday. Typical beers in Mexico. But, if your eyes are sharp, you’ll notice that the Sol is only 190 ml (6.4 ounces).
The Wednesday night reception was at the Zuntra Restaurant, overlooking Acapulco (marked [1] on the satellite image). It was a fantastic view, but the venue was too small for the number of attendees and service absolutely sucked. Oh well…
On Thursday, we tore down the exhibit (not tough this time - unlike the huge full-motion simulator we took hours to take down last year in Savannah). Then I attended one of the sessions and took advantage of the "networking luncheon". I then had the afternoon free. I got a taxi to New Acapulco (marked [2] on the satellite image) and wandered the beaches (listening to my iPod, of course)…
…stopping for beer…
I hung out at a beach bar for a while, watching the sun set and reading my book.
After it got dark, I walked along the main drag for awhile. A movement in the grass caught my eye…
I continued walking to about the spot marked [3] on the satellite image. I found another beach bar (not hard to do) and read for awhile, enjoying just being on the beach.
Inspired by my encounter with the toad, I hailed a taxi and went to Señor Frogs for dinner. Another taxi back to the hotel and another night to bed early…
I slept in on Friday (I haven’t been sleeping well the past few months so any extra sleep seems like gold).
I finally got around to moving and took a taxi to Old Acapulco. I checked out the Mágico Mundo Marino (marked [4] on the satellite picture) after reading a couple of good reviews. Don’t bother. Even if you have kids with you….
They have a cheesy aquarium, lot’s of kid pools & water slides, and a cute sea lion show…
…and a few sea turtles (without sufficient space to swim)…
…and an alligator…
They did have a nice view of the "locals" beach…
…and other nice views…
No matter what you do, don’t bother with the glass bottom boats. The water isn’t clear enough to make it worthwhile (unless you’ve never snorkeled in the Caribbean), and the glass isn’t remotely clean…
The boat ride itself was nice, though. I wish I had skipped the Mágico Mundo Marino and the glass bottomed boat and just gone straight out to Isla La Roqueta. By the time I got around to asking about that, they said it was too late (around 5 p.m.)
This time I can blame the tilting horizon on the rocking of the boat…
Since I couldn’t go out to the island, I took a taxi to the spot marked [5] on the satellite image and walked to [3]. I had a local dinner at a small beach bar and then headed back to the hotel for another early night…
Saturday morning, I took a little tour of the hotel grounds.
This is a view of one of the pools from my balcony.
One of the other pools…
The previous pool from a slightly different angle…
Swans, waterfalls, lush vegetation…
One of the many bars and restaurants at the hotel.
The open air lobby also featured a massive array of flowing water features…
I took a walk down the road outside the hotel to the river. Fairmont owns all the properties for about a mile along the beach. The roads are gated. A golf course across the road. So, most of the following flowers are carefully cultivated. I still liked them…
Once leaving the gated road, the contrast is dramatic. (The thatch roof on the far left is the guard shack. You can see the yellow gates, both raised.)
As we drove in the bus to the Wednesday night reception, we went past the river. I think I saw a couple of dozen egrets as we passed by. That was the main reason I walked over for a look-see…
The locals visit the beach in the background, while the cormorants have their own gathering spot…
A massive termite condo (a popular location overlooking the scenic river)…
The river demarcated the flat land to the southeast from the mountainous land around Acapulco. (And the haves from the have-nots, as the top of the hill to the right is covered by huge houses…)
A bit of a cave between some massive rocks…
A few cacti show that we’re not far from desert conditions…
This tree had a bit of confusion as to where to send its roots…
A few more entries in the "The persistence of life" file…
Too many pictures lately to spend much time providing captions….
I hope you enjoyed my view of Acapulco…
