Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo Travel Day

 Oct 31 - Nov 3

Getting on the bus!

I realize that this blog has become horribly out of date so in an effort to catch up I’m going to try and take a highlight reel approach to the last week and sum it up in the next post or 2. Let’s hope my proclivity towards protracted paragraphs can be put aside. We awoke at 6am to get ready to leave for Zihuatanejo. Our plan was to cab to the bus station where there was a bus leaving for our destination at 7am. We arrived at 640am in high spirits, thinking there would be plenty of time to catch our bus. 

Arriving in Zihuatanejo!

Sadly the fates weren’t with us that day as the lines were quite lengthy and by the time we were able to get to the front of one, the 7am bus had only 1 seat left on it.Luckily for us there was another bus leaving only a couple of hours later so we bought the tickets and decided to get some food. The time went by fairly quickly and we boarded the bus just before 9am.

Hotel Gaby

Since we were both quite tired the ride itself was rather uneventful as we simply took turns watching movies, sleeping and eating. The bus made several stops along the way, so we arrived just before 530pm. There was no shortage of cabs out front of the bus terminal so Kaitlyn approached one and asked if he knew of a decent hotel located near the central part of town or the beach that was reasonably priced. Taxis were much cheaper in this part of mexico so she hardly haggled at all and before I knew what was happening we were in the cab and on our way into town. We arrived at Hotel Gaby about 15 minutes later and it was a dive! 

Bedroom

 Don’t get me wrong it had everything you really needed (bed, bathroom, sink, and even a TV!) but it was very small, dirty and quite over priced at $30 per day. The only silver lining was that it also had A/C which in this part of mexico is like finding gold in your shoe. We were somewhat prepared for the reality that this would be the kind of place we’d stay in for a day or 2 while looking for a more permanent residence (with Kaitlyn staying til December it made sense to try and find something for the month) though so we weren’t that pessimistic. 

Bathroom

The next day we talked to a taxi driver about where to inquire regarding a type of rental residence that would suit our needs. He knew where the real estate office was in Ixtapa and said he would take us there. The real estate office did not disappoint. They showed us pictures of 3 different places that were slightly below, slightly above and right at our budget. Of course we ended up falling in love with the place that was over the budget but frankly when you see the pictures you will understand. 

Our new place!

Regularly the place listed for 22,000 pesos per month but because the owner wanted it rented the price had been slashed to 12,000 (or about $1000). Kaitlyn had wanted to spend around $600-700 before looking but now that something this awesome was on the table she wanted it. I told her they wanted it rented so they wouldn’t mind going down a bit more so I suggested we counter at 10 and take 11. The agent made a call to the owner who agreed to 10,000 plus the electricity which is usually 600-800 pesos per month. We agreed and were ecstatic. 

Breakfast on the balcony

We had a place to stay and it was beautiful! We made plans to come back in the morning and sign the rental agreement, pay, and move in. The place is right on the beach in Ixtapa. The layout is much like a resort hotel except that the units are condominiums, not hotel rooms so they have been purchased and then subsequently rented. Our room has a beautiful balcony with a gorgeous ocean view; king sized bed and attached bathroom, kitchen, dining room and living room. It’s not huge by any means but compared our previous accommodations it was the lap of luxury.  I look forward to blogging about our activities in Ixtapa.

Tim