I was
vaguely aware of Bob getting up and leaving the cabin, but I snuggled in for a
bit longer. Today’s tour meeting time wasn’t until 10:20 so there was no hurry.
The clock said 7:30 when I got out of bed and when I pulled back the curtains,
I realized the ship had already docked.
Once
dressed, I left a note for Bob and headed to the buffet. Poached eggs on an
English muffin and 2 strips of bacon was my choice. And of course,…coffee. I
was just starting to eat when Bob showed up and joined me.
Our tour
tickets had specified that we were to wear long sleeves and long pants, but
knowing that the heat and humidity would be unbearable, I wore shorts and a
t-shirt. My reasoning was that my chance of getting yellow fever, Zika, or
malaria from a mosquito bite was far less than me having a heat stroke from
being overdressed. Bob agreed and dressed similarly. Danny and Stan, on the
other hand, took the directions more as a warning than a suggestion and wore
the recommended long sleeves and long pants. Stan would have dressed like that regardless
because he was always cool, but Danny was suffering by the end of the day.
The tour (Rural
Communities & Traditions) met right by the gangplank, but then we had a
very long walk to reach the bus.
Our route took us out of town and onto a
portion of the Pan American Highway before turning off to head to the rural
areas we were to visit. The paved road led up into the mountains and eventually
became a dirt road. Our guide joked that we were getting a free Mexican massage…the
ride was very rough and bumpy.
At our first stop, we saw how several generations of women from one family made beautiful woven goods…fans, baskets, etc. from palm leaves and exquisite and woven shawls. These were for sale and I couldn’t resist purchasing one of the shawls as a gift for a close friend.
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| Our tour guide demonstrating how the women would carry the baskets on their heads while making a sling out of the shawl to carry their baby. |
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| The girl whom I purchased the shawl from. |
At the next village, we stopped at the home of one family...a typical
dwelling for the area. There were covered outdoor areas and the kitchen was separate from
the house.
The wife had prepared (from scratch) tortillas and several dishes
made from prickly pear cactus (nopal
in Spanish) for us to sample. These had been cooked over an open fire in the “kitchen.”
There were a couple of different hot sauces as well. After we finished eating,
Bob and I walked back to the kitchen to thank the woman for her work. Using
Google Translate on my phone, we were able to ask her a few questions on how
she prepared the cactus.
 |
| Demonstrating how to remove the spines from the cactus. |
The third place we stopped at gave us a chance to see how woolen rugs were woven, beginning with the spinning and dying of the yarn using all-natural dyes. The rugs were vivid colors and so beautiful. The prices on the rugs were not cheap, but they were willing to bargain a little. I was tempted but wasn’t sure where I could display one in my home even if I could mange to fit it into my luggage.
 |
| Explaining how the dyes are created from natural materials. |
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| Showing the red dye. |
Continuing
on, we arrived at another home where we watched as the 79-year old grandmother
made tortillas…again over an open fire in a small outdoor kitchen constructed
of adobe. We sampled these along with delicious homemade tamales.
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| Looking through the kitchen window. |
 |
| Using a tortilla press. |
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| Cooking the tortillas over a wood fire. |
In our
travels, I don’t think we have ever seen the level of poverty that we witnessed
on this tour. The families we visited depended on the income they received from
the cruise ship visitors, but our guide said that usually only one ship a week
comes to Huatulco for nine months out of the year.
I was
reaching my limit on how much heat and humidity I could tolerate by the time we
made our last stop. This was at a garden with many different native flowers and
plants…many which were used for medicinal purposes. It was tempting to stay in
the air-conditioned bus as some did, but I was afraid I would miss something,
so I wiped the sweat from my face and kept going. The reward to doing so was
seeing all the beautiful plants and getting to sample some fresh mango!
Normally we
don’t take ship tours but have been very pleased with the ones we have done on
this cruise. (And having a large sum of onboard credit to pay for he tours made
them even better!) I do prefer smaller tours because so much time is spent
getting on and off large buses, but this was the type of tour that probably
would not have been done for just a few people because of the time it took to
prepare the food. Bob made sure to leave a tip at each place we visited.
Back on the ship,
Bob walked while I went to the Lido for an ice cream cone. I wish I was more
motivated when it comes to exercise, but I really did enjoy that ice cream!
When Bob finished walking, he joined me in the teak loungers on the promenade
deck right outside our cabin and it wasn’t long before we both fell asleep! I’m
sure we looked like the stereotypical senior citizens on a cruise.
At dinner we
saw that some of the menu items were starting to repeat. The wiener schnitzel
and shrimp/chorizo jambalaya were both main dishes that I had previously
ordered. To try something new, I ordered the sword fish but honestly the wiener
schnitzel would have been a better choice. Each night Bob and Danny ordered the
crisp and so far, it hasn’t repeated flavors. Tonight’s version was
blueberry-mango.
STARTERS, SOUPS, SALADS
The main
show tonight was singer and multi-instrumentalist, Salvatore Hasard. At the
beginning I wasn’t sure the guy was going to be well received, but by the end
he got a standing ovation! It is getting harder and harder to get a seat for
the 8 pm show without arriving 45 minutes early. Tonight we arrived at 7:30 and
there were no seats left in the balcony.
Bob and I
popped out onto the promenade deck before returning to the cabin. Just before
we sailed, the captain had announced that there might be a lightening show over
the mountains tonight and sure enough…there was. The flashes didn’t come
frequently, but when they did it was impressive.
Off to bed
with a relaxing sea day tomorrow.
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