Ole! Mexico!

We're back in the Northern hemisphere, and into the land of manana (pronounced man-yarna, not like the ban-annas that our American shipmates eat almost incessantly ... it's nothing to see someone carrying six to their cabin, and the greatest complaints on board - other than those about 'Goose', the cruise director - are when the ban-annas run out!). Manana means that we arise slowly, eat breakfast in a leisurely manner, lounge by the pool, talk to friends, make time for lunch, laze a bit more, play cribbage, eat dinner, go to a show - you can see what busy lives we lead!
Yesterday, however was a Shore Day ... in Acapulco. We're not quite sure what we expected from Acapulco, but what we saw was delightful, and very different from what we expected. Acapulco now has a population of 2.5 million people, and is divided basically into 3 areas - Old Acapulco, "Golden Acapulco" and "Diamond Head". Diamond Head is the newest area, for the super-super rich, those for whom Golden Acapulco is not luxurious enough. Needless to say, we chose not to visit either of these areas, but headed through Old Acapulco, then into the countryside.
First, however, we went to see the cliff divers - when in Paris, you see the Eiffel tower, here you see men jumping from high cliffs into a narrow tdal gulch ... we tried to get John to put on his togs and join in, but he wouldn't co-operate! They were striking ... oops, wrong word ... they were spectacular, but fortunately didn't strike anything!
From there we headed for Corayuca Lagoon, the site of many of Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan films, and some of the Indiana Jones spectaculars. We lazed under palm roofs, munching guacamole and chicken tostadas, admiring the lagoon, then wandered across the road to the beach - long, clean, with huge rolling breakers, where we held a private reverie for the Sunshine Coast and for all those involved in the big clean-up, as we enjoyed the lovely scene in front of us.
Our trip was meant to have lasted three and a half hours, but we left the ship at 8.30, and didn't get back until 4pm - that's manana for you! After our bus returned to the port, the guide offered us a free shuttle to the old town, and the markets, where we bought blackberries and strawberries for AU$1 a kilo ... John and I were the last to return, so sat around with the guide and the driver until all the traffic had eased, then made an individual guided tour past tacky streets, seedy bars and outdoor restaurants which we were assured that Montezuma would be proud of - because no-one ever ate there without him getting his revenge!
This was a really fun day - but it made us realise that our time on the ship is limited - only four more days until Long Beach. However, we visit Puerto Vallarta tomorrow, so there's plenty of fun ahead.