T_R_Oglodyte
TUG Lifetime Member
“Today” is Sunday, Feb. 16. We are staying at Pacifica Grand in La Colonia Ropa in Zihuatenejo.
We caught a morning water taxi from Playas las Gatas to the main pier in Zihua. 25 pesos, and learned a lesson. DW and I were the gringos on the boat, along with three mujeres and 6-month old baby. I was taking my cues from the locals. When we arrived, the locals disembarked first, assisted by a couple of young men at the pier. They went on their way, and when we started to do the same the two young men asked about their propino (tip).
So lesson relearned. If you have money (and that is true whether you are gringo or native), you are expected to tip for services received. Ordinary people get a pass – but if you have money you are expected to pay when someone provides a service. I’ve come to consider that as the equivalent of welfare in the US. Latin American countries don’t have welfare systems; instead, people are expected to find ways to provide services to those who have means. And those who have means recognize the services provided via “los propinos”.
The pier is next to the fish market. Zihua is still a fishing village, and the fishermen leave in the evening, returning at dawn, and sell their catch along the Calle de Pescadores (Fishermens Street). When we arrived, we were too late to see the market – they finish between 9 and 10 am.
After that we wandered over to the mercado publico – the public market. The mercado is the principal shopping area for locals. Very little English spoken. The mercado is like a department store – you can get almost anything you need in the mercado. But it isn’t a single store; it’s completely independent stalls. But they are organized by category. Clothing vendors in one area. Hardware in another. Housewares in another. Shoes in another. Meat and chicken in one area. Seafood another area, near the carnecerias and pollerieas.
We were concerned that since it was Sunday, many places would be closed. Totally wrong. Sunday is market day. The mercado publico was in full operation, and spilled over into several blocks on three sides. Seemingly countless stores selling fruits, vegetables, eggs, clothing, hats, sunglasses, etc. And chickens. I think chicken is the national food of Mexico apart from the Gulf Coast. But you name it – you can find it in or near the Mercado Publico. Both storefronts and sidewalk vendors. Streets crowded so cars can’t get by. And nary a word of English to be heard.
We’ve spent enough time in Mexico that we weren’t taken aback by the difference in quality of produce. Just understand that when you go to a grocery store in the US and you see produce that is stickered “product of Mexico”, consider that they give us the inferior produce. The good stuff they don’t send over the border.
After wandering through the area, we went over to Playa Madera for lunch, and then returned to do pick up some foodstuffs for the week. By then it was after 1 pm, and the crowds were thinning. So if you want the full experience, arrive between 10 and 11 am. If you want fewer crowds, come after noon. But realize that if you come later, you are getting stuff that has been picked over (which was obvious when we were looking for some lettuce).
We went back to a fish monger we had seen in the morning. He had whole fish he acquired that morning at the fishermens sale. We asked for a kilo of mahi mahi fillets. He reached below the counter, pulled out a fresh fish carcass that had been half-filleted already. He flipped it on the other side, cut down the spine spine and removed the meat from the other half of the fish, and then prepared our fillets. He made a passing comment that there was no question that we were getting fresh fist.
We also picked up a half-kilo of fresh shrimp. And they were fresh. Still with heads, unpeeled, still with veins. Just sitting on a block of ice. Our price for a kilo (2.2. lbs) of fresh mahi mahi fillets and ½ kilo of fresh large shrimp (about 15 to the pound) – about $US 15.
I didn’t try to negotiate or haggle. I didn’t see locals haggling on price, so I didn’t. Maybe he charged me a gringo price. So what if he did - it was still a great price, well within what we able to pay, and far less than a gringo-catering restaurant would have charged for the same stuff.
Generally the same story everywhere else we went. When I stumbled a bit with my Spanish occasionally there would be someone nearby who would graciously help out. A couple of locals gave us pointers to the vendors that they particularly enjoyed. My biggest frustration is that we had been scouring a bit to find a place that sold local cheese. We gave up and bought some commercial Oaxaca style cheese (which still puts to shame our US cheese). As we were bagging one helpful local mentioned a nearby cheese stall we missed that was a local woman who produced and sold her own home-made cheeses.
For us it was a pretty wonderful day. On the flight down, I overheard a person in the row behind us talking with some first=time Zihua/Ixtapa travelers. He was waxing on how wonderful Ixtapa was (and Ixtapa certainly is, in it’s own way) but his take on Zihua was how “dirty” Zihua was, unlike Ixtapa. I can understand and appreciate that point of view. It’s a question of what you want on a vacation. If you just want to go to a nice clean beach, sit under a palapa, and chill, then a place such as Ixtapa is excellent. There are times when that is what we want.
But if you are also interested in stepping out of the tourist experience, Zihua is attractive. We’ve spent many weeks in Puerto Vallarta, enjoying PV more than Cabo. But when we hit Zihua/Ixtapa last year on a SFX we were totally smitten.
We caught a morning water taxi from Playas las Gatas to the main pier in Zihua. 25 pesos, and learned a lesson. DW and I were the gringos on the boat, along with three mujeres and 6-month old baby. I was taking my cues from the locals. When we arrived, the locals disembarked first, assisted by a couple of young men at the pier. They went on their way, and when we started to do the same the two young men asked about their propino (tip).
So lesson relearned. If you have money (and that is true whether you are gringo or native), you are expected to tip for services received. Ordinary people get a pass – but if you have money you are expected to pay when someone provides a service. I’ve come to consider that as the equivalent of welfare in the US. Latin American countries don’t have welfare systems; instead, people are expected to find ways to provide services to those who have means. And those who have means recognize the services provided via “los propinos”.
The pier is next to the fish market. Zihua is still a fishing village, and the fishermen leave in the evening, returning at dawn, and sell their catch along the Calle de Pescadores (Fishermens Street). When we arrived, we were too late to see the market – they finish between 9 and 10 am.
After that we wandered over to the mercado publico – the public market. The mercado is the principal shopping area for locals. Very little English spoken. The mercado is like a department store – you can get almost anything you need in the mercado. But it isn’t a single store; it’s completely independent stalls. But they are organized by category. Clothing vendors in one area. Hardware in another. Housewares in another. Shoes in another. Meat and chicken in one area. Seafood another area, near the carnecerias and pollerieas.
We were concerned that since it was Sunday, many places would be closed. Totally wrong. Sunday is market day. The mercado publico was in full operation, and spilled over into several blocks on three sides. Seemingly countless stores selling fruits, vegetables, eggs, clothing, hats, sunglasses, etc. And chickens. I think chicken is the national food of Mexico apart from the Gulf Coast. But you name it – you can find it in or near the Mercado Publico. Both storefronts and sidewalk vendors. Streets crowded so cars can’t get by. And nary a word of English to be heard.
We’ve spent enough time in Mexico that we weren’t taken aback by the difference in quality of produce. Just understand that when you go to a grocery store in the US and you see produce that is stickered “product of Mexico”, consider that they give us the inferior produce. The good stuff they don’t send over the border.
After wandering through the area, we went over to Playa Madera for lunch, and then returned to do pick up some foodstuffs for the week. By then it was after 1 pm, and the crowds were thinning. So if you want the full experience, arrive between 10 and 11 am. If you want fewer crowds, come after noon. But realize that if you come later, you are getting stuff that has been picked over (which was obvious when we were looking for some lettuce).
We went back to a fish monger we had seen in the morning. He had whole fish he acquired that morning at the fishermens sale. We asked for a kilo of mahi mahi fillets. He reached below the counter, pulled out a fresh fish carcass that had been half-filleted already. He flipped it on the other side, cut down the spine spine and removed the meat from the other half of the fish, and then prepared our fillets. He made a passing comment that there was no question that we were getting fresh fist.
We also picked up a half-kilo of fresh shrimp. And they were fresh. Still with heads, unpeeled, still with veins. Just sitting on a block of ice. Our price for a kilo (2.2. lbs) of fresh mahi mahi fillets and ½ kilo of fresh large shrimp (about 15 to the pound) – about $US 15.
I didn’t try to negotiate or haggle. I didn’t see locals haggling on price, so I didn’t. Maybe he charged me a gringo price. So what if he did - it was still a great price, well within what we able to pay, and far less than a gringo-catering restaurant would have charged for the same stuff.
Generally the same story everywhere else we went. When I stumbled a bit with my Spanish occasionally there would be someone nearby who would graciously help out. A couple of locals gave us pointers to the vendors that they particularly enjoyed. My biggest frustration is that we had been scouring a bit to find a place that sold local cheese. We gave up and bought some commercial Oaxaca style cheese (which still puts to shame our US cheese). As we were bagging one helpful local mentioned a nearby cheese stall we missed that was a local woman who produced and sold her own home-made cheeses.
For us it was a pretty wonderful day. On the flight down, I overheard a person in the row behind us talking with some first=time Zihua/Ixtapa travelers. He was waxing on how wonderful Ixtapa was (and Ixtapa certainly is, in it’s own way) but his take on Zihua was how “dirty” Zihua was, unlike Ixtapa. I can understand and appreciate that point of view. It’s a question of what you want on a vacation. If you just want to go to a nice clean beach, sit under a palapa, and chill, then a place such as Ixtapa is excellent. There are times when that is what we want.
But if you are also interested in stepping out of the tourist experience, Zihua is attractive. We’ve spent many weeks in Puerto Vallarta, enjoying PV more than Cabo. But when we hit Zihua/Ixtapa last year on a SFX we were totally smitten.
