Manzanillo (pronounced Manzaneeyo), Mexico

We’ve made cruise stops at some of the more touristy places in Mexico but Manzanillo was somewhere I’d never heard of.  It’s very small, very ‘local’ and apparently the sailfish capital of the world … so much so that there is a massive blue statue on the bay waterfront in case you forget.

It was super-hot in Mexico, and I was unsure about wandering aimlessly around a place I don’t know wondering if you’re in the metaphorical ‘West End’ or (more my luck) the ‘Arse End’.  However, I’d done a bit of Googling and found that there were two fabric shops on the front … so how bad could this place be!?

As always, we headed for the local market and were not disappointed.  Of course, in Mexico, chillies were a hot property, pardon the pun 😊  There were monstrous looking fresh ones, evil looking little ones, innocuous looking ones that you knew were anything but innocuous and sacks and sacks and sacks of dried ones of every size imaginable.  Chris tried to get a selection for Max but couldn’t make himself understood and they wouldn’t take card payment.  With only one stop in Mexico we hadn’t brought any Pesos knowing that cards were widely accepted … just not in a cash-centric local market ☹

I went in one of fabric shops and was blown away by the amount of fabric on offer of all different types and colours, native Aztec-type heavy fabric to the floatiest of silks and gauzes.  I thought I’d got my conversions wrong so asked Chris to check … if the prices were in pesos it was ridiculously cheap, if the prices were in dollars it was ridiculously expensive – IT WAS PESOS!!  Most of the fabric I bought was £1.25pm (29.99 Pesos) but there were some at .89ppm (19.99 Pesos) and rose to £3.76 (89.99 Pesos).  Because we have no weight limit with our luggage, I got a good half a dozen types of 3m each.  There are no specific plans for any of them yet but they will make me smile when I get back home and either look at them or put them to use 😊  Chris has felt it necessary to buy an extra holdall because of everything we’ve bought … I’ve said that with the depletion of all our boxes of medication, that we’ll be fine with the bags we have.

I’ve finished the second blouse I got started with and am now almost finishing a third.  The Mexican fabric may get an outing sooner than I thought!

Sea Days

We are getting some spectacular sunsets sailing down the coast of Mexico and South America.  I have no idea who the two people are in the photograph but the ‘star’ you can see in the left one is in fact either Jupiter or Venus … just can’t remember which one! 

The chap on the right is Mike.  We shared a dinner table with him not long after boarding.  He lives in the Cotswolds “but keeps a house in Scarborough” with his sister.  He’s ex-RAF and used to fly Hercules transport planes.  He fascinates us though because he is the spitting image of King, and unfortunately that includes the ears!

We encountered a “natural phenomenon” off the coast of Mexico Saturday night into Sunday morning … the Captain seems to think we should be pleased that we have experienced this but frankly, you can shove it up Mother Nature’s nose.  Apparently, some unpronounceable area or wind slams into the side of the ship as you drive past it and lays you out.  We were awake from 2am with some horrific banging under our cabin, accompanied by the pathetically named “swell”, we could feel the bed vibrate every time this “thing” banged … we weren’t worried the ship was under attack, or about to fall apart but the noise was bad!  Having reported it to our Deck Manager, along with many others, we were stunned to find out that it was ‘deck flex’ and as the ship was twisting the deck was acting like the dodgy baking tray we’ve got at home that won’t lay flat when it’s in the oven!

We have our second Round the World lunch today.  For all the people who have sold arms, legs and children to pay for their passage you get a free lunch (aren’t they all?) with free alcohol (much better), all hosted by the Captain but bearing in mind there are about 300 of you, you never get to see him; it’s not like he goes round each table shaking hands, although to be honest I’ve never understood the alleged prestige of sitting at the Captain’s table or having your photograph taken with him – what are you gonna do with that when you get home?