School Fruit Festival in Zacateluca

18 cruisers traveled to this school in Zacateluca

Grand entrance to the fruit festival

The band was playing for our visit

Typical 5th grader chewing bubble gum

The elementary age boys were bored waiting for the festivities

The Principal of the school speaks excellent English. He was excited to have so many native speakers interact with his students. He teaches all 280 English lessons and expects them to practice speaking. He wants them to understand customs of English speaking peoples and asked us to share with the students. Students pay $17/month to attend this private school where the student/teacher ratio is 20:1. The public schools have approximately 60 students to a classroom.

The first graders paraded their costumes.

I made friends with 5 10 to 12 year old girls. They practiced their English and I attempted to speak some Spanish with them. They were working very hard at learning new words.

All students had to ask for fruit in English ONLY.

Rick in one of the classrooms.

The principal was answering our questions about the school in one of the classrooms.

El Salvador

 The sail from Puerto Chiapus to El Salvador was sunny and on a close haul riding the wind at 10 to 15 knots. As you can see in the picture we took water onto the deck with the wind waves. The usual weather for this season, in the waters we plied calls for motoring most of the 220 nautical miles we covered. Rick and I enjoyed sailing, but Snoball was a little sea sick. She quickly recovers with a treat of wet food and copious amounts of petting.

When we arrived at the bar entrance to the tributary a pilot and Bill met us on a jet ski. This is necessary to lead us over the deepest part of the bar and through the breaking waves with proper timing. As you can see Talaria cut the waves well with our great Captain Rick at the helm. I thought it was more fun than riding a bull in a Texas bar. There is a little anxiety at crossing this bar and going through the waves.

Chiapas

Marina is not yet on charts so gps shows us on land

Many Shrimp boats

New Marina at Chiapas

Nearby beach on Saturday afternoon

Large city 20 miles away

Chiapas is our last port in Mexico and we need to check out of the country here.  There is a very nice brand new marina which has not started charging for their slips even though they have water, electricity, wi-fi, showers and an incredible staff to help us.   Large city has Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Auto Zone, and lots of shops.

Crossing the Tehuantepec

Sailing at Sunset

Incredible Sushi

1 of 3 King Mackerels

10 Lb Tuna

Crossing the Tehuantepec was the most frightening passage since leaving San Diego.  There can be gale force winds blowing across from the Gulf of Mexico because of the narrow land mass and mountains.  We waited for a good weather report and made the two day passage with 8 other boats.  Had calm seas and a combination of sailing and motoring.  There is an abundance of life here.  We even had a whale dive lengthwise under our boat giving us a view of his large tail off our bow (little too close for comfort).

Oaxaca

City Center

Santo Domingo

Chocolate factory

Weaving

Mezcal distillery

Dye process

Monte Alban Ruins

Took an overnight (8 hour) bus to Oaxaca (pronounced wa-ha-ca) and spent three wonderful days.  Great lively city with many sites to tour including weaving, ancient ruins, mezcal factory, chocolates, museums, markets, and city center.

Dolphins

We saw a lot of dolphins on our way from Acapulco to Huatulco.  They often put on quite a show and loved to play around the boat.  What is really amazing is how clear the water is and the beautiful blue color.

Huatulco

Saw many sea turtles on our way

Sailing at Sunset

Entrance to Huatulco

Enjoyed a great 2 and half day sail from Acapulco to Huatulco with great winds most of the time.   Even the cat came out to enjoy the sail one day.  Strange part of this trip was we were actually traveling East and even a little North at the end.  We will wait in Huatulco for good weather to cross the Tehuantepec on our way south.  The winds from the Gulf are channeled through the mountains and can speed up to gale force through the Tehuantepec.

Acapulco Buses

 

The buses in Acapulco are amazing.  They are all individually decorated with paint jobs, lights, horns of all kinds, and stuffed animals.  One bus we were on had strobe lights going (not sure how the driver could see where he was going).