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Toby and me on oceanfront bed swing!
Troncones, Mexico the drive up the coast on highway 200 was much longer than we had anticipated....11 hours! We left Puerto Escondido at 6 am, thinking we'd arrive late afternoon even with a stop for lunch, but we did not arrive until 6 pm. Going through Acapulco traffic was a nightmare. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived in Troncones....but boy was it worth it.
Our oceanfront inn, Regalo del Mar, was beautiful. Located in the small fishing village of Troncones, the inn is a 40 minute drive north of Zihjuatenjo. There are several small b&bs, private homes and restaurants, but the village is still rustic with one main dirt road, low construction (I didn't see anything over two stories), and not overbuilt. The village does have a spa and yoga center, good seafood restaurants, a few gift shops, and basic amenities, but for major shopping you have to drive to Zihuatanejo. The surf is good and the beaches long and peaceful. I think I saw one vendor trying to sell me something; otherwise, nada. I can walk for an hour and only see a handful of people. I was told that some celebrities (Richard Gere, Francis Ford Coppola, etc.) have visited as they are hardly recognized, and some have bought property. Most of the time, we have the beach in front of our inn to ourselves. Our hosts, Beverly and Cam, live here six months out of the year and spend the balance at their lake cottage in Vancouver. They built the property 12 years ago, and they just love it here. Their wonderful caretaker, Jose, lives on site with his wife, Naty, and three children. Bev and Cam left mid-way during my stay for their six months in Vancouver, and for five days out of the ten we stayed, I was the only guest on the property. It was heaven! Pat spent three days with me before he had to return to work in Canada, and he will have only one more day here before we head north to La Manzanilla.
The owners upgraded me at no additional charge to their oceanfront casita privada, which had a separate kitchen/dining palapa. I highly recommend this place if you want to get away from it all to unwind....you will love the amenities and views and will sleep like a baby hearing the ocean crashing on the rocks from your open air casita. It's very romantic! Here are some photos of the grounds of the property....click one to enlarge.
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Toby and me on oceanfront bed swing!
The interior of the casitas were just beautiful, decorated with Mexican crafts from the owners' travels, and they were constructed with adobe, wood, bamboo, concrete topped with thatched roofs. We had a beautiful outdoor bathroom.
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Toby loved walking on the beach. He learned to chase the small sand crabs and he came back from walks very sandy!
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our beautiful beach
We left for La Manzanilla, a small town just north of Manzanillo. Because it was Semana Santa, the most important Catholic holiday along with Christmas in Mexico, many people head to the coast and La Manzanilla was packed. So we decided to head inland to Guadalajara for a couple of days before heading back to the U.S.
Our six months in Mexico has come to an end. Our car has only a six month permit, so we must leave the country. We spent two days in Guadalajara, then drove to San Luis Potosi where we spent the night. The next morning, we crossed the border in Laredo, Texas. We had no problems during our trip, and the border crossing went smoothly. After spending the night in Laredo, we drove to Austin, Texas, where we are renting an apartment for three weeks. Pat has two weeks left on his project in Canada, along with a week trip for training with his company in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We will have to decide where to go next.
For now, goodbye beautiful Mexico until next time!