Day 128 - Still in Güiria

Big news, folks!
Your's truly will be on the radio tomorrow morning.
Today I taped an interview with Matt Galloway and it should be aired during his Metro Morning program on CBC Radio 1 in Toronto on Wednesday February 9.
His show is on 99.1 FM and runs **early** --- from 5:45 M(!) to 8:30 AM

Thanks Roxy!

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Miguel, my shipping agent here in Güiria, tells me they've found a shipping crate for Rebecca. We should be packing her up later today.

Well, that's the plan ....

In other news, last night I got the final, tragic definitive word that there is NO roti shop in Güiria.

I can hardly believe it. We're less than 50 miles from Port-of-Spain. With the right winds I can smell the cumin and curry from Patraj's shop near the Oval..

One more sleep, and St. James, here we come!

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Last night a couple of rookie cops stopped me while I was walking down the street. They wanted to check my papers.

Then one of them tries to ask me for money before he'll hand back my passport.
But he's so clumsy in his lame extortion attempt (and in his English), his partner can hardly keep from giggling at him.

Sensing no real danger here, I break out in my best gringo accent, 'No fumar espanol', and that pretty much ends the conversation.

I guesture at their parked moto, and older model KLR 650 like my 'becca, and give them a smile and 2 thumbs up.

Back comes the passport.

Good night, Güiria's finest... I'm off to the hotel to dream of black cake and rum punch.

Acapulco

Well Acapulco is a big town, a real major city. This means in part, there's probably at least a bit of crime to worry about.

So I am pleasantly surprised when see the setup at the 2nd motel I look at. Each of the rooms is on the 2nd floor, with a private parking space below. I say private, as in once you drive your car in, you can close a curtain behind you before your passenger exits the vehicle.

This tropical sun must be frying me brains, because it takes about 20 minutes of looking in my Spanish-English dictionary to realize that there will be no phrases to explain why they charge per hour for the rooms.

Finally it dawns on me, and the clerk at the desk smiles kindly and shakes her head. She has a good chuckle to herself as she directs me to another hotel nearby -- one that would probably be best for a solo traveler.

--

The next day it seems that, yet again, Lady Luck has caught up with me. She must be stalking me, or something..

Since I've entered Acapulco I've only been up on hills, so it's time to find the Malecon.
At the 3rd stop light, a scooter rider stops next to me, and I ask is this is the route to the waterfront.

Turns out Miguel Angel belongs to a local motorcycle club with a branch in Montreal.

What are the chances? :)

Hotelier - Big Al

Miguel leads me to a very nice, moderately priced hotel on the Malecon, but more on the local end -- the side with the supermarket, rather than the tourist strip with the nightclubs, Starbucks and 20-storey hotels.

Miguel has to go off to work, but we exchange contact info and he promises we'll connect again in the evening.

Outside the new Motos Boxer store

Lina, Alejandra y Rebecca

At 4:30 he show up at the hotel with Rosy riding pillion. They take me to the Grand Opening of a motorcycle shop, tour the entire waterfront (HUGE!) at night, then take in the famous cliff diving show.

Along the way we ran into several small parade in celebration of Mary of Guadalupe. Each procession featured drummers, singing, and fireworks shot up from the crowd.

Awesome.

Stopped long the parade route for refreshments

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Leaving Acapulco the next day was the only sore spot. After getting caught in a speed trap on the road out of town, the local cops turn out to be more interested in extorting money from me, than doing their jobs. Eventually I give them $4,400 pesos to get my International Drivers License back. Somehow I don't think any of that whole episode will make it into their Daily Report.

What a bummer way to leave an otherwise charming city. And for my whole time in Mexico, it was los Policia Federales that I had been warned against :(