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Mexico in March 2013

 A few pilot friends usually get together early in the new year and fly to Mexico and Central America. We were all set to go when one couple dropped out due to medical problems. Then I went to see the Doc at the last minute for a check up and had to drop out myself due to medical problems. I was so disappointed.

     A few months later I started to feel antsy and wanted to make my usual trip to Mexico once again. Medical problem resolved in time to go. Since we had plans for a trip to San Miguel de Allende in April my wife Joan didn't want to go in March as well. So I asked a Long-time friend and pilot, John Fisher, to fly with me and he agreed. Yeaaaa!!!! John had only been to Mexico once on a cruise and had not seen it from the air like we would. He was excited and so was I.

     I filed EAPIS the night before and also an international flight plan. All I had to do was activate the plan with Hawthorne radio in the air before we crossed the border and get a Squawk code.


3/2/2013

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John and I had a good flight from Oxnard to Guaymas at 11500’, clear skies and a light tail wind all the way which took a bit under 4 hours. After clearing Guaymas, slightly over an hour, we headed over to Serenidad Hotel in Mulege, Baja. We also got pesos at the Cajero automatico (ATM) at Guaymas airport. Upon landing at Serenidad we were approached by the military who asked all the usual questions. After clearing several pilots talked our ears off. It was fun. We checked into the hotel, took a short walk to the river and back to the hotel. After talking to Joan on Skype and trying to get my e-mail to work we sat and had long conversations with pilots. These pilots were ham operators and were really interested that I was also a ham. John and I turned in early in order to get up the next morning, eat and depart early for Manzanillo.

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3/3/2013

     After breakfast and talking flying with other pilots and having too much fun, we flew about 4 hours to Manzanillo. It was pretty boring except for 2 things. While I was getting something from the baggage compartment I managed to hit the pilot control button and released the autopilot. I didn’t notice until the airplane was in the most unusual attitude John and I were fighting over the controls to get control of the airplane. Finally I managed to get the airplane upright and put the autopilot back on. Wow! lots of excitement. The other was coming in for a landing when the tower had me cross over the airport to a left down wind and then asked me to do a short approach. I had a lot of speed but said that I would try and bleed it off. He said he hoped I could because an Alaskan heavy was second for landing. I put the airplane in a steep 90-degree bank and pulled back hard on the stick. That 90 degree 180 turn really slowed the airplane and I was able to make it fine. I even had to add a little power to get down to the taxiway. The controller said that that was the shortest approach he had ever seen. I thanked him for letting me do it. The tower guy also gave me the telephone for Tom & Bob. After calling them they were at the airport shortly to pick us up.

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     Tom’s house is a beautiful  3 story mansion very close to the Las Hades Hotel on a cliff overlooking one of the bays at Manzanillo. We laughed, talked, and told stories over margaritas and a very nice dinner. It was an enjoyable day.

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3/4/2013

We had a great time hanging around the Castillo Arena (Sand castle) Tom’s place here in Manzanillo. We walked all around the beautiful grounds, swam, and talked mostly airplane stuff with four of us being pilots and bored all the other people. We had a wonderful seafood lunch of shrimp, ceviche and a wonderful dinner. I really blew my vegan diet. The next day we headed out to Zwat.

 

3/5/2013

After another delicious breakfast, Tom took us to the airport so that we could depart for Zihuatanejo. The flight was uneventful and it was John’s turn to fly. He likes to hand fly so no use of the autopilot to worry about. It took about 1.5 hours to get here, a short flight. We hired a taxi from the airport to Zwat for about  $35. The best price we could get on the room was $70. a night for 3 days. The Sun & Moon Hotel is a short walk to town & that’s what we did the first afternoon. Had a nice lunch at Café El Salvador and bought John some shorts to be more comfortable. It is very warm, about 85 degrees here, and we need summer clothes. John and I went to the Mercado (market place) so he could see it. Some of the pictures will show how interesting it is.

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3/6/2013

     For breakfast we decided we would try different places as there are so many all around us. The hotel was filled with Canadians escaping their cold winter. It was fun to talk to them and get ideas of what to do around Zwat. Today we decided to walk down the beach into town and look around. My wife Joan wanted me to show John a Mexican tableware shop that she had liked the year before. We found it and talked to the owner for a long time about everything including the beautiful pottery. We spent a long time just window shopping, and it was very interesting.

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3/7/2013

     Today we decided to take the bus over to Ixtapa where there are resorts for the wealthy. It is nice there with many party places like Senior Frogs. There were police with “tourist” on their shirts all over the little mercados that cater to the big hotels. It is all very clean and new with many high-rise hotels and people trying to sell time- shares and take us fishing or tours. After looking around awhile we took the bus marked El Centro back to the center of Zwat and walked to the hotel.

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     That evening we walked to a new restaurant recommended by an American couple from the Great Lakes area. We ordered a salad recommended by the wife that was huge and very filling. We went back to the hotel and turned in early for our departure to Puerto Escondido tomorrow. Early to bed that night was not a good idea because the Canadians had a big party outside of our door in the communal kitchen. So we didn’t get to sleep until about 10:00pm when they broke up. Next morning they apologized and said we should have joined them.

3/8/2013

Had a nice 2 hour flight from Zihuatanejo to Puerto Escondido today. After landing we had military with dogs checking us out but it was pleasant. One of the officials gave us a ride to the Hotel Paraiso, a real nice guy, and we made him take 50 pesos for beer. He wanted to practice his English and he spoke well except he used Spanish whenever he didn’t know the English word so it was fun for me. It is hot,  about 90 degrees which will take some getting used to. John and I went to the market place today. It was about 7 blocks from our hotel resulting in hot and sweaty bodies. After viewing one of the wonders of Mexico (the marked place) we went back to the hotel to cool off in the air-conditioning.

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We had a good stay here and have met some interesting people. We just had dinner under a palapa on the beach, different. We were tired of Mexican food so we asked the receptionist where we could find a veggie restaurant. She directed us to a place on the surfer beach on the north end. They had mariscos de anything you could want, and Japanese food. We had Broccoli in curry sauce with rice that was very tasty.

 3/09/2013

 When we walked down the beach this morning there was a young guy blocking our way and when I tried to get around him, he grabbed my arm and held me back I struggled to get loose but couldn’t. It was a good thing because a boat came onto the beach just inches from me skidding up next to me. That guy probably saved my life and for that I am thankful.

   Tomorrow I am going to file for Puerto Vallarta and see how far we get. We will stop if we see anything interesting.

 

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3/10/2013

 John and I are tired of packing and unpacking so we decided to head home tomorrow. We had a nice flight over from Puerto Escondido today except for the camera that John left on the wing of the airplane and we didn’t discover that it was missing until about an hour out of PE. When I called the tower they had found it laying on the tarmac. We turned around and went back with a tailwind of 15 knots and made it back in 45 minutes. After refiling a flight plan and paying a new landing fee we departed again. It was about a 6 hour trip to P. Vallarta, but it was pleasant and relaxing. We landed, re-fueled, closed the flight plan and went to the hotel Dona Susana where we had stayed before. We had a dinner tuna sandwich at a new sidewalk café right on the main drag. I can’t believe how things have changed here but it’s been 3 years since we were last here.

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     We got ready for departure tomorrow by filing the required EAPIS for 3:30 pm for Calexico and made plans to depart P. V. by 9:30 am

3/11/2013

We cleared out of Puerto Vallarta in about ½ hour, and except for fuel, the cost was 975 pesos. Immigration didn’t charge us for our visas. This was the cheapest international departure I have ever experienced.

     It was a long flight (6.5 hours) from PV to Calexico. The air was smooth at 10500’ and only a 5 to 7 knot headwind. When about an hour out of Calexico I called Prescott radio updated our arrival time got our squawk code and were ready to cross the border. We cleared customs at Calexico in about 15 minutes and were free to go. We flew from Julian VOR direct to Van Nuys VOR direct to Santa Paula airport where we fueled with the cheapest gas around at $5.50 a gallon. HA! Difficult to know how much fuel was in Mexico due to the taxes and the fact it is charged by the liter but came out to about $6.82 for Guaymas, $5.97 for Manzanillo, $5.59 for Puerto Escondido & $5.98 a gallon for Puerto Vallarta. As we landed at Oxnard, a bunch of guys were in front of their hangers waving to us welcoming us back to the good old US of A. Good trip but good to be back home again, too.

Don & John

    

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