Day 12 - Huatulco, Mexico

We pulled into Huatulco (pronounced Wah-tool-coh) a little before noon -- an hour earlier that our itinerary suggested. And that was nice, especially considering the call was only a few hours anyway.

When we walked outside, one thing was immediately clear. Gone was the constant, heavy humidity of the previous 11 days. Now, in our first of three Mexican ports, the very dry heat was here.

The small town of Huatulco is expected to be the next Acapulco -- which, as we would find out the next day -- would be pretty upsetting. For now, it's a quaint port, and full of the Latino culture. It's almost like a Mexican version of Venice -- with water taxis and canals galore.

We walked the small shop circuit, avoiding the men without boundaries who only want to pull you in to make eye contact.

After picking up a few souvenirs -- including some colorful and festive decorative plates for the backyard -- we headed down to the soft, sandy beach at the front of town for a quick swim.

The water was extremely warm (we'd later find out back on the ship that it was 88 degrees warm). It wasn't the cool retreat we really wanted it to be -- in fact it was almost like looking around to find the kid peeing as he's swimming past you, only to realize, nope, it's just that warm here.

It was a little strange walking around -- especially just outside the secured port -- and passing Policia Federal armed with rifles that just didn't look real. But it should be said that we never encountered any violence currently associated with vacationing in Mexico. None.

Until we arrived that day, we were considering a mountain bike excursion that visited the big three bays of Huatulco. But after getting slapped around with the heat, there was no way we were voluntarily paying to exercise. Not that day.

Looking back, Huatulco is one of our favorite ports. It was different, it was a pleasant change, and it wasn't too busy. It was nice and relaxing. Quaint and funny -- especially when the trumpet in the mariachi band wasn't able to hit that high note in "Tequila!"

For dinner:

Emma

Appetizer: Crawfish pastry

Salad/Soup: Thai chicken soup

Main Course: Beef tenderloin

Dessert: Vanilla souffle with Lady Godiva cream

Ryan

Appetizer: Fresh mozzarella and tomatoes

Salad/Soup: Potato and ham soup

Main Course: Tilapia

Dessert: Oreo and peanut butter chocolate pie

Later that night, we tried watching "Avatar" in our stateroom (there was no way were spending 3 hours downstairs in the Theater) -- but couldn't help finding blatant comparisons to Pochahontas and Dancing with Wolves. Especially on our 17-inch screen. Oh....and what's up with the weird beastiality thing in that movie? Weird, right?

Photos from the Day

Video from the Day

Tomorrow: Acapulco, Mexico