Villa Paraiso, Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico

(V post)
Villa Paraiso Manzanillo, LaPunta, Pennisula de Santiago CP 28860  ManZanilla, Colima, Mexico.  Villa Paraiso translates to House of Paradise.

As you make your entrance into this 12,000 ft. sq. house built into the hillside you are transformed by Nestor the manager and his awesome house staff.

Fun, friendly, professional and very accommodate they really pamper you during your stay.  Though this picture was taken later outback, kitchen and dining room through those doors...we were initially greeted with a tray of Martgueritas, and fresh warm towels to wipe up after the trip from the airport. 

Lunch was served after the house tour concluded and everyone selected their bedrooms, in the Palapa where we virtually lived through out the week.  The bar is to your left, one pool to your right, another pool up and to your right, and another pool further up.

From the main hall way, on the same level as this upper pool, looking down to bar, Palapa and infinite pool.  The edge of this upper pool you see is a waterfall with anther pool just beneath it...the level where you see the orange chairs.

This eating space is on the same level as the orange chairs and one of the pools.

Though we had breakfast and dinner inside at the dining room table, with lunch in the Palapa daily.

Can you see why we lived in the Palapa?  Bar behind us, infinite pool to the left.

Standing just outside the Palapa, you see lounge chairs and lower level pool, the red dot above is the upper level pool; while off on the right you see 4 of the 6 bedrooms.  This is an open air house, though you can close you bedroom door at night and turn on room air, if you feel you need it. (if you click the picture you'll be able to see the red numbers and dot)

Each room was decorated differently.  This blue room on the lower level and had a seating area to the left before the door that lead outside.

Each room had it's on bathroom and outside shower.

To your left was a floor to ceiling custom cabinet with shelving and drawers, in addition to all the space behind the mirrors.

Standing outside the 2 bedroom on the upper level  bedrooms (#1 and; 2 in the other picture) you can see the infinity pool, hammock and bar area.  The space beneath are the other 2 bedrooms.

Even the stair cases were beautiful.  With the house being built into the side of the hill, there's lots of up and down, so you do get some exercises between drinks.  lol

One of the many views.  This is taken outside the upper level bedrooms.

If you're looking for an affordable group vacation, do yourself a favor and contact Nestor, the manager at nestormanzillo@yahoo.com or visit their facebook page. 
Be sure and let them know Sandy sent you.


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Isla Navidad, Mexico

As you cross the border between the states of Jallisco and Colima in the Western part of Mexico, you see a site that's rather unsettling.  Armed guards in bunkers with machine guns.  I took this picture out the van window as we were stopped and questions.  Thank goodness for our guide, Antonio who explained who we were, why we were there, and what we were planning to see and do once across the border.  We didn't leave countries here folks, we crossed a border between states; much like you would leaving Ohio and entering Indiana.  WOW...talk about culture shock.  There were guards on both sides of the street and a bunker right in the middle of the street with these armed military personnel.

Again, looking out the window you fet a feel for how crowded the very narrow streets are.  Parked cars everywhere, a tour bus coming through; as Antonio pulled our van over to let the larger tour bus through.

On of our stops on that days outing was a banana factory.  It's quite remote with dirt roads.  The bananas are partially covered with newspaper and plastic bags to protect them from sun and pets.

Look careful at the red blossom with small early bananas growing above it.

Our wonderful and very knowledgeable guide Antonio, explaining the process.

After the harvest the plants are chopped down and this is what the stalk looks like inside.  Look at all the spirals.  This process takes about a year and new plants will spring up from this stalk.

The factory is not mechanized.  The work is done by hand.  This is large open building with a roof.  The bananas make their way from stem to shelf to water soak.

The are picked, cleaned and packed by hand while green.  They float in the water and that has been treated with a chemical to keep them insect free during shipping.  If bananas are left on the plant to ripen they are full of water and don't taste good.  Though this looks like nasty work, it is apparently considered a good job, paying a good wage.  Young people come from other areas for this job and live in hostel type accommodations. 

We toured a beautiful old Church

with very detailed wooden carvings on the doors.

A beautiful ceiling with gorgeous art.

Located the peer and restaurant where we would later have a late lunch. 

Then it was time to climb aboard for trip from the mainland to Isla Navidad (Christmas Island).

That's the Wyndham Grand Resort that is quite plush and expensive....not where we were going.

We're dropped off here on the beach and Antonio arranges a time for the boat captain to return to collect us.  This is the part of the island where the locals hang out.  We were there while they were on holiday, as it The Day of Dead, even the children were out of school.

The cobblestone streets are very narrow with houses, shops and bars coming right to the edge of the street.  There were vendors everywhere selling trinkets with barefoot children reaching out for us...believing all Americans are rich.  The children did their parents bidding, it was quite sad and difficult to keep saying no.  Antonio though explained it was best that we keep moving or they would all descend upon us. 

Once bag on the mainland a fish was selected, Red Snapper that was large enough to feed everyone in the group(except me...I don't do fish).  I don't know what this weight; but he had truly just been caught so for those who love fresh fish......I understand it was fabulous.  It fed 7 adults.  I filled up fine on the side dishes.

After our late lunch we returned to, Villa Paraiso,  our villa in Manzanillo which was about a 45 minute drive.

It was an interesting day, and I'm glad we got to explore a bit; but it isn't a place I'd like to return to.

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(10, start with 543)

Mexico, Day of the Dead

Picture is a bit blurry, as it was taking out the window of a moving van. The Day of The Dead is a busy holiday in Mexico. People of all ages are out and about. Kids are out of school. Up and down main roads you see people walking, riding motorcycles, riding bikes, getting off and on public transportation, and parking cars. People lining the streets to buy and sell tokens,
It's hard to see how ornate the cemeteries are, or how decorated they are. I was a good distance away here, and the only one in the group interested in cemeteries; thus the van continued to move along towards it's destination.
Beyond the entrance here is a cemetery and if you click to enlarge, you see the large numbers of people inside it's walls. Graves are decorated with food, drink, pictures, flowers-mostly paper wreaths, and other memorabilia.
Here you can see lots of items for sale. The day of the Dead dates back to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess, Mictecacihuatl. The Aztec calendar was a 9 month calendar, August it's 9th month was the month of the celebration. Now days, with some differences state to state in Mexico, Nov 1 is the day for infants, while Nov 2, is the day for adults. Nov 1 is referred to as the Day of The Innocentes.

People go to the graveyards to be with the souls of the departed and build alters, (the food, drink, pictures,etc.) It is believed this action encourages visits from the souls so they'll hear your prayers. Many families picnic at the graveside. Often the visits last a full day, and many families sleep there the night. Before the alters are built the stones are cleaned.

In some areas of Mexico, the day has taken on some resemblance to our Halloween, in that children go door to door for treats.

**This my post for M in the Z-A challenge, all Z-A posts Here
If you like to see and read more about traveling to Mexico:
Not a Typical Day at the Beach, Manzanillo Mexico
Villa Paraiso, Manzanillo Mexico
Kicking off our Travels to Mexico

Not a typical day at The Beach, Manzanillo Mexico

Once again the order I wanted on the blog seems to be an issue. Apologies that they aren't in the nicest order. Two friends here, one still wearing a party hat. Not a typical day at the beach. Not for me anyway. A normal day at the beach might be a packed lunch/packed cooler and a couple of beach towels and or beach chairs. This is doing it up in style folks. One might ask who's crocked here, those in the photo's (see drinks in hands), or the photographer. lol
Our table area in the shade of a Palapa, table cloth, and real dishes in the foreground with the bar area further back. The staff prepares the area then transported us there for a wonderful day at the beach with fabulous food and drink.
Real silverware, cloth napkins; so much nicer than paper and plastic. And when you see the food they prepared for us....truly the real stuff is needed.
Villa Paraiso has access to this private beach. The day we were there, we were the only ones. The town of Manzanillo is off in the distance there. We're in the vicinity here of where the movie 10 was filmed. I'd show you a picture of me running the beach, looking like Bo Derek's look alike...except I'm taking the pictures you see. lol
The Shrimp, Chicken, and Beef Kabobs were fabulous.
An attempt to get all 9 of us in our party hats failed, but you can still see how festive everyone was in their special sombrero's.
Food view with chilled adult beverages.
In case you wonder how to show you're having a good time, use this photo as your guide. Here forward this picture will appear in Websters under the words Party Hats.
This is the bath house which was quite large and very nice. There were lots of tables inside, and facilities for concessions which I believe are open during the "in season". We were there just 1 week before the "in season".

Villa Paraiso, Manzanillo, Mexico

Welcome to Mexico. Sorry these pictures are out of order. I've loaded them twice, seem to be having some tech issues. Ernie and I here, relaxing after lunch on Day 1. Look at the food, tons of wonderful food. Yes, we are in our bathing suits. We lived in them for a week. Note to self, pack more suits and fewer clothes in the future. One can get very relaxed after several good margarita's.
A close up of some of the food for our typical lunch. Chips, Margarita's, Tortilla's and more not shown in this photo. No one left hungry.
Meet Joel, our bar tender. Actually Joel did many things there at the house, Villa Paraiso I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up. Day 1 began early, before daylight early -arriving at the airport. After making it to Houston we flew into ZLO (Manzanillo). The airport is about 35 miles north of the city of Manzanillo on highway 200. We were met by our guide/driver Antonio. He transported 7 of us to the Villa, where we met the staff. They were fabulous. They greeted us with a tray of waiting margarita's and nice warm cloth to towel off after our 2 flights and van drive. AWESOME beginning.
They gave us a tour of the house, we each selected our bedroom and quickly got into swim suits. We made our way outside to The Palapa (were we virtually lived for the duration of the week); refilled our glasses and were soon served our lunch. This was a nice touch, The Buckeye Dude by the bar. The house is owned by a fellow Ohioan, a Buckeye.
This pool view is awesome. You're looking out at The Sierra Madre Mtns, the Pacific Ocean; the bar is to your right should you need a refill.
Our first breathtaking sunset. This shot was standing behind the pool in the above photo.
The sun is almost dipping into the water here, or so it seems. The pools water in the foreground. Manzanillo is a busy port city in the state of Colima in Mexico. It's home to The Navy, and is The Sailfish Capital of the world.

Once the sunset we ventured indoors for dinner, but returned again after dinner to The Palapa to visit, and enjoy ourselves before calling it a night. The house is an open air home, some folks left their doors open to the outside, others used the a.c. at night only. The weather was fabulous.

Return for more fun and information, I've got a lot to share.