A cruiser does not have to expend much effort looking for things to do in and around Puerto Chiapas while waiting, one might say, for a weather window to take one's boat south or north. We hung around – intentionally, mind you – for almost 2 months because of the lavish exploration opportunities. Please, I beg you , take advantage of at least a few of them if you're in the neighborhood.
We wasted no time. Nursing mild hangovers from the previous night's Christmas party (more from lack of sleep than excess of booze, kids, and I'm sticking to that story no matter how much scoffing I hear from cyberspace), we hired a tour guide, Tony Alfaro, to drag us to all the sites and sights around the province that we'd have been hard pressed to find by rental car. Tony did not disappoint, and if you're in the marina you can easily contact him for your own adventure – ask Enrique or Memo.
<— (Meet Tony. That's a nearby volcano in the background, beyond the platform mound. For US $60 for the whole day, Tony will take you there plus lots of other cool places.)
I speak one language fluently (English) plus 2 other languages incompetently, and I can count to 19 in Japanese and to 99 in Korean and I can sometimes figure out simple road signs written in French or Italian. I was gobsmacked that Tony spoke – fluently – NINE languages well enough to lead tours. Plus he was learning a few more languages on the side, because how could he call himself a tour guide in Chiapas, Mexico, if he didn't at least speak Mandarin and Cantonese, right? He could even switch off among languages as he spoke, which is a talent my pea brain will never master. Me speak one language at time. Me no can do more. So I was in awe of Tony and hung on every word. Also, he had jade-green eyes. Which, yowza.
Next series = the parts of the state of Chiapas that Tony showed us. Way too much for just one post…
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