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Posted by David (in Bellingham) from 12.129.7.100 (mx2.mossadams.com) on jueves, enero 22, 2004 at 12:13:29 :
Sun. Dec. 21 – I sleep in until 10:30am because, once I start fishing, I won’t get many chances to sleep late. For breakfast, I decide to jump a cab to El Pueblito. I’ve wanted try their Sunday lamb barbacoa for several years, but I’ve never managed to get there on a Sunday. Since this might be my only chance this trip, I decide to try it even though it’s breakfast time. The barbequed lamb was very flavorful and tender. It’s served with guacamole, beans, tortilla, and red & green salsa. It’s a lot of food. If you go with someone else, I’d consider splitting it for a meal. The lamb barbacoa was 75pesos.
El Pueblito also has 161 different kinds of tequila, so I figure I’ve got try at least one I’ve never had before. After looking at the collection for about 15 minutes, I settle on the 100% agave Arriago reposado (44pesos). It’s a solid tequila that may eventually end up in my collection, but it probably won’t be one I bring home this trip.
I take a leisurely walk through El Centro back to my apartment and grab a short siesta. When I’m at home, I never take naps, but, when I’m in Zihua, I’m a big fan of the siesta. I try to get one in every day while I’m here.
About 1:30, I head down to the pier to catch a boat over to Las Gatas, so I can talk to Amado to confirm all my fishing dates and to drop off all of the fishing gear I brought for Amado. While I’m waiting for the water-taxi, I see Amado pull up on his new boat. It’s still called the Burbuja, and it’s about the nicest super-panga in the fleet. It’s about 3’ longer and 1 ½ ‘ wider than most of the pangas and has a brand new 4 stroke (i.e. quiet) 100hp motor. He has some business in town, so we plan to meet at his restaurant in a couple of hours.
Once you get off the boat at Las Gatas, you have to walk almost to the end of the beach to get to Amado’s. While I’m walking down the beach, I noticed a great example of what makes Zihua so special. Whenever I try to explain what makes Zihua so special, I always mention the people, but have a hard time explaining it beyond that . While I was walking down the beach to Amado’s, the waiters at almost every restaurant along the beach recognized me from previous trips and welcomed me back to Zihua. They all new that I was heading for Amado’s, so they didn’t give me the pitch to try and get me into their restaurants, but even though I’m not a potential customer, they all took the time to chat with me, welcomed me back to Zihua, and wished me good luck fishing this trip. When I finally made to Amado’s and sat down under a palapa, Wensalus (sp?) set down a Victoria and said, “welcome home”.
After a couple of hours of sitting under a palapa drinking cervezas and reading, Amado showed up. I gave him all of the fishing gear I’d brought for him at his tip for our trips – Owner Gorilla hooks (excellent for live-bait fishing tuna and impossible to find in Zihua) from 2/0 to 8/0 in size, fluorocarbon leaders for live-bait fishing tuna, a good fighting belt, and a depthfinder/fishfinder. If you fish with the same captain every year, you should ask what they need you to bring next year, every year before you go home. Amado confirmed that I’m booked for the nine days I had scheduled earlier in the year. To schedule the trips, I’d called Amado at 011-52-755-55-74795 several times, but had trouble maintaining a connection. Also, Lady M was kind enough to take a copy of my fishing schedule to Amado when she was in Zihua last October. We spent some time catching up and planning what types of trips we would do on which days. Also, I booked a trip for Bachler #1 on Feb 10 (we’ll expect a report).
After a few more hours of drinking beer and reading on the beach, I decided to head down the beach to the boat back to the pier. My tab for 5 Victorias and 1 squirt was 42p. Every time I’m at Amado’s, my tab is ridiculously small and it varies each time. I think today I was charged for about 2 beers and the soda. That seems to be one of the benefits of fishing with Amado a lot.
As I get close to the end of the beach, I see that there’s a long line of people waiting for the boats back, so I decide to duck into Chez Arnoldo’s to visit with my friend Chay, who works there. Chez Arnoldo’s is a good restaurant. I tend to favor Amado’s because it’s at the quieter end of the beach (with all the families here for Christmas and New Years, the end of the beach close to pier is always packed with tons of very loud children, which isn’t my idea of a relaxing time), but if it’s not to busy Chez Arnoldo’s is good place to hang out, and it always has great food. This time I sit an talk with Chay for a while to see how his family is doing and what he’s been up to for the last year. He’s serving his time in what sounds like our national guard, so he can get permission to travel to the US and Canada and he may be coming to Vancouver, BC to visit a mutual friend of ours next year. He gives me a Victoria and a shot of Cabrito Tequila on the house. The Cabrito is a decent bar tequila, but it’s definitely not in the running for what to take home. Once the line thins out, I hop the boat back to town.
After a short swing by my apartment to get cleaned up, I went out to grab some dinner. On days I’m not fishing, I make a point of hitting some of my favorite non-seafood places. Tonight was Los Braceros. They have a really extensive menu with many different alambres, but I always end up getting the tacos al pastor. 3 tacos al pastor on larger, flour tortillas was 21pesos, with two glasses of horchata (a sweet rice-water drink) to wash it down for another 20 pesos. I’ve never been able to understand the people who complain about high prices of meals in Zihua. I just got a great, very filling dinner for under $5, and I know of simpler places where you can get a good meal for half that price.
On the way home, I decided to stop in at Florian’s for a few drinks. It’s a slow night, so Florian has time for some backgammon. He’s a really good player. We’re playing, using the doubling cube, to 7 points, and loser has to buy the next round of drinks. We each end up buying 2 rounds. Tonight I start with the anejo & soda for the first two rounds, but then I switch to tequila. Tonight I go with the Jose Cuervo Tradicional, which is a 100% agave reposado made by the folks at Cuervo. I’m generally not a fan of the Cuervo tequilas, but this one is really good. To cap off the night, Florian has me try the Dornkaat schnapps I brought to him. It’s a true German schnapps, and seems to fall somewhere between vodka and gin in flavor, but it also has hints of caraway or some other spice I can’t identify in the flavor. Served ice cold, it’s pretty good. At this point, it’s about 11:30. Since I’m fishing tomorrow, I decide to head for home. I promised myself that this year I’d avoid having to go straight from the bar to boat.
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