Acapulco offer a welcome reprieve for winter weary travellers.


the side of a mountain in the exclusive Las Brisas neigh- bourhood overlooking the bay. Manitoba visitors to the church will be reminded of the Hands of Peace at the International Peace Garden by the Brothers of Peace Monument, two right hands, one for each of the brothers, reaching toward each other. Sightseeing aside, for those who are looking for a lazy,


Echoes of its past can be found throughout.


pyramids and lost cities are far away. Tere is, though, a star-shaped, restored, 17th century fort, built in 1617, in downtown Acapulco that overlooks the place where the big cruise ships now dock. Tere are a few must-see sites, such as the spot where


you can watch young men make a spectacular dive off a 130-foot cliff into a narrow sea covered in waters that are only 12-feet deep. Tis dangerous dive, which must take into consideration the wind and the waves for safety, has been watched by millions, both in person and on televi- sion.


Te local sites mostly have to do with Acapulco's mid- 20th-century glory as a celebrity hot spot. Among these is an unusual church, the Chapel of Peace, built in 1967 by a Mexican businessman, Carlos Trouyet, in memory of two of his sons who were killed in an airplane crash. It is a wonderful example of 1960s architecture, all soaring tri- angles and geometrical patterns. Te location is high on


30 • Summer 2018


good-weather vacation, Acapulco provides the perfect answer. Although the town got a black eye over drug wars beginning in the late 1990s and until a few years ago, the luxurious walled resorts built over the past 20 or 30 years are far removed from all that. Te Vidanta Mayan resort, where we stayed, is an exam-


ple. Completely self-contained and within a stone’s throw (a 100-peso cab ride – about seven bucks) of the Walmart grocery store, you can escape into a world of fantasy-like luxury: nothing but sun, sand, water and your choice of li- bation. Te resort is threaded with water features, includ- ing two “lazy rivers”, where you can float for 20 stress-free minutes down a winding waterway surrounded by green- ery, blue skies punctuated by soaring hawks looking for prey and the long-tailed Mexican grackles that seem to think people are their natural companions. One thing the walls can’t keep out is the stray cat popu-


lation. Cats roam the outdoor cafes looking for handouts. I like cats, but my friend and travel companion, Maureen Gage, not so much. To each his own. Be careful of sun- burn – Maureen got toasted in the first 15 minutes. We both came back with sun-bleached hair. My other travel companion, Ross Gage, loved the beau-


ty of the place – the resort hotels and their gardens are magnificent. He also liked the lazy river.


The Hub


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