I can’t stop thinking we chose the perfect time to be in the warmth of Mexico. Wishing you, my readers, a Feliz Navidad from Zihuatanejo, Mexico.

Below are some photos from the past week.

Luis is the owner of the villas where we are staying. We mentioned to him how we have been watching the chachalacas in the early morning. Chachalacas are birds that look like wild chickens. They are large and noisy. Luis told us about a nearby trail, where we could see a variety of birds. He said he sees people heading to this trail with binoculars.

The next morning, we excitedly followed his directions, but instead of going up the hill as he told us (too hot to go up the hill), we took the  lower road. We didn’t see many birds. Instead, we saw butterflies! I mean, we must have seen some twenty-plus species of butterflies! We tried photographing them, mostly without much luck. They fluttered and flitted about, teasing our cameras, testing our patience! Some of the largest and most colorful butterflies were gathering and feeding at the top of an enormous tree in bloom. We saw a very large white butterfly, as big as my palm. There was another butterfly whose wings looked like the petals of a deep yellow tulip. One butterfly looked like a zebra and another was as orange as a California poppy. The red and black butterfly photo is in yesterday’s post.

Then I noticed the flowers! Now those were far easier to photograph because they don’t fly and flutter! Yesterday, before I could get some great flower photographs, we heard a barking dog. The dog took a big stance in the middle of the road up ahead of us. There he was barking furiously, not held back by a leash of any kind. I didn’t know what to do. I love dogs, but I am somewhat terrified of aggressive dogs off leash -as I suppose most people are- so I grabbed a stone. I know that sounds horrible. Like what was I going to do? Throw it at the dog? But somehow, holding the dusty stone in my hand made me feel armed, falsely safe, and ready to defend myself. The dog barked more loudly. Rick said it was a big mistake to pick up the stone, so I put it down and we slowly backed away and left.

Ha! We went back today so I could get more photos of tropical flowers and orchids. No dog encounter this morning, just more elusive butterflies and more flowers to admire.

This flower reminds me of Christmas ribbons. It looks so festive!

Not sure what this is, but it sure looks like a Christmas ornament:

Walking back, we saw this lovely decorated garden:

Rick:

“Pterodactyl” Pelicans

And more murals from Playa la Ropa

A very cool (literally, cool and breezy) coffee-shop-by-daytime and dance-place-by-weekend called LOOT (not sure why it is called LOOT) with a great big mural on the interior wall:

Playa la Ropa beach