We visited this beautiful resort two years in a row, both times staying at the Hotel Presidente Inter-Continental which features a tower and an arrangement of rooms around an inner garden court displaying many spurting fountains. We opted to stay in the garden court area.

For centuries, the royalty of the Perepeche Indians who were indigenous to this region of Mexico, spent their winters in this glorious location. The favorite winter retreat of this race is set amongst deep green palms in a land where the golden beaches are caressed by the sapphire blue waters of the mighty Pacific Ocean. This land became known as Ixtapa.

The weather is idyllic here, brilliant sunshine every day with soft fragrant breezes off the ocean. John and I and our friends made a habit of getting up early and walking along the beach before breakfast. We laughed at the little sandpipers scuttling over the pristine sands searching for food. We also walked the beach at night - a most delightful experience in the friendly darkness, soothed by the waves gently lapping into shore, and the stars twinkling overhead like so many diamonds.

We took a couple of trips on the local bus into the nearest town, Zihuatanejo, and explored its bustling marketplaces. One day we hopped another local bus and headed to an authentic Mexican town called Petatlan, about 30 miles inland. This town (where gold artisans ply their trade) captures the true essence and flavour of Mexico, contrasting with the many tourist resorts. We stopped in briefly at the beautiful big church, filled with worshippers attending Mass, then passed by a school where the schoolchildren were just coming out for their midday break. They all wore uniforms and shouted, "Hola," at us! We lingered in the central market where I noticed an exquisite baby girl in the arms of her young mother. The child appeared to be about six months old with little gold studs in her ears. She gave me a shy and appealing smile. I would have taken a picture but I chose not to because the mother seemed very protective. The children in Mexico are gorgeous and appear to be well cared for and greatly cherished. We saw a second mother with a little girl about two years of age - she was outfitted in a lacy white dress and had curly brown hair and big brown eyes; another little one I got a smile from! We bought a bottle of Tequila at the market. Ole!

We enjoyed some scrumptious meals during both our trips here; two of the restaurants at the hotel have outdoor patios. It was so relaxing to enjoy a glass of wine and sit enveloped by the gentle softly falling twilight, listening to the muted ebb and flow of the waves swishing into shore. Ixtapa is truly a little piece of paradise on earth!