Las Gatas Beach - Zihua

This is Randy and Thea in the local papers. It's an article, half of which is true, about our "lost" kayak. Randy and I were strolling down the Malecon when a restaurant hawker yelled out "hey, you were in the papers, weren't you?" We thought it was a trap to lure us into his restaurant but then he ran to get a copy of the papers and indeed we were featurd as victims of the theft of a kayak.

Here is some info about Zihau. The name Zihuatanejo is from the Nahuatl "Cihuatlán", meaning "place of women" because it was a matriarchal society. In pre-Columbian times, a Tarascan leader with a title of Caltzontzin (that means: He who governs countless houses) frequented the area from the modern day Lake Pátzcuaro region. Legend has it that he constructed the rock barrier on Playa Las Gatas (named for the harmless whiskered sharks that used to be found there) to provide a sheltered swimming area and harbor for the women and children, though the town's official historian says this is a myth. Nevertheless, that barrier, whether man-made or natural, continues to protect the beach to this day. With the arrival of the Spanish, the name Cihuatlan was transformed first into Cihuatlán and then into Ciguatanejo. Zihuatanejo’s current name form has only been in use for the past couple of centuries.

Las Gatas, while mostly local, is the most beautiful beach in the bay. Perhaps it's because that's where all the indian women bathed in seclusion centures ago, perhaps it's the saphire waters, the bright white sand or the rainbow fish that nibble at your fingers and toes looking to be fed... whatever it is, it's enchanting.