On 6 August 2000, the morning after our wedding, we got up bright and early to eat our complimentary breakfast included in the honeymoon suite package before we left for the airport. Unfortunately, the hotel restaurant was not open at 6:00 AM. We then decided to head back to the house, where Jacques’ father Roger was eagerly waiting to drive us to the airport to catch our flight to Zihuatenejo, Mexico for our honeymoon. We had a long layover in Mexico City, where we found some kinder eggs in one of the airport stores. We enjoyed reminiscing about the reception as we ate our kinder eggs, but we still did not get the “happy hippo groom” toy.

In Zihuatanejo — Puerto Mio Hotel

We arrived in Zihuatenejo, Mexico around 19:30 and were settled in our romantic honeymoon get away at the Puerto Mio Hotel by 20:15.

The hotel welcomed us graciously and showed us to our honeymoon suite. It was beautifully decorated in an all white theme. For our first night there they adorned the bed, pillows and even the hand towels in the bathroom with fresh flower petals and leaves.

Once we had unpacked we enjoyed a nice romantic dinner at the hotel restaurant while listening to the surf rolling in against the rocks. Then off to the room to call it a night.

Zihuatanejo Bay

Our room had a beautiful view of Zihuatenejo Bay from our balcony. It also had a whirlpool bathtub for two and a shower that also overlooked the bay.

Most of the time we pampered ourselves by enjoying a lazy mornings with breakfast and siestas by the hotel pool until it cooled down enough to wonder around and enjoy the sites of this sleepy fishing village.

We spent many a day wondering through the “flea market” shops for souvenirs to take back to friends and family who helped out so much with the wedding . We even bought ourselves a hand made, hand painted, black and white plate depicting a wedding couple on the way to the Iglesia. As fate would dictate, we didn’t have our camera with us that day, so we went back the next day and took a picture with the local woman who painted the plate, Augustina Martinez.

Isla Ixtapa

One of our many adventures on our honeymoon was to visita small island off the coast called “Isla Ixtapa”. The morning started out with beautiful weather. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the small island one of Mexico’s unpredictable thunderstorms, "tormentas", had made its appearance. They usually don’t last long, so to pass our time we found an unoccupied umbrella and sipped on rum drinks served inside a pineapple, with small pieces of fruit stuck to the sides to make it look like a face.

When the storm passed we made our way to the other side of the island where we enjoyed snorkelling and taking pictures of the beautiful fish.

Isla Ixtapa

As with any vacation, our time in the sleepy fishingvillage of Zihuatenejo and enjoying breakfast and siestas by the hotel pool was quickly coming to an end. We couldn’t have picked a more beautiful and peaceful place to have our honeymoon and it will be a cherished memory for years to come.

We enjoyed one last romantic dinner at the Puerto Mio restaurant and the next morning we reluctantly said, “adios” to our gracious hosts and drove off to the airport to catch our plane back to reality. We couldn't understand why our phone at home didn't have a direct line to the Puerto Mio room service! =(