Monday December 30 continued from yesterday… We decided to head into the closest city, called Tapachula, which was about a half-hour away. We loaded into the car and headed inland towards the mountains.
Along the highway between Puerto Madero and Tapachula, we passed a lot of farmland and what looked like produce packing houses, the airport, a large sports complex that looked new, a university, and an assortment of commercial and industrial buildings. In the outskirts of the city were big strip malls with stores like Home Depot, Office Depot, and Walmart, along with some residential developments.
We hadn’t planned an itinerary in Tapachula, which was a mistake. Once we got into the city, we had no idea where to go. We drove around aimlessly for a few minutes. From what we could see, Tapachula was a typical Mexican city, consisting primarily of low, blocky buildings set close together.
We hadn’t had dessert after lunch, so Eric decided to find an ice cream shop. We are grateful for modern technology. 15-years ago, we wouldn’t have had any clue where to find an ice cream store. Thanks to our phones, we were at an ice cream shop in minutes.
The ice cream store was called MYTA. Inside, there was a play area for small children. Given that it was such a hot day, ice cream really hit the spot! Christi and Keith had both gotten cappuccino flavor, and the ice cream had real beans in it.
While we were eating, we’d been scrolling for sightseeing activities, and simply couldn’t find any. We knew there were chocolate plantation/production tours and coffee plantation/production tours, but we couldn’t figure out where they were located. We decided to head back to Puerto Chiapas, do a little more research, and come back tomorrow with an itinerary.
On Tuesday morning (December 31), the volcano was visible. In previous days, the view was blocked by clouds.
We headed back to Tapachula after we finished our morning school/chores. We invited one of the cruisers in the marina, Jan, to join us. Jan had spent hurricane season in Puerto Chiapas, so she knew a lot more about the region than we did. Last night, we’d had no luck finding the location of the coffee and chocolate tours. This morning, Jan explained that tourism hadn’t been developed in the region, and that it would be difficult for us to find the locations on our own, and even if we did, it wouldn’t mean anything to us without someone who spoke English explaining it all. She had booked tours through the marina with a local guide, and recommended that we do the same.
So instead, we picked a restaurant that looked good and drove there for lunch. La Monalica was in the northern part of town, so we saw parts of the town that we hadn’t seen yesterday. This area looked newer than what we had seen yesterday, but still very standard Mexican city.
The restaurant was hip, with a foyer that successfully combined tropical with trendy. We were seated downstairs.
Eric wanted a guacamole appetizer. There were two types on the menu, one with chapulines and one with arrachera and chicharron. We knew arrachera was steak, but we didn’t know what chapulines or chicharron were. Eric picked chapulines. A few minutes later, the waiter came out and said they were out of chapulines, and would the other guacamole be okay? Eric said sure. Turns out that chicharron are pork rinds, which were served instead of chips (the chips in the photo were served with the complimentary salsa). The steak was on the side, not mixed in. Keith had ordered arrachera (steak) tacos.
We later found out that chapulines are fried grasshoppers, which are a commonly eaten food here. From what we were told, the guacamole likely would have been served with a pile of dead grasshopper on top. We would have freaked out if we were served that, so we are grateful the restaurant was out of them. We were also told that it was common to see the grasshoppers served in lieu of croutons on salads.
Christi ordered Enchiladas Suizas, which are a common Mexican. We thought we’d written about that dish before, but we couldn’t find it on the blog when we searched. It is chicken enchiladas smothered in a green tomatillo sauce and topped with cream. Here, it was served with avocado, steak, black beans and fried plantains.
Eric ordered chicken tacos smothered in a mole sauce that was very similar to the one he’d had the other day at the restaurant in the marina.
After lunch, we went to Chedraui to stock up on groceries. Chedraui was a zoo, likely because it was a holiday. Getting into the parking lot was harrowing. Many items, such as fresh baked pastries, were already sold out.
Since we had frozen food with us, we headed straight back to the marina and had a quiet evening aboard. Only Keith managed to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year, both Christi and Eric pooped out around 2300.