Mazatlan Jan 2003Part II
Due to me getting turned around, we walked from the
water taxi dock all the way back to Avenue del Mar - probably over a
mile.
The next day I finally figured out what the problem is - Mazatlan is a
huge city and it's shaped rather like Florida. So when you start
walking "towards town"
you start out south but curve west. By the time you get to "Centro"
(downtown), roads that used to be running North-South
are going East-West. Anyway, what I thought would be 5 blocks to the
busline was significantly longer. And while it was interesting to get
more of the city flavor
away from the "Golden Zone" tourist area, we were tired when we did get
back. John and I relaxed in one of the hot tubs at the hotel before we
met up for a light supper - since we had such a huge lunch. (Dave
conveniently wandered by and took a picture!)
We walked past, but didn't tour, the restored theatre; watched some workmen taking down Christmas decorations - Jan 6 is celebrated widely in Mexico as the "Feast of the Three Kings" and all seasonal decorations are left up until then. Took a bus back to the hotel and had lunch at El Capitan's because John was looking forward to oysters and we discovered that "Joe's Oyster Bar" is really just a bar - no oysters in sight! But he remembered the Oysters Diablo on the El Capitan menu so we went back there. Did a bit of shopping after lunch and replenished the peso supply at the ATM.
Click here to finish the week with Part 3. . . . Click here to return to the Mazatlan index |
And I chose to spend it on Stone
Island. This is one of the few places for good snorkeling in the area.
And it's an overcast day which should also be good for seeing
fish. We took cabs to the embarkation point for the water taxis over to
Stone Island (which really isn't an island - it's a peninsula).
We were dropped off at the "far" side and then had to take a Pulmonia -
a vehicle similar to a golf cart - over to the beach. When we got
to the rather primitive, almost deserted beach, we were
found by a restaurant owner (Felipe) who offered us
(as has been our experience at all such places) his palapas, chairs and
hospitality. But he pointed us waaaayyy around to a point where
he said was where to snorkel. This picture was taken from about half
way up El Faro in the late afternoon (see tomorrow further down the
page!) but it gives a good view of the
Stone Island beach and also the long "dike" we had to trek over to get
to "Goat Island" for snorkeling. So, we did the hike. It ends up
at a
little cove that is quite undeveloped. There were a few chickens and
pigs and shacks. A few goats were
spotted but rambled off up the hill to avoid us. Nancy, Dave and Gail
didn't like the looks of it and, after exploring a little, went back
around to Felipe's! But John and Katie - the hard core snorkelers of
the group - suited up and went in. I played "spotter" from the shore
and kept the local dog company. (Every beach has several local
dogs.
This one, like most, was pretty friendly.) They said it was
definitely worthwhile -
lots of good fish to see! About an hour later, Dave walked all the way
back around and had his turn visiting the fish! 
When
the receding tide made it more difficult to avoid the rocks and sea
urchins, they came in and we hiked
back to Stone Island Beach for lunch. By then there were a few other
folks around, John enjoyed the hammock and we chatted and read while
Felipe
prepared us a fabulous grilled sea bass. He used a sort of barbecue
sauce, heavy on the garlic (at our request) and served it with plenty
of trimmings. Below you can see the huge platter of fish and trimmings
and Katie and John enjoying it! We've always had good luck at beach
restaurants
and stopped asking for prices. Our lunch for 6 was less than $50
including all drinks and a generous, well-earned, tip.
We
opted for Pura Vida smoothies for supper - good choice! But then we
sort of ruined the "light" part by going to Panama's for dessert. We
bought various
wicked baked goodies and took them back to the hotel terrace where we
could sit and watch the ocean while we ate. Here's everybody (except me
since I'm
behind the camera) thinking something along the lines of "I can't
believe I ate the whole thing. . . ." And actually, I didn't - I saved
half for breakfast!
Tuesday
morning John and I headed downtown. First stop was the market - a
square city block full of stalls of everything: fresh fish, beef,
chicken. fruit, vegetables and every other kind of food, right on down
to pharmacies and clothing stores. We bought some Mexican herbs and
spices and then walked down to the
cathedral (left) 
and and one of the numerous town squares (right).
While I was sort of
looking forward to crashing on the beach for the afternoon, Dave
decided that the lack of bright sun
made it a perfect time to visit El Faro. I couldn't pass that up
so Dave, Gail and I headed back out. We took the Sabalo Centro bus as
far east as it went and then
walked around Lookout Hill - so named for the many scenic views
all
along it. 
In the picture on the left, you can see a lookout point on
the right side of the road and the lighthouse at the top of the El Faro
hill. We walked
about an hour to get to the hill and then climbed to the top. That,
fortunately, only took about 25 minutes even stopping for pictures
several times. It was steep but not too long. It was fascinating to see
the whole city laid out below us but because it was late afternoon and
overcast, most of the pictures were rather washed out. 
We actually climbed the stairs up to the light and I took a picture
(for John, who missed it) of the waste water treatment plant
at the foot of the hill - but I won't subject you all to that, too.
Reluctantly, we decided that he couldn't really claim it as a business
trip just for having seen a municipal service! 
Conveniently
the Playa Sur bus was just pulling up as we got to
the bottom of the trail and we took that to the market, then
transferred to a Sabalo Centro back to the hotel. We decided we had
done enough hiking for the day. 
Since each bus ride costs
either 37 or 75 cents (depending on whether or not the bus is air
conditioned) it is very cheap transportation.
That evening we had supper at Terraza Playa at the hotel - which is
actually fairly well recommended. Our basic rule is that "in Mexico you
eat outside" so we tended to pick outdoor places or
at the very least terraces. This is right on a well-lit portion of the
beach and it is wonderful to watch, and listen to, the waves coming
in while enjoying the after dinner kahlua and cream. Sigh.