Mazatlan

1/16/10


I’m sitting on an old cement rooftop overlooking the ocean and two miles of Mazatlan coastline. We parked here in the wee hours of the morning, knowing there would be few cars parked on the beach. All day we expected La Policia to tell us we had to move since we were in some prime real estate.
Our bus windows look out over water, resort buildings, islands and the Promenade. Actually, our door opens up onto the promenade which is a three mile walkway with art, restaurants and exercise stations. It’s very similar to the Venice Beach/Santa Monica promenade.
Yesterday we convinced some carpenters working on a house next to us to let us fill up our water tanks. We have two fifty gallon tanks with water we use for washing and two five gallon water bottles of agua pura for drinking. I thankfully bought, at the 24th hour, a pump that attaches to the top of the drinking bottles to fill our water glasses from.

Since we have been doing so much free camping on this trip, finding water to fill up the big tanks with, has been difficult. We have done it at campgrounds for a nominal fee and have most definately scouted for water spickets. We carry a hundred foot hose just for these situations. It took the whole hose to get from the house to the bus without losing our golden position on the beach. We tipped the construction crew three bucks for the hassle and enjoyed some much needed showers.
Mazatlan is surprisingly cute for a big bustling Mexican city. There is the common resort feeling on the north side of town with t-shirt shops and taxis yelling at sunburnt tourists clutching tightly to their purses and wearing hats that say Minnesotans Do It With Relish?

Farther south along the promenade is the historical district that has recently gotten a facelift and is enjoying a bit of a rennaisance. Old colonial buildings line cobblestone carriage roads. As you wander around them you come across tiny plazas with musicians and bouganvilla covered restaurants.


Near the historical district is a beautiful indoor market. Shannon and I went there yesterday and bought giant shrimp, guavas, mangos and finger bananas. I introduced Shannon to horchata and Casey and I gulped down fresh guava juice. The woman that sold me shrimp also had crab meat,octopus and scallops, all caught within eight hours.
The only casualty of our Mazatlan adventure is that we had our stroller stolen. It was a big loss as we speciically brought an all terrain one to handle sand, cobblestones and broken concrete. Last night as we were eating dinner, I chatted with a local street vendor about our missing stroller. I told him if he saw the people with it, be sure to tell them I’ll give a reward for its safe return. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not. If we don’t get it back though, our long walks through villages will become impossible with Casey.
Right now I’m watching Ryder watching the ocean. He watches as the waves run into the building we sit on. He’s watching for the tide to go out so he can boogie board again. Now that we are in the land of warm water, their Christmas presents from Aunt Connie are coming in handy.

Phelan lost his voice last night after a day spent screaming in delight riding the warm waves. Ryder learned from the local teenagers to duck under waves and wait for the good ones. I have a feeling, in a couple of weeks, he’ll be spinning cirlces on his board and thinking about dreadlocks.
Mazatlan finally feels like Mexico. Up until now Mexico felt more like a latin flavored retirement villge. When we drive now we see men on horses pulling wooden carts, giant fields of corn and clay bricks being made by hand, drying in the sun. Gone are the endless taco stands, dune buggies for rent and shrimp sellers.
We are heading inland soon, towards Mexico City. We hope to find a small village in the mountains to spend a month or more so that we can find kids for the boys to play with and I can work on my Spanish. The bus is working great and the kids are happy to have their “things”. Thanks to all, again, for all of your support and generosity in getting us here, 2600 miles from Portland.