So to catch up real quick, we went to Glendora, California for Christmas with the Latasa‘s and then New Year’s/Oma‘s birthday in Michigan. Had a great time with all and even had a lot of snow when we first got to Mi. American Airlines managed to have all three connecting flights into Michigan arrive late (kids flew in from different places) and James had to spend the night in Chicago and rent a car to get there the next day. When we returned to Mazatlan they had lost our luggage although that might have been a blessing because they delivered it by taxi two days later and we didn’t have to worry about paying any import taxes on all of our boat parts.
I promptly came down with Covid for the first time and had a particularly bad bout for several days. But the timing was OK for being stuck in the marina for a week because the Mexican government captured El Chapo‘s son and the cartel went nuts blockading roads with burning cars and trucks and even shooting at airplanes resulting in everything being closed, including airports. They didn’t reopen for US based airlines until a week later. Even schools and hospitals closed for a couple days.
Marina El Cid is just one of a series of El Cid resorts here in Mazatlan and we get full use of all the facilities, including great pools with hidden caves connecting to other pools and hot tubs. We explored the large mangrove estuary that surrounds the several marinas and housing areas here. The number of large, jumping fish is astonishing. Just everywhere you look there are fish leaping out of the water all day long. Found a couple of really big iguanas sunning out over the water as well. Also saw our first Roseate Spoonbill birds!
Then we had Ernesto come and fix all of our water maker woes, replacing every inch of the hoses that had been installed in La Paz. Said the guy at the water maker store, “that stuff was Chinese garbage” and even many of the hose clamps they used had already rusted badly. (But if he knew that, why didn’t he warn us or stock the good stuff for resale???)
Anyway, we’re pretty sure that all is working well now. Theresa also had new cockpit cushions made! The color now matches the rest of the boat, they are twice as thick, they fit better and are fewer in number.
All of that took a week so we have now been free to explore Mazatlan in full. There are really beautiful areas of the city and it is a very vibrant place with restaurants, nightlife and businesses all seeming to be doing well. Everyone is as friendly as they are in the tiny little towns of Baja, so that was a welcome surprise. Have not seen or felt any of the big city blues here. Last night, our pulmonia driver insisted on giving us a little tour of lesser known delights on our way back to the boat. A pulmania is a kind of open air taxi that is apparently unique to Mazatlan. So named because you are likely to catch pneumonia!
The big, central market was what you would expect with vendors crammed in selling everything under the sun. But the second floor was really cool. A narrow, central hallway with about a dozen small restaurants lining the sides. Looked like family kitchens, some with only two or three tables, others with a dozen plus balcony.
The historic old town is a large area of revitalized “Italianate Victorian era“ buildings. The closest description I can give is it’s much like old town Valencia, Spain teeming with nice restaurants, live music and beautiful walking streets. The catholic basilica was absolutely gorgeous inside. The evening light coming through the windows was perfect and we happened to be there during a wedding. There were several quinceanera photo shoots going on in the old town as well. When we returned to the boat we found a large wedding reception going on directly across the water from us, about 100’ away. Though it was loud, the band was fantastic so we had no complaints. Couldn’t understand a word of it but they did a Spanish cover of Achy Breaky Heart that was really good.
Heading to a pool party at another marina this afternoon and then probably going back downtown with friends from SV Alegria. We’ll leave here in a few days stopping at Isla Isabella to see the blue footed boobies on the way to Puerto Vallarta.
