Mazatlan Aquarium

Welcome to the Mazatlán Aquarium!

Not just a place to see fish, but crocodiles, turtles, sting rays, deer and birds as well.

 There are displays of nets and ships and enormous collections of shells, and student projects that show the life cycle of sea turtles 

There's a huge tank where sharks and other fish are hand-fed by a brave diver.

Bonnie & Larry at the Aquarium entrance

Beautiful Sculptures at the entrance!

Shark Tank!

Fishing Schooner

Tanks filled with fish from around the world

Ray

Tortuga!

Gorgeous colors!

Protective coloration!  Where's the eye?

We spent several hours exploring the tanks and displays....

a GREAT place to spend an afternoon with amigos Kathy and Lonnie!

Estero del Yugo - Estuary

Fairly early yesterday morning, we bussed north of Mazatlan, toward Cerritos 

 and spent a couple of hours exploring the Estero del Yugo. 

From the winding, earthen trails we viewed two lagoons - one salt water; the other fresh water.

There were egrets, herons, pelicans, coots, cormorants and a number of other shore birds.

HERON AND ???

EGRET FISHING FOR BREAKFAST

SUNBATHING CORMORANTS

A PAIR O' PELICANS

All was quiet.

As we walked the earthen trails, we came across a variety of cacti, trees and shrubs

There were bird nests tucked into branches and what appeared to be insect nests of some sort

BIRD NEST

SOME SORT OF INSECT NEST?

 Throughout the estuary, firmly established up in trees, we came across earthen nests.

There were tubes leading up from the ground, into each nest, made of the same material as the nest.

There were no outward signs of activity from the inhabitants.

Possibly some kind of ground-dwelling insect group

that devised a way to survive predators by nesting up in the trees?

Quien sabe!

OOPS! HOW'D THIS GET POSTED???

Okay, okay.......

we are here to tell you that the pineapples down here are SWEETER than CANDY!

The "Tah-KILL-ya", in small amounts is also nice!

STRANGE LOOKING CACTUS!

BIG AIR PLANTS HANGING FROM THIS TREE!

We wandered our way around, being careful not to put our toes in the water.

PELIGROSO!  CROCODRILOS!

Trailblazer Larry also saw signs of other creatures - deer tracks and "scat" from small predators.

It was fun to explore the estuary!!1

CARNAVAL!

Mazatlán is famous for "Carnaval"....right behind Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.

People from near and far have flooded into the city;

"bump-bump" music ......  ummmm, not exactly classical!

SLEEP ???  NO!  PAR - TAY

BIG parade today down the Malecon...

Chaos reigns!  Buses rerouted through the Soriana parking lot.

We made a quick decision to return to our condo and avoid the parade pandemonium.

The photos below were taken a few years back.  

Donut Man !

Why do we walk everyday, you ask?  Discipline?  HAH!

The answer is simple!  The Donut Man!

Imagine being "of a certain age" and getting up WAY before dawn,

to assist family members with the preparation of a MAMMOTH batch of donuts;

 bussing from your home in Juarez, to the Marina area and  

THEN walking along Avenida Sabalo Cerritos for several miles,

carrying these tasty treats on a HUGE tray perched on your shoulder. 

That's The Donut Man's routine - every day except Sunday.....

Initially,  The Donut Man's target clientele may have been

the construction workers at the high rise condo and hotel job sites. 

During the tourist season (NOW), The Donut Man

is swarmed (like ants?) by Gringos along the way......

Does Senor Donut Man charge gringos double for these sweet clouds of heaven?

At 10 pesos (50 cents) per donut, we HOPE so!

This delightful man is getting a little "long in the tooth" (what teeth he still has).

We are grateful for the sweet treats he provides

and wish him many more years of good health!

Scorpion!

Well, look what crossed our paths on this morning's walk!

A Great Tailed Grackle was hoping to figure a way to prepare this little dude for breakfast.

This ferocious little scorpion was having NONE of that nonsense!

Tail UP and all business, all this little Arthropod wanted was to get back to a safe spot where 

it wouldn't stand out.  After the photo shoot, Larry nudged him with the edge of his shoe, toward some brush next to the sidewalk.

SCORE:  Scorpion - 1 / Grackle - 0 

SCORE

New Location!

It's been a busy two weeks....
We negotiated out of the unit we were originally in and moved into the condo complex that was our home base last year - "Portofino".  Different unit; not as well equipped, but it's a step up!
This complex is right next to "CostaVeleros" - the building in which we owned a unit some years ago.  
The "boom-boom" music goes into the wee hours of the morning, but earplugs work.
Besides, it's a good excuse for an afternoon nap!
.
This afternoon, we bussed down to the "Malecon", a beach-front promenade that is getting an major face lift.  We had a good walk, at a Sunday afternoon pace (read: relaxing stroll)

All along the Malecon, there are large, whimsical Carnaval characters on display.  The Malecon is several miles long, so it'll take a second walk to get more photos of figure farther down,,,,,

It was pretty warm, but there was a refreshing breeze coming off the water.
We stopped in at a beach-front Palapa stand for a cold cerveza....

Eyes Wide Open

Feeding Local Felines

NEW Sabalo Centro Bus

At Zaragoza Square.  Waiting for Coffee

CALM Ocean!

The View North from La Ventana

I awaken this morning with a change in my grumpy gringa perspective....

I THINK it has something to do with the Daily Devotional I just read!

YES, it's Saturday morning, just before 7 

and YES, the construction noise outside is starting to ramp up.

The men and women are already reporting for another day of backbreaking work; 

day SIX in their work week; happy to be employed and able to feed their families.

They arrive on bicycles, motor scooters and the local, cheaper Cerritos/Juarez bus,

from the Juarez neighborhood...far from the "Zona Dorada".

And here I am in my jammies, drinking good, hot coffee, 

anticipating a morning of shopping at the Zaragoza Square outdoor market in "Old Town".

The toughest task facing us today is getting to the market on the air conditioned "Sabalo Centro" bus  and negotiating the gringo crowd, all wanting to buy

some of the "KILLER"sweet rolls before they are all sold out. 

"Muy RICO!"

Photos will follow later today!

"Que tenga buen dia!"

Have a good day!

Transition Weekend

After two weeks of living at "Ground Zero" of the construction zone,
we have chosen to move to a quieter neighborhood. 
We will be returning to Portofino on Sunday,
the complex we rented in last year.

We'll be closer to the Marina and in much nicer "digs".  

We went to "The Last Drop" in Cerritos for dinner tonight. 
Shared a celebratory bottle of wine and ate yummy hamburgers with Kathy and Lonnie.

It's a little chilly here tonight!  Down to 70 degrees!

G'Night!

Toasting the Sunset

A Relaxing Evening!

There's a vessel out on the horizon to the left of center!  Probably a dinner cruise on a catamaran

Hanging out at the Dunham retreat!  SOOOO grateful for their support!

After a busy day and a couple of long walks, we joined Kathy and Lonnie at their La Ventana condominium for a gringo dinner of Heather's Chicken Pot Pie, salad, Heather's Lemon Meringue and Pecan pies, a bite of Nanaimo bar and, of course, red wine.  Nice, relaxing end to the day!

Today's Sights & Highlights

We did our food shopping at Catrina's this morning; brought it all back to the condo and embarked on an exploratory walk through the El Cid resort, down to Sabalo Country and then back to La Marina Restaurant for lunch.

El Cid Private Beach Lagoon

Sabalo Country Sidewalk Fish!

Beautiful Blooms on a wall by the sidewalk

                  Yummy Chiles Rellenos on Friday's at Juanitas!                    
We'll see if they still offer these delectable treats!




Yesterday's cement pour went until 8:30;
today began at 6:30 AM , with jackhammers, dust and groaning cement trucks.....
what to do, what to do....

Wednesday Routine

The t shirt below captures the essence of the attitude down here! 
Available for sale at a number of tourist shops around town.... 
Mazatlán is booming for sure!  Lots of growth and loaded with visitors from the North. 
We've encountered no problems with safety / security on our travels around town.

 That said, we are mindful of our surroundings when we venture out.   

Repeat after me - "We ARE having FUN!"

                                       
Today is shopping day at the morning market held at Catrina's restaurant in "Sabalo Country", an area between the Marina Mazatlán and the "Gold Zone".
There are some nice restaurants in this area, as well as a GREAT spa where a manicure/pedicure / massage package costs $720 pesos, with tip...about $36 US.  Ahhhh!

We walked over to The Marina early yesterday and had coffee in front of the yacht harbor.
Returned in time to welcome Yarecy, who spiffed up the place; and then Hector, the property manager, who worked with a repair person to get our dryer up and running properly. 
Seems that there was a problem with the gas connection.

Abandoned Yacht?!

Old Stompin' Grounds - Costa Veleros

Construction site across the street was BUSY and NOISY from 7 to 7 yesterday.  BIG cement pour.

Our trip up  to the colonial city of Durango, which is nestled in the  interior mountains, was cancelled, due to an ugly crash involving a truck carrying something flammable.  The autopista (freeway) is closed indefinitely  for major repairs.....

Okay - we're off to the Wednesday market to buy some yummy things from Heather!

Que tenga buen dia!!

Morning Walks

Our morning routine includes a walk around the neighborhood. 

This morning we plan to take the 3 mile walk North to Cerritos , where we'll enjoy a good cup of coffee and maybe a bite to eat at The Looney Bean. 

Cerritos is home to a number of sidewalk shops and restaurants, as well as an RV park. 

The Cerritos-Juarez bus (AKA "Chicken Bus") transports local folks (yes, and the occasional chicken) between Cerritos and Juarez, two neighborhoods in opposite sides of the city. 

For the, part residents of Maz who work in the Zona Dorada/Gold Zone (tourist area),

use this bus as their transportation to and from work. 

The other bus (Sabalo-Centro) that goes between Cerritos and Centro (the central area of the city),

through the hotel zone, is favored by some tourists because it is air conditioned and fancier. 

We prefer the local bus because the people are more interesting and fun! 

The Mazatlán bus system is GREAT, with busses coming by every 10-15 minutes.

Iguanas are commonly sited during our morning walks, when they appear from their nooks and crannies to sun themselves and get warmed up for the day (a process called "thermoregulation").

Our morning walk toward Cerritos is pleasant and for the most part, winds in front of exclusive, gated resorts that provide landscaped sidewalks and bus stops.

 An afternoon walk on the beach was fun!  We stopped for a refreshing cerveza (beer) and Totopos (chips) y salsa along the way.

 Que tenga un buen dia! Mas en la manana! (Have a good day! More tomorrow!)