Mazatlan magic

We are out in the world, experiencing the magic of Mazatlan during an uncharacteristic early spring break. Heck, I don’t normally take a break from the Alberta winters at all, so this little 10 day trip is quite special.

We arrived in Mazatlan at the end of ‘Truck week’ and left as ‘MotorCycle Week’, AKA ‘Bike Week’ drew to a close.

The flight with Swoop Airlines was relaxed, uneventful and relatively inexpensive. I’m impressed by the staff, their attitudes and the quality of service. You’d never know it is supposed to be a ‘no-frills’ airline. They retained their poise and professionalism on the return flight even as the COVID-19 crisis began to escalate. The flight crew, the pilot and co-pilot who brought us home were all women. Sure there was a delay leaving because the inbound plane was late, but the turnaround including the sanitizing and grooming of the aircraft was short and the boarding was quick, stress free and handled with smiles and good humor.

All of this happened before Covid-19 sent us scrambling for the flight to take us home. Before the borders closed.

Watch for more!

What’s the first thing you should do when arriving in Mazatlan? I don’t know what everyone else does, but we immediately got in line for the cash machine to score some much needed pesos. Well that didn’t work out so well; the machines were having problems. So, the next best thing? Let’s go get lunch.

We went immediately to the Plaza Machado. ‘Immediate’ is a bit of a misnomer. The airport is a good forty minutes from the city via a lovely stretch of highway. We tried to get into the Golden Zone only to discover that the road is torn up for rehabilitation. In fact, many of the main thoroughfares were being worked on. But we did get to where we wanted to be after a time. It was a visually stimulating experience. Never having been to Mazatlan before, it was quite lovely. Our driver, our good friend, gave us a running commentary as he picked his way through the streets.

Let’s have lunch ‘here’ and get our bearings.

Plaza Machado before the good stuff started.

After we settled in for the night at the beachfront condo our friends had rented, fascinated by the rhythm of the surf I had a look over the balcony to the beach below.

A magical looking wedding party viewed from the balcony of our rented condominium on the ocean.

The next day we decided that lunch needed to be a special affair so our friend and default guide took us to La Marea . Its a fascinating place, with unparalleled views of the harbour, the city and the ocean.

I bumped into a young man playing with what initially looked like a portable gaming console, but it turned out to be the controller for a drone. I chatted with him, and he graciously showed me the gear, and then gave me a treat. He shared this directly to my iPhone.

What may happen when you ask the kid with the cool looking tech what he’s doing.

Getting our bearings is always a bit tough, but traveling with, or at least meeting up with, friends who know the neighbourhoods we want to explore is always a great thing.

It is a fascinating city, full of extremes and compromise.

Damn! I dropped my iPhone in the ocean. Trying to retrieve data and photos. Give me a day or two, although I have to admit that I’m not very hopeful I’ll be able to get all the photos back. Unfortunately my backup strategies have been a wee bit too relaxed.

Where we’ve been;

Walking tour of Centro
The Brentster’s Beach Bash at Diego’s Restaurant–I really wish I could get these photos back; it was a great afternoon
taking a ‘beach day’ on Stone Island
Lunch at Carmelita’s
lunch at Mr. Lionso in Plaza Machado
Late afternoon snack and beverages (free tequila sample) at Mr. Lionso on the beach
dinner at Pancho’s in the golden zone
rib night dinner at Roy’s
Dinner at traversa (?)