The mainland of Mexico is rich with history and traditions. We are currently staying in New Mazatlan. Americano hotels and resorts everything geared to the touristas. But if you follow the off roads the real Mexico comes alive. The traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Mazatlan is not your typical Mexican tourist town. With a population exceeding 600,000 people, it is a vibrant city quite apart from the tourist trade. If every tourist left Mazatlan, never to return, the city would continue to thrive. If you want to experience true Mexico instead of tourist Mexico you have to get out of the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone). Mazatlan is a city of beautiful beaches, beautiful buildings, beautiful statutes and beautiful views.
We ventured into Old Town by foot. Mexicans are fervent Catholics, and you can find their churches and cathedrals filled with pilgrims and devotees almost every day. One of the frequently visited churches in Mazatlan is its cathedral. It was part of the Old Mazatlan and thus may have been around since eighteenth century. Like other places of worship in the country, it is located right across the main plaza. You can hardly miss it with its two huge towers that are not only high but painted yellow. The interiors are full of giant statues of saints and the Holy Family. The streets in the area are narrow. The buildings have been restored to host boutiques or art shops, those that haven’t have fallen into ruins. It was explained to us that there is now a big push to restore many of these buildings. However it appeared to me that many will not be able to be repaired.
Neither the Indians nor the Spanish can take credit for developing Mazatlán, as it was a group of enterprising German immigrants who developed the port facilities in order to import agricultural equipment. This led to heavy international trading and turned Mazatlán into one of the busiest harbors for this region, with many cargo tankers and passenger cruise ships using the port facilities.
The area became popular with silver and gold. Pirates abound. Although the pirates were gone by 1800, legends persist of troves of stolen silver and gold.
We visited the public market and purchased our fruit and vegetables. This market was larger than the La Paz market.
We were fortunate to have a visit with Vancouver friends. It’s great to see faces from home. We ventured to their resort were the Canadian Beach Volleyball Team played. AKA Three Old Guys and a Girl (Ken, Mike, Neil and Heather) The game was over quickly. The women then ventured under the palapa to play bingo (in espanol). The men drank cervices to drown their sorrow from their loss. We were then treated to a wonderful dinner were shrimp cooked in Kaluha was the treat.
Jacquie and Mike rented a car and we four ventured out to tour the small towns surrounding Mazatlan.
El Rosario, a small town about 50 miles south of Mazatlán, is famous for the altar in the town church which is said to be worth over a million dollars. The alter alone makes a visit to El Rosario worth the drive. El Rosario was once the richest town in Northwest Mexico because of the local mining operations. This small town was the home of the famous Mexican singer, Lola Beltrán. A statue outside the church in the town square is a monument to her. They have built a small museum in her honor although the museum is open only sporadically. I found a person that enjoys cemeteries as much as I do so, Mike and I wondered through a very old impressive one in El Rosario.
We backtracked and continued on to The little mountain village of La Noria is just 40 minutes northeast of Mazatlán-- and well worth a visit. Nestled into its own little corner of the world, "La Noria," which means "The Well," is named for the shape it takes; entering the town means descending into a bowl-shaped area, giving the appearance of a town set in a well. Highlights include an old jail, which is still in use, the church of San Antonio. You can watch leather goods being made right in the shops.
The next town was my favourite. Copala is a delightful little town, founded in 1565 thanks to its rich mineral lands. Built into the slopes of a small valley about 40 miles from Mazatlan, its cobblestone roads, colonial style homes, flower patios, and provincial air has converted this town into a tourist town in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Copala will make you feel that you have just stepped back into time. For years Copala was a virtual ghost town. This village has been slowly restored and is once again thriving, now it is tourism that is bringing people to this charming foothill setting of what once was the ancestral home of former President Lopez Portillo. The impressive Church of San Jose , built in 1740, is one of the finest among its area. It was hard to believe that a town as different as this exists in this area.
The colonial town of Concordia, a short distance off of the Durango highway and is a side trip on the Copala tour route. Concordia is a town of furniture makers which sell their wares in small stands on the way into town. We didn’t stop but from the car window the furniture looked very nice.
Concordia also offers an abundance of locally made pottery in the pre-Columbian motif. There is an old style town square, built in front of the church. The church, is over 350 years old making it the oldest in the state of Sinaloa. This area produces a lot of Mangos which are for sale everywhere along the road, and they are delicious.
We decided to travel to a small village that had a lake in the mountains that we could swim in so off to Caralotan we went. Well it wasn’t really a village it was larger than that but it was very poor. The houses were made of adobe bricks. Many were sticks with tarps. Cooking was done outside with wood fires. We travelled up and down streets trying to locate the lake. We never did find it so off to more adventure.
We have come across gender profiling. At a major intersection of two highways the federal army had a road block. In Spanish we were asked where we were going. Well we were four white people with deer in the head light looks in their face. They tried their English on us then gave up and waved us on. We later asked a fellow that spoke very good English what they were stopping people for, his reply Drugs. This area is bad apparently for cocaine and marijuana.
We have had a very full week and I have just touched on two days in the lives of those aboard the Genesis. The rest are filled with chores.
Another wonderful surprise was a sailboat with 2 fellow Calgarians, Rosie and John Forsyth. We took our boating classes together over the years. It was John’s 65th birthday and we had them over for dinner. It is great to see them and I am sure we will be in anchorages together down the road.
We depart tomorrow weather permitting and are heading towards Puerto Vallarta with stops in between. Until next week.