RAMONA and GATO

MEET RAMONA
A group of us had been out for dinner at a great Mexican seafood restaurant and when we came out Connie spotted this puppy. Actually, there were two puppies, so she had the pick, and this one, who they named Ramona after the lady who had them, was the lucky one. Connie and her husband Manny are from Coos Bay Oregon, and we met them here last winter. Then, they had a wonderful old dog, Cindy, who we all loved. Sadly, as they began their trip to Mexico this winter, Cindy died suddenly. Now they have a new, cute, lively little puppy to raise and she really has changed their lives.

This is Gato, or at least that’s what we call him. He appeared at our motor home a couple weeks after we arrived here and immediately attached himself to Larry. And, Larry, being a cat lover, became attached to him. Although other campers told us Gato wouldn’t have anything to do with people, he wasn't a bit timid with us. In a couple days he was sitting in our laps and enjoyed being petted.

He didn’t look starved and was quite clean for a stray, and typically playful. We supposed someone had been taking care of him. So, we have been feeding him and he has become part of our daily lives. Soon he was following Larry all over the campground like a puppy. Larry made him a little “condo” out of cardboard boxes where he sleeps and takes his naps. He greets us outside our door every morning and entertains the whole campground with his playful antics, especially when Ramona comes over for their daily romp.

TO MARKET, TO MARKET

A stay in Mazatlan almost requires a visit to the Pino Suraez Market, usually referred to as the “old market.” We go by bus rather than drive, as the downtown streets are very narrow and congested. Located in the downtown Historic area, it is a popular place for both the locals and tourists. The locals buy their meat and veggies and tourists can find souvenirs, t-shirts, leather goods, Mexican dresses, etc.

Today we purchased a large roast from this vendor who spoke English quite well, at least enough to communicate what we wanted. We passed on the pig feet and snouts.

After shopping at the old market, we walked a few blocks to where the shrimp ladies sit, under large blue umbrellas with tubs of iced-down shrimp for sale. Legend has it that these ladies are the widows of fishermen who were lost at sea. There were ten of us, so we purchased two kilos (about 4.4 lbs.) of medium shrimp and walked around the corner to La Dunia. A camper in our RV park told us we could take our shrimp there and have them cooked to order. Outwardly it looks like a “hole in the wall” but it is long and narrow and extends the whole block over to the next street.

The young waiter greeted us with nearly perfect English. We gave him our bag of shrimp and our order. We selected a table, ordered our cerveza, which was served with chips and salsa, and waited for our shrimp. It wasn't long before our waiter brought our platter of shrimp that had been peeled and sauteed in garlic butter, along with corn tortillas, all for $5. Delicious!

Sunday, January 20: A Morning Ride

We’ve been here four weeks and haven’t done one of our favorite activities…taken our bikes down to ride on the Malecon. The temp this morning was a little warmer than it had been and it seemed like a perfect day for a leisurely ride, so we loaded up our bikes and off we went. The Malecon is a seaside avenue in the old Mazatlan district that sports a newly constructed beachfront sidewalk 6.7 kilometers long. We ride on the wide sidewalk along with the walkers and joggers and occasional skateboarders. This morning there were very few people out.On the other side of the street are hotels, storefronts and many restaurants with small sidewalk cafés, including the Shrimp Bucket that is one of the oldest and more well-known seafood restaurants in Mazatlan. We were surprised there was very little traffic on the street, and it was no problem finding a place to park. The photo above is looking south along the Malecon.

There were a few bikers and joggers out this morning; some people were just sitting enjoying the beach and vendors were beginning to set up stands with their crafts.





We stopped at various places along the way, one where the fisherman bring their pongas (boats) onto the beach with their daily catch. A great place to buy fresh fish but we had to pass since we didn’t have a cooler






We rode by the huge rocks where cliff divers perform with amazing dives from a platform high atop a huge rock. After a lot of prancing and posing for the benefit of the audience, dives into the tide pools just as that certain big wave comes in. When tour buses stop here, their pals are out working the crowd for tips.

















This photo was taken facing north from the Malecon. The "castle" in the background houses Valentino's disco and either one or two restaurants.











Among the many thing to see along the Malecon are monuments that characterize Mazatlan. This one, a little open-air vehicle was designed in the early 60s by a local as a new form of public transportation. It's called a Pulmonia. In December of 1965, they first appeared on the streets of Mazatlan and quickly caught on and now serve as Mazatlan's "taxis." You see them scooting around all over town. They don't have meters, but quote you a fare and sometimes you can negotiate a little better price.





As we headed back to where we had parked our car, the breakfast patrons were beginning to fill up the sidewalk cafes. What a great way to begin a Sunday.

Saturday, January 19

After seeing an article in the Pacific Pearl (Mazatlan’s monthly magazine and visitor guide, www.pacificpearl.com) advertising an arts and crafts show at Plazuela Machado, we hopped on a late afternoon bus and headed to Mazatlan’s old Historic District. The Historic District is About 10 or 12 miles from where we are staying. It is characterized by colorful colonial architecture and narrow streets and the Plaza is surrounded by sidewalk cafes and museums. It was just a short walk from the bus stop to the plaza and the area is known to be quite safe. We encountered many others walking, both locals and tourists. On Saturdays after 6 p.m., this place really comes to life. It seems to be THE gathering place. There were families with children of all ages, as well as couples and singles.

As we entered the plaza, this large sand sculpture caught our eye. Seems it was given an award of some sort, something to do with Carnival, we think.

We stopped by one of the sidewalk cafés to check out the menu. The waiter was touting this evening’s special---Mahi Mahi. We decided to have dinner there but opted for the breaded shrimp which were huge and delicious, and people-watched while waiting for our food to be served. Before long, it was dark and more and more people were filling the square. We finished our dinner and proceeded to the arts and crafts vendors. This was somewhat of a disappointment, mostly inexpensive jewelry and crafts. But, as we were winding our way through the crowd, we encountered a couple of strange-looking characters. We weren’t sure what to make of the one in the gold costume, but overheard someone say “giant squid.” Well, whatever! He (or she) was posed as still as a stone. We decided it must be a female under the costume because of her petiteness. (Is that a word?) She had placed a tin can for tips on the ground and whenever someone tossed in a coin, she quickly changed position and struck a different pose.

The silver-colored character was really a pro. He stood so still and for such a length of time, he could easily at first glance have been taken for a statue. We were barely able to detect his breathing. His scheme was the same as “giant squid’s,” but seemed to be attracting more attention.

As we walked back to the bus stop we passed Mazatlan’s beautiful Catedral de la Purisma Concepcion (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception), beautifully lighted at night. This was the first time we had seen it after dark.

The bus wasn’t in sight, so we popped into Panama Jack’s restaurant, known for its wonderful pastries and bought two luscious looking cream filled pastries for dessert. We managed to restrain ourselves from eating them until we were back home where we thoroughly relished every bite.

Friday, January 18

I just realized its been almost two weeks since we posted so thought we'd better getting something on the blog just to let you all know we're still alive and well. For the most part, we have been mainly hanging around the RV park enjoying visits with friends, happy hours, doing a little reading, shopping and cooking, cleaning and a little RV maintenance. Most mornings we either walk two plus miles or ride our bikes to the north end of our boulevard and back, a four-mile roundtrip. And oh yes, we've also been hanging out at the beach.

A few days ago, while we were sitting on the beach, watching the surf roll and enjoying the warm sunshine, this curious fellow (a sandpiper) came strolling over close to where we were sitting. He didn’t seem to have any fear of us and kept coming closer as if daring us to photograph him. Then he stopped and posed for us.

In search of sea turtles, ancient Aztec gyrogliphs and good food!

Today five couples formed a convoy for a trip about 60 miles north of Mazatlan. Our first destination was La Tortuga Marina at Playa La Cueta, a beautiful virgin beach. And yes, that large building in the photo is designed and painted to resemble a large turtle. La Tortuga Marina is a sea turtle sanctuary where baby sea turtles are hatched. It was closed when we got there, but someone evidently sighted our group, because the Mexican attendant came racing down the beach on a four-wheeler, opened the building and gave us a tour of the small facility. In Spanish, and with a lot of sign language and show and tell, he explained the process. To protect the eggs from predators, they are harvested from the beach where hundreds of adult turtles come to bury them out of reach of the tides. The egg-laying adults leave tracks in the sand, making it easy to find the eggs. After the eggs are retrieved, they are buried in sand-filled Styrofoam coolers until they hatch.
The attendant then took a cooler with about 30 four-day-old turtles and we headed to the beach where he asked us to line up parallel to the surf, and gave each of us a baby to release into the ocean. “How cool is that?” we thought, as we watched them enter the water for the first time. Until we learned that only about three in 100 babies survive. Most become dinner for porpoise or large fish. No wonder some of them seemed reluctant to race into the water.

Heading back south, we stopped at Celestino Beach near the town of LaCruz to check out a newly opened RV park, Punta San Miguel. It is on a remote beach between two established RV parks and is quite nice. No nightlife, but a good place to stay if you are an avid reader and/or beachcomber.

It was now past noon and our thoughts turned to what we love to do----eat. And there just happened to be a great seafood restaurant in Dimas that was the perfect place (It’s name I don’t remember.) Larry had breaded shrimp and I ordered garlic shrimp. The were large and scrumptious. Since Mazatlan has the largest shrimp fleet in the world, shrimp are abundant here.
.
Somehow we missed finding the gyrogliphs, so we’ll leave that for another day.