EXPLORING MAZATLAN VIEJO

Las Jaibas RV park, where we are staying, is on the far northern end of Mazatlan. A beautiful walking beach is a block away, and the park has added an excellent new outdoor restaurant this year, so it is easy to hang around here or nearby, but we spend a good part of each day exploring.

The bus that stops right in front of the park travels from here, the far north, to the cruise ship and ferry terminals at the far southern end of Mazatlan. We travel south through our fairly quiet beachfront area, swing around the big marina, through the bustling, tourist filled “Golden Zone”, and along several miles of the oceanside Malecon before the bus turns east into the heart of “Centro” to the big central mercado.

Today we hopped off just past the mercado, and took the short walk into Mazatlan Viejo, the lovely old Mazatlan.

Here is Odel on a cobbled sidewalk that started at street level, then sloped high and higher until we were way up high.

I took this photo of Odel in the lobby of one of the old hotels along the waterfront (I love the worn leather rockers).

The streets here are narrow and the sidewalks high, crowded by the elegant facades of the old buildings. The neighborhood is a mix of residences and business - restaurants with open-air dining, interesting galleries and shops, bakeries, cafes… a great place to roam around.

WHERE WE WON'T BE GOING!

Yesterday we took off in the jeep to explore an RV park about 40 miles north of here. We’ve been curious about it since our visit to Mazatlan last year when, following directions we got off the internet, we saw what was supposed to be the turn to the town of Celestino.

Imagine yourself driving a big bus down a four lane highway at 60 miles per hour. Now picture that highway raised, on top of a three foot high levee with sloping shoulders. Get ready, here comes your turn… 90 degrees to the right, down the sloping shoulder, onto a bumpy dirt road. Maximum recommended speed of about 5 miles per hour??? WE sure didn’t try that turn!


So we went back in the Jeep. The RV park was very pleasant and very remote. This is what the last three or four miles of the road looked like! It was nice to visit in the Jeep, and nice that we feel no desire to visit in Scoopy.

TOUR BOOK PHOTO

We had a beautiful day for walking the Malecon recently. This is one of the little palapa seafood restaurants near the launch site of the small fishing boats. We walked all along the curving bay from the far tip; 75 degrees with a slight breeze off the ocean. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!