Click on a photo to enlarge it.
On Monday, we wanted to go down to the lighthouse but we waited so long for a bus that we decided to go shopping instead. We walked about 3 miles
with Brigitte (neighbour from Germany) and went to a large supermarket. We bought enough to fill our 2 rucksacks and then caught the bus back!
On Tuesday, we got a bus that went all the way past the old centre and down to the ferry. We got off at the last stop and then walked down to the
path which went up a steep hill to the lighthouse. It is 157 m above sea level and supposedly the second highest lighthouse in the world after
Gibraltar. It was certainly not easy climbing up in the heat.
It was worth our effort though, as there were superb views over old Mazatlán and the whole coastal area. Unfortunately, there was some sort of
refinery that just threw out clouds of gas through its chimneys which then spread all along the coastal area as far as the eye could see.
Apparently that is normal!!
We walked back into the town and got surrounded by children outside the cathedral. They were asking for money in English, so Helen pretended she
couldn't understand and when they asked where she was from, she said "Alemania" which means Germany in Spanish. One of the girls shouted out
"Alemania!" with such delight and then hugged her!!! She obviously forgot she was asking for money!!! We don't think giving them $10 would have got
as much of a reaction!
We treated ourselves to a pizza on the way back as there was a 2 for 1 offer and on Wednesday, we had a relaxing day.
On Thursday, Blockbuster had a special deal on so we had to take advantage and get out some more DVDs!!! Well it is Christmas!! We watched two of
them when we got back and another one on Friday after failing to find a laundry to do our washing. Then we were kept up until 2am again by
absolutely terrible live music - they obviously couldn't play their trumpets and other brass instruments. Awful!!
On Christmas Eve, we got all our laundry done which took a few hours and swapped some books at a bookstore. That evening we went with Brigitte
into Old Mazatlán as there were supposed to be loads of people in the town with lots to see and do.
The first problem we had was that we got on the bus but Brigitte didn't get on with us! The bus was already moving off when we realised she wasn't
there. We shouted to the driver to stop and then Brigitte got on saying that she couldn't find her purse. So we got her bus fare for her. But then
she found her purse in one of the many pockets in her trousers!! It was almost an omen, because when we got into the town, there was hardly anyone
around and the place was dead!!
We had a look at the cathedral and some animals in the square where there was a nativity set up. Even the pigs were bored and asleep! We walked to
one of the other plazas and joined Cathy and her daughter Heather for coffee. They really liked the tortilla basket that was decorated with a
Father Christmas and the waitress said they could have it for free!
The last bus back was either 9pm or 9-30pm. So at 9pm we walked back to get the bus, all very disappointed that the place was dead! Cathy and
Heather decided to walk around a bit more and Kirsten volunteered to take the Santa basket back to the campground for them so they didn't have
to carry it.
We waited and waited for a bus and after 40 minutes decided that we had missed the last bus back. So we wandered into the next street and all of
a sudden found a lively street market with lots of stalls selling last minute Christmas presents and stalls with all the usual varieties of hot
Mexican food for sale. So the place wasn't dead after all, we were just in the wrong place!!
Eventually we walked to the sea front and started on the long walk home still hoping for a bus. In the end we took an open taxi whose driver
thought he was racing in formula 1, weaving in and out of the traffic. He was obviously in a rush to get rid of us. He turned up his stereo so
loud that our ears hurt and we had to ask him to turn it down.
Then we realised why he was in such a rush when he stopped outside a restaurant and asked us to wait for a moment. His brother worked there and
he wanted to gulp down a few drinks with him!! Then he came back and drove us home!!
When we got there, Cathy and Heather were already back. So Kirsten had carried the Father Christmas basket around for nothing!!
On Christmas day there was a pot luck dessert party at 4pm at the campground. Kirsten baked some cinnamon rolls which weren't ready until 4-30pm.
Then we made the mistake of taking our chairs to the first two rows of the campground. We realised our mistake when we got there and saw that each
family was sitting together at their own tabel in front of their own RV. They weren't sitting together as a large group. They were also eating
their main christmas meal which they had prepared separately with wine etc.
We didn't know anyone and it was obvious that we couldn't just sit down at any table! But we had already put our plate of cinnamon rolls on the
dessert table. Kirsten went to fetch our table and left Helen standing there wondering how to get out of this! Helen went to get Kirsten and then
we discussed how we could get out of it and retrieve our cinnamon rolls!
There was nothing else for it. We had to grab the bull by its horns and just walk back, pick up our stools and cinnamon rolls and leave! How
embarrassing!!! We got back to Winnie and laughed about it!
That evening we sat with Cathy, Heather, John and Brigitte and chatted for a few hours and drank some kind of Mexican drink that was like an
egg nog liqueur. So in the end, we had a really good Christmas!
