Girls day out in Bucerias

The children of the Huichol Indians play in the plaza near their parents stalls. They play marbles on the cement while their parents create the beaded artwork. The beach at Bucerias is beautiful. Several of the gals from boats in the anchorage had a girls day out in Bucerias.

La Cruz, Mexico

A pelican catching more fish than Rick

Pablano peppers roasted for rellenos

Cooking for dinner with friends

Snoball helps Rick skunk me at cribbage

La Cruz is in Banderas Bay, the largest bay in Mexico. The most widely known city is Puerto Vallarta. La Cruz is a fishing village on the north side of the bay with cobblestone streets, a marina and small tiendas. We are anchored here just off a pretty sand beach. The marina has events which are open to the sailors anchored in the bay. The fish market is overflowing with several kinds of fresh seafood. There is a bus we can pick up along the highway to explore the larger cities of this beautiful bay.

Chacala Bay

Chacala Bay has a quaint town on a beautiful bay of soft white sand. We traveled to a nearby town for market day and bought a breadfruit. Passing mango groves and pineapple fields made the drive through the farming area so interesting. When we arrived back on the boat our friends joined us to open the huge breadfruit. It contained creamy orange balls of fruit encasing a seed. Between the fruit balls was a white, super sticky fiber.

The Bells of San Blas

The small city of San Blas is famous for the poem written by Wordsworth, 'The Bells of San Blas'. The church that held the bells still stands and the bells are in the cultural center.

Matanchen Bay

The peaceful Matanchen bay anchorage was delightful. We met up with friends from S/V Espiritu and traveled by panga up the mangroves estuary. The 6 crocodiles we saw were from age 3 to possibly over 30 years as the older one was at least 8 feet long. Many birds, turtles and iguanas were basking in the sun along the waterway. Swimming in a fresh water spring at the end of the estuary was made 'safe' by a fence to keep the crocs out.

Pulmonias

municipal Mercado

Mazatlan is a great city with colonial architecture in the old town which is being lovingly restored. The marketplace was a beehive of activity with fresh meats and produce alongside shops selling almost anything you would want. Christmas shopping is in full swing here. The pulmonias are large golf carts that take you and your purchases anywhere in the city. We plan to leave for San Blas, south of here (remember we are always going south until we go through the panama canal) tomorrow.

Mazatlan

Joes Oyster Bar

Mazatlan is a beautiful city and we arrived the weekend of a marathon. It was fun to watch the athletes running in the streets of this beautiful colonial town. We enjoyed the huge fireworks display on Saturday night. Fireworks were set up all along the long beach fronting the hotels. There were fireworks launch sites every 300 yards on a beach that is 2 miles long. There were also 2 barges with fireworks in the harbor. The show lasted 40 minutes and was amazing. There were many families out enjoying the evening together.

One of the many fireworks launch site along the beach!