Mazatlán is a beautiful historic city that has two industries - tourism and fishing. They primarily depend on fishing and are a true working port city out of all the cities along this part of the country's coastline.
After working the morning shift with the children I had time off in the afternoonto explore. Rather than wander around aimlessly in this city, where the downtown was a cab ride away and not much was within walking distance of the ship, a friend Amber and I wandered around the mini market inside the cruise terminal courtyard and then waited for another friend Alyshia to return from a ship sponsored tour. The three of us then commissioned a driver for a private tour of the historic district and cathedral in the old part of Mazatlan. I was not interested in the new commercial district, but rather desired to traipse about in the history of the old city. Our tour guide was very talkative and informative - well worth the $150.00 pesos (or $15.00 US) that it cost us.
We jumped out at a couple of different points of interest to shoot a few photos. One was a place where there was a cave that was deemed by the locals to be haunted and therefore named el Diablo (the Devil). It was discovered later that the haunting noises were staged, but the name stuck. The cathedral was a beautiful spot as well and we spent about 20 minutes there taking photos before needing to head back to the ship. It was a quick afternoon jaunt, but I was glad to have taken the tour rather than waste it trying to find places of interest on our own. While driving back to the ship I questioned the driver where he had learned English so well and commented that his English was much better than my Spanish. He then said he couldn't judge that because he hadn't heard my Spanish and began to speak to me en español. I understood 99% of what he said to me (he wasn't using overly difficult words thankfully) and he praised my accent as being very non-typical (much more authentic) than most of the northerners who usually try to practice their Spanish on him. That was a treat to hear!
All in all it was a short but fun day in chilly Mazatlán. More thumbnails ...
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