Mazatlan, Mexico Working Vacation - Part Two

This is the second half of my post about my two week vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico. For the second week, my husband and I moved to the El Cid El Moro Beach Tower, to a condo on the twenty-second floor overlooking the ocean and the Golden Zone north of Mazatlan. The first photo below is a view of the tower from the beach at low tide and the second fish-eye photo is the view of the beach and Deer and Bird islands from our condo.



The next two photos are of some of the sea life we found in the tide pools among the rocks north of the El Cid complex during low tide: sea urchins in the first photo and one of Mazatlan's famous shrimp species in the second.


A couple of days after we arrived at El Moro, we attended a party for El Cid timeshare owners, complete with drinks, snacks, a short performance by their evening show dancers, and a pinata with prize coupons inside. It was fun watching adults whack away on it!


One of the days we were at the El Moro, we took an excursion on the Kolonahe catamaran to Deer Island. The three photos below are from that trip. The first is on the boat and the second is of a guano-encrusted rock outcropping in the sea a short distance from Old Town where sea birds hung out. The third photo is of me sitting on a banana boat just before we left on a wild ride being pulled behind a power boat--complete with a flip and dunking. Other activities at Deer Island included sea kayaks, snorkeling, a Mexican lunch, and all the drinks you wanted. A fun day!




The photo below is from a dinner we had our last night in Mazatlan at Pedro & Lola's, one of the restaurants lining the lovely square in front of the opera house. The band that the restaurant hired for the evening was from the US, and the percussionist was from Colorado. Plus, the couple eating at the table next to us was from Colorado. Small world!

My husband took most of the photos I've shared here, and he spent a lot of time trying for that perfect sunset shot. I like this one because it includes some horses and walkers on the beach and some sunlit clouds. A fitting goodbye to Mazatlan--until our next visit.

Mazatlan, Mexico Working Vacation - Part One

In the second half of January, my husband and I spent two weeks in Mazatlan, Mexico to break up the long winter in Breckenridge with some sun and sand. Our kids stayed with us the first week, and the second week, we were on our own. I took along some writing work, the galley of Wicked Eddies to proof and two ARCs that I'd agreed to review, but most of the time I was able to relax.

The photo below shows the building in the condominium complex where we stayed the first week, the El Cid Marina Spa & Beach Resort. The photo is taken from beside the large hot tub and across the pool and snack bar, which was called the Iguana Snack Bar.

The reason it was called the Iguana Snack Bar is that large iguanas hung out in the lawn next to the pool (to the left in the photo above), and here's a beauty giving us the eye.


One of the days the first week, we took a city tour, because my daughter had never been to Mazatlan. We drove along the beachside malacon (boardwalk), one of the world's longest at 21 kilometers. Beautiful sculptures are dispersed along the length, such as this one of sea lions below.


We stopped at a fish vendor's stand along the malecon to feed scraps to the sea birds circling overhead. Below is a photo of a sea bird snatching a scrap of fish off the end of a stick that I'm holding aloft. Can anyone identify the species?


Next stop was the shrimp market in old town, where I bought 1.5 kilos of huge shrimp to cook for our dinner. It was enough for two dinners for four, and it tasted delicious, almost like lobster. Yum! Mazatlan is well-known for its huge, delicious shrimp.


Our next stop on the tour was the central square downtown, where we poked our head in the central cathedral, shopped for candy and pastries, and strolled around the square.


On another day, we headed off into the countryside for a tour. We stopped at a small village to observe a small cheese-making factory (see below), an even smaller caramel candy factory, a farm for raising fighting cocks, a horse farm where we received a demonstration of some fancy hoof-work (horse dancing), and a leather-working shop.


Then came the highlight of the tour, the Los Osuna tequila factory. Their reposado (rested) sipping tequila won a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition. After you paid for your first shot of the reposado at their tasting patio, all subsequent tastes were free, and my family of four managed to down away sixteen of them (before lunch!). We bought three bottles to take home with us. Then we ate lunch at a small cafe and snoozed on the van ride back to Mazatlan. A great tour!

The rest of the week was spent sunning by the pool or on the beach and eating out at various restaurants, including Senor Frog's, where yes, we donned balloon hats. Below is a fun photo of the four of us behind the tequila tasting bar of the La Cascada Mexican restaurant, which served excellent food.

Tomorrow, I'll post some photos from our second week, when we stayed at the El Cid El Moro Beach Hotel without the kids.