23.16.00N

106.29.00W

Mazatlan turned out to be better than I had expected.  I had heard mixed reviews from people that I had spoken to and almost decided to miss it completely.  But the wind gently nudged me over this way so here I was. 

We stayed at Marina Mazatlan on a set of docks that had been abandoned years before.  There was water but no power.  All that really mattered to us was access to real showers anyway and so it was all good. 

The next day we took in a bus down to the market.  Busses were cheap and clean and easy.  It cost a whole 50 cents to go into town.  After a tasty lunch at a nice sidewalk café we walked down to the beach area. 

There was lots of life and activity here.   It wasn’t crazy busy but between the sidewalk vendors, the small beach restaurants and the new construction going on it was obvious that Mazatlan is seeing some growth. 

Speaking of new construction, it’s always fun to look at what they use for scaffolds and bracing on new buildings around the world.  Check out the picture of the building under construction and notice that the bracing and scaffold system is nothing more than some big sticks tied together!!  Although you wouldn’t see that in Canada or the USA it’s pretty common in 2nd and 3rd world countries.   Overall Mazatlan left a fairly good impression.  It seemed busy enough to be interesting but not as crazy as Cabo San Lucas was…

The next afternoon we left for Isla Isabella.