Mazatlan: Dangerous?

We've met many expats in Mazatlan who agree that the topic of today's blog is probably the hidden danger most people need to be worried about when visiting this city.  It's the sidewalks.

Safe sidewalk

The above photo shows the Mazatlan Malecon, which is probably the safest sidewalk in the city.  Even this sidewalk can be slippery due to the grit that builds up with its heavy use.  But we don't know anyone who was hurt here.

We talked to at least three people who fell and hurt themselves on the sidewalks of Mazatlan.  In the worst case, the woman fell, knocked out three front teeth, and sustained facial cuts and abrasions.  We had lunch with her today, and her attitude was good.  I didn't have the guts to ask for a picture.  

How bad can the sidewalks be?  Well, I took a few photos Wednesday to give a representation.

 

Experienced long term visitors learn to walk in the street, which may be safer but is obviously not safe either.  

None of this is to minimize the impact of certain organized criminal elements that are here, but we didn't talk to any visitors who had problems in that regard.  Those same elements are heavily invested in hotels, restaurants, and other tourist businesses.  The last thing that they want to do is kill off their best local customers.  But the sidewalks on the other hand...

Allie's Time in Mazatlan

I dropped our daughter Allie off at the Mazatlan Airport after a two week stay here with us.  I hadn't driven the truck in six weeks so it was good to start it up and let it run for the hour round trip.  I do not like driving on the back streets here though.  

The neighborhoods are very poor once you get a mile east of the ocean, and the roads are poorly maintained.  Some potholes are big enough to swallow up a small pickup truck.  And traffic is busy with motorcycles and bicycles darting in and out of traffic, pedestrians walking across the road, without looking, and cars occasionally passing on the right shoulder where there simply doesn't seem like there's enough room to get by.  As a result, I saw a lot of vehicles with bent mirrors, dents and scratches.

Anyway, I think Allie had a good time hanging out with her elderly parents.

Mescal and Tequila Festival

All-Star Baseball game

The baseball game was very different from ones that I've attended in the United States.  A musical band playing traditional banda music was set up on first base line and played loudly throughout the entire game, never taking a break.  Then there were the fireworks between innings.  Spectators drank hard with the equivalent of four dollar beers flowing like water. And people spent freely on unfamiliar snacks, such as potato chips mixed with a bunch of sauces, shaken up in a bag, and served soggy.

We did a lot of walking, taking Allie to places that we had discovered before her arrival.

Allie and Julia both went para-sailing.  I did not, preferring both feet on solid ground.

We took the ferry to Stone Island and did lots of relaxing.

 

 

Allie is already planning to visit us on next year's trip.  Unfortunately, we don't have that trip planned yet, but our time here in Mazatlan is winding down.  Allie is back home safely in California. We'll be starting back home at the end of the week.

While Machu Picchu was on Julia's bucket list, this Mexico trip was on mine.  It's been everything that I hoped for.  However, while the experience is still fresh in my mind, the next post will be about things to watch out for here--and they aren't the same things that our State Department talks about.

Eee.pa

There are two excellent brewpubs/microbreweries in Mazatlan. One is called Tres Islas, and it’s located a few blocks from where the cruise ships dock at Playa Sur. While we were here, they have had an excellent stout, porter and IPA.  Tres Islas is in a small, old building, has limited indoor seating and no outdoor seating. Their staff is quite knowledgeable and can give a brief history of the IPA origin.

They distribute to several bars and restaurants who have uniformly called the IPA “eeepa”, which is how one would pronounce that word in Spanish if one didn’t know it was an acronym:  India Pale Ale.

In this setting, however, it’s easy to dismiss such a small error. After all, I’ve already caught several small errors that my fingers made typing this post on my iPhone.

Eee pa at Rico’s Cafe

The other brewpub is only a mile from our rental and is called Navegante.  It’s right across from the Malecón sea wall and has excellent sunsets. It has the best beer by a small margin. Their sweet stout and IPA are excellent beers.

Navegante never seems to have many customers so we hope they grow and prosper.

Replacing the Ugly Foot

I realized that my main page is still showing my ugly foot, so thought I better change that.

Last night's sunset

 

We usually spend most of our time south in El Centro, but yesterday we walked up into the Golden Zone for beers at Lucky B's and then dinner at El Muchacho Alegre, both with live music.  Lucky B's is a gringo bar that had two bands and an average customer age around 70. 

El Muchacho Alegre is a restaurant with traditional banda music, where locals celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.   The grilled fish dinner (with rice, sauteed vegetables, and fresh tortillas) was very good  We were the only white faces there on our third visit and were welcomed by the staff who recognized us and went out of their way to make sure service was outstanding.

Our daughter Allie is arriving today.  She'll work one week remotely and then take a week of vacation, while she's here.

I need to pick her up at the airport, but it will be after dark on a Saturday night.  Most expats advise against driving in the dark here for a variety of reasons, including increased crime, animals on the road, unseen topes (speed bumps) and potholes.  I will probably take a Didi (Mexican Uber) or cab or combination thereof to get there and back. 

Pickleball Dangers

When I was in junior high and high school, I played basketball all of the time and had a frequent issue with sprained ankles.  After stopping play, more than 40 years went by without ever having another problem.  

I suppose I was overdue when I rolled my ankle playing pickleball on Monday.  The courts here aren't exactly pristine.  There are cracks and a few uneven surfaces that are potential hazards.   As a civil defense attorney, I used to preach to juries about the need to be aware of one's surroundings in slip and fall cases.  I didn't follow my own advise.Yeah, it was my own dang fault.

As I moved laterally across the court to get into position to handle a lob that got behind my partner, there was an area of elevated blacktop where the basketball pole used to be.  Focused on the ball, I didn't notice. BAM!  My ankle rolled hard!  

I walked it off and finished my play that morning, but that was just the beginning of things.  When I took off my shoe and elevated my right foot, the ankle swelled up with an ugly bruise.

I was pretty much incapacitated for the rest of the day.  Julia picked up an ankle support from the pharmacist, along with some anti-inflammatory cream to rub on the injury.  

By yesterday morning, with the help of the ankle support, I was still able to walk Callie --at a much reduced pace.  Today, I'm close to normal but took the day off from pickleball.  With gravity, the black and blue went to the bottom of my foot.   I'll try again on Friday but will probably wear the ankle support for added protection.

Mexican Chicken

After about a month in Mazatlan, we're getting a little tired of seafood.  I never thought I would say this. But having fish, shrimp, octopus, and oysters every week makes me yearn for....chicken.

Fortunately, a couple of blocks from us, a family raises chickens and has a small stand on the side of the road.  Here, whole chickens are grilled over charcoal.  One chicken is more than enough for both of us for two meals.  

Simmering Beans

The chicken comes with rice, salad, tortillas and fresh salsa--for less than $10. Upon ordering a chicken, the woman in charge chops it up into easy to handle pieces and bags everything up to go.

All of the Chicken here is free range, which produces both delicious meat and beautiful yolks. Eggs are about $2.50/dozen at either the mercado or grocery store.

One thing that I'll never forget about Mazatlan are the sunsets and sunrises.  This week, shortly after sunset, we saw both Jupiter and Venus easily visible in the dusky sky.

 

 

This morning, the full moon was breathtaking just before dawn at 5:40 a.m. on my morning walk with Callie.

Looking north towards the Golden Zone

Twenty minutes later, and I could see the sun coming up on the other end of the beach.

Looking south towards Centro

Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra)

One of the things about Mazatlan that we've needed to get used to is the constant noise.  We live in a very quiet area in Wisconsin, where the loudest sounds are the mourning doves.  Here, there is the constant drone of traffic and other city sounds.  One of the busiest streets in Mazatlan is the one that is next to the Malecon and sea wall.  That means spending time at the beach means constant background traffic noise, until one learns to filter it out.

One of the ways that people around here escape the noise is a short ferry ride to Stone Island.  All sizes and shapes of boats are used as ferries.  We paid our 35 pesos each (a little less than $2) for a round-trip ticket.  Our boat was a small one.  But the water was calm, and the ride was only about ten minutes.

Upon getting off the boat, the beach is less than a five minute walk.  There are no roads along the beach--just a long stretch of restaurants and bars serving the folks relaxing.  Each place has lawn chairs and tables set out to attract customers.  It's free to sit here, as long as one orders something.  Once seated with a beer or something to eat, you can stay as long as you want.

It’s a tough life.

Julia soaked in the rays, while I read a book on my Kindle.  Then we had lunch.

That was a massive “catch of the day” fried fish sandwich with fries. This was not to be confused with what McDonald’s passes off for a Filet of Fish sandwich, but it cost about the same.  Around 3 p.m., everyone headed back to the boats.  The last ferry back to Mazatlan leaves around 6 p.m. (dark), but it starts to cool off in the late afternoon.

I was back at pickleball this morning, burning off the extra calories.