The Winter of 2009 - FL & Mexico

Only change in the weather today was some high scattered clouds. Offered a little break from the hot mid-day sun. Nice ocean breeze kept things a fairly cool 78 degrees.

There are two water taxis running from Stone Island to Mazatlan - I probably already said this. Monday we took the one at the end of the beach here at the RV park into Old Mazatlan. Today we took the other one that leaves from the center of the village and goes to the fish market dock. We wanted fresh fish and that was the place to get it. Also wanted to get comfortable with using that water taxi because it is the one that runs 24 hours a day. We would use that one for travel after dark to and from Mazatlan, especially to go to dinner in the city.

The fish market was not for anyone with a low tolerance for the smell of a fish cleaning station. When we first set foot on the dock I told Ellen I did not think I could buy anything coming from such filthy conditions. We walked the line of tiny fish shops - side by side fish merchants on both sides of the walk about a dozen on each side anyway because that is what we came to see - even if we didn't buy anything. Finally found one that looked like we could eat the fish he was selling. Looked cleaner than the others, and he was cleaning the fish to order as opposed to having a bunch of it sitting on a table with the flies around.

Bought fresh mahi-mahi and frozen shrimp. A Spanish/English speaking couple was there and told us they always buy from this vendor because it's clean and the owner is fair with his pricing. A 2.5 pound side of mahi and 2.2 pounds of shrimp was $200.00 pesos. That's $14.00 US dollars! Add $20.00 pesos for the round trip panga for the two of us and we spent about $15.00 US for the day. Cooked the shrimp for lunch with some left for tomorrow. Cooked the mahi tonight for dinner, sold two portions of it to our neighbors, and put one pound in the freezer for another day.

The RV park provides no picnic tables or any kind of outside seating. Ellen went to the palapa restaurant next door and rented a set of four chairs and a table for the month we are here for 100 pesos ($7.00 US).

Tomorrow, back into Old Mazatlan on our own to see what we can see.

Bottoms up

Wednesday sunset

Another Wednesday sunset picture. The two peaks are on separate sides of Mazatlan Harbor. The left one is on the tip of Stone Island, and the right one is on the tip of Mazatlan.

Approaching the dock at the fish market with other pangas waiting for passengers to ferry across the harbor

The Embarcadero at the fish market. It's also the Mexican military equivelant of the Coast Guard. The white concrete towers are manned by soldiers. This is the only picture I took of the fish market. I should have taken more to show what it really was like. What it does show is the pelicans everywhere, the railroad tracks that run down the middle of the market, and a few of the vendor stands selling fish - suposedly fresh????

The Pacifico brewery in Mazatlan seen from the harbor

Nice Mazatlan Harbor view with a cruise ship in port for the day and a panga taking passengers in the opposite direction we were heading. The pangas just keep going back and forth.