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The Nitty-Gritty on our Gray Whale Trip
You future Baja visitors might be wondering about the tour company we chose for our recent whale-watching excursion. So here’s the “nitty-gritty” – why we chose EcoBaja, price, what’s included, the drive, etc. Essentially… a really long TripAdvisor review.

Rent a Car?
Getting to the whales at Puerto Lopez Mateo via rental car is definitely doable. But at 165 miles one-way from La Paz, be prepared for a looong day trip. And when you can’t drive faster than 50mph or drive at night (gotta watch for cows, speedbumps and construction detours), this option wasn’t appealing. Rental cars aren’t cheap here and I didn’t relish the pick-up/return hassle for merely one day. On the other hand, if you are renting a car for several days or bringing your own from the States, a self-directed day trip is a good bet.

Adding an overnight stay would make things more relaxing and allow a possible second whale-watching trip in the morning. This is my ideal… if the weather or whales weren’t cooperating the first day, you’d be guaranteed a do-over. But with this option, dollars are starting to add up.

Day-Trippin’
Fortunately, several La Paz companies offer economical tour bus day-trips. I chose EcoBaja partly because of a recent good experience using them for a shuttle ride to the Los Cabos airport.

Yes, I’m a Cheapskate
Mostly though, I chose EcoBaja because they were the cheapest. Other tours ranged from $150pp and up, which may be worth it to you if they include hotel transfers, a tour guide or fancier food. But EcoBaja provides an all-day trip for approx. $100 pp (actually 1980 pesos pp). This 7am-5pm day trip is in a comfortable 7-passenger van and includes a hearty snack, a sit-down lunch and a two-hour panga ride to the whales.  The worst part? 7-1/2 hours travel-time. The best part? You can leave the driving to someone else. That’s a pretty good deal… the best one I’d found anyway.

Pickup Confusion
Our tour was well worth it, despite a couple hiccups. The first involved a pickup mix-up. I bought our tickets at the La Paz bus station 3 days prior. This is the same place we’d purchased tickets and departed from for our airport shuttle. Of course I assumed we’d depart from where I bought the tickets, like last time. Not so. After several misunderstood conversations in Spanish, where the agent kept pointing outside and stating to go to the other office around the corner (why are you telling me to go outside?), the guy politely and physically walked us out to the street… and to literally, the “other office around the corner”. Oh. THAT other office.

No Ride Back
The woman in the other (main) office told us we could have gotten picked up at the hotel instead of taking an early taxi. Really? Bummer. In recompense, she said the driver would take us back to Costa Baja at the end. Sweet! But upon returning to the office, our sullen driver rejected our request to continue on to the marina. He was done. And we were too tired to argue. Lesson learned - don’t count on pick up or drop off from your hotel with this company. I never expected it anyway, since the website mentions nothing about such service. Not a big deal…we just had a coffee at our favorite coffee shop, Doce Cuarenta, and waited for the next marina shuttle.

Punctuality Counts
EcoBaja drivers are punctual …and as punctual people, we appreciate this… especially in Mexico where promptness is, well, unpredictable. Be sure to arrive around 6:45am, well before your 7am departure. The agent will check you in, handing out snacks and tickets for the panga ride & lunch.

Be prepared for a long bumpy ride. Twice.
This is no one’s fault; it is what it is. Thousands of “topes”/speed bumps and heat-cracked, buckling pavement makes a 4-hr ride in an already bouncy van truly annoying. Yes, I said 4 hours. One way. The road out of La Paz is still under major construction and I lost count at how many times we were diverted onto rutty, sand-filled detour routes that passed alongside slowly evolving bridges and culverts. The ride back was a bit shorter as we didn’t stop for a break. But 7-8 hours on the road plus a 2 hour boat ride and an hour lunch makes for a looong day. It was definitely nice to have someone else do the driving.

A Moving Roadblock
I happened to be gazing out the van’s front window when I noticed a white line across the road. A desert mirage? As we got closer it began to look like a large, white roadblock and I was a tad concerned at our rate of speed. Then, I realized it was slowly moving. What the…? A giant mass exodus of white goats crossed the road in front of us, I’m guessing a hundred. Inexplicably, they traveled in perfect single file, meticulously herded by a man on horseback. The occasional cow, horse or goat in the road is common in Baja, but a whole herd of goats? That’s something you just don’t see every day!

A Baño to Remember
Our rest-stop was a solitary, crumbling, roadside eatery in the middle of the desert where you could purchase fresh empanadas and coffee (not included). We declined to try the food; we did partake of the baño simply because we never pass up the chance. Yeah. We should have passed.

Now, bathrooms in Mexico are often sketchy, but this one was blog-worthy-sketchy. Essentially, these were four glorified pit toilets housed in a near-open-air, disintegrating, cinderblock “structure” that’s barely survived one too many hurricanes. I was almost impressed at the use of real porcelain commodes, had they not been 40 years old, lacking tank lids and missing seats. The lack of toilet paper was a given. Flush handles? Forget it. What to do?

A tetanus-ridden, rusty coffee can sat in each stall; 3 giant, mosquito-infested stagnant open water bins sat outside. I watched two people rinse their hands in these toxic tubs. Then I finally figured out what the coffee can was for - I watched our bus-mate dip & pour, tub to toilet. Ah, we Midwesterners are no strangers to this manual flush technique during power outages. Except, sadly, the power is always out here. The sewage went down into pipes going…somewhere off into the desolate desert. What I mean is, I really doubt there was a septic field, at least not one with a proper holding tank. Advice: just don’t touch anything. Hover required. Bring hand sanitizer. Better yet, hold it.

Lunch is NOT Comida.
Before your bus departs, the EcoBaja agent gives you a bag marked “lunch”. I was confused initially because I was thinking, “Is this all we’re going to get for lunch? I swear the website said there was a sit-down meal…” Don’t confuse “lunch” with “comida”.

Turns out, “lunch” is actually lunch type food, eaten during what Americans would consider breakfast time, before 11am. The 3 mystery meat-filled, rolled tacos were hot upon receipt at 7am and quite tasty 2 hours later while travelling on the bus. A bottle of water and a can of soda are included.

You still get second-lunch (comida) after the whales around 1pm. Comida is more like an American dinner food-wise, but time-wise, is at a very late American lunchtime. (Usually between 2-4pm). In Mexico, Comida is the main meal; dinner is optional or light. For comida, we went to a restaurant in the village and had typical breaded & fried fish, rice, beans and a coke. Beer, lobster or shrimp was extra. Good food. Apathetic service.

Our Mexican bus-mate warned us emphatically not to eat the salad (she was a pathologist in the jungle state of Chiapas and has probably seen some really bad stuff.) I was glad for the reminder. While most well-established restaurants in Cabo and La Paz are concerned about return customers, in these remote villages, washing veges with purified water is not always standard.

To Dramamine or Not to Dramamine: That is the Question.
A half hour before our boat ride we both took a Dramamine. I didn’t know how fast the boat would travel and whether there would be lots of wave action. I’d googled whale-watcher YouTube videos, many of which showed small pangas in really yucky conditions. In the end, it wasn’t necessary in the calm lagoon. But it worked out. I slept the entire way back. Bonus.

Puerto Lopez Mateo
I get the sense that without gray whale tourism, Puerto Lopez Mateo would surely collapse. This is a dusty, desolate and desperate town as fleetingly viewed via van. But to my surprise, we arrive at modern waterfront plaza. This small but tidy embarcadero is startlingly new! The panga pier is bounded by a pleasant food court, a reasonable number of knick-knack vendors and, thankfully, clean and plentiful restrooms (be sure to bring 5-pesos). You have time to use the baño and quickly peruse the knick-knacks while the driver makes your panga arrangement, about 10 minutes.

Panga Ride
Gray whales at Lopez Mateo are unique in that they seem to enjoy human interaction. This is good for us watchers; sometimes not so good for the whales. Continuous close contact with pangas anesthetizes them to other commercial and pleasure boats (and our external propellers) along their long migration route.

To limit panga bombardment, the Mexican government introduced driver requirements regarding how many boats can approach an animal (4), and how long they can remain around a pair (30 min). Our captain cautiously approached each whale and floated at idle nearby, letting the whale decide if it felt up to visiting. Drivers attempt to angle in from behind so as not to get in their path. They also try not to get in between a baby and its mum. Groups of orcas, the gray whales’ only predator, will separate mom from baby as a killing technique – we don’t need mom thinking we are a threat to her child.

No Tour Guide
Do not expect a guide on this bare-bones tour. The shuttle driver is just the driver. He gets you to the port, arranges for the panga ride, takes you to the restaurant and drives back home without a word. The panga captain is equally mum. This is not meant as criticism, but it is our experience. And the language barrier had nothing to do with it; both bus and panga drivers were equally non-chatty with our Mexican bus/panga-mates. So if you prefer an animated tour operator bursting with whale facts & brimming with town history, this tour is not ideal. If you just want to see the whales and not have to interact with a guide all day, this tour is for you.

Sand Dunes Not Included
The EcoBaja whale tour video on their website shows gorgeous people frolicking on the sand dunes. You do NOT get to go play on the sand dunes. Some tour companies may land their boat on the island as part of the tour, but not this one.

Recommend? Yes.
All in all, it worked out well and I would recommend EcoBaja Tours for a cheap day-trip alternative. If you are more comfortable with agents and drivers and passengers who speak English, this isn’t the right tour for you. I would rate this as a definite must-do for cruisers or tourists in the Baja area during January to early March.

Why Didn’t We Just Sail There?
Yeah…no. Technically we could…but that would entail sailing 3 days down to Cabo plus an overnighter back up the Pacific coast (not counting the return trip).  That’s if the weather cooperates for an entire week. But it’s winter. Weather is typically not so nice and the prevailing wind and waves are against us. Pass. I’ll take the one-day bus trip, thank you.

Plus, as a rule, we prefer to stay away from whales on our own boat. Whales are bigger than us. By a lot. Whales are heavy. Whales are unpredictable. Indigo is our house after all. So I am more than happy to use someone else’s boat as bait. :)

Two years ago after our arrival in La Paz, Marina Costa Baja sponsored a free, open-air concert to ring in the New Year. The chosen band… Mala Rumba. This foursome comprised a fast-as-Flash bongo drummer, two beguiling guitarists and featured a suave jazz flautist. Reminiscent of the “Gipsy Kings”, their melded medleys of rumba-rock captivated the audience.

I had hoped to take them home with me, forever trapping their tantalizing tunes into our onboard database. But wait…what’s this??? No CD? Flibbertigibbet. No CD, no website, not even a Facebook page. Apparently, practice was merely a hobby; performing this one big concert a year, enough. Phooey.

Two years later…
On the docket once again at Costa Baja for a repeat performance, we keenly anticipated the December concert date. Once again, Mala Rumba rocked.

Bad Rumba
In Spanish, Mala Rumba means Bad Rumba. Their spokesman conveyed the naming rationale, considering themselves the bad boys of flamenco rumba. But in this case, bad denotes improper. Dismissed by traditional Spanish flamenco musicians as “too far outside the box”, Mala Rumba roguishly ties in rhythms from Asia, riffs from India and haunting renditions from the Middle East. To further their rogue-state status, a Cuban-rumba bongo beat breathes new life into classic American rock songs like “Billie Jean” and “Stairway to Heaven”. These bad boys are all over the map, literally, but it works.

My Faves: A Flittering Flautist and Guttural Guitarist
The addition of a flautist to guitar-centered rumba is another no-no. As a former rank amateur myself, I appreciated his jazzed-up version of Flight of the Bumblebee as genius. Flitting effortlessly between classical and rock, this bee took supersonic flight.

Another fave… the crusty, guttural voice of one guitarist. Building suspense through the finale song, his raspy, Spanish-R-rolling and forceful, protesting chorus culminated from a low growl to near-roar. You know the old quote from SNL “like butter” (pronounced buttah)? Well, his voice crooned “like crunchy peanut butter” - smooth yet salty, accompanied by a yummy crunch.

Dancing Kids and Drunken Chickens
The bongoist encouraged our audience to clap and dance, so some kids took him up on the invitation. One girl twirled around side stage like a ballerina; another skipped back and forth behind the band. But a young boy became the star of the show with his serious demeanor and robot dancing antics, including the Macarena. At one point, some drunken dude vaulted onstage with the kids, surf-riding, flailing and flapping his arms, possibly attempting (poorly) the Chicken Dance. Amusing the first time; distracting the second. OK buddy, yes, you do a great Cossack dance. Now git!
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Aha… a CD!
Elated to discover Mala Rumba finally produced a CD, we scrambled to purchase one before they ran out. Now I can take them home with me! Check ‘em out on Facebook and their professional music video on YouTube linked above. I wish you could hear that peanut buttery voice, but my iphone video sadly remains on my hard drive - copyrights are no joke nowadays. So I won’t risk it… not even for you my friends!

Merry Christmas from Marina Costa Baja in the beautiful city of La Paz!

Costa Baja Christmas Tree
Each December, a beautiful, two-story Christmas tree is erected in Marina Costa Baja. While it’s often easy to forget it is Christmastime here in flip-flop weather, the tree is a lovely reminder of the season. Constructed of a bundle of steel bars, it takes two days for one guy to weld these fragments into a giant, hollow, tee-pee skeleton. That’s right, I said weld. Over the next few days the structure is then meticulously spiral-encircled with probably a mile of fake green garland; white Christmas light pin-striping flows down from the gilded star to potted poinsettias surrounding the base. This Jolly Green Giant is then adorned with red and golden ornaments: cantaloupe-sized, sparkly orbs and smaller teardrops that I like to think resemble (artistically) chili peppers…a Red Hot Chili Pepper Christmas.

After the New Year, someone will take a cutting torch to the skeleton, rendering our mighty tree to a bundle of bars (and a gaggle of garland) once again. When we witnessed this process in 2014, my first thought was…why wouldn’t you buy a made-to-assemble, tinker-toy-type tree? You know…the IKEAesque  ”no tools required” kind. Well, they’re not cheap…but this permits us a slight insight into how things are done here in Mexico. My guess is they probably already had the steel bars left over from some other building project. Joe the dockworker over here is a decent welder; let’s just have him do it. Labor is cheap – so the cost of labor for 4 days is waaaay cheaper than buying a commercial grade, erector-set tree, even if they have to pay a guy to weld it up and cut it down every year for the next 20 years. Food for thought. In the US, time is money; in Mexico, time is trivial, efficiency is underrated because labor is cheap… and dinero is still dinero.

Christmas Market
Just up the dock from our boat, Marina Costa Baja sponsored an evening Christmas Market. About 30 merchants lined the sidewalk selling their wares atop decorated tables: dried spices, La Paz t-shirts, shell-art, handmade shoes, woven handbags, jewelry, pottery and more. I was more in it for the food (can’t fill a small boat with knickknacks). We soon discovered a chocolatier named Fan Fan and sampled their amazing chocolate brownies. Gotta have dessert first! The “Sausage Lady” was there too, a German transplant (I believe) whose handmade sausages are well-known throughout the La Paz cruising community; her spicy links and fresh baguette buns made a delish dinner. Costa Baja offered free Mexican hot chocolate and galletas (a hard sugar cookie) for all the attending marina, hotel and condo patrons. Finally, I could not resist taking home two enormous corn muffins filled with cajeta (sugary, caramely, creamy goodness) for breakfast. Delectable delights abound in La Paz…part of the reason we like this city!

Fav Christmas Movies
Every December it is our tradition to watch the following movies: It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas and Elf. Sometimes Miracle on 34th Street. And usually, Die Hard, but not lately. Yes, it's a Christmas movie (according to my husband), remember? For the last two years when Christmas rolls around, we keep thinking we have the DVD... then remember we don't. We had the VHS tape (shows our age) but threw it away when we moved on the boat, no longer owning a VHS player. Today we did it again (this is becoming a running joke now), assuming we had it only to discover the opposite. Brian is shocked and dismayed - not having Die Hard on board is blastphemous! "Cause it's one of the best Christmas movies of all time!" says he.

Polar Vortex
Here in Baja Mexico we play in the sand instead of snow this time of year, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have Christmas trees and blow-up Santas just like home. So here are a few Christmas decoration pics to prove it…and I’ve added in some infinity pool shots just to make you guys in the north jealous. By the way, it’s about 75 today. We were freezing last week during our first polar vortex… it got down to about 60 at night. We all had to put on JEANS. Some of us wore SOCKS. Oh, the horror! 

Tired of the beach scene, we yearned for mountain views, so I booked a tour to the mile-high capital city of Durango, located in the adjacent state of…uh… Durango.

Pronatours
Pronatours offers a terrific, 12-hr guided tour of Durango via a 16-passenger Mercedes Sprinter van for $108pp. Victor, our guide, was amazing, keeping us entertained and well-informed throughout the day.

Due to the long drive, we had a 6:20am pickup time…waaay too early! Unfortunately, I mis-remembered the opening time of the coffee shop. No coffee or muffins for you! Luckily, our tour includes a “breakfast” box, or so I thought. A triple-decker ham & cheese sandwich is not exactly what I want to eat at 7am. Oh, the excitement when our van stopped at OXXO along the way - free coffee or mochas for everyone! Nice touch Pronatours. So very helpful of you to keep my better half on his daily meds - caffeine deprivation is not a pretty sight.

The Road to Durango
On a normal tour, the road you travel is just a means to the tourist destination. In this case, the newly completed Durango-Mazatlan Highway is PART of the tour. Actually, it is one of the main attractions.

The Devil’s Backbone
Beginning near Brownsville, TX, Highway 40 passes through Monterrey and climbs into the interior of Mexico. The last and most difficult portion to modernize was from the mountains of Durango to the beaches of Mazatlan. Prior to 2013, it took 6-8 hours to drive to Durango; day trips for Mazatlan vacationers were not an option. The Old Highway, built in the 1940’s, was a thin, 2-lane road through some of the most rugged geography in Mexico. Precariously perched along the dramatically shear Sierra Madre mountain range, this 180-mile hazardous trek full of switchbacks, rockslides, steep terrain, no shoulders or passing lanes was ominously named “The Devil’s Backbone”.

An Engineering Feat
Once the new 4-lane highway was completed in 2013, a modern transcontinental Highway 40 was finalized, opening commercial floodgates for both cities. Now, the journey takes a mere 2-3 hours, permitting our day-tripping venture to Durango. But of particular interest is the sheer engineering conundrum the “Devil’s Backbone” presented… and the steps required to conquered it. With no less than 115 bridges and 11 miles of tunnels (an incredible 63 separate tunnels in all), along the 140-mile route, I’m not surprised a $1.4 billion budget climbed to $2.2 billion. With a B.

Oodles of Tunnels
With an astounding 63 tunnels, I could barely snap a photo without being whisked into the darkness of YET another mountainside. The longest is an amazing 1.7 miles…so long they included side-exit passageways for pedestrians and emergency telephones in case of an interior collapse…a potential issue I’d rather not think about. Some tunnels utilize cool asphalt-embedded “runway lights” planted along the demarcation lines. As the sole source of illumination, they evoked the feeling of taxiing down a runway at night or driving in a live video game.

The Views
Fantastic! But I often wished we were driving ourselves so I could stop and breathe, taking in the spectacular scenery and crisp mountain air. Our drive took us from 70 degree desert-tropicalness into freezing temps where icicles cling to cement bulwarks and road-workers gather to warm around a steel barrel fire. The landscape reminded us of the Sierra Nevadas in California. Coniferous and oak forests tower tanned and green above a sea of grey, craggy rock, rising dramatically from the earth and tumbling into canyons so low I can’t see the river bottom. A grand waterfall plummets off a sheer cliff in the distance, somehow insignificant amid the infinite landscape.

Actual towns are virtually non-existent in this unforgiving territory; a few roadside stands and a couple dinky hamlets are all we see. So at night, just like traveling the coastline of the Sea of Cortez, a heavy blanket of darkness settles across these mountains… not a light to be seen out in the vast nothingness… other than the bright tunnel lights visible for miles across the winding canyon.

Guinness Book Bridge
The crown jewel of this highway project is the Baluarte Bridge. Spanning the Baluarte River, it marks the border between Sinaloa and Durango states. While the bridge is only 3600-ft long (about a 2/3 mile), it stands 1300-ft high off the river bottom. This puts Baluarte squarely in the Guinness Book of World Records for the Highest ‘Cable-Stayed’ Bridge in the world, and 2nd highest in the world overall. Not too shabby.

I uploaded a rather wretched YouTube VIDEO of our bridge crossing. Bouncing van + 8 seconds of photo-op stop = blech. But at least you’ll get a better idea of the view. Click HERE for some cool photos and stats of the bridge construction.

NOT as Smooth as a Pool Table
“This new road is a smooth as a pool table!” says our tour guide as he excitedly conveys the story of the highway. While I am positive it is world’s better than the old highway, we can personally attest to it NOT being pool-table smooth. AT ALL. In fact, being in the last row seats was the worst spot; so much so, we had to over-tighten our seatbelts to keep us from going airborne over the spine-crunching bumps. Every time I tried to take a photo of the landscape outside… Bounce! Click! Shit! Yet ANOTHER blurry photo.

Durango, Durango: the Mile High City
Situated over 6000ft high in elevation in a high-desert setting, Durango surprised the heck out of us; it was nothing like we expected. I anticipated another Mazatlan only bigger, with a lovely but very small old town section surrounded by thousands of non-zoned buildings and roads in various states of repair or complete disrepair. Typical Mexico, right?

Impressive Architecture
What we found was pretty incredible. Durango, founded in 1563 and now with a population of over 600,000, boasts a typical “centro” district encompassing a grand plaza with stately colonial buildings surrounding the impressive main cathedral. But those remarkable structures extended for as far as we could see! From palaces to museums to train stations, impressive Spanish/French building influences surprised us at every turn: lovely ornamental columns, intricately detailed cornices, majestic arched passageways, sky-lighted courtyards. I felt transported back in time to a preserved 1800’s Europe.
 
Our city tour consisted of a gondola ride for views of the expansive city, a walking tour of the central district including the gorgeous cathedral, entry into the Pancho Villa museum, a short stop at the central market and lunch in a colonial style restaurant. These places are best described with photos – see gallery.

Boom Town
During our walkabout, we noticed something else…Durango was booming. Mining and lumber are key industries here, not tourism. Unlike other Mexican towns where many businesses have gone under, nearly every shop we passed was open…and doing business …but not with the overwhelming Canadian and (to a lesser extent) American tourists. How do we know this? Well, we tend to stand out; I just can’t seem to tan enough to disappear. This was the first time we noted being openly stared at with placid interest by everyone we passed as a definite anomaly. What the heck are these tourists doing here? And why are they taking pictures of that McDonald’s? Crazy gringos.

Pancho Villa Museum
The highlight of the tour is billed as the Pancho Villa Museum. In reality, while the building was impressive, located in the former governor's palace, the tour was…meh. Our separate museum guide spoke English but ran his words together; plus, he was a low-talker (like me), speaking so softly and monotone that we only caught about 20%. Trying to comprehend our docent’s runaway English while ineptly deciphering Spanish-only text displays was near impossible in the short time span allowed. Eventually we all just shuffled along and didn’t learn much. But it DID inspire us to learn a bit more about this iconic figure when we got home. AND I got a once-in-a-lifetime shot of Brian as a Mexican Revolutionary Army dude. Priceless.

Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Villain or Hero
While our museum guide seemed to think of him as a Robin Hood archetype, I felt he was more of a rogue warrior character, seemingly only content when causing conflict. Pancho Villa’s first occupation as a bandit/bank robber segued into an illustrious military career. In 1910, Villa helped Francisco Madero to overthrow the current dictator, Porfirio Diaz, after a despicably-long reign of 34 years, beginning the Mexican Revolution.

A ruthless Villa thrived throughout the Revolution amid a confusing array of presidential power grabs, betrayals and assassinations… very “Game of Thrones”-esque.  As General of the North, he commanded a large army and won many battles, some of which were filmed by Hollywood, thus growing his celebrity and cementing his folk hero status. Villa’s backslide into villain territory was finalized after unscrupulously kidnapping and killing Americans in raids across the border to obtain weapons and supplies after the US withdrew material support to his army. Woodrow Wilson sent General Pershing after Villa in retaliation for the murders but failed to locate him.

Eventually, Pancho Villa surrendered and was allowed to retire in relative style, so long as he remained out of politics. But in 1923, a mere 3 years into retirement, he was gunned down, most likely to keep him from inciting further political turmoil. His body lies interred in Mexico City but someone else has his head. Literally, no one knows where his head is. One of many conspiracy theories…the infamous Skull and Bones Society of Yale possibly stores it in their secret collection. Creepy.

Publicity Hound
We asked our museum guide: Why did Villa get so much hype, as opposed to many other key players in the Mexican Revolution? Well, there’s the numerous troops he commanded and the countless battles he won, but Villa also kept photographers with him at all times. Pure narcissism? Or did he just really understand the value of P.R.? Probably both. Even back then, wars were won in the media. Perhaps he was “The Donald” of his day in terms of a publicity genius.

Back to the Tour…Why not rent a car?
For us, the toll fees alone weren’t worth it; a round trip costs about $100 - expensive for Mexico standard tolls. That doesn’t include the cost of the car rental, gas or hotel (we’d recommend staying overnight to avoid driving back in the dark). Plus, we just didn’t feel like driving, we felt relatively safer tagging along with a group of tourists and it’s nice to have a well-informed guide. At $220 for 2 people, including lunch, you just can’t beat that price for a no-hassle experience.

But if the main goal is to meander and marvel at the Baluarte Bridge and the mountain scenery, rent a car… especially if you want really good photos. The tour stops for, literally, a 1-minute photo op on the bridge in the middle of traffic. Unable to get out for safety reasons, I shot an 8 second video through the open door of the van, without even looking through the viewfinder, hoping I caught “something”.  The only bonus of the jump-seat position was that I was able to aim my GoPro through the back window and capture a video of traveling on the bridge. But again… impossibly bouncy.

Tour Grade?  A-
Overall, Durango was a great day-trip. We highly recommend Pronatours and in particular, Victor, as a guide. The only downsides: did I mention it was bouncy? (can’t be helped – don’t ride in the back if prone to car-sickness), short bridge photo-op stop (again, no scenic pull-outs so we understand the urgency to move along), and our low-talker museum guide (Pronatours should have Victor do the museum tour instead).

On the upside, we were surprised to discover a historical aspect of Mexico that seemed, until now quite frankly, rather underwhelming. In this unique city, rich in incredible architecture and fascinating history, the past now connects to the present by an engineering masterpiece. I predict many more Mazatlan tourists will be visiting Durango in the future!

Our time here in Mazatlan has been filled with a variety of cultural activities: from art walks to princess-crownings to plays.

Art Walk
Each month on a Friday afternoon, Mazatlan holds an Art Walk downtown in the old historic district. With printed map in hand, visitors wander around bustling plazas and quiet back streets in search of the next spot. Once inside, sip a glass of wine or snack on some queso and chips while perusing local art. The artists (either native Mazatlecos or retired gringos) are often available for questions/conversation or, of course, purchases. Some of the locations are boutique shops selling unique objects, some are artist’s flats, one happened to be an elaborate home with canvasses or murals in every room. Items range from paintings to photography to mixed media, even jewelry or textiles.

Paintings by Rafael Avila Tirado
My favorite was Rafael Avila Tirado who painted several beautiful works of caballeros and children; even his plain wooden & barbed wire fences were lovely. One thought-provoking piece stood out: a honeycomb with shrouded, sleeping individuals in bar-coded cells, one girl finally waking up and climbing out. Rafael was in the midst of finishing a work of 3 children sitting in a tiny aluminum washtub boat, gossamer sails flowing under a starry eve. Beautiful. I can’t find a website for his work but here is a YouTube video.

Artistic License
But there was one stop… oh, it was the worst. I was embarrassed by my overwhelming desire to take a photo, only to prove its demerit. So I refrained. How dare I subject you to the absurdity? Plus, displaying it to the world simply to mock its ridiculousness seemed a tich disrespectful. I would have had to take the photo right in front of the artist. I am critical, just not THAT malicious. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t mock it with words.

Picture a plain room of dull watercolor paintings, in the center of which is a large wooden table showcasing numerous small statues. Ceramic? Not sure. I couldn’t bring myself to study them intently, not wanting to show false interest. You see, every piece is the same: a 2” wide sock-like thing that tapers off at the end, each black and white zebra-print. Its mouth sits flat on the table, the sock rising vertically for several inches straight up, then it flops over like a gnome’s stocking hat. Whaaaat is THAT supposed to be? (Confusion amongst my fellow gallery attendees is obvious, but we try to remain poker-faced).

These obscure sculptures were bad enough, but every painting on the surrounding walls incorporated this weird zebra sock. Normal watercolor of a house… bam… add zebra sock up in the rafters. Japanese garden…bam…zebra sock. Whatever talent there MAY have been was completely lost due to her distracting zebra fixation. Some of these mundane watercolors revealed obvious misplaced drops of water from a dripping brush… and they weren’t even framed, just pieces of paper taped to the wall like children’s refrigerator art. Then more wall tchotchkes: 5” open notebooks, completely shellacked, bearing a single letter or word on a page. Seriously? Bathroom-worthy. Maaaybe. But ONLY because there was a distinct LACK of zebra sock...whew. Top that experience off with a price list forced upon us on entering… ugggh, this chic has a lot to learn.

But, wait… isn’t anything “art” in the eye of the beholder? Apparently. Look, I’m no art aficionado. Obviously at least ONE person thought it was gallery-worthy …and her art professor, I imagine. But these days, in the attempt of both parents and educators to prop up the self-esteem of our floundering children, we do them a great disservice. “Oh, honey that… zebra sock…thingy, it’s…um… beautiful. You should be an artist!” It should stop there – but then they pay for art school. The ever-doting American Idol parent has thus created a world full of talentless hacks who, once in the real world, cannot fathom why no one buys their art, gives them a recording contract or offers them a job.  OK, end of rant… I can rant once in a while, right?

Princesses on Display
On another evening, we sojourned downtown with Orlando and Linda on S/V “Cuba Libre” to Plaza Republica for a Carnaval preview. Not on the roster of major Carnaval events, this is a free “pep rally” of sorts intended to drum up support for the queen candidates and tally final vote counts. The night begins with live music, ornately costumed dancers performing traditional Spanish Flamenco and Caribbean styles. A subsequent parade of Carnaval candidates sashays across the stage flaunting dazzling dresses and shiny tuxedos. Each contestant for the King of Joy, Child Queen (7-8 yr olds) and the all-important position of Carnaval Queen beams with exuberance while gracefully double-handed-queen-waving at us onlookers for an hour (man, my arms would fall off if I ever had to wave that much).

Reminiscent of a political rally, contestants’ families and friends gather to garner support by sporting “Blanca” or “Felipe” t-shirts and carrying signs, complete with confetti bits blown about. Folks hoot n’ holler as their hopeful winner’s name is broadcast. The votes are tallied and the winners of the Carnaval King and Child Queen are announced that night (official coronation ceremonies take place later). Fireworks ensue; a celebration here is NOT complete without fireworks.

The selection of the 2016 Mazatlan Carnaval Queen is a separate and momentous occasion. The appointment itself is a highly coveted honor;  current and prior queens (going back 116 years) are treated like royalty. Crowned during Carnaval week in a theater-based, Miss-America-style pageant, contestants must excel in a similar question/answer and talent show gauntlet. I just have two cents: Why not have a queen-waving contest with points for gracefulness and timed ability – the longer you can keep both arms up and swaying above 45 degrees (while still smiling) the more points!

Gringo Theater
The longer we remain in Maz, the more unique activities we discover. One such place is called RecReo, a refurbished colonial structure turned recreation hall where expatriates put on small-scale English speaking plays, hold art galleries and show old movies. This group doesn’t have funds or space to do a real play with costumes or props, there’s not even a stage per se, although they do possess a few theater lights and a movie screen backdrop. Essentially a few actors sit in a small group in front of the audience, reading un-memorized lines to each other from screenplay booklets. Sounds a bit, well… odd. Right? Like I’m paying money to watch an audition?

I’d never heard of, nor attended, a “play-reading” prior. Surprisingly though, we relaxed in real, stadium movie theater seating while watching “The Cocktail Hour” with a full house of about 50 attendees. And it was actually quite good! Since the entire play took place in a family room with four actors, the audience doesn’t really need all that expensive scenery to tell an interesting story. If you feel the need to get your English theater on, this is the place to be.

Midget Cowboys
Here’s yet another unexpected cultural experience found in Mazatlan. We attended the above play-reading instead of the midget “Minion” cowboy rodeo show at the bullfighting arena that same night. Not kidding. Midget cowboys. Dressed as Minions (little yellow guys from the Pixar movie). What else is there to say? Wouldn’t THAT have been a great blog?