Año Nuevo - at Playa Cerritos und Playa Bruha

Over the holidays tour buses and corresponding masses of visitors from the interior have invaded Mazatlan, including the beaches next to the trailer park.

Playa Cerritos:

Playa Bruha:

Happy New Year!

Juarez Market again

Mazatlan's largest market - Sunday Flea market at Juarez (=not the famous drug and crime center at the US border, but a part of Mazatlan) needed to be re-visited. But I must say, after a few minutes there I escaped to a side street and back to the bus stop. It is an incredibly busy and congested place, both with cars and people, where hundreds of businesses and traders congregate over a few blocks, without any special assigned place or area, everybody spreading out his wares on the sidewalks, under tents - and some walking among the crowds draped with their particular wares or items. In some streets, of course, there are regular businesses including fast food outlets and tace shops.Whatever the item, here is where you probably find the best prices for both new and used items, and gadgets you have maybe never seen before. I wanted to take lots of pictures - but it is so crowded, you feel inhibited and limited in what you can do. I bought some strawberries, fresh off some fields and some citrus - and fled the scene.

Slowly moving through the crowd:

Here a merchant created a small traffic obstacle - nobody cares:

And overhead I saw an advertisement for a young lady with the nice German name Gretel - candidate for "Child Queen" for the carnival (whenever that will be). Her Hansl probably got lost in the crowd.

Happy Hour

Some Park inhabitants have their daily rotating Happy Hour where they discuss philosophical, political, religious or ethical issues of the day.

One one of those occasions I joined them and actually supplied some sustenance in form of a cake and some condiments. Actually, these I supplied for some of the neighbors who kindly had helped with manpower and trucking of items from J&R's downtown location back to our trailer - during their temporary absence in Canada. But, the word spread and many others showed up - not to miss the sustenance:

Eventually some non-human visitors also showed up - they may well be recent arrivals from Canada: I learned a lot interesting things about these critters from an Attenborrough BBCvideo  (there re some others, look for them on YouTube).

 And all evening I had a view of the most recent palapa that was built by a newcomer to the Park - it now happens to be the highest or largest of palapas and has thus been labelled the "Trump Tower":

I doubt I will become a regular attendant of those Happy Hours sessions, because, as it turns out, political, ethical, religious, philosophical discussions do not really take place - and i do not need information on how to install a TV dish (have no TV), find parts for your truck (do not have a vehicle) or review restaurant menues (don't attend any). I am asocial and a certified bore. And the women are all taken.

Pickle Ball

This has become a widely enjoyed racket game, played in the US and Canada and increasingly elsewhere. Check the US association website where you can find national and international locations and times of play. That is where I found out that there are a few places right here in Mazatlan. If you have any experience with tennis or table tennis, you can be off and play very quickly, even if your knees are hurting and you have gotten a bit lame.

Here is a place where I have been playing a bit, but I must admit, it can be tough in the heat and I would like a few more people to join, because currently we have only about 4-5 regulars - of which one is very good, making it hard to sustain any rallies. This will be evident from the few scenes I am showing below:

Visitors at Cerritos Beach

On weekends the Cerritos Beach (and others, of course) are busy with local visitors and those coming by buses from the nearer Villages and towns - all the way from Durango up in the Sierra Madre. This beach is right besides or below our trailer park. The water in the middle of November is still pleasantly warm.

Mexicans are enjoying the beach and the services. 

And the Canadians are getting ready for a swim:

Visitors from Canada

Kian, and Mummy Heide and daddy Guy are visiting with grandma, and today they came out to Punta Cerritos for a day of swimming in the sun:

So, you are ready to come out and visit? YES!

It took only a split second, and he liked it (he has been primed to go into a pool back home in Canada):

\

Great place - much better than the pool back home!

 Grandpa bought him a mini pool, hoping he will be able to enjoy it back at grabdmna's place

And now let's see some real action (if the video refuses to play, try using this Google Drive link instead:   https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZbsTNvEi6hkLKXFvY5Q8AZcLeLto5KyH)

Alberca Olimpico - the new Olympic Pool

In the spring of 2017 the new Olympic Pool opened in Mazatlan: 

It is not quite completed. The stands need finishing,  so do the showers, toilets and change rooms. Also the diving area is only in the rough.

But the main pool with its 50 m lanes is fully operating, and you can pay for daily, weekly or monthly use. The monthly fee is about CAD 35.-. The water is sparkling clean, and I found that in the mornings around 9 or so there is no crowd and you have a lane all to yourself. I prefer pool swimming more than ocean swimming where there always are waves slapping your face and white sharks nibble on your feet, jelly fish tentacles  embracing you and sting rays luring in the sand to whack you... So I am a fully subscribed customer! In the winter, when our pool at the park is pretty cold, this one is supposed to remain heated - how wonderful!

There are one or two supervisors who speak decent English - not that I could not tell them in Spanish what I wanted to do: nadar!

These are the unfinished diving towers, 3, 5 and 10 m:

I found that many of my compatriots did not know where this new pool is located - it is part of the university complex, close to the Aquarium, off the busy Avenida Ejercito: easy to reach by several buses:

Behind the fence on the left is the pool's huge parking lot: