What to do...

What do the gringos do here in the winter?

Apart from thinking what else they could build around their motor homes and palapas, there are several activities they seem to engage in: drinking (not my thing), going out to eat (mostly to expensive places, while I prefer local and cheap), hiking in circles (my knees hurt and going in circles makes me dizzy), playing golf (green fees too high for me), fishing (great - but once you go out in a boat, gas cost becomes substantial; and fishing from shore has not been very yielding recently), biking (my regular thing - on Sundays a group goes together: target being a breakfast place within some 10 k or so), playing cards (not my thing), reading (that's what i was doing much of the day today until i became tired of it and decided to add something to this blog. What I am missing is an active, diversified sports program. But for me that would be kind of limiting these days because of knee problems, and so it probably goes with most others. Oh, there is also swimming. See next.

Does all this sound a bit boring? True - but lets not forget that the temperature today is about 26 Celsius, while in Calgary it is minus 26, and in Vancouver people have trouble with snow!

Palapas, palapas

As I said, much has changed since my visit 8 years ago. then there was only one site where the occupant had built a palapa. and there was little greenery around the sites.

Whet you get when you rent a site for your trailer or motorhome is parkingvspace on gravel, a concete platform next to it, water and electricity connection and the waste water dumping connection. now you can add your own improvements, such as tiling on the platform, plants, a solid vanity with a sink and electrial outlets. now you can cook (electric or gas stove) and dish-wash outside. Movable outdoor furniture of course can be set up on the platform, and now you can spend much of your day outdoors. BUT, the sun is hot, the wind by the seaside may be strong, and the shading via the awnings which most motor homes have may not be enough. Rarely, it also may rain. So, you can set up a collapsible roofing on the platform or, if you have the cash, have some local workers build you a palapa, Mexican style, with palm leave thatch roofing. It seems that most guests have the cash. Actually, a palapa did not cost all that much.
But, the more people wanted one, the more the locals smelled an opportunity and jacked up the price...

Now just about each site has a palapa, and not only to cover the outdoor area but also over the entire motor home: keeps the entire setup cooler and extends the lifetime of the roofing.

Look at the earlier views I posted in 2008 and look at them now:

Most actually enclosed the entire sie with walls, brick or glass, and thus created fully enclosed living areas, using the original motor homes only for sleeping and bathroom access...

The owners of the park of course may limit or control some aspects of the extended sites, and if you leave the place for good, all these improvements remain as an asset of the park owners. you might find a buyer (= new renter) for your site, and the cost might be a few ten thousands of dollars. But you may not! 

Joand and Randy took over the site of someone whonoeft his improvements behind - in that case these did not include a palapa structure, but outdoor sink and cooking sites....

Who has the biggest motor home?

Here is our trailer:

It says "Trailer Supreme", and it would require a dual rear wheel truck to pull it on the road. We don't have such a truck - so it will remain where it is...

But right next door, there is this monster:

And the trailer this machine is pulling is the largest in this park, as the owner proudly told me. The couple used to travel around in a 60 foot motor yacht before they went back on land and switched to motor homing. They used to be farmers from the Nicola valley north of Princeton...wow!

The end

Finito!

In the beginning of March I returned to Canada, to get ready for a visit back to St. Vincent - for some teaching at the new Trinity University School of Medicine.

In Canada, there was still wintertime - a long winter this year and a cold one, even in Vancouver - where I almost froze my rear end off while watching Rick and his soccer team smother the competition and win yet another big city-wide tournament. And in Kaslo it was -15 at night and all covered under snow. What a contrast to the warm days in Mexico....

My last bull fight

Today I went to my last bullfight - and it also was my first. I must say that, although the animals (4 bulls) of course were tortured, it did never take too long - maybe 5-15 min. I have seen slaughter lineups in Canadian slaughterhouses and have witnessed the way they slaughter a steer or cow in a commercial facility in Saudi Arabia (winching the whole body up by one hind leg, whereby attaching the hook or sling takes a lot of chasing around , and then slicing its throat with a sharp knife) and the animals are always similarly stressed out.

The famous Pablo Hermoso from Spain was the "featured" matador: he has some beautifully performing horses and does the whole 'thing' from the horse, an incredible performance I must admit. The horses move sideways as fast as the bull charges, and his horns are never any farther away from the horse than a few inches. Tickets were not cheap: about 35$, maybe 15$ on the side of the rink where you have to sit in the sun. Lots of Mexican and gringo visitors as the pleased crowd.

They used to have bull fights regularly - but since October there have been only 3 events, and so I managed to catch this third one today. I almost missed it because the guy who was to tell me and remind me didn't.

Weather Questions: Droughts and Fires?

Looking back at the 4.5 months I have spent in Mazatlan, I can report that during that entire time there has been only one rainfall, for 20 min, back in late October. And on most days, with the exception of a week or two, the sun has been shining, the atmosphere being clear and everything looking bright and sparkling (beautiful for biking).

I have some concerns for the future, and these ideas came to me while watching the terrible bush fires in Australia: The entire countryside here, with only a few open areas in between, and as far as the eye can see (and as I noted from the airplane already), is covered with dense low brush. Why are there no fires here?

According to climate forecasts, the tropical regions, and that would include essentially all of Mexico, will suffer most in terms of droughts and dryness causing immense migration pressure away from these areas where it will become harder to grow foods and where potentially fires will destroy much of the dry forests, bushlands and forests. The city and recreation areas along the sea may not be affected by fires - the winds blowing inland or parallel to the coast line - but the many villages further inland, surrounded as they are by bush and vegetation would seem to be perilous places to live. I think the only thing that saves these areas right now from spreading fires is the fact that the bushland does not include any quick burning coniferous vegetation like you see in California. But with months of no rains and the potential for hotter and drier seasons - who knows.

Well, mark my words! And I will try to take some pictures of our burning 5th Wheel before heading into the sea with a wet towel over my face!

Sushi - International Cuisine...

Hey, I do not need to go back to Vancouver to get Sushi's: there are at least 4-5 or more Sushi places in Mazatlan, this one here right at the Plaza Marchado in the Historic Center of town! Tell you the truth; I never tried any here. Somehow it does not feel right. But, why not: we are right by the sea with plenty of fish. It's just that I do not recall having seen a single Japanese in town.