Life is full of surprises, like in the lovely inspirational movie YESman. I love saying yes to life and although the organiser inside me can grab control and arrange the itinerary, this trip to México was mostly out of my control. Going with the flow and following Pam and the others I didn’t have to arrange one single thing. The only thing I did, was read a bot about the area in my travel guide before going to Mazatlán. Every now and then I’d ask what the plan was and as far as I knew for the first night we would arrive, take a cab to the apartment of Misa’s parents and go into town for some dinner. 

What I didn’t know, nor expected, was the super the luxe, fancy dancy apartment with the most incredible view of the coastline and city of Mazatlán. The apartment was in a building called Sunset Tower and right next to the building, the little volkswagen golfcars, I would soon get to know as the cabs of Mazatlán, would take the eager tourist to take a picture with the lovely view. Lucky to have made friends in Mexico, I felt very privileged and happy to arrive to this surprise. And it only got better! Cause before walking into the old town centre we went up to the roof terrace with a pool!!! Who knew the view could be even better haha. 

Mexico is mostly build for people who own a car which meant that we used the car to go to the bars and restaurants and sightseeing bits but during the first night in Mazatlán we put our trotters to work, and I loved it! The coastline was drawn by a perfect big boulevard and the old centre was almost around the corner (after a nice climb down the many stairs because the apartment was literally on top of a hill). Unexpected fairytale like streets formed the next beautiful surprise. The old colourful buildings were lit up from the ground and the palm trees in the empty streets made me feel like I was walking in a movie scene. We entered the old plaza and the fairy tale continued. Fun fact: one of the only plazas that wasn’t build in front of a cathedral or government building. The restaurants surrounding the little park of palm trees were decorated with little warm lights and because it was a Monday night, the quiet evening welcomed us for a delicious dinner outside under the trees. We climbed our way back up to the apartment and called it an early night, saving our excitement for the beach days to come.

And what better way to start the beach days than breakfast on the beach!? Well, Misa did make it even better when he pointed out the car we got to use during our stay here: a freaking awesome JEEP! Dressed in swimsuits, sunscreen and with Mexican music colouring the way to the beach bar, we went on our way! Now I have to admit, I’m not the person to just go for beach holidays but the Mexican beaches are something else. Happy to stay far away from the resorts packed with retired Canadians, we left the breakfast place to enjoy the public beaches. Although not before we refilled the 1,2L glass bottles of beer!!! Pacifico is the local brew and very refreshing in the burning sun of México. The English pints are nothing compared to these units and a cooler filled with ice kept them cold throughout. Before we set foot on the beach, several people approached us and while my Spanish wasn’t that good to understand them I got as far as that they were selling us something… Not much later the mystery was sold, we all paid 50 pesos when the guy put down a plastic chair, table and parasol for us to enjoy the beach! 

Now the joy of the Mexican beach could really start. The refreshing Pacific ocean with playful waves was perfect to let Amy’s inner child jump around. The beers tasted perfect and the whole day, brassbands, mariachi and quartetos were playing music along the beaches for those who’d buy a song. At one point people started to dance and of course we didn’t stay behind! We ended the day with a hazy sunset followed by dinner on the beach!!! Shrimps in all forms were served to us and I had another chance to astonish the locals with my superpower to handle the Mexican salsas hahaha. Only when our tummies were filled and our feet wet from the upcoming waves, we decided to call it a day and retrieve back to the apartment. 

The next morning the boys took the roof off the jeep and we decided to take a little boat to go to the island across from the beach where we were the day before. We had breakfast on the balcony and I was intrigued by the wicked birds flying along the coastlines! Even just from the balcony I could see birds of prey, brown pelicans and frigates! I decided to go, armed with my camera, on the hunt for wildlife. We left in the now roofless Jeep, perfect for pictures, beach vibes and hair everywhere hahah, on a little tour to the harbour before making our way to the beach. I loved this city with all the colourful houses and flowers, birds and plants around and the view and smell of the sea! The architecture of some of the buildings was also incredible but unfortunately there are many buildingsites where massive flats will be put in the next years for tourists to stay in. 

We paid some lads at the beach and they took us in the little boar across to the island that was apparently a natural reserve! Only the beach was free to enter but beyond, the wilderness was off limits! The hunt was on! And without much effort, within the first 10minutes of arrival a little nose bear was spotted sniffing near some tourists, sooooo coooool! I spent about an hour strolling along the water looking for little treasures of the sea and climbed over some rocks to sport incredibly coloured crabs. Together with Pam and our new bought snorkel sets we quickly found schools of fish which were almost see-through camouflaged and…. A stone, the size of my head, that turned out to be the home of a sort of lobster!!! Really cool but unfortunately without a picture cause well, water and electronics error haha. 

We sailed back to the mainland and decided to go for dinner at this very popular restaurant that even sold their own merchandise haha Popular as it was, the food wasn’t as mind-blowing but their was (very loud) live music and we had buckets of Pacifico on the table which made it a very fun dinner haha. The fun didn’t stop cause after a quick freshen up, we made our way to another bar for more drinks, some blue shots, folding airplanes of menus (that was mostly me….) and nachos. We were even sort of aloud to dance at our table! Life is good here in Mazatlán! Although this would change in the morning…. But I’ll leave that for the next blog 😉 

Adiós