We have the terrific skateboard park on the malecón in Playa Norte. We all love watching the kids enjoy themselves. Maybe some of you even enjoy it, too.
We’ve heard that the work being done right now in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad, city park, in the median there of the avenue, is another skate park. I can’t find where we read that now in my searches online, but we did take a few photos today.
Hopefully this will be one more terrific thing for kids to do in our gorgeous city. If that’s what you’re here wondering about, you can check out an earlier post, Visiting Mazatlán with Kids.
If you know more about this project, would you please let us know in the Comments below? We know quite a few teenagers eager and hopeful!
By now you know that we love to hike up the lighthouse. We do it at least a couple of times a week, and we so enjoy watching the changes in the flora, the fauna and the view depending on the time of year.
This time of year the days are getting shorter, so the sun is rising later and later. The time hasn’t yet “fallen back,” so we often begin our hike when it’s still fairly dark and get to watch the sun rise over the harbor.
I hope you enjoy this little slideshow. If you’re curious about the lighthouse hike, just “search” on this blog for the other articles which tell you more about it. Thanks for being here, and viva Mazatlán!
In June I wrote a post updating everyone in English about the planning for ciclovías/bike paths in town and the CicloNoches/night bike tours in this gorgeous port of ours.
I’m very happy to report that since that post, the city has joined so many other cities in Mexico and abroad, and has begun closing the southbound lanes of Avenida del Mar on Sunday mornings. Today was the second such Sunday.
Last week, opening week, we were joined by Governor Malova and Mayor Higuera, as can be seen in the video above.
The road is closed from Insurgentes to Monos Bichis, the Fishermen’s Monument. It gets closed about 8 am (though they’ve announced it’s from 6 am), and stays closed until about 10:30 or 11 am (though, again, it’s announced to stay closed till noon). Southbound traffic is routed to one lane, as is northbound traffic, both using the inland side of the Avenue. Thus, drivers are able to continue using the Avenida, and the bikers, skaters and skateboarders are safe in the oceanside lanes.
This is a wonderful chance to get out with the whole family, or with your friends and neighbors. Please take advantage of it! We definitely want to show the city how important this privilege is to us by having a good turnout. Hopefully this practice will continue long enough for citizens to learn about it and develop the habit of Sunday morning cycling, though we weren’t that lucky last time.
Something wonderful this morning was that police were loaning out, free of charge, 80 beautiful bicycles for people to use! Those wanting to borrow a bicycle were asked to leave their credenciál or identification card, in order to ensure they’d return the bike.
Regarding CicloNoches, they are now scheduled for the first Thursday of every month. September 6 will be the third such event. Meet in front of the Aquarium at 7:30 pm, for an 8:00 pm start. The plan this time is to ride down to the Escudo/the shield down in Olas Altas and back. It is a wonderful feeling pedaling the Avenida del Mar in the dark, looking out at the lights around the bay.
As in prior events, the road will not be closed for this event, but we should have a police escort and a wonderful turnout. We will be guided by a leader, and will be asked to stay only in the rightmost lane of the Avenida. You can see the rules here in the photo at the left. This is a group event, so participants are asked not to pass each other and not to go out into the left-hand lane, in order to protect everyone’s safety and enjoyment, and ensure that drivers can get by smoothly.
180 bicyclists showed up this evening at 8:00 pm for the very first CicloNoche Mazatlán!
We pedaled only about seven kilometers, but oh was it gorgeous!
The event was organized by SEMARNAT—Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Brenda Garcia) and CiclosUrbanos, who have been coordinating Cycle Nights in Culiacán since 2009.
Starting at the Aquarium, we pedaled south on Avenida del Mar to Belisario Dominguez, then turned up the road, around the block, and back down to Avenida del Mar. We were escorted by Mazatlán’s finest tránsitos, and we were instructed to stay in the right lane so that traffic could pass us easily.
Our route started with the sunset, and ended with the starlight. Along the way we were cheered on and joined by ever-more cyclists.
You’ll remember that a couple of years ago a group of active citizens organized a couple of months’ worth of Sunday morning closures of Avenida del Mar for bicycle riding.
The “United for Health” group was led by the very kind and energetic Dr. Angel Eduardo Olivera Sandoval, a local homeopath. Sunday morning street closures to traffic, so that families can walk and ride bikes, are common throughout Mexico and most of Latin America.
Here in Mazatlán we had good crowds turn out, but unfortunately the municipal government didn’t seem to support continuation of the activity.
Nor have we thus far seen positive outcomes from citizen-led efforts to build bike lanes here in our port, despite having extensive ciclovías planning for some time now.
We were told that the first CicloNoche Culiacán only had 90 bicyclists show up (compared to the 180 who showed up here tonight), so there is obviously a passion for it here in Mazatlán. These days in Culiacán about 1600 people show up for the once-a-month CicloNoches.
It is our sincere hope that this terrific activity can take hold and gain a place in the hearts of Mazatlecos.
Bicycling promotes a cleaner environment, healthier bodies, enjoyment of the outdoors, time together with friends and family. It’s good for locals and out-of-town visitors.
Thank you to CiclosUrbanos, SEMARNAT, and all the organizers of bicycling events and programs in Mazatlán past, present and future!
Lets all turn out and show our support for bicycling! For our health and the health of our city!
It took a man from Hidalgo, José Alfredo Jiménez, to write these words that echo in my head on an almost daily basis. The words of the song that most often echo through my heart though are tienen todos ustedes un orgullo, el gran orgullo de ser de Mazatlán — “you all have the pride, the great pride to be from Mazatlán.”
And this week Jimenez’ words from the Corrido de Mazatlán rang especially true for me. Let me tell you the top five reasons why. Want to listen to the Corrido while you read this post? Click here.
1. Compañia Danza Ballet de Mazatlán
Late last year our already-wonderful Mazatlán was blessed once again with the formation of a brand new professional ballet company, Compañia Danza Ballet de Mazatlán. How many small cities boast their own ballet company? Makes me so proud.
This week Danny and I had the good fortune to watch them in action at the historic and gorgeous Angela Peralta Theater, in a performance of Don Quixote. We sat in the sixth row center for a perfect view, at a cost of US$25 per seat, and witnessed Cuban ballerina Mariem Valdez Martinez dance the role of Kitry splendidly. Other hits in our opinion were Javier Diáz Dalannais in the role of Gamache (just looking at him with his flaming red curls and painted clown face was delightful; but add to that his buffoon antics and it counter-balanced the artistry brilliantly) and Jorge Gorostiza in the tile role of the elderly Don.
Thanks to Ustream and CULTURA, you can view the entire performance online. They have now unfortunately added commercials for upcoming events to the video, so you’ll have to wait through those to see it. I felt our local dance company did a much better job than the Russian State Ballet that visited last month, and at less than half the cost. Kudos to the directors, Zoila Fernández and Guillermo Carrillo! The dancing was solid, the sets and the costumes were outstanding, and the entire performance charmed the heck out of the standing-ovation audience.
2. Concurso Internacional de Canto/International Opera Singing Contest
World-renowned orchestra director/conductor and our neighbor, Enrique Patrón de Rueda, first organized this contest four years ago. It has become the premier contest of its kind in Mexico and perhaps in Latin America. Another pride. It is sponsored by the Sinaloan Institute of Culture, and is designed to encourage young singers (ages 18-33) in their opera careers. This year it will give out US$16,500 in prize money; pretty incredible considering that enrollment in world-class singing classes at the Centro Municipal de Arte costs about US$250/month!
Last night we were privileged to hear ten arias sung by ten incredible young soloists from Mazatlán, other parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Chile. It was an informal event, designed to give the performers experience in front of an audience prior to the official contest events. The arias were incredible, and what added to the experience was that we were able to witness Maestro Enrique interrupting the singers to correct them, and the singers responding by raising the caliber of their performances. What an education! And what a true delight! And, as with the affordable ballet tickets, tickets to this event were 100 pesos (about US$9). Note: Addition from Sunday 22 April: Today’s paper has an article about this event, if you’d like to read it.
3. Neblina/Fog
We are spoiled with wonderful weather here. My son tells me that my “zone of tolerance” is now about two degrees Centrigrade; otherwise I get too cold or too hot. Untrue; remember he’s 16 and is prone to exaggeration. Anyway, almost every day we have killer sunsets (you can view a few on our “Viva Mazatlán” channel on YouTube), gorgeous clear blue skies, views to the ocean and the islands, whales, turtles, dolphins, cranes, egrets, spoonbills and pelicans, and consistently hospitable weather (ok, summer gets sticky). This time of year brings a change of pace, however. The change of seasons means the cold air over the ocean mixes with the warm air over the land, causing heavy morning fog. It is so beautiful to see! Watching the islands do a striptease is quite a pleasure! That’s the photo leading this post.
4. Our Film Debut
If you read this blog, you know we love living here. That’s what this whole post is about. So what fun it was to this week receive copies of videos in which members of our family appear, talking about this place we call home! Please check it out and let us know what you think. Be sure to hang on to the end to see the joven:
The second video in the series, this one a bit different, and just as packed with what we love about Mazatlán:
The third and final video features Danny at the 2:00 minute mark:
5. Great Triathlon of the Pacific
We are also blessed with loads of special events and athletic activities here in Mazatlán, including the international marathon and the annual Travesía, where swim club members swim out to the island. This week was the triathlon, which is awesome because kids as well as adults compete, and we get to see them out in the ocean swimming, as well as biking and running up and down Avenida del Mar. This year there seemed to me to be more children than normal participating, which I find incredibly encouraging. And the adult winners included Mexican but also an Austrian, a Canadian, a Czech!
We have the terrific skateboard park on the malecón in Playa Norte. We all love watching the kids enjoy themselves. Maybe some of you even enjoy it, too.
We’ve heard that the work being done right now in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad, city park, in the median there of the avenue, is another skate park. I can’t find where we read that now in my searches online, but we did take a few photos today.
Hopefully this will be one more terrific thing for kids to do in our gorgeous city. If that’s what you’re here wondering about, you can check out an earlier post, Visiting Mazatlán with Kids.
¡VidaMaz! 