Tag Archives: Sinaloa

Ice Skating in Mazatlan, Part 2

1.IMG_4822So many of you have asked, in response to my initial post, “So, how is it? How is the Christmas Fair and the whole ice skating thing? Post some pictures!” And, I’ve been so busy with work and partying that I haven’t gotten to it. ‘Tis the season. But, finally, here goes…. I’m using WordPress’ new slide show feature. I’ll post photos of the ice skating as well as of the fair itself, lit up at night. If you haven’t gone, it’s definitely worth a visit. It’s on the road right in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad/City Park, by the baseball stadium.

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I’ve been over to the fair a couple of times since it opened. It’s a whole lot of fun volunteering to help people with the skating. Bless those “Blue Shirts,” the Tourist Aide Volunteers or “Smurfs,” as the locals seem to call them. I was an honorary Smurf for this volunteer gig, but the real TAVs do this sort of thing all the time!

The skaters are just sooooooo very excited to be on skates and on ice! And to know that it’s free!

They are letting people in every hour on the hour. It takes about ten minutes to rent skates and get them laced. They clear the ice ten minutes before the hour, to give people time to turn their skates back in. So, everyone gets about 40 minutes of skating time. Most of the kids seem to go back in line and get right back out on the ice. And, I’ve seen the same kids there both nights I’ve gone. It’s a great deal! Lots of families in the bleachers, taking loads of photos. What a terrific holiday gift to our community! So so good to see!

The rink is staffed by volunteers from different government offices, in addition to the paid staff. All are very helpful and kind. Most everyone gets help putting on and lacing up their skates. Sure is better service than in the ice rinks and on the skate ponds I grew up with! The skates are not brand new but they are in very good condition. The ice isn’t as hard as what I’m used to, but, hey, I rarely was able to ice skate in shorts up north, either!

In addition to the skating, the Christmas Fair has loads of shopping opportunities (commercial and handicraft items), many snacks and drinks from which to choose, about a dozen carnival rides including the gondola and tilt-a-whirl, a petting zoo, Nativity, and a performance stage. Below is a video clip of a school marimba group we heard and watched. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Mini Maz: A Work by Marco Hernández

47320_1616036159131_5108622_nI have long loved miniatures. I collect them wherever I travel. I have belonged to groups in which we make them. So, when a friend of a friend posted pictures on Facebook of a miniature city, including my beloved Mazatlán, my interest was piqued!

Marcos & GGMarco A. Hernández has been working on his maqueta for years.

Once a year, during the month of December through the first week of January, it displaces his car and takes over his family’s garage. It brings joy to those walking by on the street, and squeals of delight to anyone smart enough to ask to go inside and take a look around.

Marco started with a collection of toy cars. He built some roads, overpasses, parking areas, and then a Golden Gate Bridge for those matchbox-sized cars. But he didn’t stop there.

FarmHe added a farm. He made the Angel of Independence, and put it in the center of a roundabout.

Angel of Indep

Eventually, and to my delight, he started to add in features of Mazatlán. In his miniature, garage-sized city you can walk along the malecón. It includes benches, plant boxes and a guardrail that look just like the real thing! He has even painted the malecón in the two different designs that I remember it having, thus preserving a bit of history.

Monos BichisMarco has created a miniature Monumento al Pescador. It even lights up at night! He has the pulmonía monument in miniature, as well as the Cervecería Pacífico monument. He has the Escudo, the state seal of Sinaloa, that is in Olas Altas, just down from the Pedro Infante statue.

Escudo

382150_4596447463081_150681162_nMarco has created such detail that this year he even added the row of Salvador Herrera’s photographs that hang in front of the Universidad del Occidente!

167152_1872972422377_5172596_nMarco loves to show off his project, and watch the delight in the eyes and hearts of people who come to visit. I urge you to stop by if you know him. I hesitate to post here his address, but if you’re interested in going, I can put you in touch with him.

garageFor some history on how Marco started, and how the various items in his diorama are made, visit:

http://www.artecar24.com/Coleccionismo/Colecciones/Marco-A.-Hernandez-Mazatlan-Sinaloa-Mexico.html

or

http://www.artecar24.com/Modelismo/Montajes/Una-ciudad-a-164.html

New Year’s Update: I am psyched that more and more people are passing on these posts. Today the local newspaper El Debate ran a short story using this post’s same title, though in Spanish of course.

Ice Skating in Mazatlán: Feria Navideña

1.IMG_0615The ice skates are here, all lined up and ready to go!

1.IMG_0611Workers from DF were installing the ice rink today. They told us they plan to freeze it tomorrow, and then turn it over to the city on Friday.

The Christmas Fair, the reason we’ve had major traffic jams all week in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad/City Park, is scheduled to open on Saturday.

1.IMG_0583It is going to look great! Workers have built small houses and shops out of wood and sheet rock. Tomorrow they’ll be painted, and we’re told they will be selling Christmas items.

1.IMG_0589There were oversized gifts, also made out of wood and sheet rock, which had already been painted. They are right at what looks to be the entrance.

1.IMG_05951.IMG_0621There were lights galore, wrapping palm trees, overhead supports, arches, and the new buildings. At night it is going to look spectacular.

1.IMG_0600There looks to be a petting zoo, a wishing well, and, of course, a large Nativity scene.

There is a stage for performances, and no doubt we’ll hear a choir or two.

1.IMG_0606And, best of all for the kiddos or young at heart, there are carnival rides!

 

The rides include a gondola or ski-lift-type ride leading right up to our new and temporary ice skating rink!

Be sure to stop by and check it out! This looks to be a wonderful new addition to the Christmas holiday for Mazatleco families.

Cloud-filled Sky and a Lovely Bonus

2.IMG_0548We have a lot of sunny days, rarely a cloudy one. Yesterday, while driving down Avenida del Mar, the sky surprised me with all of its clouds. It was glorious. So I took a few photos out the window as Greg was driving. Today, in downloading them, what I really loved also were the people I happened to get, framed with that gorgeous sky in the background. We can see tourists, visiting our lovely city and taking a family photo.

1.IMG_0547We can see locals exercising, stretching, running, doing situps and pushups and other calisthenics with an ocean view.

1.IMG_0550And, we can see people just pausing, relaxing, enjoying the natural beauty of this city on the bay. Thank you, Lord, for another day living in your beauty!

Zip Lining in Mazatlán / Tirolesa

2 Danny outWe had a terrific time driving up to La Noria for a day trip. The adrenaline highlight was zip lining at Huana Coa. We are fortunate here in Mazatlán to have a couple of great options for zip lining, and this is one of them.

Have you ever zip lined? Remember what it feels like? If you haven’t, do you wonder what it’s like? Here’s video that I took while riding the line they call “Shotgun.” Surrounded by trees, it almost felt like I was carving my own tunnel. So very much fun!

La Noria is about a 45 minute drive up into the Sierras. It is gorgeous up there: trees and mountains as far as the eye can see.

5 nice view

Huana Coa was built six years ago. They have nine lines and twelve platforms, plus rappelling in addition to the zip lining. There is also four-wheeling and horseback riding up here, plus of course the gorgeous town of La Noria and the tequila distillery, Vinata Los Osuna, which I’ll write about separately later.

The video below is what Greg took on an earlier line, a wide open one. It’ll give you an idea of the contrast among the nine lines here at Huana Coa.

equipment

Their equipment is state of the art, mostly German-made Petzl. All equipment was very well maintained. Huana Coa uses two lines one above the other and double pulleys, so even should one fail or turn sideways, which is highly unlikely, you still have backup. There was not a second that I wondered about safety. The staff had us tied to a line every moment we were there, tying us off to a stationary line before unhooking our harness from the zip line.

Below are two videos of our son, one of him leaving a platform, and one of him coming in. This is a terrific family activity. He had a blast. Though of course, he’s 17, so he’s too cool to show too much enthusiasm when he’s with his parents.

Just in case you start thinking this is a young person activity, or one for thin people only, I’ll show some video of me coming in, whooping and hollering the whole way because it was just so much fun. They told us they’ve had 80+ year olds on the zip lines who fully enjoyed themselves. The lines themselves are fairly easy. Getting to the lines, however, requires an uphill climb, and there are stairs to several of the platforms. It does, therefore, require mobility.

safety demoJohnathan, one of the staff, gave us safety instructions before we headed out, and again once we arrived at the first platform. All the staff were bilingual and amazingly helpful and fun loving.

8 chanclaStaff members took time to help all of us suit up and get comfortable with our harnesses. They were so kind that they even taped on a woman’s flip flops so she wouldn’t lose them while she was zip lining!

secure platformAll of the platforms were very well made, and while we were on them we were always securely tethered. Staff hook you up for each line, ask if you are ready to go, and then push you off when you are ready. It was soooooo, oh so much fun!

carrying waterI was quite taken with how the crew transported water for us from one station to another. Fairly effective, wouldn’t you say?

familyIf you have family, family visits, or you just need some fun, adrenaline-raising activity, I definitely recommend zip lining!

As we went through the course today, the staff kept telling us they had a surprise for us at the end. Danny knew, because he has learned how to rappel. He saw the little gizmo on our belts, and guessed that at the end we would be rappelling. What they did was have us jump out, off the final platform, and then free fall (with a gentle pre-ground slowing) to the ground. It was very, very cool. Here’s video of Greg doing his dismount.