Mazatlan

On our second stop we walked off and thought we’d just take a walk and see the town. Little souvenir shops are strategically placed in such a way that you couldn’t miss them. Once we made our way through the shops, we were immediately bombarded with taxi drivers calling out to us as we walked in the scorching sun. One driver, in a pulmenia, caught our attention as he spoke perfect English and offered us a one hour tour for fifteen dollars. It sounded like an offer too good to pass up, so we hopped on.

Freddie is from San Diego and is married to a girl from Mexico.

Our first photo op was with El Faro in the background. We were told it is the tallest and only natural lighthouse in the world.

He proceeded to take us up the hill, stopping at several spots, to take in views of the ocean, Mexico’s longest boardwalk (beach front), cliff diving and a nice view of our ship from afar.

We came back down the hill and drove through the city, capturing some of the bright homes, tree lined streets and a courtyard park where Freddie and his wife like to hang out on weekends.

We had seen a church from the ship and asked if he could take us there. He stopped just outside this church, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which became the port’s second Catholic Church. It’s construction began in May 1875 and was finished in May 1899. The detail that these master bricklayers, ironworkers, carpenters and artists put into their work is astounding.

And one more . . . just outside the church (I couldn’t resist)

With a stop for ice cream, our tour ended up being almost two hours and I think we were the happiest tourists coming back on board.