Tuesday, December 31, 2019; Mazatlan and New Year’s Eve

Tuesday, December 31, 2019; Mazatlan

The weather this morning looked a bit threatening, although the forecast was for cloudy skies, it sure looked like it wanted to rain.  The Royal Princess entered Mazatlan’s harbor as we had breakfast in the buffet.  There is a huge rock outcropping that marks the harbor entrance channel.  The Carnival Panorama and Oosterdam were already tied up along the cruise ship dock.  

Our tour bus loaded up on the pier just off the ship.  Mazatlan is well developed around the tourist trade with hotels, shops and restaurants lining the waterfront.  Our bus took us to the end of the Golden Zone and unloaded us at a jewelry store for shopping and a bathroom stop.  Ben and John headed across and down the street to a mall with access to the beach, where you could actually walk up and down the beach.  There was a jetty with several fishermen catching small striped bass for their dinners.  At the other end of the beach, you could see Valentino’s, a landmark structure on the beachfront.  We didn’t have much time to do anything more than grab a few pictures up and down the beach and then head back onto the bus.  

We headed out of Mazatlan and worked our way into the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains.  The countryside is very lush and hilly.  This part of Mexico gets 50” of rain each year, and is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to Mexico and for export around the world.  We drove past many Mango orchards.  We also drove by a large coffee processing plant, so there must be significant coffee production up in the higher hills.  

Our next stop was in a tiny village that consisted of one main street down the center.  We visited a small family owned and operated bakery that had a huge wood fired oven adjacent to their residential kitchen.  We had to walk through their living room, which featured a family shrine like what is seen in the Disney animated movie Coco, where photos of the family reside.  They had some fresh baked rolls 2 for a dollar, which were delicious and warm from the oven.  Our guide brought a large bag of baked goods back to the bus for his family.  It was almost like we were making a grocery stop for him.  Unlike many more tourist oriented villages or squares, this little village didn’t have tourist shops or hawkers in the streets following us around.  

We walked up a short side alley from the Bakery to a tiny shop where someone was manufacturing decorative tiles.  He manufactures them individually by layering paint colors, crushed marble and clay into a steel mold, and then uses a hydraulic press to compact it all into a thin wafer.  This is then dried for several days, and then ultimately fired.  This created a round 5” disk with a unique color pattern.  Since all are individually made, no two are identical.  They could make unique coasters.  

We got back onto the bus and then hit the highway again.  Our next stop was at a town called Concordia, which has a Catholic Church at it’s heart, facing the town square park.  We have seen in South America that this is a standard layout for a Spanish colonial town.  The church is well cared for, as is the park, which was decorated for the Christmas holiday season, complete with a large fake Christmas tree.  For some reason, there was also a red devil, complete with horns and menacing pitch fork.  They also had a life-sized paper maché nativity scene, complete with camels and elephants.  The town square was surrounded by small shops and restaurants catering to locals.  We were the only tourists in the town.  The Carnival Panorama had also booked a parallel tour running on a different schedule.  Apparently a couple from the Carnival Panorama tour got lost and missed their bus, so they ended up catching a ride on our bus to catch up with their group at the next stop.

That next stop was another small village called Copala, which was founded as a silver mining town.  There are still mining operations going on.  They brag zero percent unemployment among their 1000 odd population.  Only some work in mining.  Most manufacture bricks or furniture- two items this part of the country is renowned for.  

We made a brief roadside stop at a brick yard which was closed for the holidays, and our guide explained how these family run brick yards are all over this part of the country.  They make the bricks by mixing straw with clay or even just dirt if they don’t have clay on their property.  This adobe mixture is dried in a mold for a period, and then stacked in rows.  The firewood is stacked between the rows, and when enough rows are completed, they light the whole thing on fire as an outdoor kiln.  Our son John said that he had seen similar techniques used in the countryside outside Mumbai to manufacture bricks.  

We also stopped at another family owned business manufacturing terra cotta goods.  They offered us a free soft drink while we browsed their store and toured their “factory”, which was simply their daylight basement.  Some demonstrated the manufacture of a sun faced garden decoration by hand pressing clay into a mold.  This is then dried for a period and then fired in a kiln.  They had a few brick kilns out back amongst their mango trees.  Most of the merchandise in their “showroom” had a primitive look and finish.  Our guide said they have been in business for generations in this location.  

But there was something a bit creepy in the basement.  In a corner, in plain view, was a cot with a very short, middle aged man lying in the middle, shaking with either a severe tremor or frequent seizures.  His hands had such severe contractures that they looked like stubs at the ends of his arms. 

Copala has a large grade school with steel playground equipment including a very tall steel slide that we could only imagine would be hot enough to fry eggs and little bottoms on during the summer.  Their town square was beautifully landscaped with plants and their church was modest but well cared for.  There were a few children running around offering donkey rides and small carvings or rock specimens for sale.  The most interesting shop on the square was one which manufactured Carnival masks made of various types of leather.  These were very elaborate and quite handsome.  We later also saw these masks at the cruise ship terminal. 

We had lunch in Copala.  The restaurant was a primitive affair with no indoor lighting or skylights.  We were sat at a table next to the door, but it was still very dark.  It had started to rain while we were exploring the church and town square, so the outdoor seating was not an option.  The food was modest in quality and quantity, but it was adequate to tie us over until we got back to the ship.  It was raining pretty steadily during the long drive back to Mazatlan’s port.  The bus driver actually pulled over at one point and ran to the bathroom at the back of the bus to relieve himself.  

We were dropped off at the Cruise ship terminal which was about a quarter mile from where the Royal Princess was actually docked.  They had a trolley service from the terminal to the ship.  There was a building full of vendor stalls where we ended up buying some chocolate and Mexican vanilla for souvenirs.  

The ship left shortly after we got back on board. We had to quickly change into our formal attire for our last formal evening.  It was New Year’s Eve, after all.  The dining room did feature lobster for the evening, as well as pheasant and beef tenderloin.  

The ship’s planned pool side New Year’s Eve party had to be relocated to the Piazza due to rain.  There were also mini celebrations at all the regular entertainment venues. We watched the Production Show “Colors of the World” after dinner. Janet and Ben had seen this before during their Hawaii cruise.  It is an interesting and colorful show featuring choreography from several different parts of the world.  It opened with a Bollywood-like sequence, and also featured some Chinese/Japanese fusion with martial arts, Ancient Greek and Roman themes, Tango and Salsa, and some western styles as well. 

After wandering through the various venues around the ship, we decided to retire to our rooms where we played a few rounds of Scattegory to kill the time until midnight.  Then we headed down to join the huge throng around the Piazza.  The crowd was 5 or 6 deep at the railings around the atrium, so we couldn’t really see anything down below at all, but when the countdown sounded, the only thing that mattered was that we were all together on New Year’s Eve, along with nearly 4000 other strangers in the middle of the Sea of Cortez.  After a round of hugs and kisses, we hit the buffet which was stocked with appetizers and desserts to welcome in 2020 with gusto.  

Tomorrow, we arrive early in Puerto Vallarta, so we’ll have to get up early to make our excursion.